13th Age Character write-up: Styles the Human Fighter

In order to better understand 13th Age's character creation system, I thought I should actually create a character and I figured I should work through it here.

First a character concept. I've been watching a lot of Age of Sail historical fiction lately so lets rip a character from the Horatio Hornblower series: Styles.

Styles is a big, dumb, brutish sailor with a loyal heart; however trouble likes to follow him wherever he goes.

Ain't he a darlin

First of all Race and Class.

Humans get +2 to any ability score and a bonus feat. Therefore they start with two feats as opposed to one. They also get the Quick to Fight racial power which gives them advantage on initiative rolls

Fighters get +2 to Strength or Constitution, 3 talents, and 3 1st level maneuver. They have the following base stats:

Hit Points: (8+Con) x3
Physical Defense: 10+middle mod of Str/Con/Dex+Level
Mental Defense: 10+middle mod of Int/Wise/Cha+Level
AC: 10+middle mod of Con/Dex/Wis+Level. (Armor isn't that useful against muskets and pistols so I'm using the unarmored base here.)

Now I'll roll up Ability Scores:

10
11
14
12
13
11

Mostly average. But hey he's only a sailor in the Queen's navy (for now at least.) Now I'll distribute them like so:

Strength: 16 (+2 from Human racial bonus)
Constitution: 15 (+2 from Fighter class bonus)
Dexterity: 11
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 11
Charisma: 13 (he's got a pretty smile)

Now that I have the scores lets turn those base stats into combat stats:

Hit Points: 30
Physical Defense: 13
Mental Defense: 11
AC: 10

At this point lets go ahead and figure out Style's basic attacks:

Melee: +4, 1d8+3 (cutlass)
Ranged:  +1, 1d6+1 (hand crossbow reskinned as a flintlock pistol)

Now I'll figure out the rest of the fighter stuff by choosing talents and maneuvers: 

Talents: Cleave, Power Attack, and Tough as Iron. Styles is a sailor fighting the enemy on slim frigates so Cleave is nice for those situations. He's also big and tough so Power Attack and Tough as Iron fit nicely.
Maneuvers: Carve an Opening, Grim Intent, and Brace for It. Styles is a big brute so all his maneuvers focus on dealing extra damage and avoiding death in the process.

 Now I'll figure out Style's one unique thing. I'll keep with the big brute theme and say his father was an ogre so Style's is the only half-ogre in the Queen's Navy.

Now I'll define his Icon relationships. Style's is loyal to his duty and the Queen but he's prone to trouble. We'll give him a 2 point conflicted relationship with the Emperor (the Queen in this case) and a 1 point negative relationship with the Prince of Shadows since his crimes land him in jail most of the time.

Now I'll figure out Style's background. I've got eight points to distribute among his backgrounds. I'll say Styles had a few criminal careers in the past that didn't turn out great and his parents probably taught him a few things; his mother taught him basic alchemy and his father taught him how to hunt:

Criminal: 4 points
Alchemist: 1 point
Hunter: 3 points

Lastly I'll chose Style's two feats. I'll chose Toughness since he's so big and strong and upgrade his Tough as Iron for the same reason.

And that's it. So in full form my Styles looks like this:

Hit Points: 34
Physical Defense: 13
Mental Defense: 11
AC: 10
Basic Melee Attack: +4, 1d8+3
Basic Ranged Attack:  +1, 1d6+1
Talents: Cleave, Power Attack, and Tough as Iron.
Maneuvers: Carve an Opening, Grim Intent, and Brace for It.
Backgrounds: Criminal 4, Alchemist 1, Hunter 3
Unique: the only half-ogre in the Queen's navy
Icon Relationships: Emperor+-2, Prince of Shadows-1
Feats: Toughness and Tough as Iron (A)