13th Age character write-up: Barbarian

Another 13th Age character; this time a hot elf barbarian chick!

Althana Wurmscale

13th Age's Barbarian is billed as the easiest and rule-free class to play. I can't help but agree. Their lists of "moves" only includes Talents. Simple enough so I'll get started.

Wood Elf Stuff:

Elven Grace (each turn roll a d6; if it's less than or equal to the escalation die you get an extra standard action and increase the die by a step)

+2 Dex or +2 Wis.

Barbarian Stuff:

Hit Points: (7+Con)x3

Total Feats: 1 adventurer

Class Talents: 3

Ability Bonus +2 Str or Con

AC: 12 (Light)+middle of Con/Dex/Wis+Level

PD: 11+middle of Str/Con/Dex+Level

MD: 10+middle of Int/Wis/Cha+Level

Now Ability Scores:

16

16

14

10

8

8

(I used the point buy system here.)

Now I'll distribute them and factor in the bonuses:

Str: 16+2(class bonus)=18

Dex: 16+2(race bonus)=18

Con: 14

Int: 8

Wis: 10

Cha: 8

Now I'll plug it all in:

Hit Points: 27

AC: 15

PD: 16

MD: 9

Now it's time for gear: 1 Greataxe, a (half) suit of chain mail, and 40gp.

Now I'll figure out the rest of my options

Talents: Building Frenzy, Slayer, Whirlwind

Feat: Toughness

Backgrounds: Wurm slayer (+2), wasteland survivalist (+2), pit fighter (+4)

Unique: I am destined to take the Elf Queen's heart

Icon relationships: High Druid (1+), Elf Queen (1-), Orc Lord (1-)

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That about sums it up. So the complete Althana Wurmscale looks like so:

Str: 18

Dex: 18

Con: 14

Int: 8

Wis: 10

Cha: 8

Hit Points: 30

AC: 15

PD: 16

MD: 9

Basic Melee: +4, 1d10+3

Basic Ranged: -

Talents: Building Frenzy, Slayer, Whirlwind

Feat: Toughness

Backgrounds: Wurm slayer (+2), wasteland survivalist (+2), pit fighter (+4)

Unique: I am destined to take the Elf Queen's heart

Icon relationships: High Druid (1+), Elf Queen (1-), Orc Lord (1-)

Upon her birth the stars proclaimed that Althana would take the Elf Queen's heart. Whether she would take it romantically or physically is lost in interpretation. Regardless, Althana spent her youth wondering the wasteland with her tribe, preying on the colossal wurms native there, until they were attacked and overrun by marauding orcs. The orcs captured Althana and threw her in their fighting pits. Little did they know that their entertainment forged Althana into a furious warrior. One day she escaped and not only swore vengeance on the orcs for their transgression but also to fulfill the prophecy the stars with witch the stars burdened her.

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Commentary

I hate to say it but I'm starting to like everything about 13th Age that doesn't have to do with the core of the game, i.e. the Icons, Backgrounds, and Uniques. This level of character creation just doesn't rub me the right way.

Players literally have a smorgasbord of options presented to them upon character creation and in my experience that does more to repel players than it does to attract them (unless they're that far in, of course.) I'd rather just roll Ability Scores, distribute them optimally depending on my class and get into the meat of things. No equations. No averaging.

My beef here isn't with min-maxing. You can min-max and still roleplay. My beef is that this system seems so convoluted that it's beyond playable. Not to mention a majority of the powers revolve around combat.

I've always disliked systems that revolve around combat. Not because I dislike combat or think it dissuades roleplay, or anything of that sort. But when your mechanics center around combat so much you're pretty much required to include it in your games unless no one minds blowing 15 minutes creating a character.

I'm just ranting at this point. Regardless I'd still like to run or play 13th Age.