Terrific 13th Age Character: Unique Trait

Step 1: Choose a Race
Step 2: Choose a Class
Step 3: Generate Ability Scores
Step 4: Fill in Combat Stats
Step 5: Choose a Unique Trait
Step 6: Icon Relationships

I know you’re special. So you should have a special character! How you do that is by giving your hero something unique that allows them to stand apart from other heroes. This could be something as innocuous as my neck is unusually long all the way to an exceptional deed like being the only person who has been able to beat the Archmage in a game of chess.

The goal here is not to create a superpower for yourself, but rather to hint at a story hook that the game master (GM) can use to build the world, create a story, or connect you to the world. 13th Age aims for collaborative storytelling so this is your chance to help build the world out more!

Get creative! If you can’t think of anything, maybe ask the GM to either wait and see what develops or if they have any suggestions. Maybe you’ll get talking and figure out the perfect thing.

Terrific 13th Age Character: Ability Score

Step 1: Choose a Race
Step 2: Choose a Class
Step 3: Generate Ability Scores
Step 4: Fill in Combat Stats
Step 5: Choose a Unique Trait
Step 6: Icon Relationships

Okay! So you’ve chosen your class, your background, and your race. These selections grant you with a number of choices of skills, features, and dice rolls. In this section we’ll talk a bit about how to generate ability scores and recommend some ways to assign the scores you get. The way that 13th Age generates ability scores is a lot like how other contemporary (d20) style role-playing games complete their ability scores. Please forgive me if it this seems a little repetitive.

There are a lot of ways to generate ability scores. We’ll go into some of the common ones and then talk about important abilities for each class. Keep in mind these are merely instructional and your DM will tell you how to generate scores.

Roll 4 Six-sided Dice and Drop the Lowest

Also known as 4d6dl1, this style is a carryover from Dungeons and Dragons. Rolling this way produces generally higher rolls than it’s predecessor 3d6. Once you have rolled 6 times (one for each ability score), you can then assign them into whichever order is beneficial to you.

Organic Character Creation

What if you didn’t get to choose your ability scores? What if, just like in life, you were stuck with whatever given talents and abilities you had? That’s what organic character creation is for. Instead of choosing where your abilities will go after they are rolled, you go down a predetermined method and put whatever you roll into that ability. For example, going top to bottom or bottom to top and whatever you roll is what you roll.

I use this style when I don’t know what I want to play and it’s open table because you can get such interesting combinations.

Point Buy

Using a Dungeon Master (DM) determined number of points (usually 28), you use these points to buy 6 ability scores. You can’t be left with any points at the end and the points are spent as below:

Score	Cost
8	0
9	1
10	2
11	3
12	4
13	5
14	6
15	8
16	10
17	13
18	16

Ability Scores: Defined

In this section, we’ll discuss the ability scores and what they measure.

There is a great way that I learned from the old Internet back in the day as defined by its relationship to a tomato.

Strength is the ability to crush a tomato or move a crate of tomatoes

Dexterity is the ability to dodge a thrown tomato.

Constitution is the ability to eat a bad tomato.

Intelligence is knowing that the tomato is a fruit.

Wisdom is knowing that you don’t put a tomato in fruit salad.

Charisma is selling a fruit salad made from tomatoes.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/1s9l2g/dd_stats_explained_with_tomatoes/

Terrific 13th Age Character: Race

Step 1: Choose a Race
Step 2: Choose a Class
Step 3: Generate Ability Scores
Step 4: Fill in Combat Stats
Step 5: Choose a Unique Trait
Step 6: Icon Relationships

On our first step, we take a look at the races that occur in 13th Age. It’s important to note that my view on the races is based on my feelings of races in the realm of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs). Per the author’s notes, these races can be shaped and changed to match the visual appearance that fits with your ideas.

Dragonic / Dragonspawn

Resembling a dragon-like humanoid, the Dragonspawn are a sight to behold and capable of a quick breath attack should the occasion call for it.

Dwarves

Dwarves are a clan-based hierarchy that are strong and hardy who take good care of the magical items on themselves and anyone they cross.

Elf, Dark

Cruel, dark-skinned, and brewed in the families of the world’s greatest villains, they show their quickness in their wit or reflexes.

Elf, High

Beings of light and grace who use their intelligence or force of personality to engage with the world. They’re one of the most magical beings in the realm.

Elf, Wood

While High Elves representing light, and Dark Elves representing darkness, Wood Elves represent the earthy in-between. They use their grace or perceptiveness to gain advantages over the mortal races.

Forgeborn / Dwarf-Forged

A mixture of mechanics, alchemy, and magic, the Forgeborn are constructed beings. They are strong and hardy making them excellent guardians to protect and serve.

Gnomes

Historically, one of my favourite races: they haven’t really changed much. They are underground dwelling, small people known for the dexterous hands and intelligent designs. They enjoy tricks and eccentricity.

Half-Elves

While there are a few elves who mate with humans, there is also room in the backstory for half-elves serving as a connection a long past war where the Elves and Human empires fought together – their result was the Half-Elf race. As a result, they serve as ambassadors of good faith between the two races.

Half-Orcs

Representing humanity with a ting of the bestial, half-orcs are more at home where their natural talents of strength or agility are useful. Rather than being the offspring of a pairing of humans and orcs, it is actually due to the presence of orcs that breakouts of half-orcs are observed.

Halflings

My second favourite race (but don’t let that tempt you on way or another). I generally like the smaller races for the different perspective they provide. They almost force you and the group into playing the characters.

Little is known about these small, sturdy, quick people. For that reason, there are a lot of thoughts on how they came to be. I’ll leave the mystery for you to think up.

Holy One/Aasimar

Touched by the gods, the Aasimar are created when the presence of the divine draws near to a population. With the divine protecting them on their course, they are truly stalwart companions.

Tiefling / Demon-Touched

Whether you see it as a curse, or a blessing, this race has an infernal heritage. This shows by having demonic elements such as forked tongues, horns, and/or prehensile tails. Whether by the situation they are forced in, those affected by this bloodline have grown stronger or more intelligent to cope with their lot in life.

Making a Terrific 13th Age Character

In my role-playing game (RPG) career, I have largely played either Pathfinder or Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). In an attempt to break out of my mould and learn a new system!

Follow me on an adventure as we learn how to make a totally, tubular 13th Age character. Click the next button below to continue to the next section or skip ahead to the next session.

Step 1: Choose a Race
Step 2: Choose a Class
Step 3: Generate Ability Scores
Step 4: Fill in Combat Stats
Step 5: Choose a Unique Trait
Step 6: Icon Relationships

For more information on 13th Age, check out Pelgrane Press or your local gaming venue!

To get started with your own character sheet, check out one from the Pelgrane forums here: http://site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/13th-age-fillable-character-sheet/

Medieval Fantasy

Superhero/Sci-Fi

Apocalyptic or Post-Apocalyptic

Contemporary/Modern Fantasy

Horror

Western

Generic

Anime

Roll 4 Six-sided Dice and Drop the Lowest

Organic Character Creation

Point Buy

Ability Scores: Defined

Dragonic / Dragonspawn

Dwarves

Elf, Dark

Elf, High

Elf, Wood

Forgeborn / Dwarf-Forged

Gnomes

Half-Elves

Half-Orcs

Halflings

Holy One/Aasimar

Tiefling / Demon-Touched