Wrathgar Baarstammderstark (aka Wrathgar, Son of Wulfric) is the main character from "The Adventures of Wrathgar" book series by Charles Moffat (yours truly).So far I have published 5 books about the character and 1 novelette (The Sunken Castle).
The book series includes:
- The Assassin's Trail
- The Blizzard's Daughter
- The Coven's Wolves
- The Demon's Sacrifice
- The Exorcist's Dagger
However I have also played Wrathgar in a number of Dungeons and Dragons campaigns during the past two decades, including a number of Adventurer's League games, as well as versions on DDO (Dungeons and Dragons Online) and Skyrim. I have played Wrathgar in every version of D&D except 4th and Basic.
Description of Wrathgar
Wrathgar is 6'2" tall with wide shoulders, bearded, with wavy black hair, and a darker complexion. Sporting a helmet with antlers, fur/hide armour, a longbow, a huge sword (called a Grosseklinge it is considered a sacred weapon amongst his people) and a bearded axe he is a physically imposing warrior, weighing approx. 220 lbs.
Despite his name, Wrathgar almost never loses his temper (no spoilers here). In D&D terms he sounds like he is a barbarian, and indeed was raised amongst a barbarian tribe (the Baarstammderstark) in the Snowfell Mountains of Korovia, but he is actually a ranger.
Wrathgar is friendly to most people, but in the early books he is naive and his personality changes gradually over time. His interests revolve around woodcraft, tracking, hunting and to a lesser extent herbalism and animals (notably dogs, wolves, horses, owls).
Alignment of Wrathgar
Neutral Good: Wrathgar obeys the law, most of the time. He isn't reckless or untrustworthy, quite the opposite. His tendency is to be cautious and wise about his decisions, despite being naive in his younger years. Likewise Wrathgar is bound by his sense of good and ideals concerning heroism, having been raised by his father (Wulfric the Wanderer) with stories of far off adventures in strange lands, and also being raised by High Shaman Korflex (who was effectively Wrathgar's surrogate father after Wulfric departed in an attempt to find his missing wife/Wrathgar's mother).
Wrathgar has his own personal sense of honour and how people should behave, and as such he actively tries to avoid being rude to other people - unless he feels they deserve it. Likewise Wrathgar is capable of violence, but he doesn't actively seek it out. Rather he is a natural protector and leader, more concerned with safeguarding those around him than going off in search of revenge/etc.
1st Edition Vs 2nd Edition Wrathgar
The rules for 1st Edition and 2nd Edition are almost identical, but with a number of key differences that affect Wrathgar's abilities, hit points and skills. For example in 2nd Edition a system for choosing skills was introduced and Weapon Specialization was introduced for the Fighter class.
Thus below I will be presenting the 2nd Edition version of Wrathgar, but for anyone familiar with both it is very easy to convert 2E Wrathgar into 1E Wrathgar. Just drop the skills, adjust the hit points, and no dual-classed Fighter level so he has Weapon Specialization.
Levels vs Books
Obviously Wrathgar would be a different level depending upon what stage of his life he is in, or in book terms it varies upon what book you are reading. For narrative purposes Wrathgar "levels up" roughly once per book. However I am not going to go into great detail here with respect to hit points, level, magical items gained during his career, etc because that would possibly include spoilers for people reading the books
2nd Edition Version of Wrathgar
Wrathgar, Human Ranger, NG
Str 18/66, which notably includes a +2 to hit and +3 to damage.
Dex 12
Con 15, which notably includes +1 to his hit points per level.
Int 13
Wis 17, which notably includes a +3 vs Charms/mind magic/etc.
Chr 10
Cms 11*
* I decided to include his Comeliness stat for anyone curious about that. Comeliness is an optional stat that was popular in 1st Edition.
Armour - During book one of the series Wrathgar starts with hide/fur armour, and a wooden shield. This changes gradually overtime. No spoilers!
Weapons - Grosseklinge Two-Handed Sword, Siegmut (Bearded Axe +1), Composite Longbow, Dagger. Again, Wrathgar's choice of weapons changes gradually overtime. After gaining Siegmut he starts using the axe more often and the Grosseklinge less.
Ranger Abilities - Ranger Tracking, Ranger Alertness vs Surprise, Favoured Enemy (Giants and Giant kin).
Skills - Bowyer/Fletcher, Read/Write, Hunting, Survival, Herbalism. (He doesn't necessarily start with all of these, but he definitely gains them all over time, plus others. No spoilers.)
Languages - Korovian (Common), Elvish (he speaks it with a Wood Elf accent), and two other languages learned later (no spoilers).
Notes
If I could make one important change to the above stats, it would be to have Wrathgar start off as a Fighter, take 2 levels of Fighter, have him Specialize in either Battleaxe or Longbow, and then dual class as a Ranger. So Ranger 20/Fighter 2. Since there is no specialization in the core rules for 1st Edition there is no need to do this, but if it was a 2nd Edition game then it would be worth it.
Note also that his Wisdom is also sufficient for him to dual class as a Cleric if he wanted to, which is relevant because I once played a 3rd Edition version of Wrathgar who had levels in Cleric. Likewise as a Ranger he does gain access to various spells at higher levels, but it is my feeling that those spells should feel like they are more extensions of his ranger skills that benefit his combat and stealth abilities.
3rd Edition Version of Wrathgar
The one and only time I played a 3rd Edition version of Wrathgar he ended up being partially a cleric, mostly because the group needed a healer. However if I was to redesign the character for 3rd Edition here's what I feel his stats would be:
Str 18
Dex 13
Con 15
Int 12
Wis 17
Chr 10
So as you can see I have copy/pasted the 1st/2nd Edition stats and swapped the Int and Dex scores because I feel that it makes more sense for his character to meet certain archery related prerequisites... and since 3rd Edition doesn't have Comeliness, that is just plain gone.
Another change I would make would be with respect to his class. In my opinion he should be a Ranger/Fighter. Or possibly even a Ranger/Fighter/Rogue. Or... Ranger/Fighter/Rogue/Barbarian. Or even a few levels of Cleric. Honestly, it is rather difficult to choose which direction to go in. Wrathgar (despite his name) almost never loses his temper. But being able to Rage like a barbarian once in a while would be useful. Likewise a level or two of rogue doesn't sound out of character for him. Thus for anyone recreating Wrathgar you could either go with a more vanilla version, or a more bizarre version with Rogue, Barbarian or Cleric levels mixed in.
But ultimately I think the combo that makes the most sense is Ranger 14/Fighter 6. I feel this is the most accurate to his character because I don't see Wrathgar as being a spellcaster type, although he certainly gains that at higher levels.
The big difference for 3rd Edition is the introduction of Feats, and you will see why I swapped the Int & Dex.
Feats
- 1st level - Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot
- 2nd level *F1* - Weapon Focus Longbow
- 3rd level *F2* - Improved Unarmed Strike, Precise Shot
- 5th level *F4* - Weapon Specialist Longbow
- 6th level *F5* - Mounted Combat
- 7th level *F6* - Mounted Archery
- 9th level - Weapon Focus Axe
- 12th level - Weapon Specialist Axe
- 15th level - Leadership
- 18th level - Far Shot
Skills - Animal Empathy, Craft (Bowyer/Fletcher), Craft (Herbalism Poisons/Poultices), Handle Animal, Hide, Move Silently, Ride, Swim, Use Rope, Wilderness Lore. (At lower levels he might only have a few ranks in certain skills.)
Magic - At higher levels Wrathgar would also gain spells, but as mentioned further above (and below) I see such spells as being merely an extension of his ranger skills in terms of stealth and combat. So try to pick spells that relate to those two things.
5th Edition Version of Wrathgar
When playing in Adventurers League I made a 5E version of Wrathgar, during which he took 2 levels of Rogue so he could be stealthier. This was ultimately a wise decision because in combination with his other abilities, certain magical items and Ranger stealth magic it made it possible for him to hide at will, often in plain sight, and made it almost impossible for other people to notice him without magical aid. (In some respects this ends up being akin to the DDO and Skyrim versions of Wrathgar who was also a stealth archer.)
Like the 3rd Edition version it makes a bit of sense that Wrathgar might also have a few levels of Fighter or Barbarian, but since my AL version had 2 levels of Rogue we will follow that instead.
Obviously that means Wrathgar was restricted to the base starting stats for Adventurers League, but since my goal here is to push the idea of Wrathgar's "official stats" I am instead going to ignore the AL stats and instead use the same stats from the 3rd Edition version of Wrathgar. (Plus it has been over 5 years since I played Wrathgar in AL so I cannot be bothered to find his character sheet. I think it is in the basement somewhere...)
Str 18
Dex 13
Con 15
Int 12
Wis 17
Chr 10
Also it should be noted that Wrathgar won't be getting the stat increases at various levels and will get 5E Feats instead. Likewise we will ignore the Variant Human Traits (5E PHB page 31) bonus to his ability scores. See the list of Wrathgar's Abilities further below.
Background
One of the big changes in 5E D&D is the introduction of different backgrounds. The following backgrounds all make sense for Wrathgar:
- Acolyte (since he was briefly trained to possibly become a shaman);
- Hermit (feels closer to his shamanic training plus comes with a Herbalism kit tool proficiency);
- Outlander (because he grew up amongst barbarians and considers himself to be a barbarian).
Of these 3 Hermit makes the most sense, even though Wrathgar is obviously not a hermit. The skills match what he does. I see Wrathgar as being more of a hunter/woodsman, which is similar to a hermit.
Skills/Languages/Tools - Animal Handling, Athletics, Medicine, Nature, Religion, Stealth, Survival, Thieves Tools, Herbalism Tools, Common (Korovian), Elvish, 1 bonus language (no spoilers).
Abilities
Many of Wrathgar's abilities depend upon what level he is.
1 - Favoured Enemy (Giants), Natural Explorer (Forest), Feat (Sharpshooter).
2 - Fighting Style (Archery), Spellcasting*.
* I see Wrathgar's spellcasting ability as being more like "skills" rather than magic per se. Example: One of his spells is "Pass Without Trace", which allows him to move stealthily without leaving a trail. For story reasons I treat that as essentially being part of his stealth skill as opposed to an actual spell. Similarly the spell "Jump" is effectively just part of his ability to jump further than normal people, and Hunter's Mark representative of his archery skill.
3 - Ranger Archetype (Hunter / Colossus Slayer), Primeval Awareness.
4 - Feat (Heavily Armoured).
5 - Extra Attack.
6 (Rogue 1) - Expertise (Stealth and Athletics), Sneak Attack +1d6, Thieves' Cant.
7 (Rogue 2) - Cunning Action (usually used to Hide or Dash).
8 - Favoured Enemy (Undead), Natural Explorer (Mountain).
9 - Ranger Archetype (Hunter / Escape the Horde).
10 - Feat (Tavern Brawler), Land Stride.
11 - NA.
12 - Natural Explorer (Coast), Hide in Plain Sight.
13 - Ranger Archetype (Hunter / Volley).
14 - Feat (Skulker).
15 - NA.
16 - Favoured Enemy (Fiends), Vanish.
17 - Ranger Archetype (Hunter / Evasion).
18 - Feat (Lucky)
19 - NA.
20 - Feral Senses.
21 - Feat (Mounted Combatant)
22 - Foe Slayer.
Wrathgar's "Spells"
- Animal Friendship, Hunter's Mark, Jump, Longstrider
- Find Traps, Locate Animals or Plants, Pass Without Trace
- Protection from Energy, Speak with Plants, Water Breathing
- Freedom of Movement, Locate Creature, Stoneskin
- Swift Quiver
Magical Items + Notes
While playing AL Wrathgar gained a number of magical items, including a Cloak of Elvenkind, a magical axe, a flaming holy two-handed sword (Flametongue), a magical longbow, shield, armour, various potions... and a shrunken pet bear (about the size of a house cat) called "Blooddrinker", and a few other items. (Click the link on Blooddrinker to learn more.)
Since I am opposed to the idea of characters having too many magical items (and possible spoilers) I am not going to go into great detail regarding any magical items Wrathgar might gain eventually.
Things like his magical axe Siegmut and his obsidian snake dagger (which isn't magical) are well established in the books however.
But because the 5E version of Wrathgar is more focused on Stealth, I do feel that anyone remaking him in 5E should still have him gain the Cloak of Elvenkind eventually. So just the axe and cloak are essential.
For spoiler reasons I cannot go into detail regarding any objects he might gain over time. Siegmut isn't really so much a spoiler as he gains that very early in his career.
I remember when I played 3rd Edition Wrathgar had a LOT of magical items. Far too many in my opinion... One of the downsides of 3E in my opinion is that it is super easy to gain magical items... and consequently completely unrealistic. Plus it is very easy to make or buy magical items in 3E. This creates a level of "showering" of magical items. So much so that characters end up selling them, buying them, and developing unrealistic expectations that every large city must have a magic shop where you can buy +5 swords.
This is effectively a matter of storytelling and realism. If every problem can be conveniently solved with magic (as per deus ex machina) then there isn't any point in the character problem solving. It ruins the story if a character can just solve every problem using magic. The character becomes just another boring cog in the story as they're now effectively unnecessary to the story. Magic is now the "hero", while the character now lacks heroicism because every problem is too easily solved.
I did think about organizing everything in a large chart, but I opted not to because his stats are slightly different for the different editions so it would have made the chart more complicated, plus I would have been tempted to give his full stats at different levels... I feel that what I have provided here is more of the bare bones of what a player would need to replicate Wrathgar as a character if they want to play him in their own game.
Friends and Allies
Wrathgar gains many friends during the book series and as such they deserve a mention here. The characters he is surrounded by makes a deep impact upon him as a character. Some of these include:
- High Shaman Korflex
- Vertia (elf archer / giant owl rider)
- Soljargon (necromancer)
- Bizbald (gnome illusionist)
- Wren/Arwen (Blizzard/cryomancer)
- Sir Dobrynya (Bogatyr knight)
- Costache (dwarf merchant-warrior)
- Gyburn (elf archer)
- Helene (half-elf cleric of Metrequia)
- And others...
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