Ramblings on Character: Uli Turen

Sometimes creating against type can lead to engaging ends. I knew I wanted to do something unexpected when I sat down to make this character. It is no secret that D&D is a game heavily built around its mechanics. That isn’t necessarily bad. However, I like to find new combos that can work. Enter Uli, This little gnome isn’t what anyone would first imagine for a barbarian, but this game has also come a long way in allowing for the unexpected. Like I said in the stream, I knew that using my 15 in a standard array for Strength didn’t make any sense, but I  was able to add it into Dexterity.

Blah-di-blah-blah-blah.

You heard all this.

I was excited to see a unique rager supremely connected to animals. They are fast and clever. Combine this with the brute force inherent to the Barbarian class, and they become my kind of fun.  Uli functions as a Barbarian,  their smaller size providing distinctive character moments against enemies larger than them. But they can do more than that at the end of the day. That is what I was after, and that is what I like in gaming, those unexpected gems that begin to shine. I know Uli won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.  They go against the grain in more ways than one. Yet, with D&D, that is just my style.  I want characters that are different. Maybe it’s because I have fallen into the more narrative game mindset, but I see even WotC doing it with adventure modules that don’t require combat. D&D will never entirely abandon its mechanics, nor should it. But it can lean more into the role-play aspects of the genre. I am glad they are allowing for it to greater and greater degrees. 

You can find Uli’s sheet here. If you use them, stop by our discord and let us know your thoughts!