Earthdawn 4E: Example Character 18 - Ork Beastmaster

This is the eighteenth Example Character in an ongoing series about Earthdawn. Introduction and Index.

There is something about an ork which embodies the savage warrior spirit of a Beastmaster, so well. The fact they have complementary attributes and a nice stack of Karma certainly doesn't hurt either. It is worth noting this character can spend up to three Karma on Claw Shape damage tests. 

Each Circle saw this character improve one attribute and take a new Talent Option. There are no Thread Items on this character, however unlikely it may be. 

Note: The entries in this series may be updated periodically as I master the coding to fit all eight of the Circles in a fashion which doesn't result in eye melting. Consider these living entries. Please leave comments if there is anyway this could be made more useful.

Discipline: Beastmaster
Race: Ork

Attributes:
DEX: 18 (7)   STR: 19 (8)   TOU: 18 (7)
PER: 10 (5)   WIL: 10 (5)   CHA: 12 (5)

Characteristics:
Initiative: 7
Physical Defense: 13
Mystic Defense: 6
Social Defense: 8

Physical Armor: 10 (Recommended: Fernweave, Forged +8 [10])
Mystic Armor: 5 (Recommended: Fernweave [3])

Damage: 20 (Claw Shape); 29 (with Down Strike)

Unconsciousness: 92
Death: 107
Wound Threshold: 11

Recovery Tests: 5
Knockdown: 8
Karma: 40
Karma: Recovery Test, Unarmed Damage tests.

Talents: 
Avoid Blow: 9 (16)
Beast Weaving: 8 (13)
Claw Shape: 9 (20)
Unarmed Combat: 9 (16)
Wilderness Survival: 8 (13)
Stealthy Stride: 8 (15)
Awareness: 9 (14)
Acrobatic Defense: 8 (15)
Dominate Beast: 8 (13)
Tracking: 8 (13)
Great Leap: 8
Climbing: 7 (14)
Blood Share: 8 (15)
Cobra Strike: 8 (15)
Animal Talk: 8 (13)
Tiger Spring: 8
Down Strike: 9 (17)
Lion Heart: 8 (13)
Claw Frenzy: 9 (16)
Sprint: 8

Swift, mobile, high damage, plenty of attacks - this adept gets into the thick of things quickly and begins wreak havoc. In combat Cobra Strike and Tiger Spring (along with minimalist armor) allow them to be in the highest tier of initiative, along with Warriors and some Swordmasters. Great Leap and Sprint mean there are very few hard to reach places for these adepts. Claw Shape, Down Strike, and one of their discipline Karma abilities give them exceptional damage. And Claw Frenzy is the best multiple attack talent available.

With all of this, there are some pretty big downsides. The most glaring is defense - they don't have much. Starting with rather low Defense values and little which can be done about non-physical attacks (Lion Heart is the extent), they are tough, but unlikely to stand up to too much pressure. Even the Sky Raider has Fireblood to keep them going when it gets tough. This adept also has little in the way of tricks to bring out - keeping the pressure on and not letting up until the target stops twitching is going to be the best option. That, or using their mobility to make good an escape.

Outside of combat there are a number of ways they can contribute. As long as that contribution is generally wilderness-centric. While most of their talents can translate easily to an urban setting (Dominate Beast works like a charm against guard animals and crows are huge gossips for anyone with Animal Talk), they are going to be most at home outside of a city.