Character Creation

Heroes should never be just a collection of numbers and abilities. They should have personality, appearance, and history. Before your hero is done, you should have described him or her on your Hero Sheet. Use as much or as little room as you like, attaching another sheet if necessary.

Characters who have both strengths and weaknesses are much more interesting to play then characters who have nothing but strong points. Consider giving your character some flaws like a fear of spiders, an inability to see more then one side of an issue, or even a physical injury. Heroes come from humble beginnings as often as from grand. Consider a character that isn’t particularly prominent in his tribe, or perhaps one that everyone in the tribe expects to do very well.

Finally, remember that while heroes should have interesting backgrounds, it is through play that the largest part of your hero’s story will be told.

When creating characters in Heroquest, use the standard guidelines for List Method creation (HQ p. 24), with the following additions:

• Select your Homeland Keyword from the list of Malatra Homelands And Species Keywords
• Select your Occupation Keyword from the list of Malatran Occupations (some are restricted or rare, many are modified)
• Pick your 10 'freebie' abilities that (usually) default to 13 (HQ p. 26) (note these Suggested Skills)
  • These may include Followers or one Sidekick (see also Malatran Sidekicks)
  • Everyone has "Fear meat-eating garuda" Personality trait at 17 :)
• Make note of your character's Magic.
• Distribute 25 points (instead of the default 20) among your 'freebie' abilities or those derived from your keywords.
• Select a Special Ability
• Select some Gear