For how to come up with an idea see: Selecting A Character Concept

For those looking for ideas and inspiration, or even those who are simply curious, feel free to look over the existing Character Sheets.

When creating characters, here is the chargen method. Write a 100 word narrative describing your character. Then select abilities from what you've written. As for what to include in this narrative, try to answer these Character Questions.

Don't worry about filling everything in, however. In fact, if you like start very sketchy. All characters are, essentially, using the As You Go chargen method, so you always have the ability to add on new abilities after play begins up to the limits of six keywords, and ten "other" ablities. Once you've exhausted those, you must buy all new abilities as normal.

Other Chargen Notes

• Young Heroes Level - Used to represent converted Hero Wars characters, and new characters from Phase Two. These characters aren't actually neccessarily young (some were quite old), but that's the feeling of their level of power. Exceptional young adults. They are slightly more powerful than characters built with the standard starting abilities in the HQ MRB.
  • Select a Special Ability
  • Distribute 5 Advance Experience points - these are used to raise keyword levels by one each
  • Distribute 30 skill points instead of twenty, still no more than ten to any one ability.
• Experienced Veterans Level - the starting level for characters for phase 3, this is the level of characters who have been at survival activities for years and years after having been "Young Heroes" to start.
  • Select a Special Ability - this special ability will be more potent than what's on the linked page, reflected either in higher ability levels, or higher keyword levels, etc.
  • Distribute 30 Advance Experience points (25 if the character was in a previous phase), no more than 20 to any one keyword - these are used to raise keyword levels by one each, and can be used to purchase a new keyword starting at 13 for one point. If/when elevating a keyword, any ability under that keyword is raised the same amount (so HP spent on raising keyword abilities are not lost).
  • Distribute 100 points (70, if the character was in a previous phase), no more than 25 to any one ability.
• If a player wants to start with less ability than the current phase indicates, they can forgo any of these points above.
• Gear: common equipment, and the differences from standard Heroquest

Here's an explanation of how to "spend" your ten abilities from the list method. There are basically three choices here:

• Abilities unrelated to any keyword. None of your keywords will make your character strong, for instance, so if he's "Strong Like Bull" or something, use one of these abilities to represent that. All such abilities start at 13.
• Magic Abilites
  • If it's part of the Common Magic keyword, these abilites start at the keyword level.
  • If obtained any other way, they start at 13.
• Followers - these are NP Cs that the player has control over, in terms of the abilities that come with them. If used for some other purpose than these abilities, the follower is just like any other NPC (and may be cajoled, corerced, or otherwise caused to use their other abilities for the player).
  • Retainers - select as many of these as you like. These get one keyword at 13, or the level of the keyword to which they are related.
  • sidekicks - you can have only one to start. These get one keyword at 13, or the level of the keyword to which they are related, plus three other abilities at 13, and 15 points to spend raising up any ability that the sidekick has.