Creating your own special characters.

[Pariah mk.231]

I've noticed alot of people making special characters that are far too powerful or unbalanced. I'm going to share with you here my techniques for making special characters that are relatively balanced. This should help anybody who wants to make a special character, but doesnt really know how to go about making a balanced one.

First, think of something you would like to see on the battlefield. Think of what you want that character to be like. Think of why he is like that, what happened to him (or her) that made them end up that way. Write a brief summery of what your character is suppossed to be.

Second, take an existing hero or lord choice to begin with, give him some normal gear and magic items from the standard list, have some points left over for magic allowance, dont go spending it all. You can if you want, but anything over the normal limit should cost an extra 25% on top of the normal cost.

Third, invent a unique magic item for them to carry that personalises who they are. The key here is to keep it simple, dont make an item that can destroy entire slayer units or slay a mighty chaos lord in a single round of combat. Try not to immatate something an existing special character already has, Archaon's Sword for example. If you want to, you can make 2 unique items, but I'd make this the limit.

Forth, think of what you want to have about your character that makes him different from everybody else. My example is Marlus Chi Kai, a renegade Dark Elf navel commander who follows Khorne, who saw that one coming?
Give him a few rules that make him unique and really stand out, but again, dont go over the top. 4 special rules is the maximum I set myself.

Fifth, set a points value, I usually add up all the points of what I've already given him, add 15 points for each special rule I've given him if its typical to that race, or 30 if its not, and 20 points for any statistic increase.

Lastly, and I believe most importantly, Write a history for your character, just like those in the Army Books.

I hope this helped people with their creations, and if possible, could the Mods please make this a sticky topic to easily help more people in the future.

[Pariah mk.231]

I used the technique I've detailed above to create this special character.

In brief, his name is Marlus Chi Kai (hence the forum name), and he was born into slavery when his mother was captured in a Slaanesh raid. He was claimed by the tribes leader as her son and survived by this alone. Years later he escaped and was guided by Khorne (yes khorne, not khaine) and became a mighty warrior in the wastes, establishing his own tribe. He led his tribe to Naggaroth only to have it slaughtered for him to be allowed entry. He assassinated his way to the top of the house he was recruited into and began his career as a navel commander, raiding the coast of Brettonia and Tilia. He then set up a fortress on the northern coast of the badlands to save time on travel, and there he remains.

Marlus Chi Kai(Lord) 320 points.
M Ws Bs S T W I A Ld
5 7 6 4 3 3 8 4 10

Equipment: Blood Armour, Skull Mask of Khorne, Blade of Blood Lust, Sea Dragon Cloak.

Special Rules:
Blade of Blood Lust; This is a large bastard sword made of black iron and covered with runes of Khorne, which craves the blood of all creatures. It requires both hands and adds +1 strength to Marlus and allows him to re-roll all failed to wound rolls in the first round of combat.

Skull Mask of Khorne; This mask is the skull of an elf that Marlus escaped the Slaaneshii tribe with. Khorne prompted Marlus to kill his friend in his name and he would grant him his power. The Skull Mask causes Fear. In addition, it allows Marlus to look into 1 enemy unit per turn within 12" and see what magic items are contained within the unit, and who carries them.

Mark of Khorne; Marlus is subject to frenzy and has Magic Resistance (1) (While he doesnt have any items to resist the magic, Khorne has assigned one of his daemonic minions to watch over Marlus and protect him from magic).

Hates High Elves; Obviously.

Hates Slaanesh; After being a slave to a Slaaneshi warband for 25 years, you would too.

Limited Sorcery; Marlus' army may only include 1 sorceress (not high sorceress). This is because he hates magic just like all of Khornes followers, but reconises the need to have somebody around to suppress enemy magic (theres also the fact that Marlus' wife Arrissa is a sorceress, so Marlus has allowed her to continue her practices).

Renegade; Marlus' army may not include a unit of Black Guard, and executioners become 0-1.

[Darkfeather]

Nice, I really like it. I tried making a special character when I was using wood elves in 5th ed, but i had real trouble with the points costs of magic items (which i ended up having to use existing items points values as guieds for different abilities), however the main trouble I had was the value assigned to stats increases. Any chance of an insight into the mechanics behind the points values you assigned to things such as stats increases and special rules?

Other than that, I like it

[Gnosis]

Any chance of an insight into the mechanics behind the points values you assigned to things such as stats increases and special rules?

For stats increases, you could look at the costs of Dwarf Runes. That's the simplest way I know it.

I once made two special characters for the late Ulthuan.org, but they got deleted there, and I don't have them on this pc either.

[The ever prince]

thast cool but your guys still unbalanced not costing enough points maybe 390
thats wat i think

[Pariah mk.231]

It was an example, and i made some modifications to the guidelines but didnt update the character. He should be 320 points. Remember that drawbacks and limitations shouldn't cost extra, they reduce the cost slightly, and Marlus has 2 limitations. But again, he's just an example, and I'm not going to use him.

@ Ever Prince, 390?! he's not better the Malus Darkblade, or Shadowblade, so he shouldn't be more. I dont just estimate a price, I actually tally it up and get an accurate cost.

@ Monarch, yes, that's pretty much the way I figured it.

[Lord kherith]

I have made a few characters that seem quite fair to me, using my own points scheme that is very similar to this one. Hopefully, i will playtest them and see just how fair and good they are.

[Sneaky]

Why the hell isn't this Stickied? Fixed.

[Pariah mk.231]

Thanks Sneaky. People can now look at this when they're making a special character so we dont have to see too many more Uber-characters anymore.

[Deathangel_321]

Really great ideas here. I could never be bothered to do a special character before!

mmm... khorne-licious!

---

Hmm... now to finish off my blackspine mountain shade army, and addd a new special character!

[Sotek]

@Marlus: I think your SC should be around 300pts...
anyway this was needed a lot of people make a wrong SC...

Sotek

[Tayrod]

Ah, a very nice post Marlus Chi Kai, I think I might take advantage of this, If I do, I'll be sure to run the charachter by you to hear your oppinions, if you dont mind, that is.

[Darmort]

Name: Brunnor
Points Cost: 450
Class: Lord Battle Standard Bearer
Army: Empire
Stats:
Weapon Skill: 8
Ballistic Skill: 4
Strength and Toughness: 4
Wounds: 3
Attacks: 4
Inititive: 7
Leadershp: 9

Banner of Stone, Full Plate Armour, Cloak of Ulrik, Barded Warhorse.

Banner of Stone

Made by Dwarves for Brunnor when he saved one of their Enigeers from death, he carries it into battle.

The Banner of Stone gives +1 Toughness and Magic Resistance (1) (new toughness cannot be used for toughness tests)

Cloak of Ulrik

Made by one of the Children of Ulrik for Brunnor after he helped kill a Tzeentch Warband.

this Cloak gives a +1 Armour Save to Brunnor, (this also mounts up onto any other armour he has) and it gives him a 5+ Wrd Save.

Rules

Second General

Brunnor is as brave as an Elector Count and counts as a General, although there must be aother General presant and he only has a 6" Leadership Radius (instead of a 12" Leadersip Radius)

Born to Battle!
Brunnor and his unit NEVER run from a fight, no matter what, they can nly chose the stand and fight option when chaged and count as Immune to Psycholigy (Spelling Please), (But this does mean he can be swarmed into combat by a unit of 50 Goblins and not be able to do anything about it)

Banner Lance

Brunnor has een using banners as lances for his whole life, and is able to use his banner as a lance when charging, gaining a +2 Strength bonus, or when charged, a +1 strength bonus.

[Sirius dragonbrood]

I like the idea, I'll probly use it some time in the future, i'd like to create a version of the tomb prince tutankahnut as he has a cool background

[Darmort]

OK, another character.

Name: Mortemer
Type: Dark Elf
Class: Hero and Lord
Points: 400
Stats:
Movement: 5
Weapon Skill: 8
Ballistic Skill: 6
Strength: 4 (6)
Toughness: 3
Wounds: 3
Attacks: 5 (6)
Inititive: 9
Leadership: 10
Equipment: Axe of Black Steel, Armour of Dark Valour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Repeater Crossbow.

Magic Items

Armour of Dark Valour.
A spirit of an old Druchii fought and died in this suit of armour, just before he died, his soul was locked into the armour, protecting it's wearer

The Armour of Dark Valour is a suit of Heavy armour giving 5+ Armour Save, and also gives a 5+ Ward Save

Axe of Black Steel
an Axe found in Lustria after Mortemer's fight with Lizardmen, he slew an Oldblood in combat and gained the weapon from the beast, no one knows any more History about the axe

The Axe of Black Steel gives the user +2 Strength, it also gives +1 Attack to Mortemer's profile.

Special Rules

Eternal Hatred: See Black guard Revision
Born A Warrior: Mortemer excelles at fighting anywhere and any time.
Mortemer and the unit he joins gain, Enemy units cannot gain Flank and Rear Charge Bonus' in combat.
Corsair/Black Guard Pirate:
Mortemer is not only Black Guard, but also a Corsair.

[Blood shade]

thres a pretty neat character creator under articles in da warpath site

[Mitharath]

Special character to my Witch Flyeress.

Nimrla the Tample Hag.

"Nimrla is Hag of Tample of Art of Flying. She was the first Hag in ruin of old Tample. She choose the most healthly Dark Pegasus and she trained it herself alone. No-one have seen when Dark Pegasus named by Nimrla Dark Horn and his lady trained, however no-one who survive it. But in fight her Pegasus are surprising 'couse of subtle techniqes and swift moves that no other Pegasus can do.
Nimrla was the first Hag of Tample and all Tample obey her. She often led Witch Flyeress in the battle"

count as one Lord.

300pts

Fan'reinah
M5 WS9 BS4 S4 T3 I8 A3 Ld10
Dark Horn
M8 WS4 BS0 S4 T4 I6 A2 Ld6


Equipe:
Soulreaper- blade made from Dragon horn and enchanted by Morathi herself, this spear can slay even the biggest enemy by one well blow.
Soulreaper give Killin' blow on 5 and 6 when Nimrla is charging.
Black Amulet

Special rules: the same as Witch Flyeress.

Good?

[Pariah mk.231]

Glad to see people are taking advantage of my ideas.
I could post some more of the characters I've made, but I'm too tired, so I'm heading off to bed now.

Yeah ... I know, bed. I know I never used to go as early as 2AM, but it's a thing I do now that I work.

Maybe I'll post tomorrow if I get online, if not tomorrow, then the next night ... if I remember.

[Viciousness unkown]

The Cursed Lord Dakarath

Born unto one of the great familes in Ghrond. He was always set for a great destiney. He was a fanatical supporter of the witch King. When he came of age instead of taking up duties he joined the Black Guard. He rose in the ranks unitil he was second only to Kouran. However Dakarath was gifted in the dark arts. He had harboured this for many years never revealing it to any elf. It was discovered however by one of his underlings. He was sentenced to death. He however escaped from the grasps of the soldiers he once lead and travelled through Naggaroth till he reached Ghrond. He was taken in by the sorceress's convent. He recovered and now leads the convents armies on in the old world. He still one day hopes to gain revenge on the men that betrayed him.


Lord Dakarath is effectivly a Dark Elf Highborn he costs 370 points and takes up a lord choice

m 5
Ws 7
Bs 6
S 4
T 3
W 3
I 8
Ld 10

equipment
special Halbred(need a name for this) sea dragon cloak heavy armour and rides a chariot

halbred: it follows all the rules of a halbred but it also negates armour save
Phisically and mentally scared: causes terror and is stubborn
Buring hatred: hates the black guard and makaleith but comtinues in every round of combat
hates high elves
magic: he has limited magic ability he can cast a bound version of doombolt (same as wand)

with dakarath you may not include black guard or adepts of Khaine and must have a sorceress per 1000 pts

[Anaryin]

I hate to do this...

Why the Cloak?

Why the terror?

Why not hating dark elves in general?

Why would the sorceresses take him in?

[Pariah mk.231]

I'm joining Anaryin on this one.

Why would being physically and mentally scarred make him cause terror?
Stubborn sure, but not terror.

How did he manage to join the black guard?
You're raised from birth in the black guard, you dont just decide to join when you come of age. It's not like being a corsair or an executioner.

Why WOULD the sorceresses take him in?
He's an enemy of Malekith, and they're his servents, they're not going to go against him because some enemy of their lord has some magical abilities.

I'm a firm believer that you should only take an item if it represents the characters style.
i.e. A corsair general would have a sea dragon cloak, but not an ex-black guard turned sorcerer.

You need to try to make a character that an opponent would agree to play against, otherwise you just have a waste of time with a reciept to prove it.

[Nekris]

As I recall in some quite old polish wargaming magaizine I`ve found poits costs of upgrading stats... It`s balanced, as I have already tried out it in my games. So hope this will have some you to you all...

M: +40 pts
Ws: +20 pts
Bs: +10 pts
S: +20 pts
T: +50 pts
W: +50 pts
I: +5 pts
A: +20 pts
Ld: +30 pts

Take an ordinary statline of appropriate hero or lord and simply change his stat line modifiyng his points cost with the values from above.

And some piece of advice from me... Don`t make more than two upgrages of one stat. That makes the character overpowered.

Also, I can give points costs of some special abilities:

Re-rolling all missed attacks - 20 pts
Frenzy - 35 pts
Move-or-Fire weapon is no longer Move-or-Fire - 10 pts
Enemy loses one attack - 20 pts
No long range modifiers - 10 pts
Cause fear - 30 pts
Re-rolling ranged attack - 10 pts
No movement penalities (hard or very hard terrain) - 10 pts
Double attack at charge - 20 pts
Immune to fire attacks - 5 pts

Hope this helps...

[Angel of algebra]

right, i'm makin my own special character, and he has a special weapon that has a choice of effects (like the wardancers dances, dryads aspects, and eltharions fighting styles) and i was wondering how i would price it. i didnt think i should add the costs of all the effects together, or just charge for 1, so how should i do it

If it helps, ive made it so that all the different effects would cost 50pts each.

[Halbarad]

here is one i came up with a while ago, he is pretty balanced from what i have tested and though his points seem very high he is worth it.

Halbarad the Black – Lord of Reural task force

Halbarad currently leads Reural task force, the biggest grouping of black arks and support craft in the entire Druchii navy. The force is always leading or involved in every invasion and raid on Ulthuan as this is Malekith’s own personal fleet group when he is not riding Seraphon. The ships that make up this group are rarely gathered together, as they are always raiding every country in the world from far Arabay and distant Cathay to the coasts of Lustria and the Empire bringing back slaves for their master. Since his appointment as commander of the task force, over five hundred years ago, Halbarad has unceasingly fought both his hated kin, the High Elves, and the weaker mortals. Although nowhere near as famous outside of Naggaroth as Tullaris of Har Ganeth or Kouran of the black guard, he is in fact on of Malekith’s most trusted generals.
Halbarad has fought for the Witch-King since before the war of the sundering, over 5000 years ago. Upon his appointment as the commander of the fleet, Halbarad was given the original Executioners Axe, which is shorter than the one wielded by Tullaris. He has also gained a one of a kind leviathan cloak, which he crafted for himself having slain the great beast in single combat.
Having joined the militia at the young age of 50, Halbarad moved up the ranks following a number of battles against the Orcs and Skaven in what is now the empire and Brettonia but was at the time scattered with elven cities and outposts. With in only a few decades he had become captain of a Hawk ship and had successfully commanded a large force of elves in the scouring of the woods of the empire showing his tactical brilliance even at such a young age.
At the battle of Tor-Anroc, Halbarad led his unit of personally trained corsairs in an assault of the flank of the High Elf battle line smashing through the ranks of spearmen and pushing on to the archers and bolt throwers slaughtering almost 1500 men single handed. He also participated in the rear guard action following Malekith’s fall in the shrine.
Over the millennia that Halbarad has fought he has developed his own combat style, which is a combination of every known fighting style any living, or unloving, creature knows. Many of his former teachers would have remarked at this ability to wield any weapon you gave him, were it not for the problem that he had killed them once each one had taught him all they knew.
Halbarad is also currently helping the Witch-King plan the next full scale invasion of Ulthuan, which they intend to be the last, he is also seeking an opponent worthy of his skill, he believes that Prince Tyrion may be that person. With the coming invasion of the old world by Archaon, Halbarad knows that they will at last get vengeance of the past and will crush the white tower beneath the towering might of Naggarond when it settles upon the crushed remains of the high council of Ulthuan.

Halbarad is the leader of the largest task force of black arks and support craft in the entire navy. He may be taken as a lord choice but will also use a hero slot as well. He must be fielded exactly as presented here and may not be given any additional equipment or magic items.

M Ws Bs S T W I A Ld
Halbarad 5 9 7 4 3 4 9 5 10
Corsair 5 5 4 4 3 1 5 1 8

Points: 570pts + 125pts for 10 corsairs with full command, you can increase this unit at the cost of +14pts per corsair.

Weapons: Halbarad wields the Executioners Axe and carries a repeater crossbow.

Armour: Halbarad wears a suit of Runic Gromril Armour, a leviathan cloak and carries a runic shield. This gives him a combined save of 1+

Magic Items

Executioners Axe
Halbarad was presented with this original axe over 500 years ago, upon his appointment as Lord of Reural task force. Since receiving it from the Witch-King himself, Halbarad has wielded it in every raid and invasion, slaying hundreds of enemies. This original version is shorter than the one wielded by Tullaris of Har Ganeth, which has allowed Halbarad to wield it one handed.

Halbarad has used this weapon for so long that he now uses it single-handed. This means that he can use both the axe and a shield in combat and always strikes first, unless his opponent has the same ability in which case they strike in initiative order as normal. The axe also grants Halbarad the Killing Blow special ability in addition to the normal effects.

Gromril Armour
Halbarad had this suit forged by Chaotic Dwarven runesmiths. It has also been imbued with some of the runes used during the War of Vengeance to increase protection against High Elven magic.

Counts as a suit of Gromril Armour (4+). In addition, it grants Halbarad a 4+ ward save and immunity to High, Light and Heaven magic, note this is not a dispel so any other model in the unit are still affected.

Leviathan Cloak
Halbarad personally killed the former owner of this leviathan skin cloak in single combat. The leviathan was very ancient and powerful, but Halbarad felled it with a single blow from his axe.

The leviathan cloak offers greater protection than the sea dragon cloak, it therefore grants Halbarad +2 to armour saves in combat and +3 against shooting.

Special Rules

Task force leader
Halbarad is always the general of your army unless you also include Malekith, whereupon Halbarad will bow to his lord’s superiority. Halbarad must always lead a unit of corsairs who will form his bodyguard. This unit will be stubborn until either Halbarad or the unit dies. If Halbarad is killed, any remaining corsairs are then subject to frenzy instead of stubborn.

Eternal Hatred
Having fought the enemies of Malekith for over 5 millennia, Halbarad has developed a deep hatred of all the races of the old world. In game terms this allows Halbarad to reroll all missed hits in every round of combat regardless of opponent.

[Freebooter]

Hmm wasn't the point of this post that you shouldn't make uber characters? That Halbarad surely looks unhealthly mighty.. 5 Attacks, WS 9 re-roll to hits on every round, 2+ to Wound, Killing blow (or is it JUST strikes first and killing blow), his magic weapon uses only one hand and apparently doesn't strika last either.. 1+ AS, 4+ Ward, Immune to many spells.. Damn Halbarad, that IS wayyyyy too beardy mofo... Even if he costs 570 pts.
I don't like him at all..