This is a cross post from the Kenzer&Co forums. This is an example of character creation and later in the thread I'll post an example of him going up a level.

I'm making up a new character for our Wed night game with the HackCooks and I decided to start a thread detailing his creation and level advancement for example purposes. My Commentary/Thought process during creation will be in Italics

Character Made with PHB Beta ver 1.11

His name will be "Hammer." At least that's the name he goes by around humans.
Original Rolls:

Str: 14/04
Int: 8/95
Wis: 10/75
Dex: 13/80
Con: 9/45
Lks: 15/63
Cha: 16/66

Pretty good rolls. Probably the best character I've rolled so far. Definite Fighter material. Nice Lks/Cha, going to be a "Leader-type". Going to keep all stats in order of rolling them.

BPs= 90

Race Dwarf:

Rolls adjusted for race:

Str: 14/04
Int: 8/95
Wis: 10/75
Dex: 13/80
Con: 13/45
Lks: 13/63
Cha: 14/66

Spent 2 BPs to bring Int up to 9/05 and 5 BPs to bring Dex up to 14/05.

Str: 14/04
Int: 9/05
Wis: 10/75
Dex: 14/05
Con: 13/45
Lks: 13/63
Cha: 14/66

BPs= 83


Quirks/Flaws:

1st Q/F:
Rolled: 840
Slight Limp

+5BPs


I can take that. My vision for the character is a Front Line grunt, he's just going to be a little slow now.

2nd Q/F:
Rolled: 986
Trick Knee

+25 BPs(30-5BPs for being the second Q/F)s

Ouch! Going to be "Tricky" with this, but again I envision him being a Frontline "Shield Wall" type character. Let the other characters be the flankers or dancers. That's enough Q/Fs for me.

BPs=113

After Q/Fs and all other things that might affect stats and adjusting Cha for Lks, stats are:

Str: 14/04
Int: 8/95
Wis: 10/75
Dex: 13/80
Con: 13/45
Lks: 13/63
Cha: 15/66

BPs=113
+10 Bonus BPs for Cha skills

Class: Fighter -20BPs

93 BPs(+10 BPs for Cha skills)

Free Skills&Prof due to Race and Class:
Shield
Light Armor
Med Armor
Heavy Armor
Minimal Skill Weapons
Appraisal(Armor&Weaponry)
Mining
Language(Dwarf)
Laborer

Skills/Talents/Prof purchases(BP Costs):


Battle Axe: 1 BPs
Throwing Axe: 2 BPs
Maintenance: 5 BPs
Phalanx Fighting: 5 BPs
Etiquette/Manners(Dwarven): 3 BPs
Hiking/Road Marching: 4 BPs
Attack Bonus(Battle Axe): 5 BPs
Swiftblade (Battle Axe): 5 BPs
Parry Bonus(Battle Axe): 5 BPs
Damage Bonus(Battle Axe): 5 BPs
Battle Axe Spec(Attack+2): 15 BPs
Battle Axe Spec(Speed+1): 5 BPs
Battle Axe Spec(Parry+1): 5 BPs
Battle Axe Spec(Damage+1): 5 BPs
Language(Merchant): 2 BP
Language(Kalamaran): 2 BP
Language(Renariaan): 2 BP
History, Anct: 1 BP
Rope Use: 2 BPs
Swiming: 1 BP
Intimidation: 2 BPs
Observation: 8 BPs (2 purchases)
Current Affairs: 2 BPs

Cha BPs spent on:
Distraction: 1 BPs
Oration(3 purchases): 3 BPs
Persuasion: 3 BPs
Recruiting: 3 BPs

Basically, this is going to be a Fighter/Leader type with a few other skills. Swimming is something that I almost always take. Character sheet and background to follow.

Final character sheet when I started playing him:

Name: Hammer
Race: Dwarf
Class: Fighter
Q/Fs: Trick Knee, Slight Limp


Str: 14/04| Damage Mod= +2 | FoS=+5 | Lift=235 | Carry=19/39/77/116 | Drag=588
Int: 9/05 | Attack Mod= -1 |
Wis: 10/75| Init Mod= +2| Def Mod= 0| Save Mod=0
Dex: 14/05| Init Mod= 0 | Att Mod= +2| Def Mod= +2| Save Mod=+1
Con: 13/45| Save Mod= +1|
Lks: 13/63| Honor Mod= +1|
Cha: 15/66| Honor Mod= +2| Turn Mod= +5| Morale Mod= +3


Prof:
Shield
Lt Armor
Med Armor
Hvy Armor
Etiquette/Manners(Dwarven)
Laborer
Maintenance
Hiking/Road Marching
Phalanx Fighting
Minimal Skill Weapon(Club)
Battle Axe
Throwing Axe


Talents:
Attack Bonus(Battle Axe)
Parry Bonus(Battle Axe)
Swiftblad(Battle Axe)
Damage Bonus(Battle Axe)


Weapon Spec:
Battle Axe(Att) +2
Battle Axe(Def) +1
Battle Axe(Speed) -2
Battle Axe(Damage) +1


Skills:
Appraisal(Armor&Weaponry)19
Current Affairs: 31
Distraction: 28
History, Anct: 14
Intimidation: 19
Language(Dwarf): 67
Language(Merchant): 27
Language(Kalamaran): 9
Language(Renariaan): 11
Mining 21
Observation: 26
Oration: 31
Persuasion: 22
Recruiting: 24
Rope Use: 25
Swiming: 20
not listing Universal Skills

Money: 5sp, 6cp, 5tc (rolled 40sp)
Equipment:
Battle Axe 5sp| 3.5lbs
Sm Shield 15sp|
Leather Armor 2sp|
Belt, Leather .05sp(5tc)
Belt Pouch, Small .1sp(1cp)| 1lbs
Flask, metal 2sp| .25lbs
Belt Pouch, Large .3sp(3cp)| .5lbs
Spike, Iron(3) .1sp(1cp)| .5lbs(in L.Pouch)
Backpack 1.8sp(18cp)| 3.5lbs
Mess kit 1sp| 6lbs
Ax-Hammer .7sp(7cp)| 1lbs
Rope, Hemp 50ft .4sp(4cp)| 10lbs
Wool Blanket .2sp(2cp)| 3lbs
Torch(6) .1sp(1cp)| 5lbs
Tinderbox .1sp(1cp)| 1lbs
Trousers(wool) .3sp(3cp)
Tunic(wool) .2sp(2cp
Fish, Salted(3days) .15sp(15tc)| 9lbs
Preserves, Fruit(3days) .15sp(15tc)| 3lbs




Encumbrace: 47.25lbs
Encumbrace(without Backpack): 5.75

Background to follow...

Hammer's Background:
Hammer's family owned a small mine in Karasta, when Kalamar invaded, his father formed a milita company and joined the defending army and Hammer went along as the company runner. They valiantly fought the Kalamaran armies but in the end were routed along with the rest of the defending Dwarven armies. Hammer earned his nickname the first week on campaign when he was told to setup the tents and couldn't find his tent peg hammer. One of the veterans had hid it and the rest of veterans kept him busy looking for a hammer all night long. After that they always called the young one "Hammer" and he learned the dour Dwarves respect with hard work and paying attention to his military skills training. During the months of the long campaign his father put him through training to one day lead the company. Hammer finally got put on the battle line on when the milita company suffered grievous casuluaties and they were putting everyone on the front lines. During the retreat Hammer suffered two critical hits, one to his right knee from a Kalamaran crossbow and another critical to his right thigh muscle from a Hobgoblin sword. Ever since then he has had a permanment trick knee and slight limp on the same leg.
Hammer's family survived the retreat but their milita company was disbanded and they split to seek their own fortunes. Hammer has wandered the shores of Reanaaria for a few months now looking for work as a mercenary.

Alignment: NG
Basic way I'm playing him(So Far), he's a Merc except he won't do anything Evil. He doesn't have a problem working for anyone who isn't overtly Evil, i.e. Evil Priest or Humanoid types. Other than that, he'll work for whomever has the coin and he's willing to be loyal to the contract. He plays as fair as he can, although he'll dirty fight if pressed but he won't go right out and murder someone, unless they are a hopeless Evil, i.e. Goblins.

Now, he'll go up a level soon. So, an example of how I'm probably going to do it:

Advancing a Level gives any character 15BPs to spend.

I'll probably spend them like this:

Specialization:
Battle Axe(Damage) +2: 10 BPs(going from +1 to +2= 10 BPs)

Skills:
Spend the other 5 pts on skills, not sure at this point which ones...

Thanks for that I see how it all holds together.

NP, I'll have to remember to update this as I go up in level...

And anyone who has questions, please ask...

God I hate point buy.
I can just imagine how ridiculously long that would take a newbie to distribute points into, and not to mention that all element of spontaneity or surprise at what you get is lost.

What an absolutely awful choice of direction for them to have gone in.

RPGPundit

I run "Learn to Hack" sessions about 3 or 4 times per year. LTH(Learn To Hack) is what we call 4 Hour sessions where we take new people through character creation and teach the game basics and then run through a short session.

For the average newbie it takes 30 to 45 minutes for character creation with help from an experienced GM, and about 30 minutes to go through game instruction and question/answers about the system. The longest time I've taken was 2 hours to teach the system and create characters.

I think it is a good compromise between random and point buy. It makes it flexible to get a very different character. However, some people get "Analysis Paralysis" lockup.

The system isn't for everyone but it is a system that is loved by many, including the Kenzer&Co Design Team...

Quote from: RPGPundit;519002God I hate point buy.

And yet you don't have a problem with the Point Buy portion of Amber? Interesting...

Quote from: RPGPundit;519002God I hate point buy.
I can just imagine how ridiculously long that would take a newbie to distribute points into, and not to mention that all element of spontaneity or surprise at what you get is lost.

What an absolutely awful choice of direction for them to have gone in.

RPGPundit

I don't mind point buy too much, it's not great for newbies but a good GM and group can mitigate that a lot.  The fractional scores though, not a fan it's just needless complexity to me.


Edit : Ninja'd

The fractional scores give a away for the character's stats to slowly go up over time. Every time the character goes up a level you get a set of dice(1d4p, 1d6p, 1d8p, 1d10p, 1d12p, 1d20p) that you assign to the character's stats, except Looks and the result of the rolls increase the fractional stats.

It also has the effect of expanding the modifiers of each one...

Quote from: greylond;519028The fractional scores give a away for the character's stats to slowly go up over time. Every time the character goes up a level you get a set of dice(1d4p, 1d6p, 1d8p, 1d10p, 1d12p, 1d20p) that you assign to the character's stats, except Looks and the result of the rolls increase the fractional stats.

It also has the effect of expanding the modifiers of each one...

Is that the only way to raise stats beyond the obvious, like magic item adders or spells? No auto raises like 3/4e?  If so, I can buy it.  Pretty elegant in fact.

Quote from: RPGPundit;519002God I hate point buy.
I can just imagine how ridiculously long that would take a newbie to distribute points into, and not to mention that all element of spontaneity or surprise at what you get is lost.

What an absolutely awful choice of direction for them to have gone in.

RPGPundit

I recently starting playing in a HackMaster game, my first one, and I have to say character generation was almost unbearably tedious for me.

Quote from: Marleycat;519032Is that the only way to raise stats beyond the obvious, like magic item adders or spells? No auto raises like 3/4e?  If so, I can buy it.  Pretty elegant in fact.

Correct. That is the only non-magical way to raise stats. For HM it started in HM4 and they just carried it over to the new system. In HM4 you couldn't assign the dice to a stat, each Class had a set system, i.e. Magic-Users always had 1d20p to Int and 1d4p to Str, Thieves always got 1d20p for Dex when they leveled.

Quote from: noisms;519042I recently starting playing in a HackMaster game, my first one, and I have to say character generation was almost unbearably tedious for me.

Yea, that's a personal thing for each player. I'm like many other people I know, including some on the K&Co staff that love going through Character Generation. For example generating a Traveller character is fun for me. Luckily, you can still use the HMb QuickStart Character generation system and have a perfectly playable character. You can download that for free from here;
http://www.kenzerco.com/free_files/HMb/HMb_quickstart_rules.pdf