Hack 'N' Slash Hero: Character Creation

The Hack 'N' Slash Hero character creation is now open! I've been really looking forward to getting this started – excited to see what people come up with. As mentioned previously, this character creation phase is going to run differently to the previous three adventures. You'll be creating your own individual heroes, many of which will take on the challenge of fighting the dark enemies of the realm of Visgarthia.

Here's how things are going to run. To submit a character, you need to complete these four sections:

• Personal details
• Stats
• Secondary equip
• Constitution

Some of these sections contain fixed sets of choices, others are more open to your creativity. Once you've determined the facts and stats for your character, submit it via Twitter (as a tweet to @tw33t_rpg) or via the comments section below. You can submit as many characters as you want – that way, you can try some different approaches and we'll hopefully end up with a lot of varied heroes.

Personal details – time to get creative! Fill in the required details to flesh out your hero:

• Name – you shouldn't need me to explain this one!
• Race – e.g. human, elf, cyborg, etc.
• Biographical details – feel free to keep this brief or go in-depth. Tell us about your character's personality, history, what weapon(s) they use etc.

Stats – each Tweet RPG hero has three statistics that determine their effectiveness in combat and when facing challenges during the story. They are:

• ATK – the maximum amount of damage inflicted per attack
• DEF – ability to defend against attacks and deal with strength-related challenges
• SPD – character's agility, which effects the order/amount of attacks, and the outcome of speed-related challenges.

When choosing stats for your character, you have a total of 21 points to assign as you wish between these three stats. If you want a completely balanced character for example, you could assign 7 points to each stat. Make sure you use ALL 21 points – your submission will be void otherwise, but I'll follow up any mistakes.

Secondary equip – time for some combat customisation. Feel free to use the abbreviations if you're running low on letters. Pick one of the following options and add your own description for some individual flair:

• Duel-handed [DH] – use primary weapon with both/all hands [+3 ATK, -1 DEF]
• Shield – defensive item equipped in off-hand [+ 3 DEF, -1 ATK]
• Light long-range [LLR] – light long-range weapon [ammo = 10, 50% chance of half HP damage, -1 SPD]
• Heavy long-range [HLR] – heavy long-range weapon [ammo = 6, 80% chance of half HP damage, 15% one-shot kill, -2 SPD]
• Magical item [MI] – magical item held in off-hand [-3HP to all opponents before combat, -1 SPD, -1 DEF]
• No secondary equip - stats unchanged

Constitution – this stage of character creation determines the maximum HP assigned to your character. Choose one of these options:

• Agile – max HP = 14, +2 SPD
• Balanced – max HP = 16
• Tough – max HP = 18, -2 SPD

Here's a submission template that might be useful:

• @tw33t_rpg [name] | [race] | [bio] | ATK: [value] DEF: [value] SPD: [value] | [secondary equip] | [constitution]

And here's an example character submission so you know how things should look:

• @tw33t_rpg Zack Spaceman | Martian | an interstellar bounty hunter, wielding a laser sword | ATK: 6 DEF: 8 SPD: 7 | Plasma Shield | Agile

This example contains 137 characters, so it would fit into a single tweet. However, if you want to write more, feel free to send your submission as multiple tweets (just make sure it's obvious that the tweets are part of the same submission) or use the comments section below to make your submission. You can log in to the comments using a few different social networking accounts.

Almost done! Here's a check-list of things to remember when submitting your hero(s):

• You can submit by tweeting to me (@tw33t_rpg) or by commenting below
• If your submission doesn't fit into one tweet, use multiple tweets but make sure I know they're connected
• There's no limit to how many characters you can submit
• Be concise or write an epic – it's your choice
• Make sure you use all 21 points when assigning stats
• Don't worry about altering your stats in accordance with your 'secondary equip' and 'constitution' choices – I'll sort that for you
• No plagiarism – original creations only
• No offensive language – this is a family-friendly enterprise!

Let me know if you have any questions and make sure you get your submission(s) in before 6pm GMT on Friday 13^th of April. Happy character creating!