Moving on with character concepts for Conan: The Hyborian Age, we come to From the North origin, for those hardy souls who hail from the remote, frozen northern lands.

Characters with this Origin get +1 to all melee damage, as well as a choice of Iron Hide or Charge skills. They also start with the highest base lifepoints.

The archetypical character from this origin is the big, tough barbarian bruiser wielding large weapons while plunging into the thick of battle. Not a lot of subtlety, just hitting things hard until they stop moving.

For stats, the most obvious choice of this build is 6442; 6 in Body, 2 in Wits and 4 in Edge and Grit. A very typical barbarian, all brawn, no brains.

That gives them a Physical Defence of 6, a Sorcery Defence of 5, 4 Stamina and 40 lifepoints.

For the bonus skill, take one of them, then buy the other with your starting XP so you get both. The rest of your XP goes to buying Brawler (increase damage of all melee attacks by 1). No one hits harder than you do.

Gear is simple; great axe, some throwing axes and light armour.

Haakon the Red; Might: 6, Edge: 4, Grit: 4, Wits: 2.
Lifepoints: 43
Stamina: 4
Flex: D10
Physical Defence: 6
Sorcery Defence: 5
Skills: Charge, Iron Hide, Brawler
Armour: Light (3 Armour Rating)
Throwing Axes: +4; 1D6+6, Range: Medium
Great Axe: +6; 1D12+8

And what of a character that goes against the archetype? Lets go in the complete opposite direction. Instead of big and bold and brave, what about a sneaky, smart mouthed, treacherous backstabbing weasel?

For stats, go with a 3535 build. 5 in Edge and Wits, and 3 in Body and Grit. They lack the physicality of their kin, but are quicker in body and mind than normal. That gives 7 PD, 7 SD, 3 Stamina and 38 lifepoints.

Skills are fairly easy; Of the Shadows (for increased stealth and detection) and Assassin (which allows them to use Edge instead of Body for melee attacks with one handed light or medium weapons.) Their origin bonus means they still hit as hard as most with weapons, but are much more accurate with them. For the bonus skill, go with Iron Hide for even more health.

For gear, you won’t want armour really, as it will make sneaking about that more difficult. For weapons, take a short sword for the main weapon, and some daggers for off hand and throwing purposes.

In comparison to a From the Streets character, are only slightly worse at sneaking about, but trade that out for being a fair bit more durable and doing a little more damage.

Bjoran the Sly; Might: 3, Edge: 5, Grit: 3, Wits: 5.
Lifepoints: 41
Stamina: 3
Flex: D10
Physical Defence: 7
Sorcery Defence: 7
Skills: Iron Hide, Of the Shadows, Assassin
Armour: None
Dagger, Thrown: +5; 1D4+3, Range: Medium
Short Sword: +5; 1D6+4

It has been a while, but the character creation examples for Conan: The Hyborian Age are back. The next Origin we are working with is From the Steppes, horsemen from the vast open lands, the mot famous of them being the Hykanians from the east.

Characters with this Origin get +1 ranged damage (one of the few ways to get it), as well as the Born in the Saddle skill, which allows them to fire from horseback without penalty, and even with a bonus if against unmounted opponents, as well and mid range lifepoints.

The archetypical character from this origin is a horse archer who excels at keeping their distance on horseback while unleashing arrows at their foes.

For stats, a 4633 range is good – 4 in Might, 6 in Edge and 3 in Grit and Wits. Despite your skill with the bow, you are still going to need to use melee at times.

That gives a physical defense of 8, a sorcery defense of 5, 32 lifepoints and 3 stamina.

For skills you start with Born in the Saddle, and to this add Eagle-Eyed (+1 damage to ranged attacks) and Of the Shadows (+1 to Edge checks involving stealth or detecting others). You’ll be among the best with a bow around whether mounted or on foot, can hide with the best of them and very sharp of eye.

Gear wise, light armour won’t impede you too much and hopefully you won’t need more than that, and for gear, a saber and a short bow fit the arcehtype,

Tubal; Might: 4, Edge: 6, Grit: 3, Wits: 3.
Lifepoints: 32
Stamina: 3
Flex: D10
Physical Defence: 8
Sorcery Defence: 5
Skills: Born in the Saddle, Eagle-Eyed, Of the Shadows
Armour: Light (3 Armour Rating)
Shortbow: +6; 1D6+3, Range: Long
Sabre: +4; 1D8+4

I admit that trying to find an alternative to the archetype for the origin was a bit tricky at first, given that their bonuses don’t really help anything but mounted archers. In the end, I went with trying to make a Shemite Asshuri, the armoured warriors of the meadow cities of western Shem.

For stats, I went with a 5443 build, 5 in Might, 4 in Edge and Grit and 3 in Wits. Strong and a little slow of thought and personality, but not noticeable so. That gives them 6 PD, 5 SD, 34 lifepoints and 4 stamina.

Skills wise, I went with Charge (1 Stamina, 1 action, make 2 move actions followed by a melee attack action), Hit and Run (1 Stamina, make a Melee Attack Action, followed by 2 Move Actions, counts as only 1 Action), and Iron Hide (increase maximum lifepoitns by 3), giving them a little bit more health as well as some options to move about the battle field.

For gear, go with medium armour, as the Asshuri were noted for wearing scale armour, as well as a shield (increasing PD by 1) and a scimitar to start with. Things like bows, mounts, lances and the like can be used as needed, but he starts out as a decent and tough warrior on foot.

Hakam; Might: 5, Edge: 4, Grit: 4, Wits: 3.
Lifepoints: 37
Stamina: 4
Flex: D10
Physical Defence: 7
Sorcery Defence: 5
Skills: Born in the Saddle, Iron Hide, Charge, Hit and Run
Armour: Medium (5 Armour Rating)
Scimitar: +5; 1D8+5

Moving on the next of the Origins, we come to From the Streets. All the big cities, and even the smaller ones, have these places, where the poor and desperate grow up, crime is rife and those that live there have to do what they can to survive. The underside of civilisation.

Characters with this origin get +1 to edge checks and attacks, and a choice of the Fleet Footed or Of the Shadows skill, but low lifepoints compared to most.

The archetypical character from such places is the weedy, nimble, quick witted thief.

For stats, we will go with 3535 – 5 in Edge and Wits and 3 in Might and Grit. Quick of mind and body, but not the most physical of specimens.

That gives them a physical and sorcery defence of 7 for both, making them harder to target. Base lifepoints on 22 plus 6 from Grit gives them only 28 total. They also only have 3 Stamina.

For skills, go with Of the Shadows for starters, and take Assassin and Fleet Footed with your starting XP. Of the Shadows gives +1 to Edge checks to stealth or to detect it, which stacks with the Origin bonus, meaning they are very stealthy, at 1D6+7 on their rolls. Fleet Footed means they can move around very quickly, with a bonus move action if they take 2 move actions on a turn. And Assassin means they can use Edge instead of Might for melee attack rolls for light or medium one handed weapons. Again that stacks with the bonus from From the Streets. With daggers, short swords and the like, they are very accurate, though they still add Might to damage rolls.

Gear wise, stick with no armour to not impede your movement, a short sword to fighting with and a few daggers for throwing or to use in the off hand.

Astan; Might: 3, Edge: 5, Grit: 3, Wits: 5
Lifepoints: 28
Stamina: 3
Flex Dice: 1d10
Physical Defence: 7
Sorcery Defence: 7
Skills: Of the Shadows, Fleet Footed, Assassin
Armour: None
Short Sword: 1d6+3 damage
Dagger: 1D4+3 damage, Range: Medium

And what about a character that doesn’t stick to the archetype? What about a thug, a brutal enforcer who is more than capable of causing harm to those that get out of line?

For stats, go with a 5452 build; 5 Might and Grit, 4 Edge and just 2 Wits. Muscle bound but not too smart. That gives 6 PD, 5 SD, 32 Lifepoints and 5 Stamina.

For skills, go with Of the Shadows. They can still sneak up on people, and make them regret it if they do. Take Iron Hide, which increase their Lifepoints by 3, and Waterfront Brawler. That makes their unarmed attacks count as Improvised Weapons, meaning they can apply melee bonuses to the attack and make flex rolls on damage. They are actually good with any weapon they can lay their hands on, but if they can’t find any, they can still pummel the enemy.

For gear, at most go with light armour, though no armour works best if sneaking about. But given they are more likely to be in the thick of fighting, they are more likely to need it compared to the thief. For weapons, take whatever you feel like using; bows, swords, spears, axes.

Alcad the Bull; Might: 5, Edge: 4, Grit: 5, Wits: 2
Lifepoints: 35
Stamina: 5
Flex Dice: 1d10
Physical Defence: 6
Sorcery Defence: 5
Skills: Of the Shadows, Waterfront Brawler, Iron Hide
Armour: Light (3 Armour Rating)
Fists: 1d4+5 damage