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Skip Navigation LinksHigh Fantasy HERO>Conversions>D&D>D&D 3rd Edition>Eight Conversion Steps>Finishing Touches
STEP 7: Finishing Touches

D&D 3e to HERO System Conversion Steps

Step 1: Available Points Step 2: Characteristics Step 3: Character Race Step 4: Character
Profession(s)
Step 5: Gear, Followers,
Property
Step 6: Disadvantages Step 7: Finishing
Touches
Step 8: Character
Approval
By this step you should have converted your Character's Characteristics, selected a Race Package Deal, either taken one or more Profession Packages or modeled any Class abilities directly, translated mundane gear into HERO System equivalents, converted Magic Items by modeling their effect with HERO System Power Constructs, detailed any Followers or Companions, and figured out how to express your Character's personality, quirks, and history via Disadvantages. However, there are still a few things left to do.
Concept Check
First off, go back and review your Character's D&D 3e and HERO System Character Sheets, and make sure you have covered everything important. If you missed something, take the time now to make any necessary revisions.
Secondly put the Character Sheets down and think about the Character in terms of how they appear in your imagination. Consider the totality of the Character as you envision them in your minds eye. You know what they are supposed to be good at, and you know what they've pulled off before in the past. All numbers and stats and mechanics aside, will the new version of your Character expressed in HERO System terms be able to at least match (if not exceed) your expectations? If not, you need to reconsider your conversion and make adjustments.
Opportunity: I've Always Wished My Character Was More Like...
Unless your GM is determined to do a literal as possible conversion between the two game systems, they should be at least somewhat flexible to adjusting your Character away from a direct interpretation of their D&D 3e abilities towards something more inline with the vision you've always had for them.
After all, that's one of the primary benefits of using the HERO System -- the flexibility to build Characters with practically any ability you can dream of. Keep in mind however that while your GM might be amenable to tailoring your Character to make them more interesting and fully realized, if you abuse their trust by power gaming the system or aiming to make your Character unbalanced / unfair they will be less likely to be tolerant.
Opportunity: Adjusting Figured Characteristics
At this point you may have a few points left over. A good place to spend them is in adjusting your Character's Figured Characteristics. For example, you may want to round off your character's Speed, bump up Recovery, fatten up Endurance, etc.
However, try to avoid tweaking your Character's Primary Characteristics to take advantage of point recursions. If this practice is commonplace, all Fantasy HERO Characters tend to polarize on a few "sweet spot" increments in various Characteristics, which robs them of a lot of their individualism and flavor.
Opportunity: Quirks and Personalization
You may want to take the opportunity to throw a few points around into unusual, quirky, and distinguishing abilities. Such abilities shouldn't be powerful, or even necessarily terribly useful, but they do serve to give the character some uniqueness.
Perks, positive Reputations, Favors, some of the less expensive Talents, a Familiarity with an off-Profession Skill, an unusual Weapon or Transport Familiarity stemming from the Character's past exploits, and the variant Resistance Talents that work vs. various Interaction Skills are all cheap options to add a little flavor to your Character.
You could also take the opportunity to spend any extra points bumping a key Skill up a +1, or upgrading an All Combat Skill Level to an Overall Level.
Problem: I Spent Too Many Points
It's possible that in your attempts to convert your Character you exceeded the points available to you. It could be that you simply went overboard and made your Character too "uber" and the point total is correctly showing that you've overrun your boundaries.
On the other hand, its also possible that your Character simply had a combination of higher than average statistics in D&D 3e, Multi-classed heavily, had a more potent than usual Feat chain, had levels in an overpowered prestige class, had too many and / or too powerful Magic Items, or something similar. That's one of the advantages to using a point based game system where the costs for effects are exposed and measurable; Characters that are over advantaged become apparent.  
First off go back and try to shave some points and practice some self-policing. Target some fringe abilities or items that are not crucial to your Character's core concept and cut them, or lower the level of effect of some abilities so that they don't cost as much.
If you still can't get under your point limit, check with your GM to determine what course of action they wish to take to balance the character.
NOTE: Generally speaking an overrun of 15 or so points is probably within an acceptable range of error, particularly if such a Character has less gear than other Characters in the group. A GM could also make special allowance by letting the PC enter play with more points, but award Experience to cover the "XP-debt" until such extra points were paid off.
Problem: I Converted Everything And Still Have Lots Of Points
Everyone wishes they had this "problem".
On the one hand its possible that you've overlooked something or not given your Character their due in some key area. On the other hand its possible that you didn't power game the heck out of your Character in 3e, abuse the many and various power up options, take advantage of Multi-classing, had a DM that was stingy with the swag, had below average statistic rolls, or otherwise just got the short end of the stick in D&D 3e.
Good news! You now get to correct for these inequities in the HERO System. You might want to have your GM review your converted Character first just to make sure those points shouldn't go to something else you forgot to model, but if they really are extra points then feel free to spend them to improve your Character in any way your GM is ok with.
Problem: My Character Has Lost One Or More Key Abilities
As with any conversion, there will be a few things that don't quite line up exactly the same between the two game systems. In general when converting in a Character that has seen play in D&D consider the things that the Character has actually done in game play rather than the things that they theoretically could do.
If there are key things that your Character has done during actual game play at some point in their past using the D&D mechanics that they simply would not be able to do anymore in the HERO System (which isn't founded in some game mechanic that is completely not relevant to the HERO System), then consult with your GM and make a case to them about the discrepancy, appealing to their sense of continuity. Your GM might be willing to work with you to address the situation. However, you should be sensitive to the bigger picture and realize that there are some things that are simply too rooted in D&D mechanics that have no meaning in the HERO System; in those situations you can take some solace in the fact that your Character isn't being singled out for specific punishment.
When you are satisfied, check all your math and make sure your Character is legal, then move on to Step 8.
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