Team Building in Where Heroes Dare!

Now that Where Heroes Dare has hit the stands so to speak, it’s time to look at team building. The following article is an example of how to make your forces up for Where Heroes Dare! and how to personalize them to your own character. The first step is for the players to agree on a set number of points. The article below is for my nefarious forces of the Chinese Mastermind, Kong Fang who will begin with a 600 pt force.

Kong Fang and his Foo Dog

So we begin! I will start with the Lead Character of all this diabolical evil, Kong Fang himself. I’m going to stick to the Pulp and Movie serial archetype of the Mandarin Menace and make him more of a mystic and alchemist, someone who shuns the decadent sciences of the West. I have a total of 70 points worth of Abilities I can take so I’ll stat him out with a greater lean toward his mental prowess with a high Moxie and give him ample skill in Dire Duels. This totals out to 61 points for his abilities.

Next will be the 50 pts of Shticks he is allowed and here is where we see him taken even more shape. I’m going to go with an Animal Companion which will be his Foo Dog, (we’ll get to him next) for 20 pts, an Eerie Laugh for another 20 pts, and Astounding Mind to help him with all those Dare! locations. This uses the full 50 pts worth of Shticks allowed to him.

Last but not least are his Gadgets and Gear, which he has an allowance of 75 pts. First thing he will need is a weapon and I picture him with a dagger dripping with poison in those silk robes, then a Mystic Shroud, and finally a Mystic Talisman that brings him to a total of 71 pts.

The grand total of points for Kong Fang is 182 pts towards the team’s total:

Why did we choose Animal Companion for old Fang anyhow? Well in the Pulps and Serials the Eastern Mastermind often employed exotic and deadly animals bred to kill for their master and what better beast from the East than a Foo Dog?! Now if you look there is no Foo Dog listed in Where Heroes Dare! so I’m going to use the same stats as a Lion which is allowed by the Animal Companion Shtick and which adds another 43 points to the teams total bringing it now to 225 points.

Ying Fang, Kong Fang's Demon Daughter

Everyone knows a family business can be the best business model even if the business is world conquest or at least the destruction of the West and who better to help than your daughter? Ying Fang is our next addition as a Companion Character to help her wicked father. She gets to start with 60 points of abilities and I think we’ll make her a little more balanced than old man Fang leaving her with a total of 56 points.

Now Shticks, and as a the ever alluring Femme Fatale she will have to have Get A Load of Her!, Ace with a Blade for her martial prowess, and lastly Brawler which makes her one tough fortune cookie in Dire Duels. Her Shticks total at 20 points, the full allowance.

A lady needs her things and Ying is no exception. We will give her a sword hidden in those robes and make the robes Ablative Clothing to tie in with her beauty :) Of course we’ll add some Poison, Throwing Knives, and Poison Gas Grenades all for 36 points.

This brings Ying to 112 points for her entire Character total and the Team’s total to 337 points.


Minions! You want to be a boss, your going to need some minions so up next is a group of two Supporters that will have all the same Abilities, Shticks, and Gear.

Pistol toting minions

The Abilities are geared toward shooting since we are going to give them pistols and we come up with 45 points each for the Abilities total.

Shticks will be No Fear and Cold Fish so that they won’t be distracted easily. 10 points each.

Gear will be basic, a pistol and a knife. 4 points each.

So the total for our pistol toting minions is 59 points each or 118 points together which bumps our team total up to 455 points.


So we still have some more points to spend, lets put in two more minions that are built for Dire Duels. Abilities for these guys come out to 38 points each.

Dire Duel minions

Shticks will just be Mad Dog Rage for 5 points each.

Gear will be Knives and Chains for 4 points each.

This puts these bruisers at 47 points each or 94 total toward the teams total points making it 549 points.

Just a few points left, lets add in a submachine gunner as another minion.

SMG Gunner

We need to have his Abilities stripped down so he will be 29 points total for his Abilities.

No points left for Shticks! so 0 points here.

Gear will be his trusty Thompson submachine gun at 20 points.

This adds up to 49 points for our Tommy Gunner and a grand team total of 598 points, just under our 600 points we agreed to!

Now the sinister Kong Fang can take his servants with him in his fight against the opulent West!

Where to go from here…besides adventures :) Well there are pieces I intend to add to this force, maybe some Terracotta Warriors using the Robot Servant rules or a body guard for Ying (she does need to be supervised!). Plenty of areas to expand Fang’s forces. Me, I plan to add some other Animal Companions to swap out old Foo and add some more minions, both shooters and hatchet men. Stay tuned for more action, Where Heroes Dare!

Doc