Heros need personality that will make them into real "Heros" that players actually care about and pay attention to.

How to do this? Here are some ideas:

a. Greed factor - some heroes will ask to be compensated after a battle and if not they will leave the service of their lord.

b. Weapons factor - some heroes will expect their weapons to be upgraded as new weapons and armor becomes available. If you don't the player sees a cyptic comment from the hero - a hint that they should upgrade his armor or weapons.If not they will leave the service of their lord.

c. Experience factor - some heroes give the player a new combat unit design once a specific tech is unlocked. Example - an experienced archer hero might give the player a design for a deadly longbowman once longbow is unlocked.

d. Fear factor - A hero lets their lord know that they have a fear of spiders. If their lord sends them into combat against a spider they may leave the service of that lord.

e. Dungeon Explorers - allow only heros to accompany a lord into a dungeon or ruins - not the lord's whole army.

f. Advice - have the hero's give the players advice - about what technology to research, what the lay of the land is, the personalities of other lords (which should change from game to game). Example an experience archer hero might comment  in a popup - "My lord, archers are worth their weight in gold against infantry"

g. AutoExplore - allow hero's to automatically explore the map - aka GC Scout ships

h. Add more types of heros and allow players to decide how their skills are used and how much resources are devoted to their efforts.

Example: Spy

• Focus on uncovering agents of other lands = chance to prevent enemy spy's from reporting on the defenses of your cities
• Focus on the Kingdom of Gildor = intelligence report on Gildor every x turns.
• etc.

If you give your spy hero 2000GP to focus on the Kingdom of Gildor he can likely give you a very comphrehensive report. If you give him 50GP' the cost of a good shield, its likely that his report will be minimal and inaccurate. Likely if you tell your spy to uncover other spys and you give him only 25GP to do so its likely that he will fail.

Example: Assasin

Can attack a randomly selected enemy heros that are in a city. A player can send a hero to an enemy city; alone, and if that hero successfuly enters the city it has the opportunity to attack a randomly selected hero within that city and engage in tactical combat with that hero.

i. Battle Tactics - Some heros; once they reach a specific level, if put in a an army give units in that army unique battle tactics to execute. Example: Hero Warrior Rasafas at level 1 knows no battle tactics; however, Rasafas at Level 6 knows the shield wall tactic that gives squads or companies equipped with shields under his access to this tactic that gives them +2 defense. Likewise Warriour Higabottom at Level 5 knows the rapid fire archery tactic that allows archer units to file 2x (as opposed to once).

j. Appointments - The player can name a hero a baron, viscount, or duke. Each rank increases the cost of maintaining that hero but also increases his loyalty (i.e. chance not to leave for other adventures) and gives him personal guards that will aid him in defeating any assasination attempts (a duke has more guards than a baron). A hero of rank baron or higher can rule a captured city and allow it to build new improvements. A captured ENEMY city without a lord (baron, viscount or duke) cannot construct new buildings. A baron can govern a captured level 1 or 2 city. Only a duke can govern a captured level 5 city.

k. Magical Ability - some heros have no magical ability and cannot be embuded with essence by their lord, others are skilled at magic but weak in martial combat and a few can do both well.

l. Rally troops - During combat a unit may lose morale and attempt to flee the battefield. Only a hero can expand an action to rally them and bring them back to the battle.