An ordinary youth of the steading stepping up, unready but unwilling to stand aside. The Would-Be Hero is the only class whose background choice changes how the sheet itself behaves, so start there.
Your background changes the rules
Pick one at creation. Sled Dog honours all three differently:
Impetuous Youth adds the Come Up Short move to your Moves tab. Nothing else changes — the cost you pick when you use it is a fiction call, applied by hand.
Driven asks you to fill in a purpose, and then Burn Brightly works differently for you. Every other character needs to bank enough XP before they can spend 2 for a +1; you can do it any time. The button on your Stats tab reflects that — where other sheets say "needs 12+ XP", yours says "Driven: any time".
Destined asks for your destiny, and changes Death's Door. When you hit 0 HP the panel that appears on your Stats tab carries an extra line for you: until your destiny is fulfilled, treat a 6- as a 7-9, and a 7-9 as a 10+.
Your purpose and destiny are editable
Driven's purpose and Destined's destiny are picked during creation, but they aren't locked. They're checkboxes on the Character tab, under your background text, and you can change them as the campaign reveals what your character is actually for.
That's deliberate. A Would-Be Hero who knows their destiny in session one usually has the wrong one.
Special possessions
You pick two, and this list is the most personal of any class:
- A good dog — a follower, not an item. They land on your Followers tab with their own HP, damage, instinct, and cost. Name them. Give them tags.
- Personal token — write what it is, and who gave it to you, in its notes
- A heap of expectations — not a thing you carry. It's the town's, and it belongs in Character → Background & story
- Husbandry tools, Smithy, Stoneworker's tools, Tannery
Growing up
The Would-Be Hero is the class most likely to end a campaign as something else entirely. Two things worth doing as that happens:
- Update your instinct. It's on the Character tab and it's meant to move.
- Keep your bonds current. Who you're protecting is the whole engine of this class, and the bond list is where it's recorded.
Where things live
| Thing | Tab |
|---|---|
| Purpose / destiny checkboxes | Character |
| Burn Brightly (always available if Driven) | Stats |
| Death's Door (softened if Destined) | Stats, at 0 HP |
| Your dog | Followers |
| Personal token | Inventory |
| The heap of expectations | Character → Background & story |
| Who holds them (your bonds) | Notes |
Driven and Destined aren't flavour text here — the sheet reads them. If you change one, the buttons change with it.