Given questions raised on the Let's Read thread, I am going to make a PC for SotDL step by step.

This is an incredibly simple process and there are lots of random tables that you can avail yourself on to help jumpstart a concept.

Step One: Ancestry
This is the main decision point at Level 0. There are 6 choices:

1- Humans
2 - Changelings
3 - Clockworks
4 - Dwarfs
5 - Goblins
6 - Orcs

I rolled a 4, so Dwarf it is. The text reads:

QuoteDwarfs are an elder race cursed by the gods for their vanity and doomed to toil and dig in the earth for the treasures they covet. Dwarfs make powerful warriors and priests.

Step Two: Stats
As a Dwarf I get the following stat block:

Starting Attribute Scores: Strength 10, Agility 9, Intellect 10, Will 10
Perception: equals your Intellect score + 1
Defense: equals your Agility score
Health: equals your Strength score + 4
Healing Rate: equals one-quarter your Health, round down
Size 1/2, Speed 8, Power 0
Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
Languages and Professions You speak the Common Tongue, and you speak, read, and write Dwarfish.
Darksight You can see in areas obscured by shadows or darkness within medium range as if those areas were lit. Beyond this distance, you treat darkness as shadows and shadows as lit.
Hated Creature Choose a creature from the Hatred table. Your hatred grants 1 boon on attack rolls made against creatures you hate.
Robust Constitution You take half damage from poison. You make challenge rolls with 1 boon to avoid or remove the poisoned affliction.

I can adjust one Attribute up by 1 by reducing another Attribute by 1. I choose to increase Strength to 11 and reduce Will to 9.

That gets me:

Strength 11(+1), Agility 9(-1), Intellect 10(-), Will 9(-1)
Perception 11, Defense 9, Health 15, Healing Rate 3
Size 1/2, Speed 8, Power 0
Damage 0, Insanity 0, Corruption 0
Languages and Professions Dwarfish (read/write), Common
Darksight
Hated Creature
Robust Constitution

Step Three: Background
Now to the random tables. I get:

Age: You are a young adult, 31 to 50 years old
Build: You have a magnificent belly.
Appearance: You take better care of yourself than most dwarfs and keep your facial hair well groomed.
Hatred: Orcs
Background: You were taken prisoner by the creatures you hate. You lived as a slave for 2d6(9) years.
Personality: Your honor is your life. You would never do anything to bring shame to your people.

Step Four: Professions

You begin with two professions.

I get 1 Criminal and 1 Wilderness.

For Criminal, I get Urchin.

For Wilderness, I get Guide.

Step Five: Equipment

For Wealth, I get:
Wealthy You live very well. You have nice clothes and fine accommodations, and you have probably not gone without for a long time.

This means that I start with the following equipment:

A dagger, courtier's clothing, a cloak, a backpack, a week of rations, a waterskin, a coil of rope, a tinderbox, a lantern, 2 flasks of oil, a healing potion, and a pouch containing 1d6 ss. You also have a shield; an incantation of a rank 0 spell of the GM's choice written on a scroll; or a healer's kit, tool kit, or writing kit.

I go with a writing kit.

For interesting things, I randomly start with:  

A box of cigars or a pipe and pouch of tobacco.

And that's it. We have a Dwarf who, as a young street urchin, was captured by Orcs and made into a slave for 9 years. The PC managed to survive much torture taking some toll on his Will. After escaping, he found that he could make money in guiding others who hated Orcs to their hideouts and villages.

Neat.

Can you take him through advancement to showcase some of that?

I'm with Kamard.  This was fun to watch/read, but I'd like to know more before popping down some bones.

Level 1

OK. First up there is a chance to roll for Warrior Training. I get

QuoteYou spent time in service to a knight as a squire. You learned how to fight, ride, care for your gear, and conduct yourself in a proper and noble manner.

Whilst guiding a group of pro-Imperial bounty hunters against some Orcs, our Dwarf, Helmut, finds himself fighting for his life against a dark cult. After surviving, he becomes committed to doing more than just guiding others to fight darkness. He uses his position and wealth to squire with a famous knight with a reputation for fighting the good fight.

Warrior
Attributes Increase two by 1
Characteristics Health +5
Languages and Professions You add one common, martial, or wilderness profession.
Catch Your Breath You can use an action or a triggered action on your turn to heal damage equal to your healing rate. Once you use this talent, you
cannot use it again until after you complete a rest.
Weapon Training When attacking with a weapon, you make the attack roll with 1 boon.

So, this is what he looks like:

Name: Helmut
Ancestry: Dwarf
Level: 1
Paths: Warrior (Novice)
Strength 12(+2), Agility 9(-1), Intellect 10(-), Will 10(-)
Perception 11, Defense 9, Health 21, Healing Rate 5
Size 1/2, Speed 8, Power 0
Languages: Dwarfish (read/write), Common
Professions: Urchin, Guide, Teamster
Talents: Darksight, Hated Creature (Orcs), Robust Constitution, Catch Your Breath, Weapon Training

Level 2

At level 2, Helmut gets benefits from his Warrior path:

Characteristics Health +5
Combat Prowess Your attacks with weapons deal 1d6 extra damage.
Forceful Strike When the total of your attack roll is 20 or higher and exceeds the target number by at least 5, the attack deals 1d6 extra damage.

Name: Helmut
Ancestry: Dwarf
Rank: 2
Paths: Warrior (Novice)
Strength 12(+2), Agility 9(-1), Intellect 10(-), Will 10(-)
Perception 11, Defense 9, Health 26, Healing Rate 6
Size 1/2, Speed 8, Power 0
Languages: Dwarfish (read/write), Common
Professions: Urchin, Guide, Teamster
Talents: Darksight, Hated Creature (Orcs), Robust Constitution, Catch Your Breath, Weapon Training, Combat Prowess, Forceful Strike

What Expert Path do people want to see for Helmut:

Cleric
Druid
Oracle
Paladin
Artificer
Sorcerer
Witch
Wizard
Assassin
Scout
Thief
Warlock
Berserker
Fighter
Ranger
Spellbinder

In Helmut's fight against Dark Cults, perhaps he comes across a book... It opens up some avenues of dangerous power, but he will only use that power for good and would never ever give in to dark temptations.

So I vote Witch, perhaps unlocking a tradition that will give him Corruption.

 For the greater good of course...

Quote from: Skywalker;860997What Expert Path do people want to see for Helmut:

Cleric
Druid
Oracle
Paladin
Artificer
Sorcerer
Witch
Wizard
Assassin
Scout
Thief
Warlock
Berserker
Fighter
Ranger
Spellbinder

Shadow of the Demon Lord has been a hit with those I've played it with lately.

Here are four character concepts that emerged from a game I ran last week:

- A Human rogue who was a small, seemingly shy and demure girl who also happened to know Dark Speech (the language of demons). Dumah, the nice hag that cried tears of maggots took a shine to her.

- A Clockwork Priest of Battle with a sword grafted to one arm. He was looking for his creator whom he found nailed to a post upside down shortly before the world ended. He had a fragment of a mirror that would show strange reflections. It showed him an image of what was attempting to break through the barrier between worlds and almost drove him mad.

- A Goblin rogue who was a 'hemophiliac'... He rolled 'bizarre fetish' during character creation and we all chose not to interpret that as the physical variety of fetish, so ended up with a goblin who loved to wallow in blood. He was almost killed attempting to resist the mental hooks that the head cultist was using to turn him against his allies.

- The 13 year old Orc stormtrooper (middle age for an orc). He killed things and found a nice suit of armor on a high ranking orc that had died of dysentery. The blood spray from the zombies killing the other looters of the battlefield helped cover the stench with a different stench.

And choice quotes from the evening:

"You make your perception roll with one bane as you are too busy wallowing in the blood on the battlefield."
 
"So the hag said that we needed to get to the General, but she didn't specifically say we couldn't burn him alive in a building right?"

"Since we are both covered in blood anyway, we are going to pretend to be zombies and blend into the horde."

Player:Using my astrology profession I want to see if  the stars look normal.
Me: The stars are gone.
Player: Well is that normal here?
 
"Well we can either use it to make molotov cocktails or if shit gets really bad just drink it while we watch the world end."

Quote from: Skywalker;860997What Expert Path do people want to see for Helmut:

Cleric
Druid
Oracle
Paladin
Artificer
Sorcerer
Witch
Wizard
Assassin
Scout
Thief
Warlock
Berserker
Fighter
Ranger
Spellbinder

Since Helmut's "honor is his life" and he's good in the wilderness and being a guide, Scout is my first choice. Ranger too (I don't know this game and how these roles are defined.) Yes sir, you can always trust Helmut to find the best path through the woods/mountains/swamp and lead you to the orc camps. Damn good tracker he is.

Quote from: Skywalker;860997What Expert Path do people want to see for Helmut:

Cleric
Druid
Oracle
Paladin
Artificer
Sorcerer
Witch
Wizard
Assassin
Scout
Thief
Warlock
Berserker
Fighter
Ranger
Spellbinder

Hmm, I'm with Doughdee. Ranger, Scout, or Fighter seems the way to go for your dwarf, based on "classic fantasy trope names" assumptions.

How much damage does a typical sword do in this game? I am curious how much difference the +1d6 from his level 2 thing makes.