Hero Builder

Build a story character you can identify with in a calm, simple way.
You can change anything until you press Looks good — lock it.
The book uses the locked identity to create the hero.

not started

1Basics

2Hair & Outfit

3Support

4Preview

Step 1 — Basics

Pick the closest options. No perfect answers needed.

Hero Name * Choose a skin tone Pick the closest match. This becomes a stable prompt token behind the scenes.

Freckles

Vitiligo patches

Albinism

Small visible scar

Gender presentation (visual) This is about how the character is drawn, not personal disclosure.

Stature For consistency in scenes. No numbers.

Head covering

Facial hair Teen-appropriate only: light stubble if selected, never a full beard.

Body build (silhouette)

Posture

Hair style

Hair colour

Outfit preset

Palette Lock (optional) Choose exact colours for identity-constant items (headwear, eyepatch, outfit, assistive device). Stored as hex in character.json.

Outfit top colour (locked)

Outfit bottom colour (locked)

Headwear colour (locked)

Use if head covering is selected.

Assistive device colour (locked)

Choose anything that helps the character feel right. Optional, but these can be important anchors.

Eye / face accessories

Eyepatch is always on the left eye for consistency.

Support & mobility

Prosthetic (optional)

Hands (representation)

“Missing two fingers” defaults to the right hand for consistency (non-graphic).

Eyepatch colour (locked)

Only used if eyepatch is selected.

Face style notes (dev-only, optional)

Identity Plate preview. Does this visualise your character the way you want?

Not generated yet

Generation is invite-only to control costs.

Choose the supporting cast while the book gets ready

Pick one aunt and one nurse. Choose Surprise me to let the app randomly select that character. These choices control the master PowerPoint: masterAB.pptx = Aunt A + Nurse B.

Aunt character

Nurse character

Current choice: Surprise aunt + surprise nurse.

Building your personalised book… this usually takes 5–20 minutes depending on load. The grid fills as each hero scene finishes.

Preparing…

Keep this tab open while it runs. If it stops due to a temporary error, you can click Build my personalised book again to resume.

Developer tools (hidden)

Visible for development. In teen mode this will be hidden by default.

Scene prompt mapping (A–E)

How the Hero Builder works (beta)

This tool is part of an active pilot. Everything works, but the experience hasn’t been fully refined yet.

1. Click “Start”
This creates a unique reference for your character so the system knows what belongs to you.

2. Work through the setup steps
There are three pages of options. Pick what feels closest — no perfect answers needed.

3. Generate an Identity Plate
This creates a single preview image and takes around 2 minutes. It incurs a small compute cost for us.

4. Enter the generator password
Image generation is limited to invited testers so we can manage costs responsibly. You can request access directly from the app if needed.

5. Lock the character
When you’re happy, click “Looks good — lock it”. This anchors the character so we can generate the same person from multiple views.

6. Build the personalised book
This step generates all hero images and assembles the book. It costs us approximately £1.50, which is why this stage is limited to authorised testers.

This project exists to help young people see themselves as ordinary, capable protagonists. Thank you for helping us explore it.