I found (for some of my old PCs) that writing a character narrative that covered the existing abilities, cults etc. worked quite well. I'd advise extending the 100 word limit.
Assigning numbers is harder, but considered a number of formulae and settled on %/3 +6 for old rune level characters. This gives them high masteries or low double masteries for their old masteries and seems to capture the flavour quite well (e.g., 90 becomes 16W).
Base close combat on best attack and parry combination. Add appropriate subskills for any weapons close to the best in ability.
I found that stripping out some special abilities worked out more sensibly (e.g., I did the conversion without Humakti gifts factored in and added the appropriate hero wars gifts in afterwards).
For magic I added up all rune magic (10 points) and spirit magic (5 points), any magic items/abilities I found hard to convert and all magic skills (=%) to get a total. I then used this total (divided by some constant, 3 - I think) as hero points to buy up feats, affinities and "devoted to" type abilities (from base 13). I spent those in a way that reflected the original character up to a sensible ceiling (the highest mundane ability level).
Magic items I either pooled (above) or converted on a case by case basis. For examples, crystals can lend AP in magical contests, have abilities to augment magic resistance or healing and so on.
For wealth I assigned a rating reflecting the cash and lifestyle of the old character.
Allied and bound spirits become magical followers or allies (depending on how independent they are).
Don't be afraid to drop abilities if they aren't core character abilities and don't be afraid to add in sensible new abilities (from keywords etc.).
Thom
N.B. It is important to adjust any forumlae you use to reflect the type of character and game you want to run. If the numbers don't feel right, tweak the formulae to give you a better fit.
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