Depends on what you mean by custom figures. Creating new object files, morphing existing object files, just applying texture to existing characters? As for textures, get the templates for what you want to create a texture for, take it to Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, make it the base layer, then paint your texture on another layer. When you are done hid the base layer and save it. And you now have a texture you can apply in the material room. Go to the top of this page and above and to the right of Forums you will see Tutorials. Click on that and start reading those.