Hey uh.. how do I make characters like the ones from www.ashenempires.com or from dransik?

Mmh... either this is a very lame plug for a game, or you are possibly not formulating your question clearly enough.
I mean, what do you expect? That we will tell you the secret menu that shows up in Photoshop if you press the right combination of keys?

You could check this...
http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=257345
(which is actually a sticky in this forum) for 2D drawing tutorials. There are some excellent ones in there.

In my opinion you can draw those kind of characters if you:
learn, learn, learn, learn, develope, develope, learn, learn, develope, practice, practice, practice.

:D

And draw as much as you can.

If you cannot draw well, you could try creating 3-D models of your characters and rendering them into 2-D frames.

"If you cannot draw well, you could try creating 3-D models of your characters and rendering them into 2-D frames."

Yes it might work, but bulletproof 3D just needs 2D knowledge.
I still advice: learn drawing (strange, but it can be learnt :D), develope basic skills (forms, lighting, colors) and then change to 3D. You do not have to be the next Vallejo but still some basic knowledge needed for any kind of art to be done.