In general, the numering and bulleting buttons are a shortcut to confusion <g> First stop for any information on more robust numbering is Shauna Kelly's invaluable site: try, specifically, http://www.shaunakelly.com/uncategor...numbering.html

Not sure why you mention character formatting: a paragraph style (such as a heading) includes the character settings. You don't normally need to apply a character style over the top of a paragraph style.