Character Creation: Toon!

Here, hold my anvil. 

The Game: Toon
The publisher: Steve Jackson Games
Degree of familiarity: Not much. I've played it once or twice, but I was probably 14 at the time. Wait, I remember playing with Mike Robinson, so I had to be at least a junior in high school, so more like 16 or 17. Still, it's been a long while.
Books required: Just the core, though there are more sourcebooks than I thought.

 
Toon simulates the old Warner Brothers cartoons more than anything else. You run around, do crazy stuff, and anything that hurts you can make you Fall Down, but that's about it. You can make series play out of it, but it's not a bad game to throw together last minute (and it works OK for younger players, too, since they have the necessary media exposure, most times). Anyway, since I don't have much of an idea, I shall proceed randomly for now.

A roll on the Species Table gives an "owl." I dig that. Owls in cartoons are generally intelligent (or intelligent-seeming) and curious. Thinking about that, I like the idea of an owl character that hangs on every word you say. Every. Single. Word. He's impossibly enthusiastic about everything and everyone. Not much of a fighter, I think, but faster than a speeding speedy thing and probably decent with Smarts.

Now I've got a concept, I don't bother to roll for my Attributes. I get 14 points to divvy up among Muscle, Zip, Smarts and Chutzpah.

I'll put 2 into Muscle, 5 into Zip, and 4 into Smarts and 3 into Chutzpah. I roll a virtual d6 and get a 2, so I have 8 Hit Points.

The book asks for a description next, but I think I'll do more concepty stuff first.

Natural Enemies: None. Other folks might see me as an enemy, but they're just misunderstood, really.

Beliefs & Goals: "Everything is the best thing ever!" (My character is too enthusiastic for his own good.)
"I want to know all about the best thing ever!" (See point one.)

Possessions: What do I keep in my Back Pockets? I want a camera with a huge flash bulb, a flashlight (which is absurd, because I can see in the dark - I keep forgetting!), a copy of Everything by Asmar T. Pants, an inflatable raft, and a gizmo.

Skills: I get 30 points to increase my Skills. What's my owl good at? Well, definitely Dodge, so I'll spend 4 points and bump that to 9. Also Read (4 points, for 8), See/Hear/Smell (4, for 8), Sneak (6, for 9), Climb (7, for 9). With my last 4 points, I buy the Flying Schtick (I'm an owl, after all). It starts at level 5. All my other Skills begin at the controlling Attribute level.

Description: My owl is small, cute and brown. He's got big, innocent-looking eyes that shine with love for everything around him. He doesn't wear clothes (though he's not above feeling embarrassed if someone points that out to him), and when he flies, Falls Down, or runs off, he loses a few feathers.

Finally, a name. My owl's name is Peabody. In cartoons, he's generally hanging upside down from a branch, staring someone in the eye, or perching on the nearest chair back/shoulder/statue/bad guy's head, listening rapt to every word.