Character Creation: True20

There are plenty of false 20s, after all.

The Game: True 20 Adventure Roleplaying
The publisher: Green Ronin
Degree of familiarity: Not much. I've played Mutants and Masterminds, but I think when so-and-so ran her Animorphs game she used the d20 Modern rules.
Books required: The True20 Adventure Roleplaying book.

 
If I were to play or run a d20 game, it'd be some stripe of True20. The system removes a lot, though not all, of what I find annoying about D&D of whatever edition. The book also includes four sample settings, which is awesome! And, all four of them look like fun. Rather than creating four characters, however, I'll randomly choose one, since that's what I did with All Flesh Must Be Eaten and that's what I'll do with Terra Primate.

Choosing a number from 1 to 4, I get...three! That gives me the Mecha vs. Kaiju setting. Oh, this oughta be fun. Hang on, gotta read it.

OK. As you've probably guessed, it's based on anime and other Japanese media where big monsters fight dudes in suits of mechanized armor. Sadly, we don't get to play the monsters. Instead, you play a member of the Mecha Assault Force (MAF), put into play after a big monster started tearing up Tokyo.

Let's see. Since there's no random chargen here (yay!) I have to consider concept first, which is how I like anydangway. The setting gives a list of archetypes that are common in anime and sentai and so forth, and although I'm not an anime fan per se, I've watched enough to recognize some of them. So I think I shall play a Rebel.

Fox Kai stole a mecha when he was 13. Yeah, he got in trouble, but not before he made a mess of his home town and went on the best joyride of his life. Already an accomplished thief and used to the shit that authority figures do when you beat them, he took his lashes and laughed it off.

And then the monster came to town, and it didn't just knock over a few buildings or snarl a lot. It flattened buildings. It burned them. It ate people. And Fox knew that only a guy behind the controls of mecha would be able to save them.

That guy...wasn't him. He was just a boy, but when the MAF showed up, they did the job. They weren't authority and they weren't there to throw their weight around. They were just there to take care of business. Fox signed up for the MAF as soon as he was old enough. His instructors hated him, for the most part, but he's shrewd and creative, and good behind the controls. He's just waiting for his day in the sun, when he can take care of business. Meantime, he's the same jackass he always was, only now, he's got his own mech.

OK, let's do numbers! Choosing Ability Scores. Characters in this setting get 10 points, not 6, but I can't go over 5 in any one score. I can take scores negative in order to get more points, though. I know I want high Dexterity and Charisma.

Strength +2
Dexterity +5
Constitution 0
Intelligence +1
Wisdom -2
Charisma +4

My Wisdom sucks, but this is a kid that stole a mech when he was in middle school. Not terribly good in the "common sense" department.

Background Features: Already decided that my Archetype is Rebel, and a race other than Human doesn't make any sense. As a human, I get a bonus feat, a bonus skill, and two favored feats, whatever that means.

Role: Not Adept, anyway (which would be a spellcaster, but I don't see it for this guy). Either Warrior or Expert. I think Expert makes more sense for Fox. That means my core ability is Expertise (I can spend Conviction for temporary Skill ranks, which is nice), I get 4 feats (five, because I'm human) from General or Expert, and I get 9 skills.

Characteristics: I'll take Bold as my Virtue, and Impulsive as my Vice. I start with 3 Conviction.

Skills: I get 9 ranks, and I can't go over 4.

I'll take Acrobatics 1; I'm an anime character, after all. Definitely Bluff 1. Computers 2, duh. Knowledge (Streetwise) 1; I'm a rebel, gotta have that. Pilot 2. Stealth 2.

Feats. I get 5, from either General or Expert.

Well, I need Mecha Operation, first off, and I'd better take Mecha Weapons Training so I don't suck in battle. I'll take Evasion; if I make a Reflex Save against an area effect (like, say, Godzilla breath) I take no damage. I'll take Firearms Training; I'm a Rebel, after all. And, uh, Hell yes I'll take Lucky, since that adds my Charisma to all saving throws.

On that subject, I decide to make my "good" save Reflex. That means my Toughness save is +0, my Fortitude save is +4, my Reflex is a whopping +11 and my Will save is a measly +2.

And I think that's basically it, really. If this were a campaign, I'd ask about what kind of mecha we're using, but that's not an assumed part of the setting, so I'm not going to worry about it.