Character Creation: 3Deep

It looks playable...but so what? 

The Game: 3Deep
The Publisher: Parts Per Million
Degree of Familiarity: None
Books Required: Just the one

There's a lot about this game I don't understand, and that's always a good indicator to take a step back and think about why. 3Deep is a perfectly playable "roll 2d6, add some stats, try to hit an 8" sort of system, and it actually manages to stay quick and light but still be a fairly complete-looking game. 

But...I don't see it doing anything in particular. It has a big section on solo play, which I'm seeing a lot these days and I simply do not get. And if I were going to play an RPG by myself, why wouldn't I go for something like The Beast that has a more specific focus and narrative? As it is, 3Deep has no setting, so I'm to be my own GM and my own game writer? 

Like I said, I don't understand, which probably means it just ain't for me, and that's fine. Still gonna make a character. Also, there doesn't seem to be a character sheet, grumble grumble.

Well, since the game lacks a setting - even a sample setting - I asked for an inspiration song and my boy Toasty came through with:

That's "History Repeating" by The Megas. There's a very "I am the chosen one" feel to the song, and also perhaps some time travel or something? Anyway, 3Deep can, supposedly, do sci-fi, so let's assume we're in a hyperkinetic, very neon future with some time shenanigans going on (I've also been playing Deathloop of late, so that's on my mind, too). 

First thing, I generate stats. I can do this randomly or with points, and I'm fine with random. One of the options is to roll 3d6 and drop the lowest, and there are five stats: Strength, Endurance, Agility, Logic, and Empathy, or StrEndAglLogEmp for short. 

Rolling, I get 9, 8, 9, 7, and 11. What an aggressively mediocre character. Well, I like to specialize. Let's assign the stats thusly:

Str 11
End 9
Agl 8
Log 7
Emp 9

Skills! I get to pick 7. Those get a +1. Very simple. I'll take:

Athletic
Awareness
Combat
Science/Analytic
Urban
Weapon (melee)
Weapon (energy) - this setting definitely has blasters

Cultural background! As in, what kind of environment was I raised in? Urban, probably, but let's have a look. Yep, Urban. That gives me a bonus in General Knowledge, Urban, and Technical/Trade. Cool. 

Race/Species is human, so that doesn't give me anything.

Everything else is details and backstory. So!

Otha Fellows was one of 23 passengers on the Green Loop Train that derailed and slipped through a temporal anomaly. 23 - X (where "X" is the number of PCs in the group) experienced a weird temporal madness - they see too much time, they're unstuck from their "now", and seem to be following orders from some unseen force. Also, if you kill them, they return within 24 hours. Otha and the other X passengers, however, managed to stay grounded in the "now," and returned to their lives without so much as a lost hour. 

Problem is, the Unstuck are hunting them down. Otha and the other folks aren't sure why, but Otha, himself a former Border Marine (he did his required one tour and bugged, thanks anyway, folks - love the neon too much to be a peon!), realized quickly that they Unstuck might lack training but they make up for it with, y'know, immortality. Now it's a matter of figuring out what's going on, while it's still going!

Otha's father is a physicist working on a quantum something-or-other (Otha's eyes glaze over when Dad talks shop), and his sister is part of his research team. So far Otha's been afraid to involve them, because he doesn't want the Unstuck coming after them, but it's too big an advantage to ignore for long. 

(I suspect that Otha is about to find out that his dad, or maybe his sister, had something to do with the crash, but that's not backstory.)

Name: Otha Fellows
Str 11
End 9
Agl 8
Log 7
Emp 9

Skills:
Athletic +1
Awareness +1
Combat +1
General Knowledge +1
Science/Analytic +1
Technical/Trade +1
Urban +2
Weapon (melee) +1
Weapon (energy) +1