Developed out of the original d20 System rules (before the 3.5 revision of Dungeons & Dragons), D20 Modern was WotC's attempt to create a more flexible rule set that could be used for late-historical, modern, and futuristic gaming (basically, anything after the invention of firearms). Modern has languished in recent years as Wizards' attention has turned primarily to D&D and, at least lately, Star Wars.
For this character creation, I'll be making a character for the Iron Lords of Jupiter setting presented in Polyhedron Magazine #160. This setting calls back to the old "planetary romance" stories like Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" tales. My character will be a human from modern Earth transported to the planet Jupiter, which in this setting has a solid surface ruled by a despotic race that has mastered ironworking.
To begin, I'll assign my ability scores. D20 Modern gives the option of rolling scores randomly, buying them with points, or taking a standard array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. For the sake of speed, I'll go with the standard array. For my character concept, I'm thinking about playing a doctor, so I'll want a high Wisdom, and I want him to be somewhat athletic, so my physical scores are also a priority. I end up with Str 10, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 8.
For character classes, D20 Modern starts with six base classes. Each base class is based on one of the six ability scores, and they present choices of talents and bonus feats that play off of the associated ability. For a medical professional, my best choice is the Dedicated Hero, based on Wisdom. First thing I get to choose from my class is a talent. Talents in Modern work essentially the same as talents in Star Wars. The Dedicated Hero gets to choose from three talent trees: Empathic Talent, Healing Talent, and Insightful Talent. Going with my concept, I take Healing Knack, getting a +2 bonus on Treat Injury checks.
Now I can figure out a lot of my character's traits without making any choices. I get hit points equal to 6 + my Con modifier, for 7 hp total. The Dedicated Hero gets a +1 Defense bonus, a +0 attack bonus, a +1 Reputation bonus, +1 to Fort saves, +0 to Reflex saves, and +1 to Will saves.
Next, I get to choose a starting occupation to represent my mundane background. Doctor would be the obvious choice, but I like the look of Athlete instead. My doctor was an aspiring fencer in college until an injury put him on the path to medical school. I get to choose three skills to add to my skill list, taking Balance, Jump, and Tumble. I also get a free feat, Archaic Weapon Proficiency. Finally, I get a +1 bonus to Wealth (not that it will matter when I get zapped to Jupiter).
As a Dedicated Hero, I get a number of skill points equal to (5 + my Int modifier)x4. Obviously, Treat Injury is going to get a full 4 ranks. I also put max ranks in Tumble, Knowledge (earth and life sciences), Listen, Survival, and Sense Motive.
I get to choose two feats now. I decide my character wasn't just a doctor, he was a surgeon, so I take the Surgery feat. And for some more of that fencing training, I take Dodge.
And that just about wraps it up. Give him a name: Dr. Jordan Killian.
Dr. Jordan Killian (Human Dedicated Hero 1)
CR 1; Medium-size humanoid; HD 1d6+1; hp 7; Mas 13; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; Defense 13, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+2 Dex, +1 class); BAB +0; Grp +0; Atk +0 melee or +2 ranged; Full Atk +0 melee or +2 ranged; FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +3; AP 5; Str 10, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 8
Occupation: Athlete (class skills: Balance, Jump, Tumble)
Skills: Knowledge (earth and life sciences) +5, Listen +6, Sense Motive +6, Survival +6, Treat Injury +8, Tumble +6.
Feats: Archaic Weapon Proficiency, Dodge,Simple Weapon Proficiency, Surgery.
Talents (Dedicated Hero): Healing Knack.
