Anime covers a pretty wide range of genres, so OVA is basically a generic rules set and we’ll have to create a setting to serve as the background for today’s character. (We'll be using the 2015 second edition, by the way.) I’m going to kick it old-school and riff on Star Blazers with a space fighter pilot serving aboard an intergalactic capital ship. (No Wave Motion Gun, though.)
That covers our first step of OVA character creation, which is concept. Well, maybe we should flesh this out a little. The character is young, talented but inexperienced, and has some kind of chip on their shoulder. (So far, so cliché.)
The second step is to define Abilities, the character’s strong points. These are valued at +1 to +5, with +1 representing solid competence, +3 mastery, and +5 superhuman ability. The rulebook provides a list of options/examples. The point budget is what the players and GM decide it should be, and the Abilities will be at least partially offset by Weaknesses. One option suggested is to make Abilities and Weaknesses offset each other completely, so you have the same number of points applied to each side of the equation. That seems fair enough, I suppose. Zero-sum it is.
OK, our character is a fighter pilot, so we need some flying and space combat skills. Pilot is on the list, so that’s easy enough. There’s no specific ability for vehicle combat, but there is a general ability for Attack and one for Combat Expert. Then there’s the Vehicle ability, which represents an actual vehicle that you use on the regular. That seems like something we should invest in. I’m allowed to stack Abilities when they converge on the same task, so Quick and Evasive should be on my shopping list. Agile is more useful outside the cockpit than in it, but it’s still nice to have.
Pilot gets a +3. This is her Gift, her corest of core competencies. I still should also be able to fight a little outside the cockpit, so I’ll put in a level of regular Attack as well as one of Combat Expert, the latter of which I should also be able to leverage in my ship. Then I’ll take a level each in Quick and Evasive, as well as one in Agile.
If I want to customize my Vehicle, every level I invest converts to two Levels I can use to describe the Vehicle’s Abilities. The question here is whether I want an off-the-shelf starfighter or some kind of customized hot rod. I think the first. Two points in Vehicle can get me a starfighter with Flight 1, Agile 2, and Attack 1, and from there I can add Weaknesses to give it more features.
Now, Abilities can be modified by Perks and Flaws. Perks add a feature to an Ability, but also add an Endurance cost unless they are counterbalanced by Flaws. I don’t think I want this for my character, but I can see applying it to my ship. First off, we want to give the Range perk to its Attack so I can shoot lasers at other ships.
The third step is to define some Weaknesses, ranging in effect from -1 to -3, depending on how much and how often they make the character’s life more difficult. These can be personality flaws (Hotheaded, Shy, Absent-Minded, etc.), physical disabilities (One Arm, Blind, Anemic, etc), social or financial circumstances (Poor, Infamous, Guardian), or supernatural stuff (Cursed, Unlucky, etc.) Again, there’s a list to work from. I bought ten levels of Ability, so I’ll need at least that many points in Weaknesses to balance the books. (Also, I’d like to boost two or three of those Abilities from level 1 to level 2, so I’ll shoot for more than 10 points of Weakness). These will be mostly personality flaws and social or circumstantial issues.
Restricted Freedom makes sense for someone in the military. One level or two? By the description 2 seems appropriate. A level of Servitude would also make sense in that context, and the two don’t overlap so much that stacking them seems like cheating. And a level of Overconfidence is mandatory, because hotshot young fighter pilot. Let’s throw in a level of Impulsive while we’re at it.
Now, how do we represent that chip on the shoulder? Obsession is a possibility. Loner is another. Sensitivity is probably what we’re looking for, once we identify the sore spot. 1 level of Sensitivity about what, though?
Oh, wait, it’s about her comfort object. Let’s give her a one-point Dependence on an artifact from her childhood that helps her manage stress, and about which she reacts badly when people treat it as weird or mockable. Not a doll or a stuffie, though; what else? Blanket? Pacifier? I think a blanket.
A Rival is a classic anime--hell, a classic dramatic—trope. If the rival is an equal, and I think it should be another pilot of comparable skill, that’s a 2-point Weakness. And let’s complicate this relationship by making the rival a two-point Love Interest. Powerful attraction plus fierce competition equals fireworks.
Finally, let’s throw in a Quirk: some kind of signature accessory. White silk pilot’s scarf? Some kind of hat? Personalized goggles? I like that last one. OK, that’s worth another point.
So that brings us to 12 points of Weaknesses, which gives me back 2 to bump Quick and Agile up to +2 each..
Fourth, we determine Health and Endurance scores; the first tracks damage suffered, and the second tracks energy spent. Both default to 40 unless there are Abilities or Weaknesses that would affect them. My ship will get the same, since it’s built as a subordinate character. None of mine indicate any effect on either score. I’m comfortable with the points I’ve invested in my ship, and I can’t really see how to apply most of the Weaknesses anyhow, so we can move on.
Fifth, we work out the combat details for both pilot and ship. It’s not really clear how vehicle combat is supposed to work in this game, so that’s a problem. What we do know is that levels of Attack increase damage, whereas accuracy is going to be boosted by such Abilities as Agility and Combat Expert. Without creating any special attacks for our pilot, she’ll have 5 dice: two base, two more for Agile, and one for Combat Expert. Attack +1 will give her a damage multiplier of 2, i.e. double the number of successes on each attack roll. The ship is a little harder to figure, because I’m not sure how the ship’s abilities get to combine with the pilot’s. I would think I can add my Combat Expert +1 to the ship’s Agile +2 rating for 5 dice, and its Attack +1 gives me the same damage multiplier as my personal attacks get.
Sixth, we fill out the fluff with Finishing Touches such as background, appearance, personality traits (that may or may not show up in Abilities or Weaknesses), touchstone possessions, schticks and catchphrases, and so forth.
In keeping with the tradition of old-school anime, our hotshot pilot will have two names: a Japanese one from the original version (Yuka Asagami) and an alternate name from the late-‘70s English-language dub (Katie Brightstar). Her rival/love interest is Shiro Honda in the original and Steve Houston in the dub. She’s an orphan; her parents died in an enemy attack on her home planet when she was a small child, and she still carries her baby blanket as a connection to that brief, happy period before they were taken from her. She is 18 years old, physically unimposing and, while not unattractive, is also not particularly striking in appearance. She is kind of impulsive and very confident in her abilities, and she is generally full of positive energy but will lash out verbally against anyone who mocks her blanket. She has both an intense rivalry with and a powerful attraction to fellow pilot Shiro Honda/Steve Houston, and she doesn’t really know how to handle the combination.
OK, statblock time:
Yuka Asagami/Katie Brightstar, Space Fighter Pilot
Abilities: Pilot +3, Quick +2, Agile +2, Vehicle +2* Attack +1, Combat Expert +1
Weaknesses: Restricted Freedom -2, Rival -2 (Shiro Honda/Steve Houston), Love Interest -2 (also Shiro Honda/Steve Houston), Impulsive -1, Overconfident -1, Servitude -1, Dependence (blanket) -1, Sensitivity (blanket) -1, Quirk (custom goggles) -1
Endurance: 40
Health: 40
Combat:
General Fighty Business: Attack 5/x2 damage
General Shooty Business (ranged): Attack 5/x2 damage
Vehicle: Starfighter Osprey 5
Abilities: Attack +1 (range), Flight +1, Agile +2
Weaknesses: none
Attacks:
Laser Cannon (ranged): Attack 5/x2 damage
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