True20 roleless, point-buy
As usual, any skills which you train at 1st level have a starting
hero creation
(by elf23 – version 1.0)
This PDF describes a system which enables very flexible,
roleless hero creation and advancement in True20. It is based on
the Progression Points from the role creation system given in
Chapter 9 of the core rules. With each level a hero advances, his
combat ability, skill ranks and power progression are purchased
using Progression Points.
Optional rules are also given to:
• Allow feat, saving throw and ability progressions to
also be purchased with Progression points.
• Divide combat ability into 4 skills: Defense, Unarmed,
Melee and Ranged, each of which may be advanced
separately.
• Simplify the various types of power progressions by
giving each power a separate rank.
• Enable point-based advancement - where heroes'
abilities advance in small steps building up to a full
level increase.
Hero creation
Starting heroes gain the following:
• 4 feats, and access to the General feat category
• +2 to distribute between Fortitude, Reflex and Will
• 5 Progression Points to spend
• 3 Conviction (or 2 + Charisma Conviction)
• A core ability
• A background (optional)
Progression Points points can be spent, per Chapter 9 of the core
rule book, as follows:
• +1 combat bonus: Costs 4 Progression Points
• 1 skill rank: Costs 0.25 Progression Points
• +1 power rank: Costs 0.25 - 4 Progression Points
(depending on breadth and rate of power access)
Feat access
By default you can only learn feats from the General category.
To gain access to the specialist feats in the Adept, Expert and
Warrior categories, the following three feats may be taken. At
the Narrator's option each hero may gain one of these feats for
free at 1st level. They can all be purchased at any time after hero
creation.
Adept training (General)
You gain access to the Adept feat category.
Expert training (General)
You gain access to the Expert feat category.
Warrior training (General)
You gain access to the Warrior feat category.
1 True20 roleless, point-buy hero creation
Skill ranks
rank of 4.
Heroes with above average Intelligence gain a number of skill
ranks equal to their Intelligence for free at each level increase.
Likewise, at each level increase, heroes of below average
Intelligence lose 0.25 Progression Points per point of
Intelligence below 0.
Power rank
You can spend Progression Points to gain a power progression
(according to the normal rules for breadth and rate of power
progression). Your initial power rank is determined by the rate
of progression you choose.
Note that, as usual, to learn powers you must have access to the
Adept feat category.
Core ability
You may choose any core ability you wish (with the Narrator's
approval). As usual, it is not possible to change your core ability
once it has been selected.
Advancing in level
Upon advancing in level you gain the following benefits:
• One feat
• +1 to one of Fortitude, Reflex, Will
• 5 Progression Points to spend (as above)
• +1 to an ability score every 6 levels
• +1 Conviction every 2 levels
Saving throws
You can apply your saving throw increase to any save, with the
limitation that no save's base (excluding ability modifiers and
feats) may be more than +2 above half your experience level.
Note that the saving throw advancement of +1 per level is a
simplification, and only approximates the progressions in the
core rules, it is not identical. Using this new system, over the
course of 20 levels a Hero will gain a total of +20 to his saving
throws, whereas he would gain +22 over the same period using
the core rules progressions.
Combat bonus
Many heroes will not want to spend 4 out of their 5 Progression
Points to advance their combat bonus each level. Thus it is
possible to spend a lower number of Progression Points on your
combat bonus, and accumulate them until you have spent the
full 4 points required. Accumulated points should simply be
noted on your character sheet.
An alternative system is to split the combat progression, as
discussed in the optional rules section below.

Skill ranks
You can spend Progression Points to increase your rank with
your skills, subject to the normal maximum skill rank
determined by your level.
Power rank
To increase your power rank you must pay the number of
Progression Points listed in the Chapter 9 of the core rules for
your power access breadth and rate of progression.
Similarly to combat bonus, you may accumulate Progression
Points spent towards increasing your power rank.
Optional rules
Split combat progression
As a means of eliminating the need for Progression Points to be
accumulated to increase a hero's combat bonus, the basic combat
bonus can be split into four areas of martial ability, each costing
1 Progression Point to increase:
• Defense
• Unarmed attack
• Melee attack
• Ranged attack
This also increases the flexibility of character advancement,
allowing characters with a greater degree of specialisation to be
created.
Buying feats and saving throws with
Progression Points
For Narrators and players who want even more flexibility in
character advancement, feats and saving throw improvements
can also be bought using Progression Points:
• Each feat costs 2 Progression Points
• +1 to a saving throw costs 1 Progression Point
Heroes do not automatically gain a new feat or saving throw
improvement with each level increase, but instead gain 8
Progression Points per level. In this way heroes can improve
their saves or learn feats at a faster rate than normal, by
sacrificing their advancement in other areas.
No saving throw can be raised to more than +2 above half a
character's level. The Narrator should also place a limit on the
maximum number of feats a hero can learn, perhaps his level + 3
2 True20 roleless, point-buy hero creation
or his level + 5.
Buying ability increases with feats
Ability score increases may also be decoupled from level
increase by requiring the following feat to be bought:
Ability training (General)
Add +1 to one of your abilities. You cannot increase any of your
ability scores by more than +5 beyond the base for your race.
The Narrator should place a limit on the number of times a hero
can learn this feat, perhaps at most once for every 4 experience
levels (once at 1st - 4th level, twice at 5th - 8th level, and so on).
Individual power ranks
As an alternative to the core rules system of power access
breadth and progression rate, it can prove simpler to give each
power a hero knows its own rank, which is advanced by
spending Progression Points in the same way as skill ranks are
advanced. This results in more ranks to keep track of, but it
greatly simplifies the power progression system, especially in
the case of heroes with mixed power-types (for example a
psychic/sorcerer or a wizard/priest).
Using this system, a power's rank can be increased by 1 at a cost
of 0.5 Progression Points. When a new power is learned its rank
begins at 0. Any number of ranks may be added to a power at
each level increase, up to to the normal level-based rank limit.
This system deviates from the core rules in that adept type
characters are not always equally competent with all of their
powers - heroes are presented with the choice of whether to
specialise in mastery of a few powers or to become competent in
many, but master of none.
Point-based advancement
Instead of awarding level increases, Narrators may choose to
award Progression Points which may be spent immediately upon
earning them or saved for later use. Typically players are
awarded 1 - 3 Progression Points at the end of each session or
adventure.
In this system a hero's maximum ranks are governed by the level
he is approaching, not by his current level.
After gaining and spending 5 Progression Points a hero
increases in level, and gains the normal benefits for doing so
(except of course the 5 Progression Points, which he has already
spent).