Character Generation for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
In the previous entry, I broached the subject of taking up the reins as GM again. Bryan has since made his preference clear: Monday or not at all. That suits me fine.
Wren has expressed a desire to enter the Marvel Universe, where the X-men live, and Bryan wants something superhero-themed as well. With that in mind, here are the basics of character generation in Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. This is a system that worries not about balance, but about telling the story. If you want to play Antman or Wasp in the original Avengers lineup, go for it. Stan and Jack did.
First, come up with an origin concept. MHR's random table offers mutant, altered human, non-human and trained human options. The X-men are mutants. The Hulk is an altered human. Thor is non-human. Iron Man is a trained human. It is also possible to be more than one of the above: Captain America was altered and then trained, while the mutant Wolverine was altered by the implanting of his adamantium skeleton and claws.
Second, rank your Affiliation stats. Does your hero work best alone, with a partner or with a whole team? Which of the other two is better? Assign a d10, d8 and d6 to Solo, Buddy and Team.
Every hero has either one or two Power Sets, no more and no fewer. Cyclops has his eye beams. Wolverine has his natural mutant abilities of enhanced senses and healing plus his adamantium implants. Unlike Hero, there are really only five settings in MHR: off, d6 mook, d8 pretty good, d10 better and d12 OMG. It's not the power setting: it's how you use it.
They have managed to fit all their powers into five categories: Common, Uncommon, Psychic, Mystic and Technological. Everybody has the same "Hit Points," and it's hard to kill someone in MHR, so it makes some sense for Daredevil to square off against Dr. Doom and survive.
Every Power Set has a special unifying theme called SFX, and a limit. Certain origins and concepts call for more of one or the other, and sometimes of both.
Where Hero characters have skills, perks and talents, Marvel heroes have Specialties, two, three or more categories at which they excel. Spiderman has Combat, Science, Acrobatic, Covert, Psych and Tech Specialties.
Next, we come to Distinctions, three things about your character that make him or her unique. Hawkeye came to the Avengers as a Master Marksman, a Reformed Supervillain and a Hothead. These can be used in your dice pool as a d8 or as a d4, with the smaller die generating a plot point for later use.
Milestones are your character's two unique ways of gaining experience points. We can discuss these more in person, using examples from existing characters.
Take this pile of stats, add a name or three, cook up a little back story and we're good to go.
Wren has expressed a desire to enter the Marvel Universe, where the X-men live, and Bryan wants something superhero-themed as well. With that in mind, here are the basics of character generation in Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. This is a system that worries not about balance, but about telling the story. If you want to play Antman or Wasp in the original Avengers lineup, go for it. Stan and Jack did.
First, come up with an origin concept. MHR's random table offers mutant, altered human, non-human and trained human options. The X-men are mutants. The Hulk is an altered human. Thor is non-human. Iron Man is a trained human. It is also possible to be more than one of the above: Captain America was altered and then trained, while the mutant Wolverine was altered by the implanting of his adamantium skeleton and claws.
Second, rank your Affiliation stats. Does your hero work best alone, with a partner or with a whole team? Which of the other two is better? Assign a d10, d8 and d6 to Solo, Buddy and Team.
Every hero has either one or two Power Sets, no more and no fewer. Cyclops has his eye beams. Wolverine has his natural mutant abilities of enhanced senses and healing plus his adamantium implants. Unlike Hero, there are really only five settings in MHR: off, d6 mook, d8 pretty good, d10 better and d12 OMG. It's not the power setting: it's how you use it.
They have managed to fit all their powers into five categories: Common, Uncommon, Psychic, Mystic and Technological. Everybody has the same "Hit Points," and it's hard to kill someone in MHR, so it makes some sense for Daredevil to square off against Dr. Doom and survive.
Every Power Set has a special unifying theme called SFX, and a limit. Certain origins and concepts call for more of one or the other, and sometimes of both.
Where Hero characters have skills, perks and talents, Marvel heroes have Specialties, two, three or more categories at which they excel. Spiderman has Combat, Science, Acrobatic, Covert, Psych and Tech Specialties.
Next, we come to Distinctions, three things about your character that make him or her unique. Hawkeye came to the Avengers as a Master Marksman, a Reformed Supervillain and a Hothead. These can be used in your dice pool as a d8 or as a d4, with the smaller die generating a plot point for later use.
Milestones are your character's two unique ways of gaining experience points. We can discuss these more in person, using examples from existing characters.
Take this pile of stats, add a name or three, cook up a little back story and we're good to go.