You want to create your own superhero to play the Marvel Multiverse RPG (MMRPG) system, but how do you create a character for it? Don´t worry it is not complicated and the system allows for a lot of flexibility to create the hero you envision.

We just need to follow some simple steps. There are 7 steps in Marvel Multiverse's character creation process, they don't have to be followed in order and the order below is just a suggestion. You can always go back and change the details later. 

Rank 

The Rank is what determines how powerful a hero is. They go from 1 to 6 in order of ascending power. Rank 1 is usually reserved for the evil henchmen, like the Hydra soldiers you will be beating up, or maybe the Narrator wants to explore a story about Rank 1 S.H.I.E.L.D agents. You could be could be a street level superhero at Rank 2, like our fearless Daredevil. Or start straight up at Rank 6 as a mighty cosmic character able to change the course of history for the whole universe, as often the Silver Surfer does.

Ask your Narrator (your Game Master for Marvel Multiverse) what Ranks are available for the story that you are going to play and use that number. This will define how many powers and features your character gets. In some stories a range of Ranks can be used. Most of the time they won't fall too far from each other, but who knows? Maybe your Narrator has an idea for Hawkeye and Thanos in a buddy cop story. 

Origins 

This is where you got your powers from. Did the hero receive special training like Black Widow or were simply born as a mutant thus getting their powers unlocked naturally? Pick one from the list, each of these comes with specific Traits and Tags (more on them later).

Note that some of the origins affect your choice of powers. Special Training restricts you from picking crazy superpowers, while being a Vampire forces you to pick specific vampire-like powers and nothing else. Most origins allow you to be really flexible though. 

Occupation 

Your character is more than their set of powers. Did they have a previous or current job? Maybe they are a Student like young Peter Parker or formerly in the Military like Captain America.

Pick one from the list, each occupation gives a set of Traits and/or Tags that help define them, since their occupation likely helped shape your hero into who they are now. 

Traits & Tags 

Traits offer mechanical advantages and/or disadvantages to your character. The positive ones are like mini-superpowers, while the negative ones give the Narrator an opportunity to reward you with Karma (rerolls) for facing your weaknesses. In addition to the ones you got from your occupation, you can pick 1 extra Trait per character Rank.

Tags also help define your character, but they are purely for narrative effect, to help guide the roleplay. Like having a secret identity, which has no rolls associated with it, but you can roleplay it. You can add as many or as few tags as you like, and they can change throughout play. 

Powers 

This is the most exciting part of the character creation: the super-powers!  For each rank a hero has, they can pick up to four powers. So a Rank 2 hero has 8 powers to pick. Powers are grouped into categories called Power Sets. Although you can pick powers from several different Power Sets, picking from less gives you extra Powers (the Basic Power Set does not count for this). 

You gain extra Powers to pick equal to your Rank minus the number of Power Sets used. A Rank 3 character that uses only one Power Set has 3 - 1 = 2 extra Powers to pick, in addition to the normal 12 a Rank 3 has.

You do not have to pick all those Powers though, as you can trade unpicked Powers for more Ability Points or Traits. They trade one to one in this case.

Note that some Powers will use one of your Ability Scores to determine their effect. It is important to keep that in mind when selecting your Ability Scores later. 

Ability Scores 

The game has 6 abilities which define your character´s strengths and weaknesses: Melee, Agility, Resilience, Vigilance, Ego, and Logic. Bonus points if you realized their initials spell MARVEL. I can only imagine the game designers debating for hours on how to name them for this purpose.

It is important to invest into abilities that are used by your powers and boost how you want to play your hero. For example, the Brain Drain Power from the Magic Power Set uses your Ego ability to see if the power works, if your character has low Ego you will likely never be able to succeed at using this Power.

• Melee: Used for fighting in close range. Represents brute strength and techniques.
• Agility: Used for fighting at a distance. Represents dexterity, speed  and techniques.
• Resilience: Used for taking most types of damage. Represents toughness.
• Vigilance: Used for initiative in battle, Focus points for Powers and noticing things. Represents awareness and discipline
• ‍Ego: Used for social interactions and some Powers. Represents charisma and personality.
• ‍Logic: Used for intellectual interactions and some Powers. Represents intelligence and reasoning.

A zero at an ability is the standard level for an average human. You get 5 Ability Points for each Rank your character has. You are also limited at how much you allocate for each individual score. The maximum is your Rank + 3. A Rank 5 hero can at max have a 5+3=8 at one score.

You can have negative scores up to a -3. For each negative point in one score you have one point to spend in other abilities. 

Calculate Other Scores 

Now you are mostly done, we just need to do some simple math to determine your other scores. 

  Health: 30 times your Resilience.

  Focus:  30 times your Vigilance.

  Initiative: Same as your Vigilance.

  Speed: 5, then add 1 for every 5 points you have in Agility.

  Size: Average, unless you picked a Trait that says otherwise.

  Defense Score: Add 10 to the related Ability Score.

  Damage: Same as your rank. Some powers, like Mighty, will boost damage for specific damage types (Melee in case of Mighty).

  Damage reduction: 0. Some powers, like Sturdy, will reduce the damage multiple of your enemies to one of your defense types (Melee in case of Sturdy).

  Karma: Same as your rank. 

Established Marvel Heroes 

MMRPG also offers something rather unique among other TTRPG games. It is totally possible to pick an existing Marvel hero instead of creating your own. Yes, this is totally allowed! Not only that, you have a team composed of a mix of original heroes and those from the comics (and probably with their own movie at this point).

The game makes it super easy for everyone, as it comes with dozens of pre-generated heroes for you to pick. The likes of Spider-Man and Wolverine have their own character sheet ready to be used. Now you can finally settle who is stronger, Hulk or Thor. As a fan of the green giant, all I have to say is: Hulk strongest one there is! 

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Rodrigo is a nerdy D&D enthusiast and Marvel fanboy who runs tabletop RPG games for a living.