CREATING A CHARACTER
STATS:Like standard DnD, MARVEL D20 has 6 stats, although their use is a bit different with the replacement of the
Charisma stat in favor of the new
Power stat. Players should instead try to focus on their character's actions and personality they have created to try and win over potential allies or intimidate foes. After all, half the fun of the D20 setting is interaction!
STRENGTH: Used for acts of strength and normal Melee Attacks. Examples of powers that rely on the STR stat are Super Strength and Melee Weapons.
CONSTITUTION: Used for defensive rolls (such as fortitude saves) and health. Examples of powers that rely on the CON stat are Regeneration and Darkness.
DEXTERITY: Used for acts of agility and accuracy. Examples of powers that rely on the DEX stat are Super Reflexes and Ranged Weapons.
INTELLIGENCE: Used for knowledge based rolls. Examples of powers that rely on the INT stat are creation-based abilities like making weapons, or hacking/making spells.
WISDOM: Used for intuition based rolls. Examples of powers that rely on the WIS stat are Elemental Manipulation and Shape-Changing.
POWER: Used for use of super powers and powered ranged attacks. Examples of powers that rely on the POW stat are Energy Blasts and Gravity Manipulation.
At creation a player will roll 4 D6's per stat, take out the lowest number and add the remaining 3 together to determine each stat's score, with standard modifier tables (8-9 = -1, 10-11 = 0, 12-13 = +1, and so on).
As their hero levels up, they will gain additional Stat Points to put into their scores to make them stronger over time, as well as possibly get powers that add an additional modifier to the stat indicated by the "Misc." column on the character sheet.
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LEVELING:CREATION: Creating a character takes more than just rolling up your stats and choosing your Archetype, you should also think about the type of character they are. Will they be Heroic or Villainous? What kinds of powers will they have? What do they look like? How do they act? The choices are endless, but thinking about these now can certainly help in creating your character down the line!
PROGRESSION: At the DM's discretion, your characters will advance in level from a lowly street-level, to a world-renowned force to be reckoned with (usually after a certain amount of encounters or accomplishments will the DM award levels). The chart below will explain just what you get at each level:
LEVEL/STAT POINTS/POWER POINTS/CLASS BONUS
1 +1 6 Class0: Choose Archetype and first Style Power.
2 +1
3 +1 +2
4 +1
5 +1 AT Enhancement: You can enhance your AT Perk or Style Power. (See ARCHETYPES for more info)
6 +1 +2 Class1: Next AT Perk, Choose 2nd Style Power.
7 +1
8 +1
9 +1 +3
10 +1 AT Enhancement: You can enhance one of your AT Perks or Style Powers.
11 +1 Class2: AT Perk, Style Power, +Damage Die on all attacks (D6>D8, etc), Unlock Tier3 Powers.
12 +1 +3
13 +1
14 +1
15 +1 +4 AT Enhancement: You can enhance one of your AT Perks or Style Powers.
16 +1 Class3: AT Perk, Style Power, chance to either Cross-AT (choose a Class0 perk from another AT to stack with your powers.
17 +1
18 +1 +4
19 +1
20 +1 AT Enhancement: You can enhance one of your AT Perks or Style Powers.
21 +1 +5 Class4: AT Perk, Style Power, +Damage Die on all attacks (D8>D10, etc), Unlock Tier4 Powers.
22 +1
23 +1
24 +1 +5
25 +1 AT Enhancement: You can enhance one of your AT Perks or Style Powers.
26 +1 Class5: AT Perk, Style Power, Chance to Cross-AT (Another Class0 Perk, or the Class1 Perk of the AT you've already Cross-AT'ed into).
27 +1 +6
28 +1
29 +1
30 +1 +6 AT Enhancement: You can enhance one of your AT Perks or Style Powers.
TOTAL: 30 46 6 Perks, 6 Style Powers, +2 Damage Die, Up to 2 Bonus Perks, 6 Enhanced Perks/Powers, and a truly Unique and Powerful character!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MECHANICS REFERENCE:HP = Con Stat + 12 at 1st lvl, then +5 per every level after. Any time your Con stat changes, add the change to your max HP. Once a character's HP reaches 0 or below, they are considered "down". At -10 hp or lower, the character will have to make 3 Death Saving Checks, if they roll below 10 on 2 out of the 3 (with HP below -10 having harder checks), they are goners.
DAMAGE: The attack's DC + the mod associated (usually STR for melee attacks, and POW for "powered" (ranged) attacks, weapons usually don't get Mods added to the damage, but have other bonuses associated with having the weapon).
Damage also has various types associated with it:
Physical: The most common type, often seen in punches/bludgeoning attacks. Physical attacks often have a variety of effects based on the attack, but are often non-lethal on their own.
Lethal: Damage that can penetrate the body like blades and bullets are fairly common, and have the nasty effect of being able to swiftly end a fight. However, this is also the damage type most common to find defenses against.
Energy: The most common "elemental" damage, found in the likes of Magic and Lasers. Like with Physical, Energy has a variety of effects based on the attack, but often is associated with Daze.
Electric: Electrical damage often travels in a current, and as such can sometimes ignore Evasion bonuses and can chain from target to target.
Fire: Fire damage's primary secondary effect is simply more damage in the form of Damage over Time as the target is burned.
Cold: Cold damage usually has the side effect of slowing down its targets, reducing the amount they can move and potentially even the amount of actions they can take!
Darkness: Coming from the netherworld, Darkness damage often has a chance to terrorize weaker foes, and lower their accuracy.
Psionic: It is exceptionally rare to find a foe with defenses against Psychic attack, but those that do are often heavily guarded.
Toxic: A rare form of damage, Toxic comes from biological attacks such as poisons, etc, and will almost always have some sort of nasty de-buff associated with it.
DAMAGE TABLES: Use this as a reference for a Power/Weapon's damage rolls. Some attacks may have set damage however, as opposed to the rolls most powers need to make, or a mixture of both set damage and a damage roll.
Damage Die/Min Damage/Max Damage/Average Damage
1 1 1 1
D2 1 2 2
D4 1 4 3
D6 1 6 4
D8 1 8 5
D10 1 10 6
2d6 2 12 7
2d8 2 16 9
2d10 2 20 11
3d8 3 24 14
3d10 3 30 17
3d12 3 36 20
3d12+1d8 4 44 25
4d12+1d4 5 52 29
3d20+1d4 4 64 35
3d20+1d12 4 72 38
4d20+1d8 5 88 47
5d20+1d8 6 108 58
6d20+1d8 7 128 68
7d20+1d8 8 148 79
8d20+1d10 9 170 90
9d20+1d10 10 200 105
Continued:
+d20, +d10 - - -SECONDARY/STATUS EFFECTS: Many Powers come with Secondary Effects beyond damage that can alter a target's stats and effectiveness, or Status Effects that can alter the way they behave. Powers that have these as well as damage either have the Effect/Status as an afterthought, 50/50 share, or are purely for the Effect/Status.
(DE)BUFFS: Effects related to a character's stats directly, without effecting how they play in a major way are referred to as Buffs when positive, and Debuffs when negative.
Common (de)buffs include:
• +/- Evasion, Attack Bonus, or Perception (accuracy)
• +/- Damage, or Resistance to Damage (usually to all types for both)
• +/- Movement, or Attack Rate (either in amount of actions, or frequency)
Uncommon (de)buffs:
• +/- Healing, Regeneration, or Damage Negation (direct (de)buffs to those aspects)
• +/- Absorption, or Max HP (Take less hits to go down)
• +/- Powers, or "Special" (Can lower the effectiveness of Superpowers, or even (de)buffs)
STATUS: Effects that alter how a target behaves, usually by altering their options for actions.
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Knockback/Prone: The target is flung X squares away, and often must use an action to get on their feet again. While prone, the target has no combat advantage.
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Immobilize: The target cannot make move actions until freed.
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Cage: The target is restricted to an area, and cannot affect anything outside of the area.
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Phase: The target cannot interact with anything on the normal plane of existence, but can otherwise move about. Can affect things that are also phased.
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Hold: The target cannot make –any- actions until freed.
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Repel: Pushes targets away from an area or for X squares.
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Stun: The target can only make 1 action until save ends.
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Sleep: The target is "Held", as well as oblivious in most cases to those around it, until it is the target of something that either damages or moves them.
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Confuse/Control: The Target cannot distinguish friend from foe, or is being controlled directly by a separate entity.
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Poison: Target takes X damage at the end every turn, often with X increasing each turn until save ends.
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DoT: Target takes X damage at the end of each turn for Y turns.
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Anchor: The target is the "anchor" for specific effects, such as (de)buffing those around it, or becoming more susceptible to further effects.
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Disable: Target temporarily loses an ability, such as their ability to fly.
DEFENSES: Unlike traditional D20 games, the world of Marvel has a wide variety of ways to defend yourself beyond getting out of the way or wearing armor. While not all powers will grant every type of defense in their respective "set", everyone has the most important form naturally with their Reflex save. It is a good idea to get some sort of defense however, as even the most powerful of heroes take a hit some times.
AC(or Evasion): The ability to make yourself harder to hit either through classic AC/Armor, or being able to simply get out of the way of incoming damage. As mentioned, every character uses Evasion through their reflex save, with armor or certain powers (Super Reflexes) adding onto it. Mechanically, this raises the check needed in order to actually hit your character, so if you have +2 to evasion, the enemy would have to roll 2 higher than normal in order to land a hit. In combat, this is your first line of protection as not getting hit at all is certainly better than simply taking less.
Negation: A slightly rarer form of defense than the others, but next in order is Negation, which acts sort of like AC/Evasion only directly applied to Damage. Assuming you are hit by an attack, you can still avoid the damage if your Negation is high enough, as the total damage needs to exceed the amount just like the hit check needs to surpass Evasion. An example of a set that gives Negation would be transforming one's skin to steel. Most weapons may simply bounce off harmlessly, but stronger attacks could still puncture through and harm the character for the full damage.
Resistance: The ability to take less damage (usually limited to certain types at once), often seen in portions such as "resist 1/5th of incoming energy damage", etc. This means that if you were attacked for 10 points worth of Energy damage, you would subtract 1/5th, leaving you with only 8 points to subtract from your HP. Resistance is great as it isn't a roll of the dice like Evasion, and much more common than Negation, but is often limited by type and amount resisted.
Absorption: Damage Absorption works much like a separate "layer" of HP over a character's normal HP, and does not affect their Regeneration or Healing powers that rely on the Max HP value. Coming after all the other layers, Absorption's benefit is that it allows a character to still take "damage" with little consequence, except for that it will run out once depleted and usually takes a while or certain requirement in order to be replenished.
Regeneration/Healing: The ability to heal one's self either a set amount, or a % or their maximum HP value, many powers have a healing option to them. Regeneration works similarly to standard healing except it occurs like DoT effects, healing for usually a % of their Max HP over a flat number at the end of each turn. Coming after all the other defenses, Healing is generally a last resort, as it only works after a character has been damaged. That's not to say it isn't bad however, as it's certainly better than staying at low HP!
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POWERS:At creation and as a character levels, they gain
POWER POINTS which are used to purchase powers. Power Selection follows a basic framework of Tiers and Power Types onto which you can attribute your Power pool of choice.
TIER 1: Basic Powers that need no requirements to choose. Cost 1 Power Point.
BASIC RANGED: Can be offensive (a Fire Blast) or Utility Based (Ranged Telepathy with your allies).
BASIC MELEE: Melee attacks (such as a Fighting or Sword maneuver) or Utility Based (Drain life via contact with target)
BASIC DEFENSIVE: Personal (your character regenerates) or targeted (put a force-field around your allies or an object) defensive powers.
BASIC UTILITY: Varies based on Power Pool, but powers that do not fit into any specific category themselves (Transforming or the ability to "Charge" a blast)
BASIC SKILL (BODY): "Natural" abilities such as stat alteration (Super Strength) or blanket abilities that affect multiple attributes (Martial Arts Training).
BASIC SKILL (MIND): "Natural" abilities such as stat alteration (Genius) or blanket abilities that affect multiple attributes (Technical know-how/arcane arts).
BASIC EQUIPMENT/OTHER: Item Based Powers (such as a Magic Sword or Robotic Arm), Gadgets (Weapons, Grenades, Drones, etc), or other "uncategorized" powers (Flight by various means, etc).
TIER 2: Slightly more focused or altered powers. Requires a T1 power purchase from the power pool. 2 PP.
Tier 2 Powers follow the same framework as Tier 1, but in general offer different versions or upgrades. Such as an AoE blast for Ranged, a Stronger Melee Attack, A Self Heal power as opposed to damage reduction, a New Transformation, a New Type of Training, or simply Better Equipment.
TIER 3: Specific Powers. Require a T2 purchase from the power pool, as well as Class-2. 3 PP.
Tier 3 moves on from the basic frameworks for the most part and opens up specific powers based on the selected Power Pool. Examples include a specific ability for electrical manipulation, as opposed to picking a framework power and altering it to electrical type.
EX:Liquify (Sonic, Ranged)
Lowers target resistance to damage by 3d20.
Hurl Object (Super Strength, Skill)
Lifting heavy/large objects (such as cars) becomes a free action, and needs no check. The item can then be weaponized.TIER 4: Ultimate Powers. Require a Tier 3 purchase from the power pool, as well as Class-4. 4 pp.
Tier 4 unlocks the pinnacle of a character's power. These are very powerful special abilities associated with the character's power pool, such as a Super-Attack or Final Transformation.
EX:1000 Cuts (Dual Blades, Melee)
Attacks of opportunity can now go on infinitely as long as you use your blades to create an opening each time, providing you do not fail a Dex roll. (Daily)
Boss Construct (Robotics, Equipment)
You have created your ultimate minion: a High-Powered Super-Drone! (Has it's own character sheet, and enhancements affect what abilities it possesses such as Missiles, Flight, durability, etc).ENHANCEMENTS:After choosing a power, you can enhance it beyond its base power and effects using
Enhancements, gained by a reward roll (1d12) after an encounter.
For the most part, Enhancements are tied directly to the character's power pool of choice, for example with Fire powers; you can enhance the power for a chance to ignite the target for more damage over time. But there are "generic" enhancements available such as more damage, accuracy, range and general effectiveness.
Types: Like with powers, Enhancements also come in
Types, like Tiers. Each different type of enhancement will influence the power in a different way, and range from common to rare on the reward roll based on the potency of the change it provides.
TYPE 1 (1-6 roll): Directly increase the basic effects of a power by a set amount. Examples of Type 1 enhancements are increasing the Damage Die used for an attack (D6 to D8), adding Range (usually 1-2 squares each), improving armor (10% to 20% resistance), and increasing the secondary effect's potency (Debuff Damage from -10% to -20%, or increase immobilize from 2-3 turns).
TYPE 2 (7-10 roll): Type 2 changes from enhancing basic attributes, to adding them on to the power. Examples of these types of enhancements are the "ignite" seen above, adding a secondary effect, adding new features to a power (such as interacting with another power), or adding new features to a weapon (adding a blade to a staff, for example). Can enhance already existing effects (Ignite from 18-20 is now 16-20 for example).
TYPE 3 (11-12 roll): The rarest type of enhancement also gives the best effects, being able to change the very rules of a power. Examples include changing a Single-Target attack so that it can affect multiple targets either through "Splash" damage , changing the frequency* (from encounter to every other turn), or even adding new mechanics to the power such as the ability to cast it on a target instead of yourself. These kinds of alterations often unlock alternate versions of a power to use such as a Single target Fire Blast's AoE version being able to be used once per encounter while otherwise remaining the way it was.
(DM Discretion Button / Freeform Power tool)
*some powers may not be viable for this type of enhancement by DM's discretion.
Notes:You can carry over enhancements, unused enhancements can be put towards your next reward roll (Each enhancement spent adds 1 to the next roll).
Special Enhancements:Set bonuses ("Hulk Smash" Set: gives +1 accuracy when 2 Slotted, +1 to all melee damage when 3, etc. Must be slotted in same power to get bonuses, bonuses can be stacked by slotting in different powers however. Last set bonus is usually a unique boost but requires maximum slotting of one power.)
Character Enhancements (DM-created enhancement [sets] for a specific character, gives bonuses to either their powers individually or their character, whatever the DM and/or Player decides!)