Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game
Compendium
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Chapter 6 - Backstories
A character is more than a simple collection of abilities and scores. By the time they enter a game, they have a whole life behind them, a series of situations and choices that form their backstory.
A character’s backstory is the sum of everything they’ve done up to that point in time. To keep things simple, we break that down into two categories: Origins and Occupations.
Origins are often things that are beyond the character’s control. They were born that way or something happened to make them that way, and the situation is often permanent. If the character is a mutant, for instance, they are always going to be a mutant. If the character becomes a gamma mutate after exposure to gamma rays, there’s little they can do to change that.
These Origins often bring access to Powers. Sometimes that means the character can have just about any kind of power (like if they are a mutant), and other times, the origin determines what Powers the character winds up with (like if they are a vampire).
Occupations, on the other hand, are ways that the character spends their time or makes a living. This can range from being a Student to a doctor to a soldier or anything else. These Occupations often bring with them a set of traits—skills or resources particular to people who have that occupation.
Most characters have only one origin and one occupation to start with. Some have more, especially if they’ve been around for a while.