What is an ability score?
You’ll need to give your hero scores in the four abilities: Strength, Agility, INtellect, and Willpower. Each ability tracks on a scale of 0 to 30, where 30 is - well, it’s out there. Most heroes have abilty scores between 3 and 9 with one ability score possibly reaching 10 or higher. Flip through the Roster Book and look at the examples. No hero can have a base ability of 0 or 1. The mortal body can’t handle scores above 20 for any sustained length of time, so generally heroes can’t have base abilities above 20.
How does an ability score work?
You’ll decide need to decide how well-trained your hero is at using his or her abilities. Each of the four main ability scores needs an alpha ability code next to it. If your hero has devoted his or her life to the pectoral presses and triathlons, he or she will be very good at using Strength. That said, he or she may not have had time to become a science-obsessed bookworm like, say, Giant-Man. It’s all in the priorities.
Start by considering the skills you think your hero should have. Consider special tactics like throwing objects and ricocheting beams off walls. Write down skills from the list on the right, then decide your hero’s ability codes. The codes -A,B,C,D, and X- tell you how many skills your hero has in each ability.
As a general rule, heroes will not have more than one A code, and even the exceptional ones rarely have more than two. Examine the heroes in the Roster - even the greatest heroes in the Marvel Universe have a few C or D codes.
You generally can tell how many skills a hero has in each ability by the code next to the ability score. The closer the ability code is to the front of the alphabet, the more skills it provides. An ability code cannot get higher than an A, so generally, four skills is the most a hero can have in an ability.
What are the ability scores?
Ability Codes
Strength …
Score | Example |
0 Insubstantial 1 Weakling 2 Low-strength 3-4 Average-strength 5-6 High-strength 7-8 Pro-athlete-level 9-10 Maximum unaltered 11-12 Enhanced or peerless strength 13-14 Far stronger 15-16 Unbelievably strong 17-18 Overwhelmingly strong 19-20 Ultimate limit of mortals 21-25 Otherworldly 25-30 Cosmic |
Ghosts Aunt May, Franklin Richards Molecule Man, Baron Mordo Ant-Man, Scarlet Witch Cyclops, Black Widow Daredevil, Iron Fist Captain America, Sabretooth Beast, Tigra Spider-Man, Luke Cage Rogue, Super-Skrull The Thing, Sub-Mariner Thor, Hulk (when calm) Nightmare, Hulk (when angry) Galactus, Celestials |
Agility …
Score | Example |
0 Immobile 1 Lump 2 Low-agility 3-4 Average-agility 5-6 High-agility 7-8 Pro-athlete-level 9-10 Maximum unaltered 11-12 Enhanced or peerless agility 13-14 Far faster 15-16 Unbelievably agile 17-18 Overwhelmingly agile 19-20 Ultimate limit of mortals 21-25 Otherworldly 25-30 Cosmic |
Supreme Intelligence Mojo Blob, Juggernaut Doctor Octopus, Hulk Invisible Woman, Iceman Black Widow, Hawkeye Captain America, Iron Fist Beast, Nightcrawler Spider-Man, Hela Mephisto Lockheed Silver Surfer, Nightmare Odin The Runner |
Intellect …
Score | Example |
0 Mindless (0 IQ) 1 Animal or disabled (25 IQ) 2 Low-IQ (50 IQ) 3-4 Average-IQ (75-100 IQ) 5-6 High-IQ (125-150 IQ) 7-8 Genius-level (175-200 IQ) 9-10 Maximum (225-250 IQ) 11-12 Peerless (275-300 IQ) 13-14 Far smarter (325-350 IQ) 15-16 Unbelievable (375-400 IQ) 17-18 Overwhelming (425-450 IQ) 19-20 Mortal Limit (475-500 IQ) 21-25 Otherworldly (500+ IQ) 25-30 Cosmic (off the charts) |
Man-Thing Awsome Android Rhino, Devil Dinosaur Absorbing Man, Sandman Elektra, Hawkeye Green Goblin, Arcade Iron Man, Giant-Man Mister Fantastic, Doctor Doom Dormammu Mephisto, Eternal Uni-Mind Korvac, Kree Supreme Intelligence Uatu the Watcher Glactus, Ego the Living Planet Celestials |
Willpower …
Score | Example |
0 Unaware 1 Mind Slave 2 Low-will 3-4 Average-will 5-6 High-will 7-8 Dauntless 9-10 Maximum unaltered 11-12 Enhanced or peerless will 13-14 Far more willful 15-16 Unbelievably strong-willed 17-18 Overwhelmingly strong-willed 19-20 Ultimate limit of mortals 21-25 Otherworldly 25-30 Cosmic |
Sentinels AIM soldiers, minions of Annihilus Electro, Rhino Rage, Siryn Iceman, Ka-Zar Storm, Scarlet Witch Wolverine, Spider-Man Captain America, Professor X Ultron Dr. Strange, Loki Dormammu, Odin Uatu the Watcher Glactus Celestials |