Note: These steps can be done in any order, but this is just how they
are presented in the book.
Step 1: Character Concept
Having an idea of the type of character you want to make before
getting started will help when making decisions. Do you want them to
be more focused on intelligence or athletics? Are they a comedian, the
oddball, or a cynic?
What Ranger role will they be? This is where you choose what power you
have. Are you the red ranger or the blue ranger?
Are you a pillar of the community dedicated to helping others? Are you
an avid martial artist or are you an artist? Were you born in another
town or country or on another planet entirely?
A character’s origin represents who they were before becoming a
Power Ranger.
The Origin will determine your character's starting health,
movement, Essence score increase options, how your character learns
languages and will give you a benefit. Usually, the origin gives you
two options for Essence scores to increase, but some give you the
choice. All origins tell you where you can place that 1 point.
For example: The Athletic origin gives a player a starting health
of 2. It also gives them the option of choosing to add a point to
either Strength or Speed. If they choose to add the point to their
Strength Essence, they then have the option to use that point to
purchase a skill level in Athletics, Brawn or Might. If they chose
to put that point into Speed, then they would be able to purchase
a skill level in Acrobatics, Finesse or Initiative. If the player
has no points in the skill already, this would place it at the d2
level. The character's ground movement with this origin would be
40 feet per round and they start off at level 1 being fluent in
their native language, but for every 3 points in the Social
Essence that they have, they can learn an additional language.
Their benefit is that when they have to make a skill check in a
Speed or Strength skill that they do not possess any ranks in,
they can roll with a d2 and do not suffer snag for being
untrained.
| ORIGIN |
BOOK AND PAGE # |
| Accidental |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 25-26 |
| Antagonistic |
Across the Stars, pg. 38 |
| Athletic |
Core Rulebook, pg. 22 |
| Brainy |
Core Rulebook, pg. 23 |
| By Design |
A Jump Through Time, pg.26 |
| Comedic |
Core Rulebook, pg. 23 |
| Curious |
Core Rulebook, pg. 24 |
| Cynical |
Core Rulebook, pg. 24 |
| Driven |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 26-27 |
| Enigma |
Across the Stars, pg. 38-39 |
| Hunted |
Across the Stars, pg. 39 |
| Inspiring |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 27 |
| Kind |
Core Rulebook, pg. 24 |
| Last of my kind |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 28 |
| Low Tech |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 28 |
| Noble Blood |
Across the Stars, pg. 40 |
| Oddball |
Core Rulebook, pg. 25 |
| Popular |
Core Rulebook, pg. 26 |
| Rebellious |
Core Rulebook, pg. 26 |
| Stargazer |
Across the Stars, pg. 40 |
| Tragic |
Core Rulebook, pg. 27 |
| Traveler |
Across the Stars, pg. 41 |
| Volunteer |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 29 |
| Warrior Born |
Across the Stars, pg. 42 |
Step 3: Role
A character’s role is what color ranger power they wield. With the
Core Rulebook, Across the Stars and A Jump Through Time sourcebooks,
players have access to thirteen roles that they can choose from.
Advanced spectrum roles need the Spectrum Role Shift perk before
they can be used. Beneath the Helmet adds the Aqua, Graphite and
Dark Ranger roles, they will be added to this resource page sometime
in the future.
Standard spectrum roles do not require any perks to play them from
level 1. All Advanced Spectrum Roles require the use of the Spectrum
Role Shift perk which can be used at level 1 if your origin benefit
allows you to choose a General Perk that you qualify to use.
Ultimately, this requires working with your GM to make sure that
they will allow the use of Advanced Roles at level 1. The Quantum
Role (as of this writing) is the only Spectrum Role that can not be
used at level 1. In order to become a Quantum Ranger, the character
must be at least level 4 and then choose the Spectrum Role Shift
perk. There are special rules for this Spectrum Role. This guide
assumes you are starting at level 1.
At level 1, a character is given 3 essence skill points based on
their role. These points must be allocated to specific Essences and
Skills. For example, the Red Ranger role has a +2 increase to
Strength and a +1 increase to their Social Essence. Those 2 Strength
points must go into the Might skill and the Social point must go
into Persuasion. The role also determines your Armor and Power
Weapon, but I will go more into detail on those in the appropriate
section. Every Spectrum Role gets the
It's Morphin' Time Role Perk as well as a role
specific perk.
| Role |
Role Type |
Book and pg # |
| Red Ranger |
Main Spectrum Role |
Core Rulebook, pg. 50-53 |
| Yellow Ranger |
Main Spectrum Role |
Core Rulebook, pg. 54-57 |
| Black Ranger |
Main Spectrum Role |
Core Rulebook, pg. 31-35 |
| Blue Ranger |
Main Spectrum Role |
Core Rulebook, pg. 36-41 |
| Green Ranger |
Main Spectrum Role |
Core Rulebook, pg. 42-45 |
| Pink Ranger |
Main Spectrum Role |
Core Rulebook, pg. 46-49 |
| White Ranger |
Advanced Spectrum Role |
Core Rulebook, pg. 59-63 |
| Gold Ranger |
Advanced Spectrum Role |
Across the Stars, pg. 50-53 |
| Silver Ranger |
Advanced Spectrum Role |
Across the Stars, pg. 54-57 |
| Phantom Ranger |
Advanced Spectrum Role |
Across the Stars, pg. 58-62 |
| Purple Ranger |
Spectrum Role |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 35-39 |
| Orange Ranger |
Spectrum Role |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 30-34 |
| Quantum Ranger |
Advanced Spectrum Role |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 40-45 |
Step 4: Influences
Influences involve how you grew up and describe your personality and
how you see the world.
You do not need to choose a hang-up with your first influence unless
it specifically says you have to. Additional influences (up to 3
total) require a hang-up. Example: Player wants to have 3
influences. The first doesn’t require a hang-up but adding the other
2 requires 2 hang-ups to be chosen, 1 for each hang-up. If the same
player chooses a different first influence that does require that
you use its hang-up, the other two influences will require you to
choose a hang-up as well.
Each influence you choose gives you a perk that can be used to give
your character depth. For example, the Martial Artist Influence
grants the character the ability to observe another martial artist
for a minute and learn how they compare to your abilities. The GM
tells the player if the target is superior to you, your equal or
inferior in regards to threat level as well as their toughness and
evasion defense. The student influence allows a player to choose a
specific field of study and whenever the character is recalling
information about that topic or performing a skill test in relation
to it, they gain an Edge on their dice roll. They are also well
known in learning institutions that have a focus on their field of
study.
| Influence |
Book and pg # |
| Agency |
Across the Stars, pg. 42 |
| Artisan |
Core Rulebook, pg. 66 |
| Augmented |
Across the Stars, pg. 43 |
| Beloved |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 17-18 |
| Caretaker |
Core Rulebook, pg. 67 |
| Chronicler |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 18-19 |
| Community Helper |
Core Rulebook, pg. 68 |
| Destiny |
Across the Stars, pg. 44 |
| Handler |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 19-20 |
| Local Legend |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 20-21 |
| Martial Artist |
Core Rulebook, pg. 70 |
| Nomad |
Core Rulebook, pg. 70 |
| Not from Around Here |
Core Rulebook, pg. 71 |
| Oathbound |
Across the Stars, pg. 46 |
| Paradox |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 21-22 |
| Profiteer |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 22 |
| Royalty |
Across the Stars, pg. 47 |
| Ship’s Crew |
Across the Stars, pg. 48 |
| Small Town Roots |
Core Rulebook, pg. 69 |
| Student |
Core Rulebook, pg. 72 |
| Survivor |
Core Rulebook, pg. 75 |
| Teacher |
Core Rulebook, pg. 76 |
| Time Displaced |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 23-24 |
| Time Traveler |
A Jump Through Time, pg. 24-25 |
Step 5: Essence Scores and Skills
The Essence20 system uses a point-buy skill system.
At level 1, a player has a total of 16 Essence Skill points to
distribute across the 4 Essences (Strength, Speed, Smarts and Social).
A player’s origin provides your first options with the Essence scores.
Each origin requires you to choose between Essences to give a point to
and what specific skills you can choose to spend that point on. The
role provides the next set of options for skills and essence scores
giving you 3 points to work with. The final 12 points are free for the
player to spread out and use.
Each Essence has a set of skills that you can purchase. Your Essence
score (the total number of points you put into the Essence) is how
many points you have to distribute. Just remember that the points from
your origin and role must be used with specific skills.
Each point you put into a skill increases the die used when rolling a
skill check. No points in a skill means you roll at a snag, or
disadvantage. 1 point in a skill brings it up to a d2 and you would
roll a d20 and d2 and add the results together to get your total skill
check result.
Instead of increasing your die roll, you can choose to put a point in
a specialization. A specialization is a specific skill within a
generic one. For example, a player has already bought 3 levels of the
Alertness skill, making their die roll a d6. They decide to use their
next point to buy a specialization of Perception. Now, whenever
rolling an Alertness (Perception) check, they roll the d20, d2, d4,
and d6 at the same time. They add the d20 and the highest of the skill
dice together for their total skill check result. (Example: d20 -> 15, d2 -> 1, d4 -> 2, d6 -> 1. 15(d20) + 2(d4) = a
17 for the skill check.)
The image to the right shows a section of the character sheet focused
on the Essence scores and skills. The red square indicates where you
should put your total essence score. Strength, Speed, Smarts and
Social should all add up to 16 at level 1. The blue squares show that
this character has trained in the athletics and driving skills. Each
dot represents a point in that skill. Your skills in the strength
column should add up to the essence score in the red square box (this
character will have 7 dots filled in under Strength and 3 in Speed).
Step 7: Equipment
Your character’s role will determine the type of shell your morphed
form has. It will list the types you are qualified to wear (light,
medium, heavy, ultra heavy). You’ll want to choose the one that gives
you the best defensive options.
Your role will also give you the type of weapon your morphed form can
use. This is how you begin the creation of your power weapon(s). Pages
108- 113 of the core rulebook show the basic weapons you can use as a
base. As you play in your campaign, you can upgrade and adjust your
weapon in the Command Center using the rules on page 114-115 of the
Core Rulebook.
Base Equipment:
All players start with basic equipment:
- Power Morpher
- Communicator
The core rulebook roles (Red, Black, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Green and
White) all get:
- Blade Blaster
-
Power Weapon (Green and White power weapons are done differently)
Advanced Spectrum Roles and Roles from different sourcebooks have
different types of equipment that fall into the same categories as the
above.
