Marvel to Launch Official 'MARVEL MULTIVERSE' Tabletop Role-Playing Game in 2022

Grendel_Khan · Jun 5, 2021

LuisCarlos17f said:
If they want to releases (more) CRPGs with this system they will notice gameplay will demand all PCs start with same power level. Can you understand? Daredevil could defeat Iron Fist, Electra could destroy Ultron's drones, Blade the vampire hunter facing hordes of AIM tropers or Kate Bishop could kick-ass Superskrull because the gameplay asks that.

I think this is a really important point, and one that a lot of RPG and even MCU fans just can't wrap their heads around--cape comics aren't about realism, so stop complaining about Black Widow and Hawkeye being in the Avengers, or arguing about whether Batman can beat Superman in a fight. Batman can, if that's what the story is, and Black Widow can kill alien soldiers with her dual handguns because these narratives are about clashes of will, not the nuances of pistol-caliber ballistics.

Obviously porting that sort of approach to an RPG is tough, but as much as I loved Champions back in the day, I don't think quantifying all of this stuff down, and therefore making some characters utterly helpless when not beating up a mugger, is doing the cape comic genre justice. Black Widow can't just headshot Doom with a Glock, but she could possibly sweep kick him off-balance, or keep him busy with that zappy business she does. Likewise, how boring it would be if everyone was just sort of failing to do anything to Doom and then Thor can knock him out with one hit, because he's Thor? Ideally you'd want teamwork to be a real factor, and even if Thor lands the big hit, maybe he lands it because others have neutralized Doom's defenses.

(And if anyone talks about how Doom can't go down with one shot from Mjolnir, remember, Doom isn't real, Thor isn't real, none of this is actually quantified or simulated by Marvel, things just happen for story reasons)

Pulling this sort of thing off mechanically is really tough, and while there are some cool supers games, I haven't seen a system that's made it feasible and satisfying to have a Daredevil-level PC and an Iron Man-level PC on the same team. Personally, I don't really love cape comics as a gaming genre, and would rather do stuff that puts some sort of spin on supers. But if you're going to do a bona fide Marvel RPG, I think the system should do the work of making mixed-power-level teams feasible, since that's the case with basically all of the teams in the comics. I don't see that happening without leaning more toward narrative RPG mechanics than trad/F20 stuff, but what do I know?

LuisCarlos17f · Jun 5, 2021

Now I am thinking about if the xenomorphs(aliens) and the yautjas(predators) are in the marvel multiverse, that should mean special rules for creation of ordinary peoples for survival horror games, or stories as X-Files.

This part is interesting:

Audio EXP: #99 - The new Marvel TTRPG and its easter eggs

An RPG news-centric podcast given the announcement of Marvel's new RPG, but there's movie news too, geeky virtual reality software for your webcam and a host of free downloads.

www.geeknative.com

It’ll probably be called “Marvel Multiverse Role-Play Game”. I say probably because the full title of what’s actually been announced is “Marvel Multiverse Role-Play Game Playtest Rulebook.

The game is being written by Matt Forbeck. He wrote Shotguns and Sorcery, a series of novels then turned into a Cypher System RPG by Robert Schwalb. That’s a game due more love.

Forbeck, of course, has written RPGs of his own! Including Mutant Chronicles and supporting Deadlands and Tales from the Loop.

Let’s look for easter eggs or, at the very least, interesting quirks in the text and decisions made around this newly announced Marvel RPG.

First up, I grinned when Marvel described the game as an evolution of “the most popular tabletop role-playing games”. By the time you’re at “most popular” you’re thinking of D&D, in part because that’s correct, but in part, because WotC insists publishers use phrases like that to describe the ruleset rather than use “Dungeons & Dragons”.

I get that they have to protect their brand, but I dislike the arrogance. I also don’t like the use of 5e as there are other games with fifth editions. The World of Darkness, for example.

Pick a better code for D&D, Hasbro, or savvy companies like Marvel can use it against you.

That’s one easter egg. Wondering why they don’t call it the “Marvel system”, they’ve gone with D616 instead.

That’s a nod to Earth-616. In the multiverse, 616 is the universe variant that most Marvel Comics are set. There’s even a documentary that explores the cultural impact of comics called Marvel 616.

In Thor: The Dark World, the movie, Dr Selvig has the phrase 616 Universe scribbled on his chalkboard map of the Nine Realms, and there’s plenty of others; for example, in the last Avengers, Scott Lang comes out of a storage locker labelled 616, there’s a mention of it in season 2 of Iron Fist, when police are describing suspects, and perhaps most directly Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home calls this realm Earth-616.

And it’s not an easter egg, it’s in plain sight, but the game isn’t Marvel Role-Play Game; it’s the Marvel Multiverse Role-Play Game. The company is choosing to highlight the existence of the multiverse in the very name of the product.

That’s a good sales idea. Imagine all the spin-offs you empower by doing that from the outset.

Marvel has had RPGs before. They were last active in 2013 when they departed Margaret Weis Productions and took the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. That caused the RPG to surge to the top of DriveThruRPG’s sales chart for a while as fans rushed to buy it while they still could.

Speaking of DriveThruRPG, I think the Marvel RPG is important because of what it might do to retail.

Marvel points people at comic book stores as a place to buy the playtest. I imagine Marvel already pitch their products to game stores. This will now ramp up.

As it looks like Fandom’s Cortex is not involved in the Marvel RPG, which digital markets do we expect to see the game on? Comixology? Itch? DriveThruRPG? Will Marvel make their own?

Which virtual tabletop, if any, will get the license. Will Marvel have an Open Gaming License?

Aaron L · Jun 5, 2021

I'll give this a look to see if it's any good, but I still like the old '80s TSR FASERIP Marvel Superheroes RPG, with its adjectival ability score rankings (your PC could have an Amazing rank Fighting score and a Monstrous rank Endurance, for example.)

But I still consider the old Mayfair Games DC Heroes and its MEGS (Mayfair Exponential Game System) to be the best, most flexible, and most fluid superhero RPG ever. The way it breaks down every possible measurement into APs (Attribute Points) for manipulation via the game mechanics is just beautiful, with every 1 point increase representing a doubling of value; 0 AP of weight = 50 lbs, 1 AP = 100 lbs; 0 APs of time = 4 seconds (1 combat round) and 1 AP = 8 seconds etc. A Strength score of 5 is twice as strong as a Strength of 4. How far can a character throw a certain weight? Just take his Strength score and subtract the APs of weight, and the result is the APs of distance your PC can throw the object. So elegant.

There is still an active DC Heroes/MEGS fan community that maintains a website database of stats for various characters from comic books, novels, video games, movies, and TV.

Aaron L · Jun 5, 2021

Grendel_Khan said:
I think this is a really important point, and one that a lot of RPG and even MCU fans just can't wrap their heads around--cape comics aren't about realism, so stop complaining about Black Widow and Hawkeye being in the Avengers, or arguing about whether Batman can beat Superman in a fight. Batman can, if that's what the story is, and Black Widow can kill alien soldiers with her dual handguns because these narratives are about clashes of will, not the nuances of pistol-caliber ballistics.

Obviously porting that sort of approach to an RPG is tough, but as much as I loved Champions back in the day, I don't think quantifying all of this stuff down, and therefore making some characters utterly helpless when not beating up a mugger, is doing the cape comic genre justice. Black Widow can't just headshot Doom with a Glock, but she could possibly sweep kick him off-balance, or keep him busy with that zappy business she does. Likewise, how boring it would be if everyone was just sort of failing to do anything to Doom and then Thor can knock him out with one hit, because he's Thor? Ideally you'd want teamwork to be a real factor, and even if Thor lands the big hit, maybe he lands it because others have neutralized Doom's defenses.

(And if anyone talks about how Doom can't go down with one shot from Mjolnir, remember, Doom isn't real, Thor isn't real, none of this is actually quantified or simulated by Marvel, things just happen for story reasons)

Pulling this sort of thing off mechanically is really tough, and while there are some cool supers games, I haven't seen a system that's made it feasible and satisfying to have a Daredevil-level PC and an Iron Man-level PC on the same team. Personally, I don't really love cape comics as a gaming genre, and would rather do stuff that puts some sort of spin on supers. But if you're going to do a bona fide Marvel RPG, I think the system should do the work of making mixed-power-level teams feasible, since that's the case with basically all of the teams in the comics. I don't see that happening without leaning more toward narrative RPG mechanics than trad/F20 stuff, but what do I know?

The old DC Heroes RPG handled this sort of thing perfectly with its system.

darjr · Jun 5, 2021

Aaron L said:
The old DC Heroes RPG handled this sort of thing perfectly with its system.

But..... it was DC....

i kid, I really need to try it!

Enevhar Aldarion · Jun 5, 2021

Aaron L said:
I'll give this a look to see if it's any good, but I still like the old '80s TSR FASERIP Marvel Superheroes RPG, with its adjectival ability score rankings (your PC could have an Amazing rank Fighting score and a Monstrous rank Endurance, for example.)

But I still consider the old Mayfair Games DC Heroes and its MEGS (Mayfair Exponential Game System) to be the best, most flexible, and most fluid superhero RPG ever. The way it breaks down every possible measurement into APs (Attribute Points) for manipulation via the game mechanics is just beautiful, with every 1 point increase representing a doubling of value; 0 AP of weight = 50 lbs, 1 AP = 100 lbs; 0 APs of time = 4 seconds (1 combat round) and 1 AP = 8 seconds etc. A Strength score of 5 is twice as strong as a Strength of 4. How far can a character throw a certain weight? Just take his Strength score and subtract the APs of weight, and the result is the APs of distance your PC can throw the object. So elegant.

There is still an active DC Heroes/MEGS fan community that maintains a website database of stats for various characters from comic books, novels, video games, movies, and TV.

I really liked the official DC Heroes books that were done for Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Ed.

Aaron L · Jun 5, 2021

darjr said:
But..... it was DC....

i kid, I really need to try it!

Doesn't matter

Writeups.org - In-depth character profiles from comics, games, movies has full MEGS stats, bios, and histories for just about any character you can imagine, from DC to Marvel to Cthulhu(!) to pro wrestling(!?) (The stats for Thanos and Adam Warlock are my favorites.)

And the way MEGS works with its exponential AP system means that, say, The Batman can get into a fistfight with Superman and actually last a few rounds (long enough for a contingency plan or some special piece of tech to be brought into play) instead of being rendered into red paste by a single punch.

And that's not even getting into the stock of Hero Points that every character has, which act as both XP for character progression and as a kind of fate point mechanic and can be spent to "Push" abilities to give them a temporary boost, or used to mitigate damage.

(Every character is built from a certain number of Hero Points as determined by the GM according to what level of power they want to set for their game. Superman is obviously built from a much larger pool of HP than The Batman. For example the Writeups.Org version of Cthulhu was built from 10,102 Hero Points and is of a fairly comparable power level to Thanos, as is only appropriate. The stats for The Infinity Gauntlet are actually listed under Adam Warlock's stats.)

TrippyHippy · Jun 5, 2021

There are two Spidermans in that cover, but no Hulk.

Sunsword · Jun 5, 2021

Abstruse said:
On the one hand, this is being done in-house by Marvel so there's no license to yank. Marvel owns the Marvel properties.

On the other hand, this is the second tabletop RPG that Marvel has done in-house after the Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game, which they supported for a little over a year before letting it stagnate and selling a license to Margaret Weis Productions for Marvel Heroic.

Matt Forbeck and the Marvel properties could really bring some top names to a streaming of games using the 616 system. Matt has worked with tons of RPG luminaries and if someone got Jeff Goldblum to play an RPG in a stream, could you imagine Marvel getting Chris Evans or Tom Holland or Benedict Cumberbatch playing the game online?