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

Matt Forbeck announced on Twitter that he’s working on a new in-house D616 Marvel RPG due for a 2022 release! It looks like there will be an open playtest.



What’s the D617 System? “… the all-new D616 System, an accessible and easy-to-learn system for newcomers to tabletop RPGs and a natural evolution for those familiar with the most popular tabletop role-playing games on the market. Use Might, Agility, Resilience, Vigilance, Ego, and Logic to win the day, and discover your true abilities as you face impossible odds!”

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

Use the all-new D616 game system to embody your favorite Super Heroes and Super Villains like never before!

www.marvel.com

 

[LongTimeLurker]

Just bring back the FASERIP system.

 

[Umbran]

Just bring back the FASERIP system.

It would be difficult, in that was originally a TSR, and so now probably a WotC/Hasbro, product. Hashing through what's copyright protected, and what wasn't, would be such a bear.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

Not to yuck anyone's yum, but...just playtest the damn thing and then release a first edition. Or do a free open beta, essentially, via PDFs. So what if that limits your audience some? At least it doesn't come across as a bumbling, opportunistic cash grab, and establishes your bona fides at the start of what one would hope is a long product lifespan.

 

[Jer]

It would be difficult, in that was originally a TSR, and so now probably a WotC/Hasbro, product. Hashing through what's copyright protected, and what wasn't, would be such a bear.

There are retroclones out there that are walking that line but yeah - I doubt anyone with money would want to use that system.

Also - chart-based systems are pretty retro these days. Torg is the only one in print that I can think of off the top of my head, and their decision to hew as close to the original system as possible was a choice made because it's so core to the original game that it's hard to imagine doing it without it (and they did cut as many charts at they could from the system when they revamped it).

 

[Jer]

Not to yuck anyone's yum, but...just playtest the damn thing and then release a first edition. Or do a free open beta, essentially, via PDFs. So what if that limits your audience some? At least it doesn't come across as a bumbling, opportunistic cash grab, and establishes your bona fides at the start of what one would hope is a long product lifespan.

This is Marvel we're talking about. This isn't a third party license making the game, Marvel is putting this together internally. They aren't a game company, though they did hire at least one experienced game professional to write it.

I strongly suspect that Marvel is planning to avoid game stores and sell this through comic book stores. Building hype for it and getting their current readers (and more importantly store owners) interested in it is going to be crucial to making it work.

(I'm still actually wondering if the final form factor for this game will be a traditional release, a comic-book sized trade paperback, or if Marvel will put the game out as individual issues and then collect them into a tradepaperback afterward. And that last one is only somewhat a joke.)

 

[Umbran]

There are retroclones out there that are walking that line but yeah - I doubt anyone with money would want to use that system.

Retroclones with no economic impact aren't worth pursuing the issue on. Since it isn't a trademark thing, they could choose what to let slide, and what not.

Also - chart-based systems are pretty retro these days.

That too. At least it is only the one chart, though.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

This is Marvel we're talking about. This isn't a third party license making the game, Marvel is putting this together internally. They aren't a game company, though they did hire at least one experienced game professional to write it.

I strongly suspect that Marvel is planning to avoid game stores and sell this through comic book stores. Building hype for it and getting their current readers (and more importantly store owners) interested in it is going to be crucial to making it work.

(I'm still actually wondering if the final form factor for this game will be a traditional release, a comic-book sized trade paperback, or if Marvel will put the game out as individual issues and then collect them into a tradepaperback afterward. And that last one is only somewhat a joke.)

That it's Marvel, with all of the access to fans and instant press coverage they currently enjoy, is all the more reason to go the open beta route, at least to me. This isn't some itch.io project that needs to scrape together funds for an ashcan edition. Just make the game. Companies do it every day without charging for playtest access.

And just because something is a marketing strategy, even one that ultimately works, doesn't mean it has to be respected. Companies do exploitative stuff all the time. People like me whining about it is as much a part of the whole ugly capitalist process as anything else.

 

[Von Ether]

I was just commenting on how short the book was at 120 pages. I didn't know it was $10 for a beta. I'm intrigued.

 

[Jer]

And just because something is a marketing strategy, even one that ultimately works, doesn't mean it has to be respected. Companies do exploitative stuff all the time. People like me whining about it is as much a part of the whole ugly capitalist process as anything else.

Oh I didn't say I respect it - let me make that clear.

It's just that if you look at the marketing strategies that Marvel uses on a monthly basis, this one is mild in comparison. They're only trying to get store owners to shell out for 2 variant covers on it for starters. That shows remarkable restraint on their part! The standard for shadiness in the comics market needs a completely different calibration than what the games market uses. But you can take it as read that mostly I object to pretty much most of how the comics arm of Marvel does business - from how they treat their employees all the way up to how their editor in chief once pretended to be Japanese to get stories published.

 

[Parmandur]

I was just commenting on how short the book was at 120 pages. I didn't know it was $10 for a beta. I'm intrigued.

Worth checking out, for sure.