Check Out This Preview of the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game

On April 20th, the 120-page softcover playtest book for the new Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game by Matt Forbeck will be available to purchase for $9.99; the final game is due to be released next year, in 2023.

Marvel has revealed some of the playtest book, in which you use the new d616 system and profiles for Spider-Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Wolverine and more, in an introductory scenario called Enter: Hydra. The scenario involves a hostage situation at the Howard & Maria Stark Center for Galactic History.

Marvel Multiverse RPG Alternate Covers

Marvel has revealed some alternate covers for its upcoming Marvel Multiverse RPG (written by Matt Forbeck). The new covers are by Peach Momoko and Logan Lubera, and the standard cover is by Iban Coello. The game uses a new "D616" system and will be released next year with a playtest book. "“…...

www.enworld.org

The d616 system uses three d6s. Designer Matt Forbeck says "If you get a 1 on the Marvel die, you get a fantastic result and something amazing happens. If you get 6 on both of the other dice—or a 6-1-6 result—that’s an ultimate fantastic roll, which is even better."

The words MARVEL contains initials for the game's six ability scores -- Might, Agility, Resilience, Vigilance, Ego, and Logic. Each character has an archetype, such as a striker or blaster, and the archetype combines with the abilities to give bigger attack rolls.

Here's a quick look at Spider-Man! For reference a normal human stat is between -4 and +4.

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Get a First Look at the New Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game

Plus an exclusive Q&A with game designer Matt Forbeck!

www.marvel.com

 

[Morrus]

Do you think the designers went with the 'Marvel Die' to roll 1 instead of 6 to avoid something super happening on 6-6-6, thus avoiding the satanic backlash?

It's because in the comics, our Earth is Earth 616.

 

[Dahak]

Do you think the designers went with the 'Marvel Die' to roll 1 instead of 6 to avoid something super happening on 6-6-6, thus avoiding the satanic backlash?

616 is itself a variant (or perhaps an original) number of the Beast, so not likely chosen for that reason. Some stories say Earth-616 was chosen because one of Captain Britain's developers didn't like superheroes and placed a Satanic dig as a mockery. More conspiratorial minded anti-comics types have noted that DC was associated with 666 in its address and Marvel with 616.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

You can blame the screewritter Alan Moor, it was his idea. This like the ocultism.

 

[ART!]

Finally looking at Spidey's character sheet. Thoughts:

The fact that everything fits on one page, with plenty of room for graphics and an image, is a good sign I think - it speaks of a system that maybe isn't too complicated. That said, the Traits are just listed and probably have some mechanical aspect to them.

That "3d6+14+5" format reads very oddly.

I hope the Score, Modifier, and Defense numbers each serve useful functions, unlike D&D where the ability score itself gets very little use.

 

[Vael]

My first impression isn't great, this seems like a lot of other Superhero RPGs I've bounced off of. Too crunchy, too many fiddly powers. I'm still interested in it, because running a X-Men in the age of Krakoa campaign is something I want to do, but my enthusiasm has waned.

 

[Undrave]

Nobody mentioned the hidden Easter Egg of Spider-Man being in the new Fantastic 4 movie, since he is listed as being part of that group.

Spidey's been part of the 'New Fantastic Four' multiple times. One time with Wolverine, Storm and Black Panther.

Like most supers game, it's just going to be a fight simulator. The same as one of those Marvel videogames where you materialize in a corny-looking base and proceed to wail on dudes.



If this isn't a battlemap-centric game where people are required to constantly check whether Silver Surfer can reach the AIM officer that's 8 boxes away to board-bash them, and whether Dr. Strange's cape can grapple the guy who ran past as an opportunity attack, I'll be so surprised that it'll trigger my Hates To Eat Crow trait and I'll have to activate my Turn Off Computer power (assuming I'm within 2 spaces of my laptop that round).

Might as well play Heroclix at that point...

 

[Justice and Rule]

I'm an old, old man and I was making a feeble joke referencing the names of attributes from TSR's version of Marvel Superheroes from the 1980s. Attributes from lowest to highest were Feeble, Poor, Typical, Good, Excellent, Remarkable, Incredible, Amazing, Monstrous, Unearthly, Shift X, Shift Y, Shift Z, Class 1000, Class 3000, and Class 5000. At least that's what I think it was. Spider-Man had an Amazing Agility and an Incredible Strength. I think Captain America had a Remarkable Strength which was considered peak human.

 

[GMMichael]

I mean, it's alongside gender, height, weight and hair - doesn't actually feel ballsy so much as very mundane.

It's tricky. Height, weight, hair, sex, are objective, sure. Gender's not, but I suspect they're using "gender" to mean "sex." Paizo didn't find a race-characteristic to be appropriate anymore, so you have "ancestry" in PF2. D&D, last I checked, seems to be keeping "races," but is softening them up by removing their flaws. As objective as skin color is, it's also central to the racism dilemma, so I'm surprised that Marvel - so far - isn't taking steps like Paizo and D&D are. Let's also note that "white" (Spiderman's skin color) isn't a skin color, but people with zero skin pigment come close.

Also if you're asking Marvel to stop selling comics you're kind of asking them to give up a good chunk of their business model - every week they're putting out softcovers of 32 pages that are probably just as unfinished as this game is tbh (most of them could use a second script pass IMO).

Nope. Not asking that. It would be cool if they switched to web-only, though.

Why would you assume Hyrda agents are male?

I don't. But the excerpt uses the "he" pronoun.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

As objective as skin color is, it's also central to the racism dilemma, so I'm surprised that Marvel - so far - isn't taking steps like Paizo and D&D are. Let's also note that "white" (Spiderman's skin color) isn't a skin color, but people with zero skin pigment come close.

Eh, Marvel has more than one version of many heroes and villains, and more and more they are not all white versions. So if you don't see a name, but you see white and Spider Man, you think Peter. You see black/brown (or Hispanic) and you think Miles. You see white, but also see female and you think Gwen. And so on. Using skin color and not race is a good thing.

 

[Obryn]

This just all looks like they've ignored the past 20-30 years of game design and have settled on a very 90's kind of system. It's really looking bad so far.