Boston Gameday was a few weeks ago and I got my first taste of the new Marvel RPG from Margaret Weis Productions, home of the Leverage and Smallville games. (I have to admit, I am a DC fan at heart. I have a soft spot in my heart for Ra's al Ghoul. It is very important for me to mention this so that you understand that this review is from the heart and completely unbiased.) I am very particular about the superhero games that I play. I have a love for M&M and a dislike of using Savage Worlds for Superheros.
The one thing I knew was not to compare it to Wild Talents or Mutants and Masterminds, as I knew from Smallville; it would be nothing like that. But also, I was hoping not to see the long and involved character creation that comes with playing a Smallville campaign. I have to admit, when Margaret Weiss announced they had the Marvel license I was a little sceptical. How would they make that work and work smoothly? My husband shared that same thought. We would check it out to see what they did with it.
I was delighted with Marvel RPG. I have played 2 games so far and read the book. I love the damage mechanic and the way they use the Cortex system to their complete advantage with the super powers.
Initiative worked good and really gets the players thinking strategy. You have a card, coin or something else with two sides. If the card was face up, you hadn't gone yet this round. If it is face down, you have gone this round. The Watcher (better known as the GM) chooses who goes first in round 1. Then after that person goes they pick who goes next and so on until the round is over. Then the last person to go in the round picks who is first in the next round. Here is the thing to remember. If you choose the bad guys to go last, they can choose themselves to go first in the next round! (By the way, don't do that... it is super painful for our heroes.)
I love how if you are working solo, with a buddy or with a team you have a different pool starting dice to roll. For example: As Wolverine, I had a better pool starting dice if I was solo than if I was working with a team. So, at every opportunity I would announce that I was going to work solo. Add in Superpower, Trait and Specialty dice and you have a boatload of dice to roll.... I love rolling dice so this was great for me. (What gamer doesn't like to roll some dice from time to time?)
But by far, the best thing about this game is the Doom Pool. The Doom Pool is just a fancy word for the pool that grows every time the Watcher wants to take advantage of an opportunity (a 1 on any dice). I love that some PC's (like Wolverine) have the Berserk talent as a special FX under the . Going Berserk allows a PC to roll the doom pool, but then one of the dice in the pool goes up a type (a d6 would go up to a d8 and so on).
I also appreciate and take full advantage of the plot point mechanic. Instead of allowing a re-roll, plot points will allow you to add on an additional die that you just rolled. So instead of 2 dice added together it is three. What if your highest die is going to be your effect die. Do you add a lower die type to your roll to keep the higher die type as your effect dice? This was a question that came up a lot of times in the games I played. Almost always, they kept the higher die type as the effect die and added another die instead.
The book was well designed, the art was fantastic (as it should be in a Licensed Comic book game), well edited and the index was super helpful.
Another positive is that writers and designers that worked on this book are fairly accessible. Cam Banks, the chief designer of this book was answering questions on twitter for me and a few others who had questions on the book/rules.
One of the negatives for me was that the Hulk was left out of the Operations Manual. As an Avenger and one of the better known heroes, I thought for sure he would be there. I know that everyone can't be included, but it is the HULK for goodness sake! I have a very basic knowledge of the Marvel Universe, so for him to be missing was sad for me. Thank goodness for the Internet I found a fan version that designer Cam Banks said was close to the version he was working on for one of the 15 supplement books due out in the next year. (I am not exaggerating, they said they were releasing 16 books in one year.
They really knocked it out of the park on this one. If you are not familiar with the cortex rules, they are not too hard to pick up. But if you want to familiarize yourself with them before taking on the superhero genre, you can pick up the Cortex Rulebook or better yet pick up the Leverage game. It was one of my favorite games of the year last year.
Will I pick up the supplement books? Most of them. I am not really up to date on the happenings in the Marvel Universe. I know I am picking up the Civil War book, which is due out in May. I am crossing my fingers for a Marvel Zombie supplement.
As this is my first review, I think I need a ranking. Maybe dice. D4 being lowest and d20 being highest.
I give this one a D12 out of a D20.
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