Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

GenCon Report 2: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

I had the opportunity to run official sessions of MarvelRPG at GenCon for Margaret Weiss Productions…

Greetings True Believers!

GenCon Report 2 coming in a bit behind schedule do to life. I hate it when that happens, don’t you?

I had the opportunity to run official sessions of MarvelRPG at GenCon for Margaret Weis Productions. They had several Watchers running sessions of four different scenarios (three of which were brand new to GenCon) throughout the Con. In a lot of ways we were playtesting new content, which is always exciting. What’s even more exciting is when some of your favorite heroes and villains are involved, and appearing for the first time.

I think Cam Banks (who is lead on the line) must have known this because these adventures were chock full of brand new characters. I’m going to try to geek out a little bit without drifting into heavy spoiler territory, but consider yourself warned.

I got to run two of the new scenarios: Guardians of the Galaxy and New Mutants: Siege! The Guardians of the Galaxy will be coming in the Annihilation line when it drops from MWP later this year. I was very excited about running this gem, as I really loved the team as they were re-introduced in the Annihilation comics. You see familiar faces like Star Lord, Mantis, Rocket Raccoon, Quasar and a few others, facing one of the biggest challenges in the known universe. Not bad for a three-hour session. Cam Banks once joked on Twitter that when Annihilation hits we’re all going to need more d12s, and he wasn’t lying. If running this event taught me anything, it’s that you can really do epic things in a short amount of time without being bogged down by mechanics. The School of Hard Knocks rule (where the PCs get 1 XP for every d12 the Watcher rolls) came up way more than I’ve ever seen and some of the “weakest” characters on the field wracked up the most milestone XP the quickest. Your crazy friend, who loves playing the Punisher, (you have this friend right?) is going to love it when they get their hands on Rocket Raccoon.

The New Mutants scenario was a What If? that lands these young X-Men as the last hope against a corrupt Norman Osborn. It’s very open-ended, and really highlights the non-linear style of MarvelRPG Events. I hope it eventually gets released to the public because I think it could be used as the start point on how sandbox-style adventures could be written in other systems. Again, I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but let’s just say that Cypher will change the way your players view power. Everything is language, after all.

If you want to see some player reactions, check out the forums at MargaretWeiss.com.

My Marvel experience didn’t end with official slots, mind you. I brought the characters from my House of M Event (I actually brought all my characters) for some quick pick-up games. Gaming Conventions can be great places to learn a new game just from stumbling into somebody who wants to play. It also helps to hold up hand-made signs that ask “Do you want to play the Marvel RPG?” I filled hotel lobbies with the sound of Deadpool and Wolverine taking down Apocalypse and airport terminals with the exploits of the self proclaimed best Moon Knight ever. I can attest that I’ve never seen a Moon Knight use hockey fight tactics so effectively.

I think this reflects how comfortable I’ve become with the game. Once you know how much time you have, it’s easy to cater the scale of the game. Next time, though, I think I’ll just bring the heroes and villains I need for one specific scenario, and cut things as needed. That three-inch binder was heavy, and I don’t think Plot Points or MWP are going to slow down on creating new character soon.

You can download the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying PDF here, or get the book!

Sauron – Distinctions and Milestones

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE BREAK OUT MINI-EVENT!

One of the rewards established for the Break Out event, included in the Marvel Basic game, is the ability to redeem captured villains and turn them into playable heroes. My players really liked this option, but I never expected them to keep Sauron from SHIELD custody and then go underground with him in tow!

The Sauron villain included in Break Out already has an elaborate array of powers. I didn’t feel the need to change those when I created Sauron as a hero, so I won’t be posting the full datafile here as it would be mostly a copy straight from the book. Instead you can take any of the already posted hero files and edit it to create your own Sauron!

The Distinctions in the book are geared a little too much toward quick villain play. I tweaked them so they still represent a dark character, but could be used more often. I also wanted them to tie into his new specialties and milestones.

Addict

Privileged Genius

Savage Terror

He already had three specialties, but Sauron is a rich character with a deep history. The three he had were fine for his brief spotlight as a villain, but there were a couple that were missing if we wanted a fully developed sheet. I added d8 Menace and d8 Psych to help represent his training and experience.

Milestones went roughly the same way. As a redeemed villain, I wanted goals that represented the character fighting his history, and possibly failing.

Milestones

Power Addict

1 XP when you first use the Leech power in a scene.
3 XP when you choose to pursue a mutant target when your allies are in danger.
10 XP when you choose to return to a life of villainy in order to indulge your addiction or seek out long term rehabilitation.

Playing the Hero

1 XP when you convince another hero to buddy up or follow you to a different part of an action scene.
3 XP when you abandon that hero in the middle of a fight to go solo.
10 XP when you either accept a position of leadership in the team or leave it permanently.

Enjoy!

House of M Milestones

The House of M was a Marvel tie-in event that brought together each major title in an alternate reality where everything seemed better, at least to most people. It followed the forming of the New Avengers and was a precursor to Civil War (the next big event coming from Margaret Weiss Productions). In its pages we saw a world where Magneto was a great hero, uncovering a government conspiracy against mutants early on. He founded a safe haven in Genosha, which quickly became a economic and technological giant, due to the gifts of its Mutant population. He liberated the United States, and helped set up Superhuman led governments across the globe. Mutants became the dominant species, Spider-man was a great entertainer, Captain America never got stuck in the ice, and Colossus led a peaceful life on a Russian farm.

Too bad Wolverine still remembers the real world, and he doesn’t like it when people mess with his head (Deadpool was dimension traveling at the time but if you’re using our file, he could also fill this role). There’s also a girl named Layla Miller. She knows stuff, she found the human resistance and showed them the truth about this reality as well. The Resistance can really be made up of anyone who’s not a public mutant, but should include Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Hawkeye and Cloak.

Now the heroes need to end this reality, fighting their own memories and personal feelings. I’ve represented this in my game with the Milestones below, but also by having every hero start with a d10 Altered Reality complication. Every transition scene players can reduce it by -1 step, just like Stress. Otherwise it can be used in opposed dice pools, like a complication, by anyone who is aware that House of M is fake.

Got me on my knees. . .

Layla Miller is a girl who knows stuff. She’s also the girl who helps people remember. You need to keep her safe, so you can help others.

1 XP when Layla Miller uses her action to help someone recover their memories.

3 XP when you spend 1 PP to save Layla Miller from Stress or Trauma.

10 XP when you protect Layla long enough for her to awaken Magneto or you fail to protect her and she dies.

The Better Reality

The House of M may be fake, but it’s a lot better than the true reality. You struggle with the decision to turn things back.

1 XP when you take mental or emotional stress linked to your preference towards House of M.

3 XP when you defend the current reality to a teammate.

10 XP when you turn on your allies to save this reality, or abandon this reality for the real.

The World is a Lie

The Scarlet Witch took your life from you and made you forget. She is too powerful for this world, and you will be her undoing.

1 XP when you defeat an enemy working for Magneto.

3 XP when you rebuke an ally because they don’t share your resolve.

10 XP when you destroy the Scarlet Witch, or forgive her after discovering the true culprit.

You can download the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying PDF here, or get the book!

Make Mine Marvel

My players and I are between D&D Campaigns. I’ve got the opening scenes laid out in my head, but I’m just not ready for that pivotal first session. Knowing what I had on hand, I gave my players three choices: I could run their characters in our side campaign through some purchased adventures (D&D 4e), we could try the quickstart rules for DragonAge (closer to D&D), or we could try the new Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. To my surprise, the group that didn’t even want to try Pathfinder, chose Marvel!

I’m not going to walk you through every element of the game in this review. A number of people have done a great job of that. Check out Exploring Infinity’s excellent Marvel Page for an ever growing list of articles, if you need a little more context.

I’m going to hit some of the highlights and possible pit traps in this article. Maybe this will inspire you to run it. I hope it will, because it’s really a blast. My players are eager for new sessions beyond what was included in the basic game.

The Good

1. Gridless Done Right. There are no maps to speak of in this book. Even though Marvel has a line of miniatures, they made no attempts to even suggest using them. This is a blessing. None of the heroes are reduced in ability to try to make the game seem more balanced. With heroes like Iron man, or the Sentry, the party could quickly be in remarkably different locations and the game handles it with ease. It even encourages you to split the party and bring them back together. It mimics the action of comics quite well, while leaving you unrestrained by a 30 by 24 grid. If you’re curious how this is possible, its because nobody has a measurable movement speed. Distance is measured in narrative with bonuses for creative awesome (also called Stunts and Complications).

2. Accessible Setting and Characters. When playing a Marvel Video game where Cyclops, Captain America and the Hulk all need to stand side by side, you may wonder why they all seem to be doing similar amounts of damage. It’s all for game balance of course. Marvel Heroic Roleplaying does not weaken their most powerful characters so that everyone is starting equal at “Level 1”.

This makes the characters all the more accessible, because if you know what Thor can do in the movies or comics, you already have a great grasp of what he can do in game and can get started describing the action in Epic detail. The balance comes in by allowing characters to add more dice to their roll for thinking creatively and interacting with the narrative.

3. Doom. Not the Doctor, but the Dice. Marvel uses a great system where the Watcher (the GM) slowly builds more dice as the heroes roll 1s (providing opportunities), make use of abilities that have negative sides (like rage), or when other bad things happen. The dice build right in plain view of the table and really does add a creeping “oh no” factor to play. The Watcher can, in turn, use these to powerful effect in his own rolls, or end a scene that’s gone on a bit longer than is useful/fun.

4. Milestones. You don’t get XP for killings things and taking their stuff. You get XP for achieving your character’s roleplaying goals, even if its negative.

The Less Good

1. Assets, Stunts, Resources, Complications etc. Every game comes with its own baggage of jargon. However some of Marvel’s is really similar and are all based on the same mechanic. You need to read the rules, reference and play to really get a handle on things. I think its worth it. One of the most fun parts of the game is that the players have the ability to narratively change the scene. They may be activating a security system, breaking a wall or hijacking a plane, but to an extent they wield the power of the DM, because those elements don’t need to exist before the players establish them. It doesn’t work if you don’t understand your options. This post, also at Exploring Infinity, does an excellent job describing resources in terms of vehicles. I recommend you read it.

2. You have to read the whole thing. This may seem really obvious, but often we don’t do this. We read through the beginning to make sure we have the basic concepts down, and then we go play. I did this for my first session, and we still had fun, but I improvised a bit to make up for it. There are plenty of areas in the book that return to things it covered earlier in part, but then make it clearer or more distinct. You should read all the rules before running the game. If you’re going to run the included event, read the whole thing first. Don’t just skim it. Remember movement is very flexible, and the designers know this. The included event is not linear. There’s no encounter 1 and then encounter 2.

I found myself having more villains than I needed for each Act, which ensured I could be flexible with the story my players were helping to tell, but for the first session I wish I had a better handle on the resources I had available.

One final note. There was also a little confusion on how to buy the book. The date on Amazon changed while it didn’t change equally on the Margaret Weis website. You can get it now for 20 bucks at the main site. Save a few bucks from Amazon but you’ll have to wait until April 10th. The PDF is available at an even lower price. I went with the PDF and managed to run things just fine, however I probably will end up closer to even after my printed character sheets, and if I print the included event for PAXEast.

Speaking of which, if you’re not sold, come find me at the Convention. I plan to be running it. See a future post for more info on my PAX Schedule.

I think it’s clear from this review that I like the game very much. Its real A-level material.

I can’t close this article without plugging a great new site, Plot Points by Dice Monkey. I’ve already made great use of his sliding time table in my own planning, and new content is being produced every day. Show him your love.