Marvel Universe RPG

[ProfPotts]

Just brought the new Marvel Universe RPG yesterday &, like the thread title says, it's better than I expected.

The rules are quite basic & free-form, but seem to capture the spirit of the comics quite well. The diceless aspect rings a few warning bells in my mind, since it'd only really work well if the players didn't know much about their opponent's stats - & with characters this famous & a system this simple a smart player (with a head for numbers) could run rampant.

Basically characters get 5 Attributes - Intelligence, Strength, Agility, Speed & Durability, each rated 1 to 10 (1 usually being normal human, & 10 being godlike). Characters also get up to 9 Actions - these include skill suites, powers, or pretty much anything else the character can actively 'do'. Then there are Modifiers - extra little powers that are automatic & don't count as Actions (you can have as many of these as you want). Lastly there is Equipment, which also grants Modifiers.

The system uses two types of 'stones' (basically their name for 'points', but the suggestion is that you use actual counters which you move around the character sheet as you play) - red stones for 'energy', & white stones for 'health'. Play is divided into 'Panels' (a character's 'go' for the turn, during which he can assign red stones - or energy - to 1 or 2 Actions), & 'Pages' (basically a turn - when all active characters have had a Panel each). The amount of white stones you get is the same as your Durability, the amount of red stones you get is equal to your current number of white stones x3 (i.e. the more you're damaged, the less energy you have). The number of white stones you have is also the amount of red stones you regain each Page (so, if you're down to two white stones, you get two red stones back per turn, up to the maximum of 6 red stones that your current level of health allows). To actually do stuff you just assign red stones from your energy pool - the maximum you can assign to an Action being a function of the level at which you have that Action (sometimes with modifiers). If you assign more red stones than the difficulty, then you succeed.

As an example, Captain America gets several Modifiers & Equipment bonuses that give him 'free stones' of defense (i.e. he doesn't need to use up his energy reserves to get the points) - Toughness +1, Reflexive Dodge +3, Armoured Costume +1, & Shield +6. So, when he spends no energy at all, but uses his shield for defense, he gets a defensive total of 11. Any character trying to damage the Cap therefore needs to assign 12 or more red stones to an Action. Cyclops' Optic Blast is rated 9 (which is pretty good in this system), so he can put a maximum of 9 red stones into it's use (which is all the energy he gets in any case). So, without some helpful modifiers, Cyclops can't hit the Cap at all...

It's a very nice looking book, if a bit on the thin side at 126 pages - full colour throughout. The system feels almost like a board-game or strategy-game in some respects. There's even an option for playing 'brawls' with no GM - just two characters spending stones to hit each other.

Like Aberrant the game benefits from a single setting - no complicated optional rules cluttering up the place, & Marvel-specific stuff like 'Modifier - Adamantium Skeleton', or 'Action - Hex Spheres' being happily listed alongside more normal stuff like 'Action - Social Skills' or 'Action - Force Blast'.

Player-created characters start at 40 white stones (which, during chargen, are totally different from white stones during play) - basically the number of points you get to build a character. A normal mortal is built on about 7 white stones in comparison.

Dice could easily be introduced to make the system more like pther RPGs - just allow 2 dice, each with a 50% chance of success, per red stone in an Action. Simple.

For people wanting to convert Marvel characters to Aberrant the game is a must-have - it's an easy conversion, & the characters seem to match their comic-book levels of power really well.

Experience is handled in a pretty cool way as well - characters get 1 to 5 'lines' per game. A 'line' is a literal line of descriptive line of text based on what happened in-play, & how it helps the character improve. With enough lines in the same area, the base Action goes up, although lines can be helpful by themselves to negate nasty GM-imposed penalties in the game (e.g. you may negate a penalty for fighting in zero-G if you have a line that reads something like: "Fought SuperSkrull in space outside the shuttle"). So, your XP record is an actual record of important events as well.

One nice mechanic is the 'flashback Panel' which each character can call for once per game. A little like Dramatic Editing, it allows the player to describe a flashback to a relevant event, & gain a bonus to current actions because of it (e.g. whilst fighting Dr Doom, you flashback to the time you witnessed Doom kill your brother, & your righteous anger grants you a bonus to help you defeat the tyrant).

Oh, & there's a nice picture of the Black Cat on page 85... ::blush

[ezekiel]

So if I get this correctly, your typical twink will put his points into Durability to get more red and white stones and therefore be able to spend more points to hit that cap'n. What limits the number of modifiers you get?

I really like the experience system, that's way cool!

[ProfPotts]

Ah - well spotted! ::thumbsup

Durability costs x3 in chargen to offset it's usefulness. Also the number of red stones you can play in an Action is limited by your score in that action. So a guy who spends nearly all his chargen point on Durability (a level of 9 costs 12 white chargen stones, x3 = 36 white stones out of a starting 40) may have 9 white stones of health, & 27 red stones of energy - he just can't do anything with them.

The system also encourages players to create the character they want at chargen, since Attributes & Modifiers can't really be purchased after chargen (barring a 'radiation accident' or whatever), & only the more 'mundane' Actions can be added to the characters sheet - most XP goes into improving existing Actions. Since characters can have a maximum of 9 Actions (& therefore need to dump one of their existing ones if they want a tenth), it doesn't look like many people would want more than they design-in to begin with in any case.

The only real limit to the number of Modifiers is the amount of stones they cost at chargen - there's a progressive scale. 1 level of either the Toughness or Reflexive Dodge modifiers costs you 2 white stones, 10 levels of either would cost 30! Cap's shield alone is worth 26 white chargen stones (more than the Silver Surfer's board at 25 white stones).

One other thing I particularly liked was the rules for the Leadership Action. This allows the character to place up to two of his own red stones into the Actions of each team-mate per turn, up to the value of his Leadership Action. He gets to choose where they go, not the guy receiving them. This is an example of the rather abstracted form that combat takes in the game, but makes guys like Cyclops, Captain America, & the Kingpin really useful to have around whereas most games would pretty much ignore the impact of good leadership abilities apart from a roll to see if people do as they're told. So, if both Rogue & Cyclops are fighting the Cap, neither can hit him (Rogue's Close Combat Action is 3 & her Strength of 8 can also be added in - the 11 still missed the Star-Spangled Avenger). But if Rogue puts 11 red stones into her Close Combat, & Cyclops uses 2 red stones of Leadership to boost that total to 13, then the Cap gets a whupin'!

[phoenix]

Okay. I would just like to hear the RPG's word on this, much-debated topic:

Who would win in a fight, Captain America or Wolverine?

Let the record show that I firmly believe that Wolverine would tear Cap to pieces and then eat them. ::sleep

[ProfPotts]

Ok, let's see: just listing the basic combat related stats...

Wolverine: standard attack is Close Combat at 7, with added Agility of 4 makes 11, & a +3 Modifier for his retractable, armour penetration claws. Durability 5 for 5 white stones, & 15 red stones. Defense bonus is a +1 Reflexive Dodge Modifier (the Adamantium Skeleton Modifier does little except mean his bones can't be broken). Advanced Healing Factor restores 1 white stone per 2 panels, & he gets 3 red stones per two white returned to his energy pool each page (not the usual 1 per 1).

Captain America: Close Combat of 7 with either an added Strength of 4, or Weapon Modifier (Shield, also armour penetration) of +6, Ranged Combat 7 with Weapon Modifier (Shield again) of +6 & Targeting Modifier of +2. Durability of 4 for 4 white stones, & 12 red stones. Defensive bonus of Toughness +1, Reflexive Dodge +3, Scale Mail / Kevlar Costume +1, & (if used for defense) Shield +6. Heals at x2 rate (but that's not too relevant in a fight).

Both have the same Agility, so they go at the same time.

Wolverine's maximum attack is 14 stones, (he only 'pays' for 11 of them, the stones from his Claws are free).

Cap's maximum attack is a Ranged Combat Shield throw (it returns to him automatically - he's that good!) of 15 (only paying for 7). His best Close Combat Attack is a shield-bash of 13 (costs 7), but he can also punch (etc.) for 11 (costs 11).

Wolverine's only 'free' defense is +1 (any character can shift stones from their Actions into defense, but that's decided before you know what the other guy is doing).

Cap's 'free' defense is +3 (since the armour penetration on Wolverine's Claws cancels both the Toughness & the Armour he wears), or +9 if he keeps hold of his shield.

So, if Cap shifts 5 stones into his defense (& keeps his shield handy), then Wolverine can't hit the guy with his best attack. However, Cap only gets back 4 stones per page, so if that's all he's doing every page he'll eventually run out of steam (12 - 5 = 7, +4 = 11, - 5 = 6, +4 = 10, etc. : i.e. he can keep this up for 8 pages, but only has 4 stones left at the start of the ninth page). At that point, if Logan has been clever & saved his stones, Wolverine can slip an attack past the Cap & score some damage (if his maximum attack of 14 hits Cap's free defense of 9, then Cap takes 2 white stones of damage - half his health - & is gonna' be out of it pretty soon).

On the flip-side, Wolverine needs a defense of 15 to ignore Cap's best attack (if he shifts all the stones from his Close Combat Action into defense, it'd cost him 11 stones), in which case, the Cap's best attack can't hit him. However, Logan can only do this for two pages before being too low on stones to immediately do it again (15 - 11 = 4, +7 returned next page = 11, -11 = 0, +7 = not enough stones).

So - in game terms, it's a war of nerves. You try to anticipate where your opponent will be putting his stones, & to save your own stones ( ::tongue ) for that all-important attack when the other guy didn't put enough in defense.

Another point to note is that the Cap's remaining 'free' defense, after figuring Wolverine's armour penetration claws, & without the shield, is still enough to ingore Logan's claws if the lil' runt doesn't put any stones in. Wolverine's 'free' defense Vs a Cap shield-throw with no stones put in allows 7 stones of damage through, which does 3 white stones of health.

The Cap's best defense without his shield (all 11 stones from a Close Combat Action placed into defense, with the added +3) also beats Wolverine's best attack.

So, the Cap could, page 1, put 11 stones into a Close Combat Action, & shift them all into defense, & his last stone into a Ranged Attack Action. That way he'd be safe from Logan's best attack, & still be hitting with an attack of 9. If Wolverine, page 1, does a similar thing, & put's enough stones in defense to ignore Cap's best attack, (he can use two Actions per panel, so could use some stones from, for example, his Black Ops Action as well - if he's got a good excuse for it) it'll cost him 14 stones, leaving 1 stone to add to his Claws for an attack of 4. At that point both characters are out of energy. Next page Cap regains 4 stones, & Wolverine regains 7. At this point Wolverine's best attack is 10, which Cap can ignore for the cost of 1 stone if he keeps his shield for defense, leaving him 3 stones to use to kick the mutie in the head. Cap's best attack is now 11, & Wolverines best defense, with Claws used as well, is 11, leaving no stones to attack with.

In the end it all seems pretty even, all it takes is for one guy to miscalculate or guess wrong, & the other guy starts to win. All-in-all I'd favour the Cap in a straight fight - he's got a ranged attack & more 'free' stones for both attack & defense, although it'd be a close run thing. If both just managed to chip-away at each other, then Wolverine's Healing Factor wins the day.

Both characters would be trying their best to gain 'situational modifiers' (free stones awarded for certain circumstances - such as being higher than your opponent, etc.) as well, naturally.

A clever tactic for the Cap may be to place just 2 stones into his defence each turn, & to keep his shield in defense - since then, even if Wolverine spends all his stones in an attack, the Cap takes the minimum of 1 white stone of damage. Even a 2 stone Close Combat Attack can hit Wolverine if the guy puts no extra stones into defense. That way the Cap can keep his energy reserves high, still have a good defence, & be ready for a big attack if he needs it. He also knows that, if Wolverine does hit him for damage at any point, the guy has just used at least 9 stones to do it.

Wolverine, on the other hand, can use a lot more energy each round, & worries less about being hit - since he regenerates. If the Cap is holding on to his shield, then a 7 stone attack with his Claws (for a total of 10) is enough to hit, if the Cap hasn't put any more stones into defense. All he needs to do if to hit the Cap a couple of times for minimum damage, & the Avenger wil start to run low on energy.

Of course, all things being equal, Cap actually has a higher Speed than Wolverine (3 Vs Logan's 2). That means he could spend the first page running - with enough stones in defense to ignore Wolverine's best attack (since he gets to attack at the same time), then just fling his shield at Wolverine until the lil' guy is toast, running a bit more each time he came too close. If terrain & circumstances allowed such a tactic, then there's not a great deal that Wolverine can do about it (he does have a Ranged Combat Action of 4 himself, but doesn't often carry guns...). ::wink

You know what - this could go on all day... I guess it is all up to circumstance, the writers, & the cries of the fanboys... ::biggrin ::tongue

[knave]

As a friend of mine recently pointed out, in a superhero game the best skill to have is 'writer's favourite superhero' ::tongue

[Ayre el KaBeer]

I don't know about the system, seems like far too much to keep track of.

[ProfPotts]

Not really - that's just the way I've been explaining it. In play you just move little counters between a few 'boxes' on your character sheet, & to & from a 'general pool' of counters which is used for stuff that doesn't cost your guy energy. There's a one page chart of example 'situational modifiers' for the GM, & a two-page table which describes the difficulty of various actions (including the level of Attribute needed to do certain stuff - like how much Strength it takes to lift a tank, how much Agility it takes to screw-in a lightbulb, etc.).

There's only two scores that really vary in the game, & they're tracked by counters (white stones for health, & red stones for energy). The only time you'd even need a pencil is to write down 'lines of experience' at the end of a session!

Compared to a game like Aberrant stuff like attacking multiple targets in a single Action, & dodging at the same time are incredibly easy - just move red stones to the relevant boxes (the attack Action used & the defense box), then spilt the attack Action stones however you want between targets.

It's also pretty free-form: e.g. you can, in theory, use any Attribute, & just about any Action, to defend, as long as you describe how it applies. Beast uses Intelligence as his Close Combat Attribute, whilst Wolverine uses Agility, & Captain America uses Strength. The Blob even gets to use Durability! Actions (skills & powers) are also more of a free-form style. E.g. there's no seperate 'lockpicking' & 'stealth' skills, but any of the Actions 'Black Ops', 'Thievery', 'Ninja', etc. could be used for those actions, since they represent a whole set of abilities gained from such training. Basically, if you can blag the GM that the Action could apply to the result you're looking to achieve, then you get to throw stones at the attempt.

Even maths isn't much of an issue - as long as you can add & subtract counters in a similar style to a child learning to count, then you'll have no problems. I think the book mentions that their youngest playtester was 8, & had no problems playing alongside adults (system-wise I guess they meant).

I'll admit that at first glance the whole thing looked complicated, because it does - to a certain extent - break the usual RPG mold. But the book's short enough to read cover-to-cover in a couple of hours, & once you get some counters out to follow along with the examples, the whole thing becomes very obvious.

[knave]

This is very much like HeroQuest where you can 'attack' people with your 'pretty nose' attribute and they can defend with their 'tight underwear' attribute.... well... if you want to be silly about it anyway. ::biggrin You can also give others modifiers, possibly inspiring someone's 'Run like the wind' skill with your 'unsavoury odour' ability, or putting off enemies with the 'twinkle in your eyes'.

It just has to make sense from the perspective of the game.

[Dormammu]

About 3 to 4 years ago there was a game in germany called tri. I think it never came to international print, but it used exactly the same system. The setting was a very interesting one. You had 3 worlds (fantasy, 1920´s and cyberpunk) to play in, and your characters were capable of traveling to each world. Itr was pretty cool, but I didn´t like the system there and I don´t like it now. especially not in a supers game.