New Marvel Superheroes RPG

[Static UK]

Does anybody have any details on this new RPG? So far all's that I know is that it will be diceless (apparently you have a number of 'stones' for tokens). I've been told that the characters will have five stats (strength, durability, speed, dexterity, and intelligence - i think).

I actually e-mailed the Marvel products people over a month ago, and never received a reply, not even a "we cannot give you any information at this time".

I doubt that the game will succeed, it is about the fifth suprehero RPG to come out in less than two years I believe (Champions, M&M, SAS, plus one that's slipped my mind, d20 I think!)

[MarkusDark]

I have heard that there are 3 d20 systems out there for Supers.

I believe that Marvel is trying something 'different' in the hopes that it will take off, backing on their loyal customer base and movie franchises to help it sell. Eventhough you can recreate every Marvel superhero in the Hero system, people will buy it for the "Official" Marvel interpretation of the characters and their ranking in power. "I TOLD you that Hawkeye was more dexterous than NightingGale!" And you will have even loyal Hero people buying their products so that they can convert all of their favorite heroes into the Champs system.

As long as the character statistical levels are consistant, Marvel could produce an RPG which decides the victor by who can spit the farthest and they will still have a good return on investment.

[Hermit]

I used to quite enjoy the "Beer and Pretzels" game of Marvel Superheroes in the 80s. I doubt I'll be getting this one though. I have gamed diceless before, and sometimes do now, but it's nothing I need a new system for.

[TheEmerged]

New one? This sounds an awful lot like the SAGA one from here. Linkage?

[Carjack]

I'm going to be picking up this game. Not only to have it for my collection (and I'd hate to see a supers game that comes out and NOT end up in the collection), but I am a little intrigued by it. This month's Inquest is going to have a 70+ page preview of it, so it will cost me little to at least look at it at the Barnes & Noble.
I'm not terribly put off by it being a diceless game. Heck, I'm one of the lonely few who will admit to liking Marvel SAGA. (Despite it's rather vague notions of things like range and time, I thought SAGA was a very fast playing and easy to run game that caught the spirit of the comics quite well. First Marvel game I've seen that actually gave Captain America his due as the most accomplished hero in the Marvel Universe) Many have been saying that the Super's market is a little crowded with games right now. And bully for that, I say! The market has been a little thin for a long time and I like to see it fattening up a scoche.
Besides, I can put to use all those old glass beads I used for Magic counters and Mage Knight!

[Law Dog]

According to Diamond Distributors, Inquest #96 ships this Wednesday. $5.

[Yamo]

It looks interesting. I don't do diceless games, though. For me, there's just no suspense without the role that chance (through the medium of dice or other randomizers) plays. "If your rating is higher than his rating, you win" is booooooooooooooooooring. Ditto "whoever has the most rocks wins." That's just me, though.

[Law Dog]

It looks like this actually may be the first time in RPG history that this many superhero games are being actively suported at the same time.

[tenebre]

There is a sample page from the book in the new Previews.

meh. id have to convert it all to Hero anyways. So I wont bother.

[Koshka]

Originally posted by TheEmerged
New one? This sounds an awful lot like the SAGA one from here. Linkage?

OK, it's not just me.

I don't have a link, but skimmed the first few paragraphs of an online pre-review, and it sounded like SAGA with glass nuggets instead of cards. I really can't see a difference between playing 8 stones to succeed and playing an 8 of whatever to succeed. (Well, you won't be in the position of having only high cards to play for a minor challenge.)

[Dr. Anomaly]

Just an odd note here: my two favorite systems (and the ones that I play the most by FAR) are HERO (dice-heavy, mechanics-intensive) and Amber (diceless, mechanics-light). Really opposite ends of the spectrum, eh?

Anyway, what I wanted to comment on was the "Is it higher? Boooooring!" remark. With a good gamemaster and good players (ie all involved willing to story-tell & role-play) the diceless concept can work wonders.

When I first began GMing diceless about 12 years ago, I was nervous as all get-out; it felt like working without a net. If the players didn't like my decisions, I couldn't lift a GM screen, point to the dice and say, "But I rolled xxx!" I got over it, though, and it has been some of the most rewarding gaming I've ever done.

The way diceless is SUPPOSED to work, it's

your attribute + your storytelling/description vs. the other person's attribute + storytelling

Yes, a high attribute certainly gives you an advantage right out of the gate, but it's not a sure thing, not by a long shot. In the hands of the clueless or those unwilling to really storytell, it can be overly deterministic...but that's just the diceless version of "roll playing" as opposed to "role playing" in standard dice-using games.

(As an aside, a character from an Amber game I GMed years ago *purposefully* spent the minimum possible on all his attributes. His strategy: make himself appear so weak on all fronts nobody considered him a threat, and thus not worth their time to dominate and/or destory, THEN make himself successful and indespensible through role-playing. It worked, too! To this day, players (and characters) that never met or interacted with that character speak in awed tones of Llewellen, son of Dierdre.)

Originally posted by Yamo
It looks interesting. I don't do diceless games, though. For me, there's just no suspense without the role that chance (through the medium of dice or other randomizers) plays. "If your rating is higher than his rating, you win" is booooooooooooooooooring. Ditto "whoever has the most rocks wins." That's just me, though.

[Monolith]

Has anyone seen the Inquest issue yet? I was just wondering if the Marvel game is using the stat structure they introduced in the Marvel Encyclopedia (and carried over into Vol. 2: The Mutant Encyclopedia)?

[Thag13]

I belive that issue of Inquest is getting out today (march6)

I went my my local Books a million and the nice lady working there told me that it takes her about 13 hours of labor to get every mag out.

ill check back tommorrow.

[Law Dog]

I got mine yesterday. They are using 5 stats.
Intelligence, Strength, Agility, Speed and Durability. Ratings 1-10.

I can already see that perhaps a need that a rating of 1-12 maybe should have been used with the extra stats going between the current 1 & 2 and 9 & 10. Unfortunately, for the physical stats of Stength, Speed, and Agility, you go from a rating of 1 (normal) to a rating of 2 (athlete).

[Tom McCarthy]

- produced by Marvel Comics
- 128 page hardcover scheduled for June, $24.00
- October to bring X-Men and Avengers guidebooks, $19.99, 96 page hardcovers

Off the top of my head, those page counts seem a little light for coverage of such broad topics.

I'll be looking for Inquest today at lunch.