The 'Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game' Developer Update #2 Brings New Powers, Combat Changes and More

Two of the biggest pieces of feedback we received throughout the playtest of the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game pertained to the Combat Mechanics and Powers System. The PLAYTEST RULEBOOK included combat rules with large modifiers, re-rolls, and had Power Sets locked behind specific Archetypes. To make the game faster and less restrictive, we’ve completely removed those in the CORE RULEBOOK. Players now have more freedom when creating their characters and can enjoy a seamless, fluid combat system.

In the d616 System, all combat and out-of-combat scenarios require only one dice roll. Whether you’re punching a Hydra henchman, or sneaking through the ventilation system of A.I.M. Headquarters, players will roll three six-sided dice (3d6), count up the numbers, and add their Ability Score to determine if their actions are a success or failure. Combat damage has also been simplified to speed-up play at the table. Rather than re-rolling your dice to determine how hard you hit, players simply multiply their MARVEL die roll by the Damage Multiplier and add their Ability Score. We’ve conveniently added this information to the Character Sheet so that it can easily be referenced.

These changes were made to ensure that rolling the dice still played a part in the success of the action, and to scale combat with the Rank of the character. For example, a punch from Captain Marvel (Rank 6) is going to hit a lot harder than a punch from Frog-Man (Rank 1)! Don’t worry, we’ve added new damage reduction rules as well to help make fights fair, whilst still allowing powerful characters to sweep up grunts. 

Powers were something we spent a lot of time developing. They’re at the core of what make heroes super! Nailing this portion of the game was vital in creating something that felt authentically Marvel. Here’s a look at the Power Sets coming to the CORE RULEBOOK in August:

• Basic Powers
• Elemental Control
• Illusion
• Magic (Chaos, Demonic, Sorcery)
• Martial Arts
• Melee Weapons
• Omniversal Travel (Dimensional, Multiversal, Time)
• Phasing
• Plasticity
• Power Control
• Ranged Weapons
• Resize
• Shield Bearer
• Spider-Powers
• Super-Speed
• Super-Strength
• Tactics
• Telekinesis
• Telepathy
• Teleportation
• Weather Control

With over 300+ individual Powers included within the CORE RULEBOOK, players will be able to explore every corner of the Multiverse as they create their own unique heroes. The Powers also offer plenty of room to be customized to your character. Does your character carry a net blaster? Use Webtrapping on an Iconic Weapon. Do they throw ice crystals like ninja stars? Use Elemental Barrage. Your hero should feel authentic to your origin story. The Powers have also been placed within Power Trees so that players can easily find and add new powers as they rank up without restrictions.

FAQ

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions through our FAQ submission box! We’ve answered some of the top questions here:

1. What happens when afflicted by prone, stunned, or paralyzed status effect while flying?

If you are stunned, assuming you have no other means of support, you fall at the end of your turn, using the normal falling rules. 

If you are knocked prone, you spin one space downward. The other regular effects apply. You have trouble on all Melee checks, close attacks against you have an edge, and ranged attacks against you have trouble. It costs one space of movement to resume moving.

If you are paralyzed, the rules for that status effect work normally. Under some circumstances, the Narrator could rule that you can move via flying, but you would be unable to take actions or use powers that require Melee or Agility. 

2. What are the rules for swapping/changing powers that you have?

Most characters can’t do this. However, if the character has an appropriate incident during play, the Narrator might allow them to rebuild their character’s powers from scratch. If this happens at the same moment that a character ranks up, the player can rebuild the powers for the new rank.

3. As of update 1.3, there are traits and tags. The rules state how many traits you get per rank, but don't state anything about Professions, which also provide you with traits. Am I limited to the traits in my profession?

A character gets the traits in their profession for free, as part of that profession. You get to choose one additional one per rank.

Stay tuned for the next Developer Update where we will interview game designer and writer Matt Forbeck!

Have a specific question you want to see answered in future updates? Head to marvel.com/rpg and use the submission box at the bottom of the page to submit your questions.

The Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game: Core Rulebook is releasing August 2nd, 2023, and is currently available for pre-order wherever books are sold.