Random Book 2022

Get a First Look at the New Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game

Headed to a universe near you...get ready for a tabletop RPG like you've never seen before! The new Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game provides infinite storylines and endless possibilities for the Marvel characters you know and love.

Take on the roles of Marvel's most famous Super Heroes—or create your own—to fight some of the most dangerous Super Villains in the Marvel Universe! Featuring the All-New, All-Different d616 system, THE PLAYTEST RULEBOOK gives players the chance to play the game—including character creation and combat—while shaping the future of the game via player feedback. The book also includes an introductory scenario and full profiles for some of Marvel's greatest heroes: Spider-Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Wolverine and more.

Packed with valuable tips and insights, the PLAYTEST RULEBOOK is the key to unlocking the stories in the Multiverse. With character sheets, rules, maps and more, it sets the course for a number of outcomes—all depending on the players' choices. Dropping both physically and digitally on April 20, get a sneak peek of the book below and read on for our exclusive Q&A with game designer Matt Forbeck!

We sat down with Matt Forbeck, the game designer behind the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game, and got the first scoop on what the PLAYTEST RULEBOOK has in store for the game.

What makes this RPG game uniquely Marvel? What are you most excited to introduce to Marvel fans?
From the start, we wanted to make the stories that you tell and the battles that you fight feel like they came straight from Marvel. To help make that happen, we came up with an entirely new system we call the d616 System. It allows us to work with characters ranging in power from Squirrel Girl all the way up to Captain Marvel and beyond.

One of the coolest bits of the game is the new dice mechanic. You roll three standard six-sided dice, one of which is the Marvel die. If you get a 1 on the Marvel die, you get a fantastic result and something amazing happens. If you get 6 on both of the other dice—or a 6-1-6 result—that’s an ultimate fantastic roll, which is even better.

Combine that with our rules for edges and troubles—which offer dice re-rolls—and you wind up with a lot of ways to make incredible things happen during the game, maximizing the fun.

We think you cracked the secret to being a Super Hero. Can you explain a little bit about the "MARVEL" Ability Score?
MARVEL is an acrostic in which each of the initials stands for one of the six ability scores in the game: Might, Agility, Resilience, Vigilance, Ego, and Logic. Scores for standard people in each of these abilities range from -4 to 4, and the scores for super powered characters can range much higher. There are a number of different archetypes in the game that describe what kind of character you’re playing—a striker, a blaster, and so on. When you combine the character’s abilities with their archetype, that gives you even bigger numbers for your attack rolls and for your defenses too. That way the characters can stand toe-to-toe with others of their own rank.

Players have a lot to explore in the Research Center. What were some details you enjoyed designing for the Howard & Maria Stark Center for Galactic History?
That’s all part of the introductory adventure in the Playtest Rulebook, “Enter: Hydra.” I don’t want to spoil anything, but the heroes quickly learn that there’s a hostage situation going on at the Howard & Maria Stark Center for Galactic History on the Empire State University campus in Manhattan.

Tony Stark—who is, of course, Iron Man—founded the place as a means to learn more about where the Earth fits in the grand sweep of the history of the galaxy and beyond. When he donated the funds to set the building up, he asked that it be named in honor of his parents.

In the adventure, the players can take on the role of the characters we include in the book, or they can use characters they come up with on their own. Either way, they should have loads of fun.

Cartographer Brian Patterson did an amazing job translating my descriptions into a full-page, full-color map that appears in the book too. The details he put into it—things like constellation displays in the lobby—are just stunning.

What were some considerations you had to take when imagining the Multiverse and translating it to a role playing game?
The Marvel Multiverse is a gift when it comes to a game like this. In essence, any game that happens at any table becomes its own universe in the Multiverse. The players can do whatever they want and not worry about it messing with Marvel’s standard continuity because they’re creating their own story and taking it in their own direction.

This means that your game can follow along as closely with the standard Marvel Comics universe—Earth-616—as you like, or you can go as wildly off-track as you wish. And if you want your character to join another game, you just have them move from one universe to another. There are no limits.

To experience the potential of the Marvel Multiverse, all you need is the PLAYTEST RULEBOOK, three six-sided dice, and a group of friends. What're you waiting for? A FANTASTIC adventure awaits!

Pick up the MARVEL MULTIVERSE ROLE-PLAYING GAME PLAYTEST RULEBOOK on April 20 and get ready to unlock the infinite possibilities of the Multiverse!