Marvel | Roleplaying Games
‘Marvel Multiverse’ will Unseat D&D (and Other Predictions)
What the Hell is a “D616”?! Also, where is Doctor Doom?
Marvel is developing a new tabletop roleplaying game in-house. We don’t know much about it. We know that it will use a new “D616” system, which is a reference to Marvel’s prime universe designation. We know it will have six stats: Might, Agility, Resilience, Vigilance, Ego, and Logic. We know it will be designed by Matt Forbeck. We know a Playtest Rulebook will be out next year. We know the full game will be out in 2023. We know that Doctor Doom was not mentioned in the press release.
Since we don’t know anything else, I’m going to speculate a lot. Forbeck is not going to reinvent the wheel. This is a HUGE project for a HUGE IP. He’s going to copy the good parts of what has come before.
The original Marvel Super Heroes Roleplaying Game had more supplements than any other Marvel RPG. Marvel Multiverse will likely have a ton of books covering every corner of the Marvel brand. Major events like Avengers Disassembled. Alternate universes like Ultimate Marvel. Imprint lines like Marvel Knights. Specific runs like Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, which was godlike. EVERY MCU Phase will get its own book. There will be a ton of this stuff.
The Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game (MSHAG) spelled out for the players that each campaign an alternate universe. Multiverse will likely hang on to that angle. Multiverse will also have something akin to an Edge mechanic to represent how Cap can hang with Thor. Finally, they’re going to publish something like Reed Richard’s Guide to Everything, with optional rules to better emulate everyone’s particular headcanon.
Marvel Multiverse already has a lot in common with the Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game (MURPG). It’s being developed in-house. It’s getting a demo in the form of a Playtest Rulebook (a demo of MURPG was published in Wizard magazine). And it’s using a custom ruleset. I imagine Multiverse will also structure games like comic books, calling sessions “issues” and turns “panels”, like MURPG.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying innovated in two ways: it bundled mooks into one stat block, and it mechanically represented how well a hero operates while Solo, with a Buddy, or on a Team. I image Marvel Multiverse will emulate both of those. Obviously the game will not be Primed by Cortex, which I thought was a sure thing back in March.
I have no idea what the fuck the D616 system will look like. It might use six 16-sided dice, which are a thing. It might use six d100s and a d16. Or, the “D” might stand for “dimension”. It might be some kind of multiverse-hopping mechanic, like 504 but a roleplaying game.
The “D” might even stand for “Doom”! Both MSHAG and Marvel Heroic had their own Doom-inspired mechanics that shafted unskilled or unlucky players. It would be absurd if Marvel Multiverse didn’t have a Doom mechanic. It’s also possible that “D616” is just a supremely lame promotional ruse.
All that said, I’m a little surprised they didn’t license it out as a Cortex game again. Fandom had to have pitched Marvel. Plus, Marvel’s last in-house RPG, MURPG, didn’t do well at all. What changed?
The landscape changed. Tabletop roleplaying is more widespread these days. And if A23 can make a Green Knight RPG just to drum up more interest in the movie, Marvel can use the same trick to keep the MCU top-of-mind between releases. But that’s ridiculous because THERE’S BARELY ANY ROOM BETWEEN MCU RELEASES. Between movies and Disney+ shows, you can eat, sleep, and breathe the MCU and never need to watch any other IP ever again.
I have one last prediction. Marvel Multiverse will unseat D&D as the go-to roleplaying game simply because of the incredible brand power of the MCU. Or, at the very least, Multiverse will make non-gamers realize there are RPGs other than D&D.
