What the Heck, Margaret Weis Productions? Where's My Marvel?

Have you seen this book?

Okay, I understand delays in production schedules, etc. but Margaret Weis has REALLY dropped the ball on the Marvel Heroic RPG. Their initial launch was greeted with much fanfare and accolades. Sure, isn't not a perfect product but they quickly responded to the thoughts of the fans by having some free downloads such as an example of play and a random character generator.


Since then they've solicited about eight books or so and have released... nothing. What the heck? I want my Marvel RPG! I'm afraid that any good will and momentum they initially built is now gone. It's been MONTHS since these books were solicited. Where are they? What's the holdup? The Margaret Weis Productions website is silent, giving no explanation.

I hope they're not planning on releasing a whole bunch of books all at once or even one right after another. I don't know about you but I budget for these things and I can't afford to buy six Marvel RPG books in a single month!

So let's get on the ball, Margaret Weis Productions! Start getting books out and then keep to a schedule! Or, if you have some really good reasons for the delays, at least let the fans know what they are. We understand that publishing is a tricky business and we're willing to extend some grace. But we won't be taken for granted and we don't forgive endless delays.

You Can Demo the New Marvel RPG!

Are you interested in the new Marvel Heroic RPG by Margaret Weis? Well, this upcoming Saturday, March 24, you can! Just contact Comic Store West in York, PA to reserve a time. I'll tell you now, it's filling up fast!

Sessions are from 11-3 and 4-8. Each session has six slots - when I checked earlier today, the morning session only had one open slot and the afternoon had four.

 

I'm running the game... We'll be playing the start-up adventure based on the New Avengers "Breakout" storyline. It should be a lot of fun! Hope to see you there!

Gaming Notes: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

I got to play the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game for the first time recently. I feel special since it hasn't been released yet!

 

I was the "Watcher" and we played the first act of the introductory story in the basic book. I had players play Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Man, and Captain America. None of my players had ever read the Breakout storyline from New Avengers #1-6 upon which the story is based.

The adventure gives the option of starting the players in different locations but I thought that would really slow things down so I had Daredevil (as Matt Murdock) show up to speak to his client, the Sentry, with Luke Cage as a body guard. Captain America was there on a tip that something was going to go down and Iron Man was installing a new cell for a super criminal he had just captured.

When the heroes were assembled... boom! An explosion rocks the facility and the power goes down! The heroes are stuck in the lower levels in the dark with dozens of escaping criminals! Count Nefaria is the first to encounter the heroes and they put him down quickly! Murdock decides to go see his client, the Sentry! Seeing Nefaria go down, the Living Laser, Armadillo, and Tiger Shark all jump on the heroes. In a prolonged battle the heroes stood victorious!

The heroes follow the sound of the gathering mob! When they round a corner they see dozens of escaped supervillains all trying to make their exits! Captain America tells the mob to stand down and return to their cells. The answer is laughter... followed by "Get them!" The mob quickly swarms the heroes. Cage is picking up people and slamming them down, Cap is flinging his  shield all over, and Iron Man is releasing his Uni-Beam! Finally, the mob is subdued!

It's then that the heroes here BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM - eight booms seemingly starting on this level but heading away. When they get to the source of the sound, they see a hole opened in the ceiling of the Sentry's cell which goes all the way to the outside. It seems that Murdock was successful in persuading him to rejoin society... The heroes have Iron Man give them a lift up through the hole. When they get to the surface they see scores of SHIELD agents swarming the prison from boat and helicopter.

Iron Man gets the backup generators online. Cage interrogates the Grey Gargoyle to find out that Electro was behind the attack to free Sauron and that they're on their way to the Savage Land. The heroes, of course, pursue...

Marvel Heroes RPG Solicited!

The hotly anticipated Marvel Heroes RPG was finally solicited a few months ago. I can't wait for its release! Margaret Weis is starting to leak details and previews slowly. I can't comment as to how the system will work as a RPG, but visually everything is laid out very nicely, using art directly from the comics the storyline is based on.

The only thing I"m not sure about are the event books. They're each going to have two versions - a basic and a deluxe. But from the descriptions, it's difficult to tell exactly what the difference between the two will be. I've taken a wait-and-see attitude about those books. I'll buy one when I hold both of them in my hands.

I can only hope that Margaret Weis Productions doesn't blow it. The last thing we need is another unplayable Marvel RPG.

New Marvel RPG - Cortex System

1LR reported the other day that the new Marvel RPG will use the Cortex System from Margaret Weis Productions. Here's what it says about the Cortex System at http://www.margaretweis.com/mwp-online-store/cortex/23-cortex-system-role-playing-game:

The collaborative efforts of  Cam Banks, Nathan Rockwood, Floyd Wesel, Jennifer Brozek, Digger Hayes, Jamie Chambers and Jim Davenport bring you Cortex. Leap into a game where the characters and the drama are at the heart of the story, where the action is fast-paced and the dice roll freely. The Cortex System Role Playing Game offers you a fun set of rules that are flexible enough for any genre, setting, and storyline you can imagine!
Character creation lets you run with a concept and be ready-to-play in less than half an hour. The rules make it easy for new players to understand, and allow the Game Master freedom to improvise when the action takes an unexpected turn. The Cortex System rules provide a simple, intuitive foundation upon which the rest of the game is built—everything from an honorable duel withswords, the repair of a starship engine, psychic powers, criminal investigation, and anything in-between.
This book takes a toolkit approach, with all the rules needed to play and a host of options and add-ons. We give you some examples, and a whole chapter full of advice—but the rest is up to you! Bring your dice, some friends, and your imagination to play in a game with no limits.

This is the same rules system that is used for Smallville and Supernatural. Those games looked intriguing to me. If nothing else they looked like they were well put together games. MWP has to be doing SOMETHING right to land these high-profile properties!

Should be interesting to check out this gaming system in the near future. I like that character creation takes less than 30 min. and it seems the rules system is designed to be simple and flexible. How they pull this off, I'm not sure... but we'll see.

New Marvel RPG announced!

1LR demanded a new Marvel RPG and the gaming world listened! During the last GenCon, Margaret Weis Productions announced that they will be releasing 16 Marvel Universe RPG books in a year, starting in February 2012.

The system will be Cortex Plus - I've got to admit that I've never played anything with the Cortex Plus gaming rules. Kinda nervous about that.

It seems like the game will be based on events in Marvel history such as the Civil War. I'm not sure how this will go for a long term campaign... we'll have to wait and see. Each event book will have a "premium and essential edition." Not sure what that means. Does that mean two versions of the same book - a cheap version and a deluxe version? Or two different books for each event, both of which  you must buy to play it? Also, the "premium and essential editions" will be supported by three supplements (or accessories) - each "in a similar format to Marvel's own trade paperbacks." I'm also not sure what this means. What's the purpose to the supplemental materials? how do they fit in with the "premium and essential editions?"

If you do the math, 16 books - that could only be three or four events, depending on how they're counting the premium and essential editions (as one book or as two different books?).

The press release found at http://geek-news.mtv.com/2011/08/05/gen-con-new-marvel-comics-rpg-games-announced-by-margaret-weis-productions/ does say that original characters may be played so that's good. It also says that the rules are easily explainable so that's also good.

Let's hope this thing is good. Marvel fans deserve a good RPG after the last two stinkers.