Earlier this month, the Marvel Multiverse RPG unveiled Tony’s Workshop, a brand new way for fans to engage with the development process by delivering feedback on proposed ideas from the team. Their first round of ideas concerned a few different ideas: new rules for mutants, new powers, and a new way to add henchmen to the game. To find out more about the new feedback approach as well as the genesis of these ideas we had a chat with CJ Cervantes, Marvel Multiverse RPG Project Lead.
What’s the main goal the Marvel Multiverse team has for Tony’s Workshop?
Our goal is to show the community how flexible our game is. The Marvel Multiverse is extremely vast, containing Super Heroes and powers that have yet to be discovered. By creating some new, fun rules, my hope is that other people in the community will be inspired to create wacky homebrew ideas of their own!
How does the team sift through the feedback and apply it to your approaches to the game?
There’s a designated submission portal on marvel.com/rpg that players can use to submit feedback. Once you’re on the site, navigate to the GAME UPDATES section, click the FAQ SUBMISSION box, and follow the prompts. Players can rate each potential new addition to the game on a scale from 1-5, and add some additional context in the text box if they’d like. Our team reviews the feedback, and will decide if these rules are something the community wants to see in the game moving forward, or if they need to be workshopped further.
Why develop an alternate form of advancement for the Mutant side of Marvel?
We wanted to introduce some additional narrative elements to the game as a way for players to experience something beyond epic Super Hero battles. “Getting Schooled” was a perfect thematic fit for Xavier’s Institute. We wanted to capture the idea of slowly discovering your powers as you grow and gain experience as a rookie Super Hero. This rule doesn’t have to be used exclusively for mutants, of course. It can be used across all Super Heroes!
How did you go about shifting your design mindset to accommodate this change?
Matt Forbeck and the team have done an incredible job delivering a game that’s both fun and easy to learn. We have a long list of ideas that either didn’t make it into the final rules, or are being explored for future releases. By giving the community a taste of where we want to take the game, we can continue to keep the Playtest spirit of our game alive.
How do you envision the Henchmen Mechanic to work for games?
Managing full character sheets for mobs of enemies can be a bit cumbersome as a Narrator. We’ve done a lot to help new players jump into the game, so we wanted to do something for the Narrators as well. By designing smaller, easier to reference henchmen sheets, we’re hoping that Narrators can run through combat experiences more swiftly.
Images via Marvel
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