Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

So earlier today I attended a launch party for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, the newest Marvel Comics rpg from Margaret Weiss Productions. Unlike many of the more popular superhero rpg's, this one is more "narrativist" in style. I had preordered the game, but haven't taken the time to read the pdf. I've been following threads about it on Rpg.net, but truth be told, the best way to get a feel for a game is to play it.

So thankfully this launch party was set up by NerdNYC, a local online community for gamers and other so-called "nerds". 4 games were going to be run at the same time, with multiple gm's in some cases. I got there a bit early, but soon the place was packed with people eager to demo the game. My group consisted of Captain America (played by me), Spiderman, Mr. Fantastic, Iron Fist and Daredevil. Someone joined in later with Spiderwoman, but honestly didn't do much.

I'm not going to provide much details on the rules and such; there is plenty of online discussion about the game all ready on various forums that can provide that info. What I will say is that the game was fun, and to me, did feel like a comic book. We did utilize a lot of team work, as most of the other players seemed comfortable letting me (as Cap) come up with plans (though some good solo stuff came out in play).

We ran through a shortened version of "Breakout", the mini-event included in the Operations Manual. We only fought Count Nefaria & Carnage (along with 2 symbiotes), as well as a mob of criminals. Nefaria actually went down pretty easily thanks to some great team work and die rolls. He was defeated by Daredevil of all people, which was really awesome. More so because in the other groups, people were playing Iron Man, Colossus and The Thing, and Nefaria was kicking their asses.

Carnage on the other hand was a big problem, as he actually took Cap's shield from him (after Daredevil did an improvised sonic attack by hitting it with his Billy Club). Thankfully Iron Fist saved the day by knocking out Carnage, literally knocking the symbiote off it's host with his Iron Fist attack.

So does this mean I'm going to pimp MHR as the best supers rpg going? Nope. I like a variety of supers rpgs, each for different reasons. They all bring something different to the table, and MHR is no exception. It's definitely on my short list for wanting to play again, and for wanting to run. But it won't be the game I always turn to. I don't game that way. I like to play and run a variety of games, and as good as MHR is, that won't change anytime soon. But damn was it fun!