FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MARVEL UNIVERSE ROLEPLAYING GAME

Q: How is the Inquest version of the Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game different from the Marvel-release version?

A: The Inquest version is only 72 pages long and includes enough rules to play the game. But it doesn't include everything. For instance, the Inquest version doesn't include any Character Creation rules. The Inquest version has just a small selection of Actions and Modifiers compared to the full version of the Main Guide (which numbers 128 pages). Also, the Inquest version includes only about a half-dozen pre-generated character profiles (the Main release will have over 40). And each Supplement will offer you even more to choose from.

Q: The big trouble, as I read it, is that Durability is king. The stones/reserve system effectively ignores character Abilities and Actions! Am I wrong?

A: The answer lies in the rules you haven't yet read! Yes, Durability is king, but it's not the only king - and it costs a kingly amount: 3 times as much as the other Abilities. The way normal character creation works, it would be impossible to have a Durability of 10, and even at 7, you will have "spent" more than half of what you get to start with for a normal character.

A character can instead base his stones of energy on Intelligence (This "Special Intelligence Rule" is referred to in the Inquest guide, but not directly included). In the case of an Intelligence - based character, your Intelligence costs twice as much as normal, your regeneration rate is equal to your Intelligence and your Energy is equal to twice your Intelligence. (You still have to pay triple for Durability, although it does not generate stones - you'll need at least 2 or 3 points in health, regardless, or the first time you get hit, you'll be toast.)

Also, there are diminishing returns in the costs: You haven't yet seen how character creation works yet, but suffice it to say that learning an Action to "10" is a lot more than 10 times as expensive as learning it at "1"! That means that making a broad-based character pays off every bit as well as concentrating on just one or two Abilities or Actions.

Q: Why would I ever "buy" an Action to a level higher than the number of stones in my energy pool? I guess what I mean is what good is it to have, say, a "10" in something if I could only put, say, 9 stones into it in the first place?

A: There are a lot of tasks that can take many Panels, but have a high Difficulty requirement. In this case it matters little how many stones of effort you can put out per panel, but you need to have a high number in the necessary Action.

For example: A particular Research Project has a 9 Difficulty (to be overcome by Intelligence or General Knowledge or possibly Technology, or Invention, or any other relevant Action) and a 1000-stone Resistance. You can take as long as you like to complete the project, and once you've put in a total of 1000 stones, you're done. You can even quit and do other things in the meantime and go back to it from where you left off. The # of stones per round (therefore your Durability) in such cases is not very important. What is important is being able to overcome the Difficulty in the first place. A guy with 4 General Knowledge, Intelligence: 4 and Durability of 7 would be unable to do the research. But a guy with a General Knowledge of 8, an Intelligence of 1 and a Durability of 1 could do it. (At 1 stone regenerating per Panel that would take him around 8 hours).

Actions such as Invention and Genetic Engineering operate similarly - it's the knowledge that makes it work, not the number of stones per panel you can access.

Q: Fine. But what do I do in combat, where I can't wait around for umpteen-thousand Panels while he's beating the stuffing out of me?

A: For that we have Modifiers: (Targeting, Claws, Reflexive Dodge, Toughness) Modifiers that give you extra, "free" stones: If you have Toughness and/or Reflexive Dodge, you get free stones in defense every Panel (including when not "on your guard"). Targeting gets you free stones in Ranged Combat (or Force Blast, etc.), and claws (etc.) gets you free stones in Close Combat attack.

So, for a mere stone or two of effort in Close or Ranged combat, you can bring a lot more "free" stones from your Modifiers to bear on the enemy. If you have +3 Claws, a mere 1 stone of energy gives you a 4 - stone attack. These Modifiers provide their effects for free, every Panel, so they can stand in lieu of Durability.

You have very two viable combat options for a hero, options that Marvel takes full advantage of to create that wide variety for which they are famous.

1. Build a lot of Durability (or Intelligence) and use the energy directly. Live fast, die hard!
2. Operate off a more modest energy pool, but get lots of combat modifiers that make up for it.
3. Operate off a low energy base, but get what energy you need from an outside source.
4. Choose Actions that require a very low energy output (e.g., Shape Shifting, Transform Self, Inventing, etc.)

Also, it will do to remember that Reflexive Dodge (and other modifiers like Toughness) will have considerable use in normal play - quite apart from combat situations (surviving a fall or an accident come to mind), so the cost-benefit ratio is really finely tuned, in a cost-benefit sense.

But you probably want to make sure that your character's combat numbers are in line with the amount of energy he has available.

Q: Are there any other ways to operate off a low energy base?

A: Sure! If you have Animal Senses or Super-Enhanced Vision or other Modifiers as your "main power", you would need hardly any stones of energy to operate. Essentially, if what your character is all about are things that don't cost energy to use, then you don't necessarily need a character with much energy!

And not only that, some powers allow a player to absorb and accumulate stones. Improved Energy Drain, Energy Absorption/Reflection, Masteries and Magic, to name a few. In cases such as this, a player can often afford to have higher numbers than his Durability or Intelligence can "fuel", because he can get the energy from elsewhere (his enemies, the environment, the nearest powers station, whatever,it's Marvel!)

Q:. Is there a Rock - Scissor - Paper aspect to all this?

A: Only to the extent that it supports resource decisions. There are the usual vulnerability issues: Actions that bypass defensive stones entirely and mental attack, for example. Blob's huge Durability can be outdone by a mere thought from Jean Grey. On the other hand, a character may be helpless against magic or even against a moderately strong foe (no threat to Blob) but have enough Mental Defenses to hold off Telepaths like Jean Grey. Nearly every Achilles has his heel. (Even Onslaught can be undone, using the same sort of tactics as in the actual comics, first pierce and destroy his armor, then disrupt his energy.)

The highest number in an Action breaks ties outside of combat. So having a higher number can be useful, even if you don't have the energy to access it all. And even in combat, there is a greater chance you will have an applicable combat specialty (giving you a GM-discretion situational modifier) if you have a high number.

Speaking of more powerful opponents, they show up all the time in Marvel. Many enemies of the players will tend to have much higher Durabilities (Galactus, Juggernaut, Onslaught). The best way to bring down such a foe is often by teamwork and by the players figuring out ingenious, logical ways to combine stones of effort to overcome formidable defenses. (Besides, how else could Marvel justify having an entire team of X-Men beating up on one poor, lonely opponent like Magneto?)

Q: Can I exploit my other Abilities to make up for having less energy than an opponent?

A: Yes, especially when coupled with pro-active play. Let's say you spent on Speed or Agility rather than on Durability. You can dash away or evade, regenerate your stones, then streak back for another pass, hoping to inflict a white stone of damage, and retreat unscratched. Balancing regeneration rates is a big part of figuring out how to beat a more powerful opponent. If the "terrain" and circumstances are right, a clever player can nibble a more powerful opponent to death in this manner. A more agile character goes first, sometimes enabling him to disable an opponent before the opponent even gets a chance to respond.

Q: How important are Situational Modifiers?

A: Situational Modifiers, depending upon the situation and how it is played can affect the situation heavily, even decisively. Situational Modifiers are the great equalizer for a GamesMaster to use. They allow you to adjust the numbers to realistically match the storytelling situation, and totally appropriately within our system. They take into account numerous aspects of the situation that the raw stone equations couldn't possibly address: home ground, fighting at night, distance, tension, fear, importance, skillful play, descriptions, etc. We have a list of many situational modifiers that could be applied, but as the GamesMaster it's up to you which to apply, or to make up ones of your own. Remember, this is a comic book game. In the comics, sometimes when the hero succeeds by the skin of his teeth, against all odds, in saving the day in just the nick of time, the only does so because the writer and artist say he does. And as we keep saying in the guide, you and your players are now the writers telling the story. Situational Modifiers give you the tools to tell the story the way it should be told, all within the structure of the rules.