Saturday 6 August 2011

Margaret Weis Productions gains Marvel license {News}

Roleplaying game company Margaret Weis Productions yesterday announced it has acquired the license to Marvel Comics.

After hinting at a big announcement at this year's GenCon, the company revealed the news at their panel on Friday while donning Marvel t-shirts. By now Marvel has enough merchandise to brand everything in Meijer retail and beyond, so it's no surprise that a new RPG is being released.

The company plans on releasing 16 products within 15 months, including a basic game and event tie-ins, including the famous Civil War where heroes clashed with one another over legislation to make revealing secret identities to the government compulsory.

The game will use the Cortex + system, which focuses on relationships and storytelling over combat.

Christian Lindke of Cinerati, who was at the panel, shares his views: "A Marvel game based in interactions and relationships harkens to what is great in comic book storytelling - remember the Claremont/Byrne era of the X-men?  It has some epic battles, but it also has engaging tales of relationships.


"The (Cortex +) mechanic ensures that players interactions with nemesis characters matter, and the mechanics aid players and GMs in the creation of exciting and engaging narratives."


Margaret Weis Productions' previous games include Smallville, Serenity and Supernatural - but Marvel could be the most ambitious license the company has taken on to-date.







2 comments:

  1. The impression I got from talking to someone at the booth was that Marvel Cortex would be more action oriented than the more drama-based iterations of Cortex such as Smallville. I hope that is true... I don't think I would find the Smallville style appealing for the X-Men or Avengers (or home-made characters). I want "Clobbering Time!", not how Cyclops relationship die with Wolverine applies as the dramangst over Jean yet again.

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  2. I gotta agree with you there, Oz. I had high hopes for the C+ system and was a real cheerleader for it while I was reading it, but then after seeing it during actual play, the C+ was a real letdown. It's sad, but it looks as if Marvel has (yet again) chosen poorly for it's RPG system.
    -Roman Virtue

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