Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game

Marvel's own superhero TTRPG, written by Matt Forbeck. It uses the three-dice d616 System, ranks from street-level to cosmic, and more than a hundred printed heroes and villains. Play Spider-Man, Storm or an original hero in tactical comic-book fights. The 2023 Core Rulebook is supported by a free Quick Start and yearly expansions.

At-a-glance

Official Marvel superhero TTRPG • d616 System: 3d6 with a Marvel die • Ranks 1–6, from street-level to cosmic • 100+ ready-to-play character profiles • Free Quick Start, PDF, Roll20 and Demiplane

Genres:
Superheroes
Mechanics:
CampaignCharacter CustomizationClassless
Themes:
Cinematic
Decision Tags:
LicensedOne-Shot FriendlyRules Medium
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Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game

The Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game is Marvel's own superhero TTRPG: three six-sided dice, ranks from street-level to cosmic, and more than a hundred ready-to-play heroes and villains from the comics. It is best for groups who want to play Spider-Man, Storm or Black Panther (or a hero of their own) in punchy, tactical fights where every power has a clear rule, and for players who already like the rhythm of D&D-style turns, defenses and damage.

It is a weaker fit for tables that want improvised power stunts, drama-first scenes or light prep. Powers do exactly what their entries say, villains are built with the same full rules as heroes, and the core book has no starter adventure, so the Narrator carries more load than in narrative supers games.

What the game is

The game is published directly by Marvel and written by Matt Forbeck, who co-created its d616 System with Marvel's in-house team. The current product is the 320-page Core Rulebook, released on August 1, 2023. Players run heroes in their own corner of the Marvel Multiverse, either iconic characters with printed profiles or original heroes built from origins, occupations, traits and power sets. The game master is called the Narrator.

It is the fifth major Marvel TTRPG, after TSR's Marvel Super Heroes, TSR's Adventure Game, Marvel's own Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game and Margaret Weis Productions' Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. Unlike Marvel Heroic, which was a licensed game, this one is made in-house by the comics publisher. The official hub is marvel.com/rpg.

Publication history and editions

Marvel announced the game in June 2021 and released a Playtest Rulebook in 2022. Feedback on the playtest was mixed: Polygon's Chase Carter called it old-fashioned in April 2022, and the final book changed a lot of the rules. The Core Rulebook reached book and game stores on August 1, 2023, and comic shops the next day, as Forbeck noted in his launch post.

There is only one edition. Marvel fixes errors through free downloads rather than a revised edition. The Core Rulebook errata was last updated July 18, 2025, and a rules FAQ followed in March 2025. Marvel says later printings will include the corrections. A PDF of the core book appeared on DriveThruRPG in September 2025. Before that, the digital options were the Roll20 and Demiplane editions.

What you need to play

  • Core Rulebook (hardcover, $59.99 list; 320 pages): all the rules, the power sets, Narrator advice, a short history of the Marvel Universe and profiles for over a hundred characters.
  • PDF: Marvel Multiverse RPG Core Rule Book on DriveThruRPG ($19.99).
  • Three six-sided dice, with one die in a different color to serve as the Marvel die.
  • Free Quick Start: Marvel's Quick Start Rules with Thunderbolts Adventure (July 2025, 74 pages) teaches the rules and includes a full adventure with ready-made heroes. Character sheets are also free on marvel.com/rpg.

The free Quick Start is the cheapest way to test the game. The core book is the only purchase you need for an ongoing campaign. Every expansion is optional.

Expansions and adventures

Marvel releases large hardcover expansions alongside shorter one-shot books:

  • The Cataclysm of Kang (late 2023): the first full adventure, a time-travel campaign against Kang that also adds characters missing from the core roster.
  • X-Men Expansion and Spider-Verse Expansion (2024): character options, traits, tags, powers and dozens of new profiles. The X-Men book adds maps of the Xavier Institute, Krakoa and Arakko.
  • Avengers Expansion (September 16, 2025): rules for crafting signature weapons like Cap's shield, building a headquarters and running battles against large groups.
  • Secret Wars Expansion (August 18, 2026; 256 pages): a Battleworld sandbox, cosmic forces and rules for "Rank X" characters beyond the normal scale.
  • One-shot books: these include Deadpool Roleplays the Marvel Universe, Fantastic Four: From the Depths, Escape from Planet Hulk, Thunderbolts* Assemble! and Marvel Rivals: Timestream Adventure. The newest is Spider-Man: Midtown Mayhem (September 22, 2026; 64 pages).
  • Coming next: a 64-page Godzilla sourcebook with kaiju-battle rules, listed for December 15, 2026.

Marvel also hosts a free Avengers Academy bonus chapter on its site. The line is active, with new books every year since launch.

Digital tools and VTT support

The game has official digital support. The Roll20 core rulebook includes a searchable compendium, a character builder and drag-and-drop sheets for the core roster. Demiplane's Marvel Multiverse NEXUS offers the rulebook, character building and rules tooltips. DriveThruRPG also sells a PDF-plus-VTT bundle that unlocks both platforms. The Roll20 edition cannot be downloaded, so buy the PDF or hardcover if you want an offline copy.

Core rules and play structure

To make an action check, roll three d6, add the relevant ability score and compare the total with a target number. The middle-colored die is the Marvel die, and its 1 face shows the Marvel logo. A Marvel result counts as a 6 and makes the roll a Fantastic result, which adds a bonus effect on success. Rolling 6, 6 and a Marvel logo is an Ultimate Fantastic success that cannot fail.

Target numbers scale with rank: a Challenging task is 11 for a Rank 1 character and 16 for Rank 6. The Narrator then adjusts it up or down by up to six. Favorable circumstances grant an edge, which lets you reroll one die, while unfavorable ones impose a trouble, which forces you to reroll your highest die. Edges and troubles cancel each other out.

Combat uses initiative based on Vigilance, a grid of spaces, and a turn of one standard action, one movement action and one reaction. Attacks target a defense score derived from the defender's abilities. When an attack hits, damage equals the Marvel die times the attacker's rank plus the ability score, with extra multipliers from powers such as Mighty. Characters track two pools, Health and Focus. Some powers cost Focus, and mental attacks drain it.

Characters, ranks and advancement

A character's rank (1 to 6) sets their overall power level. Rank 1 covers ordinary people and new heroes, and Rank 6 covers cosmic beings like Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange and Thanos. There are six abilities, spelling M.A.R.V.E.L.: Melee, Agility, Resilience, Vigilance, Ego and Logic.

To build a hero, choose a rank, then an origin (such as Mutant, Mythic or Symbiote) and an occupation. These grant traits, which are mechanical perks and drawbacks, and tags, which give narrative permission, like Amphibious or Heroic. Then pick powers from power sets. The core book includes 21 power sets, among them Elemental Control, Martial Arts, Spider-Powers, Super-Strength, Telepathy, Teleportation and Weather Control. Every power is a separate, narrowly defined rule, and the number of powers you get depends on rank. There are no classes.

Advancement means moving up a rank. Reviewers like that rank ties growth to the character's story rather than to experience points alone.

Signature mechanics

  • The Marvel die: one die decides Fantastic results and damage, so a single roll tells you whether you hit, how hard and whether something special happens.
  • Karma: heroes (characters with the Heroic tag) get Karma equal to their rank. Spend it for an edge on your own check, to impose trouble on an enemy's check against you, or to recover Health or Focus mid-fight.
  • Power sets: powers stack inside a set, so a Teleportation hero can learn to blink with passengers, teleport blind or strike from several directions.
  • Printed roster: around 130 profiles in the core book, from Hydra agents to Dormammu. They work as pregenerated heroes or ready-made villains.

What play feels like

Sessions feel like a comic issue built around set-piece fights. Heroes move around a map, trade blows and reactions, spend Karma at key moments and wait for a Marvel logo to turn a hit into a showpiece. Between fights, social and investigation scenes use the same action checks, but the rules have less to say there. Gnome Stew's reviewer notes there is no system for drawn-out rescues or complex non-combat challenges.

Playing a printed hero is quick: read the powers and go. Building an original hero takes longer, because you choose traits, tags and powers from long lists. One critical player review called power selection the slowest part because of how the book is laid out.

Running the game

The Narrator chapter covers content calibration, the X-Card and Script Change, a Session Zero checklist, care with mind-control plots, and guidance on how many opponents challenge heroes of each rank. Reviewers praised it. The workload comes from three places:

  • The core book has no starter adventure, so first-time Narrators should start with the free Quick Start or a one-shot book.
  • Villains use the full character rules. Anyone not already in a book must be built from scratch, and there is no quick monster-style stat block.
  • Powers cannot be improvised into new stunts, so the Narrator must rule on creative uses without system support.

One early reviewer thought the game needs at least one experienced GM at the table, even though the core rules are easy to learn.

Campaign fit

The game handles both one-shots and long campaigns. One-shots are easy thanks to the free Quick Start, the 64-page adventure books and the printed roster. For campaigns, ranks give a clear path from street-level to cosmic play, the expansions add team headquarters and signature gear, and the Cataclysm of Kang and Secret Wars books provide long frameworks. Groups can mix famous heroes and original characters in the same team.

Reception

Reviews are mostly positive, with consistent caveats. Polygon's Cody Pondsmith named it the best TTRPG he played in 2023 because it is "utterly devoted" to making players feel like Marvel heroes. Gnome Stew's January 2024 review rated it Recommended. That review praised the clear rules, the production quality and the safety advice, and criticized the rigid powers, the work of building villains and the missing complex-task system. Slick Dungeon called it D&D 5e "converted into three six sided dice," a possible gateway for comics fans, and pointed out that the core book lacks an introductory adventure.

The criticism has stayed fairly consistent. Some players find the design too traditional for a modern supers game, a criticism Polygon first made about the playtest. A 2025 player review on Reddit enjoyed the dice and the crunchy combat but found the Karma rules odd for villains and power selection awkward. As of October 31, 2026, the DriveThruRPG PDF has only two ratings (averaging 4.5) but carries a platinum best-seller badge. No major award has been verified.

Where it is strongest

  • Playing famous Marvel characters straight from the book, with over a hundred printed profiles.
  • Simple three-dice resolution, with Fantastic results that make big moments feel big.
  • Clear, tactical superhero combat for groups that like D&D-style turns and powers.
  • Plenty of official support: a free Quick Start, Roll20 and Demiplane editions, a PDF and new books every year.
  • Thoughtful Narrator safety and Session Zero advice.

Where it can frustrate groups

  • Powers are narrow, fixed rules, so improvised power stunts get little support.
  • Every new villain is a full character build.
  • No starter adventure in the core book, and few rules for complex non-combat scenes.
  • Creating original heroes means working through long lists of powers, traits and tags.
  • Rosters reflect the comics as of publication, so some favorites need a homebrew build or an expansion.

Content and safety notes

Expect comic-book violence, property damage, villains and occasional mind control or body horror (symbiotes, gamma mutation). The tone is all-ages Marvel. The core book recommends the X-Card, Script Change and a Session Zero, and treats mind-control scenes as something to agree on in advance.

Best starting path

  1. Download the free Quick Start with the Thunderbolts adventure and play it with its pregenerated heroes.
  2. If the group wants more, get the Core Rulebook in hardcover or as the DriveThruRPG PDF, plus the current errata from marvel.com/rpg.
  3. Run a one-shot book next, or The Cataclysm of Kang for a full campaign. Add the X-Men, Spider-Verse, Avengers or Secret Wars expansion that matches the heroes your group wants.

For other options, compare it with other superhero TTRPGs.

Research notes

Last checked October 31, 2026. Release dates, page counts and prices come from the publisher and retail listings below. DriveThruRPG figures come from the public product API on October 31, 2026. No award is claimed.