Roll for initiative, bitches...

Ahhhh, remember how those three little words used to make you tingle? "Roll for initiative." It meant that some dice-throwing, Universal Table-checking *MAYHEM* was about to ensue. I am, of course, referring to the Marvel Super Heroes Role-Playing Game.




Between the years of 1984 and 1993, TSR released three rulesets; a whopping 27 supplemental rule and roster books and box sets (including the immortal Ultimate Powers Book, aka One Of The Greatest Works Of Western Literature and eight mammoth volumes of the Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe); 29 "modules" (adventures for use with the rule system); and I-don't-know-how-many Adventure Game Books ("Choose Your Own Adventure" style books that sorta kinda incorporated the MSHRPG rules).

Yes, Marvel followed this up in 1998 with the Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game featuring the card-based SAGA system, and it wasn't bad, but it never caught on the way the old system did. I never even saw the short-lived Marvel Universe RPG, which had a shelf life of less than a year. In any event, this blog is about the classic version of the game, with FASERIP and FEATS; Shift X, Y and Z; and green, yellow and red results. Don't worry, dear reader, all will be explained.

Along the way, we'll examine all of the products put out by TSR, look at the reflected state of Marvel Comics at that time, and reminisce about the crazy characters and/or adventures our dementedly adolescent minds came up with. Good times, good times.