This Mid-month, we’re looking at the latest Campaign Box and Expansion Heroes for Marvel Champions, which introduces X-Force, and the new Solo Star Trek RPG from Modiphius.

Oh, and do pay attention – because there’s not only spoilers about what’s coming in the Xmas giveaway, but details on a SECOND monthly giveaway! Yes, tis the season, falalala, etc.

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Marvel Champions: NeXt Evolution Expansion

NeXt Evolution is the latest standalone expansion for Marvel Champions, pitching the X-Force against Stryfe and Mr Sinister, saving Hope Summers and protecting the Morlocks from the Marauders!

This expansion introduces player side schemes, and the new heroes – we used Cable and Domino from the box, and Angel from the expansion (Psylocke is also excellent, but more geared to Solo play or two player with Angel). Cable is a Leadership build, lots of damage and support (Cap or Spectrum vibes); he can also play Side Schemes from any aspect, and as a priority you want to Purge his system, making him a meaty 3/3/3 character. He’d be great build with Justice, also – and there’s a LOT of new Justice in this wave, as Domino and Psylocke both play yellow out the box. But Leadership really does feel like the best fit for him, and he’s going to be the cornerstone of any multiplayer X-Force build. If running him in another Mutant list, around Genesis, I’d likely go down the Justice route – these new player side schemes won’t thwart themselves! He also comes with a basic Ally version of Deadpool, who is delightfully indestructible – just adds an Acceleration token every time he “dies”, which is both fitting and hilarious.

However, if you’re going to run Cable yellow, you’re going to want to strip out Domino. She is a Justice build with lots of wild resources and hand/ deck manipulation – love her 🖤 🤍 tbh, and it’s fair to say that she’s probably my new favourite team hero. She reminds me a bit of Gambit, with her whole low threat/Justice design: she can chuck out damage, generate resources, and mess with the Encounter deck as well – she’s buckets of fun.

I can see her getting flipped to Protection in some builds, but I’m really glad she’s Justice out of the box as it’s not actually obvious as a build. She can consistently deal damage when thwarting side schemes, as well as really helping out with ability to double wild resources, which makes her a real team-player. I wouldn’t run her solo, and she is very much designed to work in X-Force builds, but with a stack of Posse allies she can also run as an extra in a mixed team happily. I can see her being really useful in scenarios, like Once and Future Kang, which spawn squillions of side schemes. If Thor is the antithesis of minion swarm (Farewell, Ultron drones!), Domino is there to ruin those crazy schemers.

As for the campaign itself, it’s a refreshing spin on the game, very challenging – granted we always with Standard II (from The Hood pack, which tbh is THE BEST thing ever for the game) – but balanced, more so though Mutant Genesis. Shadowcat and Colossus are just… TOO good, particularly if your play style emphasises synergy. As mentioned, the new heroes fit well into not only previous expansions but even just a basic core set. The campaign is very on-brand – Hope is out there trying to save Morlocks, then gets kidnapped… and that’s when things get crazy.

It maybe lacks quite the same sense of progression as Sinister Motives – which to my mind is the gold standard, although Mad Titan’s Shadow and Rise of the Red Skull are both excellent also – but you still upgrade your characters and gain some very cool extras. I also love the fact that when you complete the campaign, you unlock a version of Hope for standard play. It feels like a well-deserved Achievement – a reward for going through the whole thing. Hope, I should mention, is an encounter set like Longshot, so she is in the Villain deck and can be used in regular play as a modular also – but having her as your Prize for playing the whole campaign is just a little bit of genius.

Overall, it’s great fun, well balanced, and is very accessible for newcomers. It articulates well not only with the previous expansion but the game as a whole, and if I’m being honest I think it edges into the top tier – a close second to Sinister motives, possibly tied with Mad Titan, but maybe even better.

Now, what about the Hero Expansions?

Well, at launch we also get Psylocke (wooooooooooooo!), who’s another Justice build, and Angel, a protection build with CRAZY damage output and a fold out card (like Ant-man) for Archangel. The two hero packs serve very different ends, which is interesting and slightly unexpected, though they do complement one another well and are a pretty meaty duo – though I’d like to see how they do with X-23 (aggression) or Deadpool (pool!), coming later this year. If you’re playing the game solo, Psylocke is no shrinking violet (sorry, sorry) – she is potentially the best solo character so far, in fact.

She’s a similar base Justice deck to Domino (damage/side-scheme thwart) but with more native damage as her Psionics drive all her stats up every time she plays them. If you throw in some of the extra Psionics from Cable, in fact, she can become truly monstrous, stripping threat and causing massive damage in the process; a neat trick is to flip them, her as the Leadership deck and him as the Justice, for some serious teamwork. Yes, big fan, no complaints here.

Angel is slightly more nuanced, but is already Elder Spawn’s new favourite hero. I’ll say out of the gate that the sheer variety of Aerial cards that you get with him mean that he is pretty much a must-buy add-on to the core box, whether you’re fleshing Captain Marvel out or teaming the two of them up – so #spoileralert we’ll be giving away him away with a core box! Oh, dang, wasn’t suppose to tell you that yet. Anyway, the fact that deals damage equal to the cost of events (as Angel of Death) or draws cards (as Angel of Life) means he is versatile and brutal, and he’s a great addition to any team, X-Force, X-Men or otherwise.

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CAPTAIN’S LOG – STAR TREK SOLO RPG

I was reading Iain Livingstone’s early 80s classic, “Dicing with Dragons”, in which he discusses the idea of Solo RPGs (not surprising as he is the father of Fighting Fantasy, or at least the co-parent) – but what is surprising is how dismissive of it he is, arguing that it’s not true roleplay. I’ll admit that, although a fan of the CYOA type books when younger (Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf series particularly), I hadn’t really experimented with Solo RPG as an adult. I mean, what’s the point? Where’s the interaction? Where’s the mystery? But being a massive Trek fan, liking the Modiphius system, and struggling post-lockdown to get a gaming group back together, my interest was piqued by Captain’s Log.

Let’s put this front and centre: in nearly 40 years of gaming, this is one of the best RPG products I’ve ever seen.

You have to accept, from the outset, the pitch: you are writing are story for yourself, fundamentally. In that sense, you are writing a novella set in the Star Trek Sandbox, an episodic script of your own. It’s creative writing with an RPG skin. Now, in another life, I’m an English teacher and have been known to write a bit, so I see the value in this; equally, I see the use in the wealth of stimuli that the product provides. However, for all that, as a GM, I can see this as a tool, a pocket kit for designing a show, a short story arc or a one-off session. Because the real strength of this book is it is literally everything, in one place, that you need to not only play Solo but to run the game. It is STAGGERING how much content they cram into it – even a call-back to the older trek RPGs, with the inclusion of the legendary Technobabble Table.

Systemically, their games use a 2d20 mechanic which is VERY swingy but really suits narrative play, especially where characters are inherently expert and advancement is about a character’s personality and goals – in other words, it’s ideal for Trek (less for Dune, FWIW). Previous Trek systems (FASA, LUG, Coda) could become bogged down in a plethora of skills and everyone rolling ridiculous dice, which obviously intrudes on storytelling; with the Modiphius system, however, the emphasis is on the story and building narrative. In the Solo version of the game, which reduces the Momentum/ Threat mechanic (though it can be included), we have introduction of a Probability Matrix, allowing you to determine how likely an event is to succeed or fail. Quite honestly, I can see myself importing this into all sorts of games, Trek or otherwise, but allows the story to move along in a convincing fashion.

In terms of what is included, you get a clear guide to the Lifepath system for every era: creating a senior officer (usually the captain) from their earliest days through to their current role. You can elect an any point simply to ignore a random result (which let’s face it, is not unreasonable if you end up rolling, say, a TOS era Starfleet Gorn) as suits your preference, but the randomisation can lead to more story threads, skeins you hadn’t even imagined possible. And you’re not limited to Starfleet – indeed, the full Lifepath for Klingon characters is included also.

As you progress, you develop Values, your character’s motivations. For example, a fully randomised attempt gave me an ENT-era Illyrian, growing up on an Isolated Colony world, going through Struggle and Hardship, yearning to design Starships, joining the Academy and making first contact with a crystalline lifeform, having a terrible accident and learning that Not every problem had an intellectual solution, before taking command of a classic Intrepid-class… a fully-formed, rounded character, with motivations, contradictions, Talents and Values. It’s stimulating and inspiring, whether you’re an experienced player or a novice, whether to start exploring the universe or just to get lost in your own head.

I should say, also, it’s a beautiful book, and remarkably compact. It’s full of art from all eras and shows – yes, even Lower Decks gets a look-in – and you can choose your preferred era’s cover (TOS, Disco, TNG, or DS9/VOY) as well. I mean obviously DS9 is best, but still. As well as conventional interior art, the aesthetic is in the familiar TNG-era LCARS style whilst the incredibly detailed ship illustrations (and there’s a LOT) allow you to clearly envisage the tech. Yes somehow, despite all the content, this book is not overwhelming. It’s a simple joy to read as a fan – a potted history of the Trekiverse in a compact, yet detailed, format. It even gives space (as it were) to the 27 Century Temporal Cold War and 32nd Century of Disco S3/4. Equally, it’s a masterpiece of RPG writing, concise and well-organised – I’ve had to read so many poorly-edited RPG books over the years it beggars belief. It’s worth having on your shelf if you’re a Trek fan or not, a solo gamer or not… In short, it’s a must-have.

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GIVEAWAY TIME!

Right, pay attention, cos this gets a little bit tricky. As well as our huge EXPEDITIONS giveaway (check out the review and contest HERE) this month we’re ALSO giving away a Solo Gaming bonanza: a copy of the Psylocke Hero Pack for Marvel Champions and a copy of Captain’s Log (Discovery cover)!

To enter this you need to:

– Head over to my Instagram @games_with_graven  and comment on the PINNED post
– Follow me and @bigcomicpage on Instagram
– And for a bonus entry comment below with either your favourite Marvel Mutant OR Star Trek Captain.

The winner of that contest will be announced at the start of December, and our Expeditions giveaway will be on the first Monday of month, as usual – when it’ll be time for the annual Xmas Geeky Gift Guide, with a merch-tastic prize bundle, family board and card games and everything to get playing Marvel Champions as well.

I’m so excited that I’m going to need a little lie-down…

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The Writer of this piece was: Sam Graven
Article Archive: Geeking Out
You can follow Sam on Twitter and Instagram

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