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In 1987, my family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico—practically the opposite of my hometown, Elk River, Minnesota. I started at De Vargas Junior High, a much smaller school than I was used to, and adjusting wasn’t easy. But then, I met Matt.
Matt was a hardcore comic book fan, just like me, and one day at lunch, he pulled out the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set. That moment changed everything. We headed to the school library and started playing right there at the table. Secret Wars was our favorite comic event at the time, so naturally, we made it the backdrop of our first campaign. When we saw the "Beyond" power rank on the hit chart in the back of the book, we had to figure out what it did.
At first, we stuck to playing Marvel’s established heroes—Spider-Man, Wolverine, the X-Men—but as we got deeper into RPGs (especially after picking up Dungeons & Dragons), we started adapting the game to our real world. By high school, we were using a map of our own school campus as the setting for epic superhero battles. Santa Fe High had a college-style layout, with buildings spread out over a hill, which made it the perfect backdrop for Hulk and Thor to throw down. Sometimes, we even played outside, imagining those legendary Marvel battles happening right in front of us.
The Universal Table was my favorite mechanic. It made the game simple, fast-paced, and easy to learn, yet it still managed to capture the energy of a Marvel comic. If you're looking for a modern equivalent, Index Card RPG has a similar pick-up-and-play quality. But nothing quite replaces the thrill of playing out your favorite comics at the lunch table, surrounded by friends, in a world where anything felt possible.
Now, let’s dive into the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set—its mechanics, its legacy, and what made it so great.
Released in 1986 by TSR, the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set was an expansion of the original 1984 RPG. This updated version added deeper mechanics, more options, and refined gameplay—while still keeping the game fast, fun, and true to the comics.
Players could take on the roles of famous Marvel characters like Spider-Man, Captain America, or the X-Men, or create their own superheroes to battle villains in dynamic, comic-inspired adventures.
The game introduced the FASERIP system—named after its seven core attributes:
Instead of numbers or levels, each ability had a descriptive rank, such as Typical, Excellent, Remarkable, or Unearthly.
Nearly all actions in the game were resolved using a single percentile roll (d100) against the Universal Results Table—a color-coded chart that determined success or failure.
This one chart streamlined everything—whether you were punching out Doctor Doom or hacking into a S.H.I.E.L.D. database.
Game Masters (called Judges) could adjust difficulty with Column Shifts, making actions easier or harder depending on the situation. This kept gameplay cinematic, fast, and dramatic—perfect for superhero action!
This system made Marvel Super Heroes feel very different from traditional RPGs—it encouraged players to act like actual superheroes, finding creative, non-lethal solutions to problems.
To this day, Marvel Super Heroes (MSH) is fondly remembered, and many modern superhero RPGs borrow elements from its design—especially its Karma system and simple, fast-paced resolution mechanics.
How it compared:
How it compared:
How Marvel Super Heroes stood out:
The Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set remains one of my favorite RPGs of all time. Its simple yet dynamic mechanics, fast gameplay, and comic book feel made it a perfect gateway game into the world of RPGs. Even today, it holds up as a fun and engaging system—one that I’ll always remember playing in a school library, imagining Thor and Hulk battling outside in the Santa Fe sun.
Have you ever played Marvel Super Heroes RPG? Let’s talk classic RPGs in the comments!
💬 What’s your favorite superhero RPG? Let me know below! ⬇️
