Invincible RPG Announced by Free League

Invincible, the comic book franchise made by Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and artists Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, is getting a tabletop RPG by Free League Publishing. Today, Free League announced that they are publishing a Year Zero Engine superhero game based on the Invincible comics franchise. The new game was designed by Adam Bradford, a D&D Beyond founder, along with Tomas Härenstam, the lead designer of the ALIEN RPG and other games.

A Kickstarter will launch later this year, with a Core Rulebook and Starter set planned. Notably, graphic design for the project is by Johan Nohr of MORK BORG game.

In a press release announcing the project, Bradford said “Invincible is my favorite comic series, and I’ve wanted to play in this universe for many years. The way the story unfolds in a sprawling saga over the course of 144 issues – without endless retconning – lends itself particularly well to tabletop roleplaying, and I can’t wait for fans to experience their own superhero stories with the game."

“One of my very first tabletop roleplaying games was the old Marvel Superheroes by TSR, and making a superhero RPG has been a lifelong dream. I think the genre, and Invincible’s more grounded and visceral take on it, is a great fit for the Year Zero Engine game mechanics,” added Tomas Härenstam.

 

[SteveC]

Only Mork Borg and Cy_Borg look like that. The rest of the Free League books have very high production values. Johan Nohr is a pro; he has more than one design mode.

I absolutely love the layout for the Free League books I have, so I'm excited about it. When I see Mork Borg, I have this instinctive reaction. Never have I had books recommended to me that I bounced harder off. For that grognards thread, this is where my grognard shows.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah she's one of those real "Champions Variable Power Pool" kind of characters that some otherwise-solid Superhero systems struggle to model (including, I would argue, Champions) and others absolutely ace.

Yeah, it's either going to require a ton of detail to model or a "your referee will adjudicate it on the fly" approach, and either will upset people. Kirkman giving her both Green Lantern and Firestorm abilities makes for a complicated character (who I assume will eventually kick a whole lot of Viltrumite ass later in the series).

 

[R_J_K75]

I don't think either of them would have been unreasonable to develop as retail products without Kickstarter.

I don't want to turn this thread into a bash on KS. When I see something is being KS, my first thought is to wonder if the developers aren't confident in the product they are designing. Though I do understand that capital definitely plays a major role.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I absolutely love the layout for the Free League books I have, so I'm excited about it. When I see Mork Borg, I have this instinctive reaction. Never have I had books recommended to me that I bounced harder off. For that grognards thread, this is where my grognard shows.

I like that he took a concert poster approach to design -- that's exciting! -- but it definitely can get in the way. If it were me, I probably would have toned down most of the interior pages a bit. I think it's noteworthy that the sample dungeon goes the opposite way and is a paragon of usability.

 

[Reynard]

I know nothing about Free League Publishing, watched the first season of Invincible and it was good. I was intrigued by this announcement, but it lost me at Kickstarter. It's got to be something I'm really interested in for me to back another. They just take too long until they're delivered. By the time I get them I've usually forgotten about it and lost interest, or our group has moved on to something else RPGwise.

Free League basically uses KS as a preorder and marketing gimmick. I don't think they have screwed up a delivery yet.

 

[R_J_K75]

Free League basically uses KS as a preorder and marketing gimmick. I don't think they have screwed up a delivery yet.

Suppose I'm just behind the times a bit is most likely the case.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Free League basically uses KS as a preorder and marketing gimmick. I don't think they have screwed up a delivery yet.

I think that's just about everyone using KS who has more than a couple of games under their belt at this point. I have no doubt it does increase sales overall, because it combines FOMO with free advertising and a product that doesn't actually exist and thus cannot really be flawed or judged.

 

[Ringtail]

I'm curious to see how this will be a proper "Invincible RPG" instead of just a super-hero RPG, but as a fan of both Invincible and Free League I'm excited.

 

[Von Ether]

I'm curious to see how this will be a proper "Invincible RPG" instead of just a super-hero RPG, but as a fan of both Invincible and Free League I'm excited.

My first guess would be to drop the concept of most supers PCs being “balanced” in a RPG; eg. Somehow justifying Batman can as effective against the same villains as Superman because Batman outthinks them.

Throw that balance out the window and you’re half way to the Invincible universe.

 

[Morrus]

My first guess would be to drop the concept of most supers PCs being “balanced” in a RPG; eg. Somehow justifying Batman can as effective against the same villains as Superman because Batman outthinks them.

Throw that balance out the window and you’re half way to the Invincible universe.

Well that’s the difference between a game and a TV show/comic.