The Universal Tables

As everyone knows, the role of the judge is to act as the storyteller, mediate the actions of the heroes and villains and to resolve combat or any other FEATs when it is necessary to do so.  To this end, no judge could do his job without the wondrous Universal Table.  Below are the two different (yet fundamentally the same) Universal Tables that can be used in the game. 

 

The Universal Table Supplied in the Advance Rules for Marvel Super Heroes

 

 

The Revised Universal Table by Denis Conruyt

 

While one might think they are vastly different at first look, they are not.  In fact, they are basically the same with one exception, the fumbles or so-called “blue” result.  All this column does is adds some extra spice to the game and leaves a little less to chance for the judge.  The fumble results are therefore the big mistakes.  Here is an example of what this does

 

Example One:

Old Table: Captain Comet uses his laser eyes to fry the evil Baron von Kettenbach.  The player sees that Captain Comet has Remarkable agility, however they role a 01.  In game play, Captain Comet completely misjudges where Baron von Kettenbach is and completely misses, his laser beams going of and doing absolutely no harm.

 

New Table: Captain Comet uses his laser eyes to fry the evil Baron von Kettenbach.  The player sees that Captain Comet has Remarkable agility, however they role a 01.  In game play, Captain Comet completely misjudges where Baron von Kettenbach is and completely misses, his laser beams instead hit the foundation of a very large skyscraper, causing it to waver and begin falling over where it will crush hundreds of innocent civilians. 

 

Example Two:

Old Table: Erinys Diablerie uses her elemental conversion to try to turn the villains escape vehicle into sand.  However, with a Feeble ability, she roles a 03, which does absolutely nothing to the villains, giving them a chance to get away.

 

New Table: Erinys Diablerie uses her elemental conversion to try to turn the villains escape vehicle into sand.  However, with a Feeble ability, she roles a 03, causing the warehouse that her and her teammates are standing on to turn into sand, trapping them momentarily while the villains escape. 

 

See the difference.  In the old game, you just missed.  With the new table, one not only misses the bad guy, but also does something really bad such as putting himself, his teammates, or worse, innocent people at risk because he really screwed up.  The judge has the decision ultimately on what happens, but it adds extra flavor to the game when suddenly the heroes have to divert their attention from the bad guys in order to correct a dangerous situation that they have created.

 

While I personally use the revised Universal Table, it is not necessary and one can have just as exciting an adventure using the old table if they have a creative judge who can manipulate the system to their liking.  So which ever you choose, have fun and enjoy gaming.

 

 

Notice: Marvel Super Heroes is a registered trademark of TSR Inc and MARVEL Entertainment Group Inc.  All original characters, groups and other works are copyright of Steve Babbitt / Off The Wall Inc. 1990-2001