Sentinels of the Multiverse

Sentinels of the Multiverse is, according to the creators, "the World's Greatest Cooperative, Comic-Book Based, Fixed-Deck Card Game." Fortunately, it is also a badass card game on its own merits.

Born when Christopher Badell got tired of every damn superhero game being either a lame exercise in "my childhood icon could beat up your childhood icon" or another damn Parker Bros. reskin, in Sentinels you play a group of superheroes (scientifically, the correct plural is a "crossover") working to fight a villain in a place.

From such simple things spring great ones.

Every hero plays completely differently, every villain has a different ballgame for wrecking your shit, and every environment has different effects on the ongoing struggle. And the lore is actually pretty amazing for the kind of thing that can be easily skipped, both because there's a few strong creative forces undergirding all of it and because it doesn't have to make everything the same forever. Hell, the art's pretty good too.

Notably, "promo" versions of different heroes with alternate powers but using the same decks are available.

Anatomy of a Turn

The villain goes first, playing the top card from its deck, then resolving all effects. This usually takes a good deal longer than it sounds.

The heroes take turns going in a set order. Each one may play a card from their hand, use a power, and draw a card in that order. If they don't play a card or use a power, they may draw two. Sometimes it's really that simple. Sometimes (lookin' at you Omnitron-X), this takes for-bloody ever.

Every hero has one "base" power printed on their card, and most can put other cards into play that let them use other powers.

The environment goes last, plays a card, and resolves all effects.

Repeat until the heroes or the villain get a victory, usually but not always by smashing the other into paste.

There are no limits on hand size, and when you run out of deck you just shuffle your trash and flip it over.

Notably, the villain and environment turns are completely automated, so you don't need someone to play them. In practice, however, both can get pretty lengthy and complex, so it's not uncommon to have a kind of quasi-Gamemaster run these turns for you. Additionally, the game supports between three and five heroes, with the villains scaling to match them, though players can choose to run multiple heroes. You can even play all by yourself if you're desperately, desperately lonely, and/or bought the digital version.

Heroes

The good guys. You need 3-5 of them to play a game. Most have "variant" forms, representing versions of themselves from alternate dimensions and timelines, or just the same person changed slightly after advancing the storyline.

• Absolute Zero

Style-wise, he's kind of like Mr. Freeze, though personality and backstory-wise, he's got more in common with the later Ant-man. A depressed janitor who had the bad luck to work at Pike Cryogenics, Ryan Frost got mutated in an explosion that left him super-cold. Now he's got to superhero for the government to work off the cost of the special thermodynamic suit that's keeping him alive.

He's got a well-earned reputation as one of the most-complex heroes in the game, and for good reason: his base power involves punching himself in the balls with a fist made of either ice or fire, and half his cards do the same. What makes him tick is his equipment, which can make ice heal him and fire damage to him deal ice damage to enemies. Understandably, this puts him in something of a bind against equipment-wrecking assholes and means he may accidentally self-destruct if his player isn't good at math, but, fortunately, half his deck involves either replacing lost equipment or boosting/mitigating the effect of damaging himself. And that's not counting how nice damage boosts are on him. Not for the faint of heart or the inexperienced, but can hit harder than almost any hero in the game in the right hands.

Variants

• Elemental Wrath: From the Iron Legacy timeline, where he was one of the few survivors of the titular tyrant's rampage. He's got a much-more straightforward power: punching something else in the balls with cold damage.

• Termi-Nation: After fighting the tech-absorbing villain Chokepoint, Zero's going in with a lot less suit. His base power boosts all damage he deal and receives by two, which makes him incredibly fragile but amazingly deadly. Handle with care.

• The Argent Adept

...Well, he's a superhero bard. The latest heir to the title of "Virtuoso of the Void," Anthony Drake found that he was destined to fight the avatar of elemental chaos, Akash'bhuta, when he handled an ancient musical instrument. Unfortunately, Akash'bhuta had managed to delay the process of passing down the musical knowledge of ages to him, and he's working to make up for lost time. The superhero team known as the Prime Wardens was originally formed to help him fight her because of his being very green.

The Argent Adept is also a really complex hero to play, though not because he's in danger of self-destructing like Zero. Rather, his deck has three major components: music cards (subdivided Rhythm, Harmony, and Melody) that each have Perform and Accompany components (his base power only activates a single Perform component), musical instruments that each activate two of those sub-components for different types of music card, and, of course, search cards to help get what he wants into play. If you haven't got a good head for all these kinds of things, he's really tough get to do what you want him to, but done right he's an unstoppable hurricane of combo-buffing.

Variants

• Prime Wardens: Considering the team formed to help him, he'd better be a member. His new power lets him play the card on the bottom of his deck and use an Accompany text, which is... well, it's pretty nice, even if Accompany components tend to be less-direct than Perform ones.

• Kvothe Six String: ...Well, the character of the Argent Adept was originally developed as a direct reference to The King-Killer Chronicles, and Rothfuss turned out to be a big fan. His new power reveals the top cards of two decks, putting one into play and the other into the trash. Most useful when villains don't want cards in the trash, obviously, but still really good for set-up heavy heroes. Unfortunately, this also means he can't activate his music without instruments anymore, making him very draw-dependent compared to his counterparts.

• Bunker

The next generation of metal-suited military heroes going back to the second World War, and thus aping War Machine. A former mechanic's kid from Vegas, Lt. Tyler Vance was a decorated combat vet who was given the chance to be the next incarnation of Bunker. He became the second member of the Freedom Five, and Legacy's strong right hand in running them.

Bunker is one of the first equipment-heavy superheroes in the game, and it shows. He can equip self-repair systems, armor plating, and a variety of powerful heavy weapons, but his unique mechanic involves shifting between three Modes: Recharge mode, in which he gives up every other part of his turn to draw three cards (including the bonus for not playing or using powers) while taking less damage, Upgrade mode, in which he forgoes drawing and playing powers to get more equipment on the field at once, and Turret mode, in which BUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDABUDDA. (...Ahem, in which he gets an extra power and deals extra damage.) While these extra modes give him a unique feel, they also give him terrible turn economy, though he's still very powerful. No other equipment-heavy hero shares Bunker's toughness and ability to get extra cards. Speaking of which, his base power lets him draw a card, and one of his other cards lets him draw everytime a villain card goes in the trash.

Variants

• G.I. Bunker: The WWII incarnation of Bunker, who got the job because it was deemed too dangerous for a white guy, and took it because it was his one shot at promotion. He went on to kick much Nazi ass alongside his era's Legacy, fistfighting tanks and pushing the power armor to the limit, before going out in a blaze of glory trying to kill Hitler while soloing an entire fortress full of troops. His unique power, Panzer-Buster, picks an enemy and makes all damage dealt to them irreducible. Obviously, how good this is depends on how much DR is on the field, but when you do need it, it's golden.

• Engine of War: Bunker was one of the casualties when Iron Legacy slaughtered the Freedom Five in his timeline. However, his former nemesis, Fright Train, was driven to repentance by his death, and joined the new Freedom Six wearing a hollowed-out, jury-rigged version of the Bunker suit. (Also, making the War Machine copy black again.) His new power discards a mode card to destroy an ongoing, something the original couldn't do at all and a priceless trick against Iron Legacy. Not a bad way to give up the bloated hand full of modes you weren't going to use soon.

• Termi-Nation: The current Bunker riding in a mech after his old suit got Chokepoint'd. He can destroy one of his own ongoing or equipment card to give himself what a whole new turn's worth of actions, which can be positively badass if you know what you're doing.

• Captain Cosmic

Like Green Lantern, only dressed like Firestorm. Hugh Lowsley was a British lawyer and amateur stargazer. Granted the power to create golden light constructs in the same cosmic event that transformed his brother into the mad supervillain Infinitor, he took up the mantle of Captain Cosmic, to protect the Earth from high-level threats.

Captain Cosmic is a support-heavy hero that runs on constructs. He gives them to his friends as buffs, he uses them as living shields, he repairs them when they're going out, and, when they're finally destroyed, he can immediately use their energies to retaliate against enemies. Alternatively, he can destroy them to deal heavy one-off damage. The rest of his deck involves getting them into play, with his base power letting him play or put in hand the top card of his deck.

Variant

• Prime Warden: Hilariously, he technically joined the Prime Wardens before he was released as a hero in the gameline. His new power lets him draw or play a card every time a construct his destroyed for the rest of the turn. It needs a bit more forethought and set-up than his original, but is potentially much more powerful.

• Chrono-Ranger

Jim Brooks is a time-displaced Wild West sheriff, who landed in the Final Wasteland, a nasty future where various cryptids had rendered humanity extinct. And then one of those damn rat-man varmits made off with his arm. Upon meeting and befriending a sapient robot factory called Con, who outfitted him with a futuristic arsenal, a new, mechanical arm, and a time machine in the shape of a badge, the newly-christened Chrono-Ranger set out to kill 'em all before they could become strong. In the meanwhile, he claims bounties on other criminals across space and time.

Chrono-Ranger shoots all the bullets. Almost all of his non-equipment cards, as an additional effect, involve shooting one target for one projectile damage, just like his base power. His major unique mechanic involves posting various "bounties" on different targets, offering him benefits while they're in play and after targets are destroyed. Combine that with his arsenal of future-guns and his hat, and he'd be a solid plinker. However, what makes him go from decent to crazy is the "Hunter and Hunted" card, which causes him to deal and take an additional point of damage for every bounty currently in play. Obviously, he suddenly becomes very fragile and a one-man hurricane of destruction simultaneously. Very high-risk, high-reward, but sweet as hell when it works.

Variant

• The Best of Times: After a mishap with his time-badge left him stranded in a temporal anomaly, Jim got rescued by an older, more-grounded La Capitan. After fixing him up, she asked only one thing in return: to help prevent the mistakes of her youth. His power lets him pick a target and make all his bounties affect them too. Amazing for stacking cards on the boss and still making one of their minions vulnerable, and because Chrono can pump out a fair amount of damage even without using a power, it's a good way to fry a troublesome minion without having to get set up again later.

• Expatriette

Amanda Cohen was the daughter of Citizen Dawn, the leader of a Magneto-esque cult of superhuman-supremacists. When she turned out not to have powers, the good Citizen murdered her father for his "failure" and burned out her eye before she could fight her way out. Fortunately, a lifetime in that environment had given her a knack for survival, and, despite her only superpower being "firearm," she became a vigilante crimefighter in the mean streets of Rook City, before eventually joining the broader superhuman community as Expatriette.

Her deck is built on a solid foundation of guns and ammunition. The former let her shoot them off as powers, the latter can be loaded into the former to give them additional effects. The rest of her deck mostly either gets them into play from her deck and trash or lets her shoot more of them off. Fittingly, her base power lets her immediately play a card. This means that while she's unlikely to spike as high as some of the other equipment-heavy superheroes, she's also going to come online practically right away while they're still putting their gear together. She also offers a few great utility cards, in the form of a damage-dealing, ongoing/Environment destroying one-shot rocket launcher, a damage-soaking flak jacket, and the ability to immediately shoot any arriving enemies in the face.

Variant

• Dark Watch: After Mr. Fixer disappeared, Expattriette, Setback, and Nightmist formed the Dark Watch to help keep things under control. Expat was and is the brains of the bunch, using her tactical expertise and natural leadership skills to keep the group on-task and infiltrate Setback's pants. Not necessarily in that order. Her new power, Aim, increases all damage she deals until the end of her next turn by one. In short, this means sacrificing some of the original Expatriette's signature lack of setup time for greater potential payoff after putting together a good next turn.

• Fanatic

Helena was hit by a car in Lima while playing in the street. She was six years old. She went into a coma, had no memories when she woke up, and no one came to the hospital looking for her. Raised by nuns, she began to receive visions of the afterlife, manifesting holy powers and growing huge white wings. Naturally, she took this to be a sign from on high, and left the convent to begin a one-woman crusade against evil.

Fanatic is primarily a damage-dealer and debuffer, with a few healing effects. Her base power, for example, hits someone twice, once with radiant damage, once with melee. However, many of her cards also involve hurting herself or discarding cards to add effects, though fortunately she's rather tough and has some good equipment to help keep her from self-destructing. Most infamously, she can play a card called "End of Days" to completely wipe everything but her own relics off the board. (Hilariously, this is probably least effective against her nemesis, though he also can't destroy hers with his similar card.)

Variants

• Redeemer: After first encountering Apostate, who claimed to have created her for his own purposes, Helena had a crisis of faith, eventually emerging from three straight days of meditation more determined to destroy him than ever. Her new power causes her to regain a hitpoint and draw a card, useful for recovering after a long turn of burning the candle down for extra damage and effects.

• Prime Warden: After a few years of superheroics, Helena has finally become a balanced, temperate person. Which is good, considering the enemy of the Prime Wardens is a primal embodiment of elemental rage. Her new power causes her to deal herself a point of damage, then play the top card of her deck and let someone else use a power. Fittingly, this makes her a great team player, but it also puts her at risk of self-destructing, so tread lightly.

• Guise

Postponed.

• Haka

A Maori chief who discovered he was immortal after one of his people challenged him for leadership, only for him to return the next day. Aata Wakarewarewa wandered the world for many years, before becoming both a superhero and a substitute teacher. Amusingly, he's not really that much like the Hulk.

While he can be a great damage dealer, Haka is a surprisingly flexible character. He has mechanics that let him buff himself with various war-dances that discard cards to juice him up, both tanks and heals well, fucks minion-heavy villains up the ass when he Rampages or Ground Pounds, can use Savage Mana to eat enemies and keep them out of the villain trash, and can fill up a hand pretty quick. That said, his base power is still punching people in the face.

Variants

• The Eternal Haka: Turns out the Final Wasteland doesn't see all humanity extinct. Aata, being immortal, survived as the guardian of the last library in the world, keeping the last record of humanity's past alive and occasionally obliterating any monsters stupid enough to try going after him for a thousand years. With the time-space rifts opening thanks to the Shattered Timeline event, he sees an opportunity to ensure others have a brighter future. His new power lets him draw a card, then to choose to discard a Haka card to draw two more. While this means he now needs his other cards to deal damage, it makes him really, really good at filling his hand.

• Prime Warden: Same ol', same ol'. His new power lets him play a card and, if it is a Haka, to apply its benefits to a different character. Naturally, this makes him a great team player.

• K.N.Y.F.E.

A sexy Scottish ex-Marine who developed energy-blade powers while working in the extradimensional prison known as the Block, Paige Huntly then got a sweet power-suit and went to work as a black ops agent. However, she left F.I.L.T.E.R. to become a superhero when her bosses proved unwilling to help investigate the onset of an eventual temporal calamity.

K.N.Y.F.E. is a straight-up damage dealer, pumping out mixtures of melee and energy damage, with a base power that does one of each. In addition to equipment cards to boost this, she has a lot of "one-and-done" ongoings that are destroyed after dealing heavy damage, plus others to help her get more cards in play.

• Rogue Agent: K.N.Y.F.E. going "stealthy" after figuring out a bit of what's to come. Her new power involves picking a card from the bottom of a deck and putting it into play, which is primarily interesting because fewer cards affect it compared to the top. However, it also means that, denied a good hand, she can't deal damage, so buyer beware!

• Legacy

Like Captain America mixed with Superman. Paul Parsons is the latest in a long line of American superheroes dating back to the Revolution, each generation inheriting all of the last ones' powers and mutating a new one. The current one's contribution is his indestructible skin, while his daughter has laser vision. An all-around good guy and the founder of the Freedom Five.

Though a few of his cards do deal respectable damage, Legacy is a leader whose primary role is support. He can buff and, to a limited degree, heal his teammates, help them draw cards. His base power is the coveted "Galvanize," which gives all the other good guys a damage boost until the start of his next turn. He's also amazing at tanking damage, with cards that make him immune to a damage type of his choice, able to tank hits for other characters, and to damage himself in exchange for shutting down the bad guys for a round.

Variants

• America's Greatest Legacy: The WWII Legacy, killed by Baron Blade but drawn into the modern day temporarily by time shenanigans. Amusingly, can still use the Legacy powers that rely on his son's damage-tanking power. His base power lets one hero heal a hitpoint and use a power, focusing on the other half of Legacy's support game while letting a number of other heroes really shine.

• America's Newest Legacy: Paul's daughter Pauline Parsons, who became a superheroine after her father died fighting Baron Blade on Mars, before Iron Legacy punching time-space in the dick changed history. She eventually decided to go by "Beacon" so as not to confuse everyone. Anyway, her new power involves blasting a sucka with her eye-beams for three energy damage, giving her a lot more damage than a normal Legacy, but making her more-dependent on her hand to provide support.

• Mr. Fixer

A blind, nearly hundred-year-old mechanic, Harry Robert "H.R. Slim" Walker was a kung fu blaxsploitation superhero known as "Black Fist" for most of the 70's, until some scum killed the kids he was teaching martial arts for standing up for themselves. Disheartened, he hung up his afro, put on his baseball cap, and adopted a new mantra: "Don't fight back." Unfortunately, his old nemeses are on the rise, and he's finding that not fighting back won't protect him anymore.

Mr. Fixer is a hero who sacrifices raw power for versatility: his deck includes both tool and style cards, and he can only have one of each in play. They add effects to his base power, which normally deals a piddly one melee damage. Properly augmented, however, that one damage is some combination of irreducible, causing other attacks to be irreducible, causing foes to deal one less damage, hitting every bad guy at once, auto-killing anything left at 2 hitpoints or less, etc. He also has some support cards that help him get more cards, pull cards out of everyone's trash, prevent all enemies from dealing damage for a turn at the cost of the rest of his, and a few cards that let him punch twice or turn him into a mini-Chrono-Ranger by boosting all damage he deals and takes for a turn.

Variants

• Dark Watch: After a battle with the Operative, Mr. Fixer was dead. However, his old nemesis Zhu Long used vile rites to restore him to life as a mindless soldier under his control. NightMist managed to reconnect his mind to his body and restore his sanity, but the experience left him one angry motherfucker. His new power, which explicitly works everywhere his old power would, deals three damage instead of one, but at a cost: it automatically destroys one hero ongoing or equipment card in play. This power can be used for good (destroying Bloody Knuckles before it can deal him extra damage, for instance), but it makes getting his tool and style cards a bitch to get out at the same time. Still, it's very powerful, and if you friends have shit they didn't care about anyway, go nuts.