The X-Potential

The X-Potential is an adventure published by TSR in 1987 for the Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game. It is the second in a four-part series set in a dystopian version of the Marvel universe.

The X-Potential

Cover art by Mike Machlan and John Statema
Publishers	TSR
Publication	1987
Genres	Superhero RPG
Systems	Marvel Super Heroes

Contents

The first book of the series, Nightmares of Futures Past, describes a bleak alternate future where mutants are hunted down by huge robot Sentinels and imprisoned in concentration camps.^[1] As critic James Wallis noted, in a change from most Marvel Super Heroes adventures, the player characters are not fighting crime but fighting for their lives.^[2]

The X-Potential is the first of three adventures set in this bleak future. It adds more details of the world, then describes the events that will happen around a large political demonstration over several days. The players are free to intervene as they see fit. At various times, the gamemaster supplies them with front pages of "The Daily Journal".^[3]

Publication history

After acquiring the license to produce a role-playing game based on the Marvel Comics universe, TSR first published Marvel Super Heroes in 1984, and followed with many adventures and supplements. One of these was MX2 The X-Potential, a 32-page book published in 1987 with tabloid sheets and an outer folder. It was written by Mark Acres, with cover art by Mike Machlan and John Statema^[1]

TSR published a further two adventures in the series: Reap the Whirlwind, and Flames of Doom.