Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Scarlet Spider Swings Into The Action
That’s not Spider-Man, that’s the Scarlet Spider! Get ready for (not so) confusing clone shenanigans in Marvel: Crisis Protocol.
If you’re a fan of Spider-Man then odds are you’re familiar with the Clone Saga story arc. It uh…it was a thing. There was a lot of hi-jinx going on in that era and a lot of craziness came out of it. But there were also some good things, too. One of those good things was the introduction of the Scarlet Spider. Ben Reilly is unlike other Spider-Friends in that he’s a perfect clone of Peter Parker. He opted to take on the name of “Ben” in honor of Uncle Ben and “Reilly” in honor of Aunt May (Reilly was her maiden name). And now, he’s doing whatever a spider can on the tabletop in Marvel: Crisis Protocol!
Scarlet Spider In Marvel: Crisis Protocol
“As the Scarlet Spider is a clone of Peter Parker, he has many similarities with him while maintaining a few subtle differences that let him stand out. He clocks in at a Threat Value of 4 with a moderate Stamina pool of 6 on his Healthy side and 5 on his Injured side along with a defensive stat line of 4/3/3. Unlike his quick moving predecessor, Ben’s limited to a Medium Speed stat, but like many of his Web Warrior allies, he’s more mobile than this indicates.”
Okay, okay, I know what you’re probably thinking with that statline: “Oh great, another Threat 4, size 2 character.” And …yeah, I get that. At the same time this is literally a clone of Spider-Man. But not Spectacular or Amazing Spider-Man. Personally, I’m okay with this because it means you’re basically going to get to play with three different Spider-Men at the same time if you run Peter, Ben, and Miles. Personally, I think that’s hilarious. Insert Spider-Man Pointing Meme here.
Enough about all that — let’s get into what Scarlet Spider can do and what makes him different. His basic builder is the Scarlet Strike which is range 2 and 5 dice. However, if you get a hit and a wild, you also get to advance him short. And that’s just the first of his movement tricks. Next, he’s got the classic Impact Webbing. And yes…this is basically the exact same attack as Spider-Man. His final attack is his big spender and it’s called Whatever A Spider Can. This is a range 2, 8 die attack for 5 energy. To be fair that’s pretty expensive so it better be good. The good news is that’s kinda spicy. That’s because of how both of the secondary effects interact. Here’s why:
“These two rules trigger after the attack is resolved so they can be used in the order of the attacking player’s preference. To top it off, Catch! can be used regardless of how far the target is from Scarlet Spider allowing him to both escape retribution and potentially finish the target off with a well-aimed car or mailbox!”
You get a LOT of utility out of this attack. And again, for 5 energy, you better get some value out of it. I like the idea of getting in close, swinging away and into range of a mailbox or other size 2 terrain feature, and then slapping the previous target again safely out of range. It’s also (essentially) an extra move.
Once Scarlet Spider is flipped, he does drop to 5 stamina, so that’s worth noting. Now, in terms of superpowers he’s got some good ones. Web Whip cost 2 energy but also gives him some extra movement and pulls an enemy short. This can help close that gap to use those shorter range 2 attacks he has. Proportionate Strength of a Spider allow Ben Reilly to throw a size 3 or less enemy character short for 3 energy. Again, that might not seem like much but you can get most characters off objectives or use that to setup some other movement tech.
Scarlet Spider also has Wall Crawlers for movement (naturally) and Spider-Sense as well. The latter allows him to reroll up to 2 of his defense dice or dodge rolls vs physical or energy based attacks.
If you want to snag Scarlet Spider he’s coming a character pack with Gwenom. It’s currently up for Pre-order and has a release date of May 17, 2024.
Send in the Spider-Man(s)!!!
