Marvel: Crisis Protocol – ‘Monsters Unleashed’ Rules Preview Unleashes Dracula & Crew
Things are about to go bump in the night when the Monsters Unleashed Character Pack It’s a rules preview for Marvel: Crisis Protocol!
The Marvel Monsters are coming soon from Atomic Mass Games. Dracula is busting out of his tomb and bringing some friends along for the ride. Get ready for a new type of nightmare with the Monsters Unleashed Character Pack! Today we’re getting a preview of what they are bringing to the tabletop and it’s looking scary…
On the night of the full moon, a team of supernatural commandos skulk slowly toward a castle on a hill. The thralls guarding the way are quickly dispatched so they can’t call out, which could notify the true threat. Despite the commandos’ best efforts, the master of the castle, Dracula, is alerted to their presence by his army of thralls at the heart of the castle. The inevitable showdown commences!
Werewolf by Night; Frankenstein’s Monster; and N’Kantu, the Living Mummy join the ranks of the Midnight Sons Affiliation to hunt down Dracula, the leader of the Thralls of Dracula Affiliation and member of the Cabal.
Dracula In Marvel: Crisis Protocol
As is fitting, Dracula is the centerpiece of this boxed set. Depending on how you want to run it, he can be allied in with the other in the box or you could have him as part of his own Affiliation: Thralls of Dracula. That’s just how the Affiliation rules work.
Anyhow, Dracula himself is pretty bloody good. Stat-wise he’s got defenses of 4/3/4 with 7 stamina per side. He’s also size 3 and moves medium which is all packaged at Threat Level 5. His builder is a pretty gnarly 2 range, 7 die attack and if he gets a hit (not a crit or wild, mind you) then he can inflict Bleed, Slow, Root, or Hex. And that’s just his FIRST basic attack…
Blood Feast is another attack that’s a spender for 1 energy. It’s also range 2 and “only” 6 dice — so why would you it over Ancestral Blade? Well, for starters for each point of damage caused, Dracula can heal himself! That’s kind of a big deal in MCP. And to follow that up, the attack also causes Bleed — no dice needed. That all sets up his next big attack and spender: Fury of the Vampyr. This attack is range 3 and 8 dice for 4 energy. It Mystic and if the target has the Bleed condition then Dracula can reroll any number of attack dice! Afterwards, if the character is size 4 or less, he can toss them Medium.
As far as other abilities he’s got some spicy ones. Hypnotic Stare is 2 energy and allows him to advance a target enemy character within range 3 a short distance. Eternal Hunger also costs 2 but it allow Dracula to get a counter-attack if the attacker is within range 3. He’s also got Shapeshifting which gives him some great versitility for 1 energy:
Mist seems REALLY good to me. Forget the tokens and just remove all special conditions AND two damage? Yes please. He’s got lacky’s to pick up tokens after all! And finally we get to Unholy Vampiric Immortality which is just bonkers. He gains 1 energy and heals 1 damage per character within range 3 with a Bleed special condition. If you were wondering why the Thralls of Dracula card caused Bleed to the enemies it’s for this dumb combo!
I really think that Dracula is going to be a tank when it comes to long fights. With multiple ways to heal beyond a Healing Factor, he’s going to be running around undoing all that damage and causing problems.
Okay, for the rest of these, I’m not going to go line-by-line and instead hit some of the highlights. I could write an article on each one of them otherwise.
The Living Mummy
N’Kantu, The Living Mummy is really build around using the Sever Soul and generating Captured Soul Tokens. These allow him to juice up his attacks by converting Skulls into Wilds or to heal or gain energy from them. He can hold a max of three of them and it’s a pretty good trade off for what you get. Considering he’s a Threat Level 3 character I think he’s going to be a great addition to the Midnight Sons roster overall. Oh, and one more thing:
If you are going to bring him, then bring his Team Tactic card along for a “surprise” soul bomb. The Soul Storm attack range gets larger for each Captured Soul Token he has!
Frankenstein’s Monster
Also known as Frank (which is what I’m going to refer to him as) this Threat Level 4 character brings some beef. Frank is a very physical character and is looking to brawl. He’s got a throw and can also heal with his super powers. I think the really impressive combo with him is a Charge into his big spender though. The Monster’s Fury is a base of 6 dice but gets bigger for each point of damage he has. If you manage to threat that needle, it could be a 12 dice attack!
He’s also got a nice utility Tactic Card that can provide a LOT of movement and also some counter damage, too. Frank is most certainly a Tank.
Werewolf By Night
Okay, I’m going to be 100% honest here: I’m not even looking at the abilities for Werewolf By Night. You’ve got eyes, you can see them above. What I want to call out for this character is his alter-ego’s name. Jack Russell. This dude is Werewolf named Jack Russell? I hope he was bitten by a terrier. I see you’re puns Marvel. I won’t be fooled.
Werewolf also has his own Tactic Card, too. This allows the player which effect will be in play. You can either get a boost to defending while holding/contesting an objective or you can let your savage side out and go for offense. Just be sure you check the timing on this one as it happens during the Activation Phase.
The Monsters Unleashed Character Pack is slated for a November 1, 2024 release. It’s currently up for pre-order now.
Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Monsters Unleashed Character Pack $59.99
This Monsters Unleashed Character Pack for Marvel: Crisis Protocol adds Dracula, Werewolf by Night, N’Kantu the Living Mummy, and Frankenstein’s Monster, bringing Marvel’s supernatural characters to the tabletop.
Send in the Monsters!
