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Marvel Universe RPG Core Rules PDF

This Marvel Universe RPG core rules PDF review is part of my “Best Tabletop RPGs of All Time” article. If you want to check out more TTRPGs and see how other top-tier tabletop RPGs are ranked, visit that page.

My Review – 89 / 100

Bar chart comparing game attributes: attributes on x-axis, stacked bars with black, medium blue, and light blue sections show ratings.

The version of the Marvel Universe that I reviewed is the Marvel Universe RPG core rules RPG – playtest version – as at the time of this review, the full game was not yet available. Speaking of, the full game is supposed to come out in 2022, so if you like the sound of it, you may not have to wait long.

The only thing I wasn’t 100% sure about with the Marvel Universe RPG is that this game feels like it better suites a series of one-shot game sessions, as opposed to a full tabletop RPG campaign.

Not that Marvel Universe can’t be an in-depth story building game. There just aren’t a ton of rules or directions for facilitating that, at least within the playtest rulebook.

Still though, this game gets top marks. It’s come in 4th place on my list of top TTRPGs.

Uniqueness of Marvel Universe RPG: (8/10)

There are no dice used in Marvel Universe. That alone is an extremely unique element of the game. The game’s designers wanted a very simple, straightforward, rules-light game, focused on roleplaying a superhero (or villain), and not the mechanics of the game system, itself. I think that Marvel Universe RPG accomplishes that goal.

The game is played in a series of “Panels.” It’s as if if you and your gaming group were reading and co-creating a comic book, as you game. It’s a very cool concept.

When it comes to stats, basically, your character has HP. Then, you also have energy points, called “Red Stones” that are used to do any kind of action. If you have enough Red Stones to fuel your desired action, it succeeds. There’s a little more complexity to it, factoring in Difficulty and Resistance, but that is the fundamental mechanics of gameplay.

It’s a little amazing to me that a full-fledged RPG that also represents something as large as Marvel gets by with only 2 (basically) character “stats.” However, I’m also impressed.

You can use Red Stones both on your “turn” (your character’s Panel in the comic book page), and during other character’s Panels. Though you end up using most of your Red Stones during your Panel to complete whatever action is most important to you, it sometimes helps to leave a few Red Stones for involvement in someone else’s Panel which allows you to help them, or complete other important functions during their shining moments.

You can either play one of the 42 characters from the marvel universe, or create your own. There are also tons of powers for you to use, and rules for all kinds of superhero related things (power armor, flying, etc.).

For myself, I’m pretty sure that I would have more fun playing this game by trying out each of the 42 heroes/ villains included in the rulebook for a session or two each than I would playing one character for a long campaign. The game is just better set up to sample heroes and villains than to create your own lengthy “comic book series” with them, in my opinion.

Brawling Game Type

Marvel Universe RPG also a game mode called “Brawling.” From the rulebook: “it allows players to answer age-old questions: who would win in a fight, the Thing or the Hulk? Spider-Man or Wolverine?” This is incredibly cool.

In this game mode, rather than playing out Panels as you would in the normal style of storytelling play, two players sit down and fight – without need for a game master – to determine once and for all, who would win between their heroes/ supervillains. Honestly, this is probably what anyone would want, playing a Marvel superheroes game.

Yes. Just, yes. I love it.

No Dice – Good or Bad?

The only thing I can say as to why Marvel Universe did not get a 10/10 from me in this section is that there is a reason most tabletop RPGs use dice. Though I love that Marvel Universe doesn’t from a standpoint of uniqueness, gamers who play Marvel Universe RPG will find themselves missing the random dice element present in most TTRPGs, at least from time to time.

Dice are part of what makes TTRPGs unpredictable and high-drama. When it comes down to what people actually enjoy from their tabletop games, most really do prefer dice, or a random dice-like element of surprise.

Ease of Learning the Game: (8/10)

Whenever I come across TTRPGs that are easy to teach new players, I always let out a sigh of relief. Easy-to-teach games makes it easier to create tabletop gaming groups. Simple as that.

I’d feel very comfortable teaching Marvel Universe RPG to just about any new player.

The information with Stones (Red Stones and White Stones) is a little confusing. The game’s designer did leave a lot of examples throughout the rulebook, but it’s still not always clear as to what players are supposed to do in certain situations.

I’d have liked if there were different terms besides just “White Stones” and “Red Stones” in the rulebook. When reading, you’ll find terminology like simply “Stones,” where it’s hard to tell exactly what’s being referenced.

It seems, when reading the rulebook, that when simply “Stones” is mentioned, what’s really meant is “Red Stones.” However, the ambiguity is unnecessary. This isn’t a major, major point, but it does lower the marks a bit.

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Marvel Universe RPG Presentation: (8/10)

I’ve never been a huge fan of rulebooks which feature large numbers of rule usage examples which are provided directly in-text. What I mean is, you’re reading about a rule, then you see a separate text box that gives an example of how that rule actually plays out, in-game.

On the one hand, it’s kind of nice to get clarification on rules. But the downside is that in-text examples are also distracting. It’s also annoying when you understand the rule from the instruction provided, but then there’s an (unnecessary) further explanation of that rule in a separate text box.

Besides that though, the rulebook is easy to understand. Important sections in the book are clearly marked, and the presentation on the whole is top-tier.

If you can get past the rule clarifications/ examples (when you don’t need them), then you’ll enjoy this rulebook quite a bit.

Marvel Lore: (10/10)

We’re talking about the entire Marvel Universe, here. When you play Marvel Universe RPG, you can bring in any of your favorite superheroes or villains from any of Marvel’s extensive library of amazing comic books, movies, and more.

And not only that, you can bring in plot lines from any of your favorite stories, as well. Want to re-enact a specific part of a movie you love? Go for it. Want to see who would win in an epic battle between your favorite characters? This RPG is here for you.

Combat in Marvel Universe RPG: (8/10)

When you take an action or attack someone in Marvel Universe RPG, if the number of Red Stones you use in that action/ attack is higher than the target’s defending Stones, your attack hits. Damage dealt is then determined by the number of leftover Red Stones (the number of Stones you used in your attack minus the number of Stones the defender used in their defense).

What’s a little odd to me is that 1-3 Red Stones over the defender deals 1damage. To do 2damage from an attack, you must be 4-6 Red Stones over. These numbers are reasonable enough to follow. It is kind of a bummer though that if you’re at 3 Stones over, but not 4, you miss out on dealing another full point of damage.

Combat in Marvel Universe is surprisingly simple and straightforward (especially compared to many other TTRPGs out there). This is really a storytelling game when it comes to combat, and there aren’t really “tactical” options, , but the game is so thematic and fun that its combat category still gets a high score.

Game “Flow”: (8/10)

When it comes down to it, Marvel Universe RPG is a very simple game. I mean that in a good way. There’s not a lot of substance to it when it comes to rules and game mechanics. But similar to the Cypher System in this regard, the vibe is right.

I think the game’s designer found a really good place of mixing a rules-light approach with an emphasis on “building pages in a comic book.”

I only drop the score in this category a little because (as I’ve mentioned, above) I don’t think this is a game I’d want to play for a long campaign. I do think Marvel Universe is an amazing game for one-shot gaming sessions, or short tabletop RPG campaigns, though.

I’m certain I could easily put together a group of people for a superhero/ villain gaming event using this game system. We’d probably just play a few sessions here and there, between our other ongoing tabletop RPG campaigns played using other RPGs.

Marvel Universe RPG Artwork: (9/10)

The art’s cool – I really enjoy it. Very comic book style, which is very fitting. Very dynamic. Stylistically, the art is fitting for the game’s vibe, and all the artwork fits together.

Marvel Universe also does not leave you hanging as it features a lot of artwork throughout the book. Some of the artwork is not crafted in the most modern art style though, and it’s honestly not quite as high quality as other games.

Ease of Purchase: (10/10)

Marvel Universe (as of the time of this writing) is not yet available for purchase. I do need a placeholder stat for this section though, so given that we’re talking about Marvel here, I’m just going to go ahead and give top marks. I think since we’re talking Marvel, it’s safe to assume that they’ll do a good job on this.

Price & How Many Books Do You Need to Play: (10/10)

Same thing for this section as with “Ease of Purchase” immediately above.

Fame & Availability of Supplemental Material: (10/10)

Especially since the Marvel movies started coming out over 10 years ago, the Marvel franchise is incredibly famous. It has to be one of the most well-known names in all of Western society. That being the case, you can certainly find people who will want to game with you.

Marvel Universe RPG Core Rulebook is Published By:

Marvel

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Jacob Tegtman

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed my article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.

I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.

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Jacob Tegtman

30 Years in the Making…Our Tabletop RPG Is Finally Here!

September 4, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP5OwjeAVBE Transcription [00:00:00] Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG YouTube, where I go over things going on in the tabletop role-playing community, um, from D&D to Crooked Moon to other games that we see. And this might be, for me, my most exciting one that I've gone over to date. Um, we have some very exciting news. I know if you've watched our channel in the past couple weeks, in the past couple months, um, you've seen videos talking about this card game, Battler, and we even did, um, a bit of an interview style talking about this game and its origin story and why it's so important to us. And the short version of that is my husband has been working on a tabletop role-playing game for 30 years at this point, you know, since he was a boy. And now here we are at the point where we have [00:01:00] something manufactured, published, and ready to sell, and it showed up at our doorstep this week. So we had this 750-pound pallet with 28 boxes of our game show up. Here it is. Sparks of Eternity Emanation. It is here. It is just-- It's better than, you know, we imagined it would be with just... It's just amazing. You know? You always talk about these things happening and these dreams coming true and, like, making a product. And to finally have it is an amazing experience. So, you know, we of course took the time this week to revel in that a little bit and, you know, we took the pictures. We [00:02:00] did the time lapses of everything. We just-- We got to see our dream come true this week. And, you know, this was his dream first, and I got to join in with it. And especially in the past year, um, this game was, you know, an idea from me, and he made it come true with his game. And it's just been a great experience getting to work together on it and play test it and everything. So let's go ahead and get into what is in the box. The guide, of course, you know, the how-to manual, how to play, what everything is, what all the symbols mean. And then of course you have the credits on the back with our artist on there as well as, you know, my husband and I's name, which is pretty incredible getting our name on something. And then you go into the box, and you get to see that there are six dice because it is a six-player game. [00:03:00] It can be up to six players, and you can obviously have more if you have more of the, um, uh, class decks. And then you have your life sparks, the red and the yellow, the red depicting, um, five hit points and the yellow depicting one. So, you know, some characters will start with that five hit points, and some will start with six or seven. And then I've seen hit points get all the way up to twenty-one if the healing ends up going super well. And then jumping into each of the classes that you see in this box, you are going to have the judge, the druid, the oracle, the, um... Oh, gosh You have all these different classes that we decided to put into what is considered the base game. And that is just amazing to see all of this artwork and getting it put together. And then on top of all [00:04:00] that, you have, um, the different effect cards. So your dazed, your blinded, your charmed, um, as well as some additional rules and details and your turn overviews to help you with the, like, getting going and your different turns. So that way you don't have to reference the how-to guide as often, the, um, instruction manual as often. So between my husband and I, because, you know, we've been play testing this for a year at this point, it has been a full calendar year, we have gotten to the point where we can play games in under 10 minutes. Um, however, this does state that it can take up to 30 when you are just learning this game. Um, of course, when you're just learning, you take a little more time with your turns and making sure everybody understands what is going on. Because the goal is to get to play faster [00:05:00] and to dive into this world a little bit quicker, you know? You want to be able to really enjoy this class that you're taking a part of and understand like, hey, this is why the druid is the druid. The druid gets to use these different shapes, the wolf and the griffin, to do more powerful attacks. Whereas the assassin, of course, has different things to help his assassin hit harder and guarantee that it hits and it can't be blocked. Um, so there's just all these little nuances about what you're playing with to see how it goes. So, you know, it's here. We are getting the final touches on everything for shipping, getting the sales page up, um, getting, you know, the different tiers because we are gonna offer a couple different things. Like, yes, we do have the box game, [00:06:00] but we also have a PDF version that has other classes available that you can just print off at home without having to have the box. Um, the other thing is we're looking at putting together a higher tier that is gonna have the box itself, but also a dedicated art book with all of the art that, um, has been used, we intend to use, that our artist has done. And there are a few other things with that tier that you're just gonna have to check out. But with all of that being said, we should be available to ship these within the next week. So we're gonna put that link below and if you don't mind waiting just a little bit longer, you can go ahead and order. However, once we get past this first week, we are gonna be shipping on a more regular schedule and we're excited to see the, uh, demand that these games will have. Of course, we have family and friends that want to see this, but we also want to grow the community with everyone else. So any support that you want to [00:07:00] give is greatly appreciated and it helps us achieve our dreams further and hopefully we can support others on their dreams. Um, so with that, comment, like, subscribe, let us know how we're doing. If you have any questions on the game, please let us know. And if you really would like to, please, uh, hit that button to order now. Thanks so much. Bye.

D&D Started it, but Where does Table Top RPGs go from here?

August 28, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t2a-i3pyRk Transcription [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Eternity TTRPG channel, where I discuss different happenings in the tabletop role-playing universe, as well as talk about the game that my husband and I are actively creating. So one thing I wanna talk about this go around is a bit of the origin story of tabletop, um, as well as where it could be going and what's different about it and all those kind of things, right? So to start this off, when To start this off, I always thought of D&D as just D&D, right? D&D is [00:01:00] the premise of all tabletop role-playing. It's the genre itself. It's what I use to define the genre, is D&D. Because I think it was the first thing, right? It was the first thing where you could sit at a table with this book and go through a campaign and a dungeon and play this way. And then other creators said, "Hey, what if we take this thing that was created, and let's try it this way and go through this dungeon instead and this dungeon instead? And what if we add, you know, other universes now, like Star Wars and Avatar: The Last Airbender, and explore those worlds?" And the way that I look at it is that D&D was a way for people to come together and this singular person to lead you through their imagination, right? And now we come into today's day and age, and everybody has a lot of different ideas and imagination [00:02:00] going on. And with that, you have all of these different tabletop role-playing systems coming out and all these different campaigns coming out. But what are we trying to do, I guess? And how does D&D today translate to all of this? So the way that I'm starting to look at it is that these other systems could have just been, you know, the group of friends in the basement that was like, "Hey, I wanna try it this way." And it caught on and they're like, "Hey, my friend's like this. Let's make this an actual thing." And here comes all of these other role-playing games now. And the thing that we hear so much when I hear people talk about their other tabletop role-playing game is, "Oh, well, it's different than D&D. Oh, it does this that's [00:03:00] better. Oh, this is, you know, an easier system." And, you know, that's great and all, but the second you say tabletop role-playing or you say the words D&D, I just think D&D because D&D is the foundation of this entire genre, and it's going to continue to be, even with all of these different tabletops coming in and trying to change the system and all these different things. So when I realize this and everything, and I start to think about the game that my husband has been working on for 30 years and started in a basement, right, with a group of friends, um, I start to think, well, what makes it different? And the thing is we tend to use different in a way to make it seem better than what's already out there, right? And I don't think that's what [00:04:00] we're trying to do, but it's how it comes across in normal society. So with that being said, right- Just because we're different, it doesn't, you know, make us better. It just gives us other options in life. So the thing that I'm seeing the most when people say things are different is you're just getting a different campaign style. You're just getting a different, you know, way to play the game, perhaps a better entry point into tabletop role-playing. And I think in the end, all that we're trying to do is grow a community, right? You're trying to get to be more than just, you know, those 30, 40, 50-year-olds that were growing up playing it in their basement, and you're trying to get the younger generations to continue it. And I will say Stranger Things did help with that. Thank you, Stranger Things, for, you know, bringing it to light a little bit [00:05:00] more. But this thing with imagination is starting to gain so much popularity because we're starting to see so much more of the world, right? So I feel like I'm on a soapbox with this whole news channel because it is just my thoughts right now with this video. But let's just think about this for a second. We really hit... Actually, let's go back When we were in, you know, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, '80s, '90s, we were using libraries and books, encyclopedias, and it was, you know, kind of difficult to travel the world and have the money to do that, and you didn't always know what you were getting into. And it's like the world itself that we lived in held so much imagination [00:06:00] that we didn't know what to do with it, and we were able to go and do these things and strive for these things and just let it all explode and experience it realistically. Now, you hit the 2000s, the '10s, the '20s, and we had technology hit. We had social media hit. And we had access to these places just expand, and now we have everything that we want in this world in the palm of our hand, you know, in front of our faces. We can see it. We can hear it. The only thing we can't do is tangibly touch it unless we actually go there. But with this greater access and faster time to this greater access, w- I feel like our imagination has gone [00:07:00] down. So now, here's where we come into tabletop role-playing and why this connects, right? So we have this big push for tabletop role-playing, other systems, the original D&D system, because that's all the imagination we really have left. Now, I know that's a big statement, and you can rip me apart for that later. But take a moment and think about that. We have everything we could ever want in the palm of our hands except for this world that we can create and never actually see. And now, this is where imagination is coming back, the tabletop role-playing is coming back, because we've already encountered everything else. So now we have to make up these [00:08:00] stories in our heads to create a boost in our brains to just get something else that our phones and our computers and our technology can't give us And that is a lot to take in and think about So with that happening, I know that was a bit of a long soapbox, but with all that happening, we have these people once again that are trying to share their imagination, but they want to be different than the original D&D. But different isn't bad and options aren't bad. So with that in mind, I challenge you to go try a different RPG than you are used to. Get out of [00:09:00] your comfort zone and just give it a try. Because with the world being in the palm of our hands, we have to be exploring different worlds. We have to try these different things because that is the only way that I think we have left to grow. So I know that is some interesting thoughts and I don't know if I'll ever actually post this video, but if I do, comment, like, subscribe, give me your thoughts below and we'll catch y'all next time.

The Creepy Side of Crooked Moon: Silkborn & Threadborn

August 23, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-H39bG14JM Transcription [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Eternity TTRPG channel, where I talk about different tabletop role-playing things in the universe, as well as the TTRPG that my husband and I are making and releasing products for. So this time, I want to continue, uh, the Crooked Moon series, talking about the different races, and I'm gonna cover two more. So this go around, I want to talk about two characters that are a bit creepier than what they usually look like or what you expect, right? Um, so the first one I'm gonna go on about is the Silkborn race. So the Silkborn, if you don't like spiders, is immediately creepy. However, um, the lore behind them is what makes me stop and think, "Are they really that creepy?" Okay, so the idea of the Silkborn in Crooked Moon is that they have a whole [00:01:00] underground cave system covered in webs, gemstones everywhere, and they harness their power from these gemstones, which I think is actually a really cool idea, 'cause you get to take this, you know, thing that is, in my opinion, kind of creepy and turn it into something beautiful. I think about, like, g- going on walks and seeing spiderwebs out on my walk, and I'm like, "Wow, the architecture of that is really cool." But imagining it in a cave system, it becomes just another world, right? So with that, I think when you would build a Silkborn race character, you'd really lean into their idea of what's beautiful, what's not, and how would that structure society around them, right? What would they worship? How would their family dynamic be? Because this idea of [00:02:00] this character is that they would just emerge from a cocoon, a web cocoon of sorts, right? And then they emerge, and here is this city built of just webs that is creating these nets going back and forth and these glowing crystals. And then you start to wonder, well, where would their social hierarchy be maybe, right? Is it based on the size of the spider or perhaps the color of the spider? Or if the spider has X number of gemstones or X number of eyes, how do they compare in the world to others? So then we start to wonder about different character concepts that you could go on with these, right? So let's say you have this spider race, the Silkborn, join your D&D party, and they are an architect in their normal underground city, and they come to a human city, and [00:03:00] they're just bored at looking at it, and it feels very sterile, and there's not much natural beauty. Could that be a storyline, right? Or could we talk about maybe the gems and why they're so important to their race, and perhaps the spider is just wanting to collect gemstones, um, to better harness them, right? And then the other perspective you could take is that the spider Silkborn is an alien of some kind, right? So they could be, of course, the we don't know if we want to accept them into our party, but they have this information. Maybe they aren't so evil, so let's try and, you know, use them or accept them and how does that go, right? So the Silkborn is definitely a very interesting idea on a race that I don't think we've seen before and some people could find [00:04:00] very interesting Real quick to interrupt. Eternity TTRPG is releasing a card game battler which emulates combat from the D&D tabletop role-playing genre. Sparks of Eternity: Emanation is fast-paced, easy to learn, and features six classes from your favorite TTRPGs. Each class deck comes with its own set of unique abilities, which everyone plays at the same time, so there's never any downtime at your table. Each turn, everyone's characters levels up, giving players access to even more options. If you're interested in taking a look, we have our pre-sales page live now, packed with details. No payment info needed. Just let us know if you want an email when the product becomes available. Now, back to your video Switching gears, um, I'm gonna talk about the second race that I found, which is definitely a play on cute and creepy. Um , and that would be the threadborn. [00:05:00] So the threadborn, in what I'm finding, is this doll that is created, and they come to life. So I start to think of the classic Pinocchio, "I'm a real boy," and stuff like that, right? Because all Pinocchio wanted was to be a real boy and be living and, you know, work in the workshop and explore the world and all these different things and whatnot. So with that in mind, with the idea of the threadborn, I start to think of, of course, who created them and what are they gonna be like in this world now that they're created? Right? So this gives you a couple of different ideas for character concepts and where to go. The first one being, um, that, of course, as I mentioned, they're made not born. So what happens when the doll that's made outlives its creator? And [00:06:00] are they going to become super heartbroken and always on the search for this family that they lost? Um, and this could go into a whole thing of like, how long do threadborns actually live, and do they decompose after time? Because, you know, I think everything decomposes eventually, even if we don't expect it to. Um, so there's definitely that side of it, and do they meet younger generations of their creator, right, and make that their family? Um, another idea is that they're very helpful because if you're creating something like a doll, you're creating it for companionship, right? You're creating it to help you feel better about the world around you, that companionship, and with that companionship does come helpfulness. And perhaps the character concept is that they're too helpful. They're too willing to jump in. They're just [00:07:00] gonna go straight into battle without thinking because they know that's the thing that needs done. That's where we have to go. So that's definitely another side of it, the too helpful side. And then the other thing is that to some people, and I start to think of when I was younger, and every birthday up until I was eight, my grandmother got me a certain doll, and the doll was like a part of a set, and it was those porcelain dolls with the eyes that I swear would follow me, right? And I had a shelf of them to display them because that's what my parents wanted. I could not wait to take those things down because when you have those eyes following you in the dark, it's actually pretty creepy. Um, but that's the thing is dolls wouldn't know that they're creepy. They're just happy, smiling, eyes always open, watching you, and it becomes a whole question of this is normal for [00:08:00] them, but how does this translate to normal society? And it sounds like a bit of a nightmare to me, no matter how cute they are. So with that being said, I'm gonna wrap this up here. And what do you think? Would you rather play a spider or play a doll? And what kind of character concept would you go with? As always, like, comment, subscribe, and we will catch y'all next time. Thanks