Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition vs Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Compare Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition and Werewolf: The Apocalypse side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition | Werewolf: The Apocalypse | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Horror, Modern, Fantasy |
| Tags | Classic Fantasy, Crunchy, Descending AC, Dungeon Crawl, Inventory Management, Random Tables, Tactical, Vancian Casting | Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Corruption, Drama, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a d20 on combat attack matrices to determine whether an attack hits a descending Armor Class. Characters advance by class level through experience, and spellcasters memorize specific spells before using them. | Build a d10 dice pool, usually from an Attribute plus a Skill. Each 6 or higher is a success, and meeting the Storyteller-set Difficulty wins. Each pair of 10s counts as four successes. Rage dice replace regular dice up to current Rage and can cause Brutal outcomes. |
| Dice | d20 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very High | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | TSR Games | Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 1977 | 2023 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want a demanding, referee-led fantasy campaign with class-and-level advancement, resource pressure, and detailed combat procedures. | Groups who want long-form modern horror about shapeshifter packs defending communities from ecological and spiritual threats, with violent power constrained by moral and social consequences. |
| Highlights | Class, race, level, alignment, and prepared spells establish distinct adventuring roles. The Dungeon Masters Guide supplies encounter, treasure, dungeon, and campaign procedures for referee-built play. Reference sheets and extensive tables consolidate combat, spell, and campaign data. | Brutal outcomes can force destructive failures or add four successes to actions the Storyteller judges can benefit from Rage. Choosing a Garou form changes a character's capabilities, creating tactical and narrative options. Caerns give the pack an improvable spiritual home whose traits connect campaign advancement to territory and community. |
| Considerations | Combat relies on class and monster attack matrices instead of a single universal action procedure. The core delivery distributes rules across three books and reserves substantial procedures for the Dungeon Master. Optional psionics and detailed special-case rules add rules to learn before using them. | A Crinos-form Garou who did not kill in the previous turn must spend Willpower at the start of the next turn or enter frenzy, making the war form difficult to sustain outside violent scenes. Harano and Hauglosk can remove a Garou from play when despair or absolutism fills either track, making moral decline a campaign-level consequence. The game centers mature environmental and spiritual horror, including graphic violence and themes of exploitation and extremism that require deliberate table boundaries. |