Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition vs Dragonslayer RPG

Compare Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition and Dragonslayer RPG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.

	Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition	Dragonslayer RPG
Genre	Fantasy	Fantasy
Tags	Character Building, Classic Fantasy, Crunchy, Descending AC, Dungeon Crawl, Random Tables, Tactical, Vancian Casting	Dungeon Crawl, Combat-Heavy, Gritty, Descending AC, Vancian Casting, Random Tables
Core Mechanic	Roll 1d20 to attack and meet or exceed THAC0 minus the target’s descending Armor Class. Ability and proficiency checks roll a d20 against an appropriate score. Spellcasters choose spells to memorize before casting.	Roll d20 + attack bonus against descending Armour Class to hit in combat. Saving throws are roll-over by category (Breath, Death, Stone, Wand, Spell). Initiative is d6 per side each round. The GM (Maze Controller) tracks time, light, encounters, and resources: torches burn out, rations deplete, and random encounters escalate with noise and delay.
Dice	d20	d20
Complexity	High	Medium
Availability	Paid	Free quickstart
Runnability	4 of 5 book tools	4 of 5 book tools
License	All Rights Reserved	Proprietary
Third-Party Publishing	Not yet researched	Not yet researched
Publisher	TSR, Inc.	Greg Gillespie
Year	1995	2024
Languages	English	English
Best For	Groups who want referee-led fantasy campaigns with class-and-level characters, prepared spells, optional proficiencies, and detailed combat procedures.	OSR veterans who want a traditional dungeon-crawling experience with descending AC, strict resource management, and classic class-and-level gameplay: especially fans of Barrowmaze and megadungeon play.
Highlights	THAC0 expresses attack chances as a single target-number calculation against descending Armor Class. Parallel PHB and DMG organization and a DMG index covering both books make rules topics easier to locate. Optional proficiencies add chosen weapon and nonweapon capabilities to class-based characters.	Comprehensive old-school toolkit with 11 classes and 8 races, heavy emphasis on dungeon exploration procedures (marching order, light, time), critical hit/miss tables add combat drama, designed by a megadungeon expert, extensive spell lists and equipment
Considerations	Core rules remain split between the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide, including DM-only procedures. Descending Armor Class, initiative modifiers, and special combat procedures require reference beyond a basic d20 roll. Optional proficiency rules increase character choices and exception handling.	Descending AC and THAC0-adjacent math will alienate modern players, very large rulebook for an OSR game, tightly bound to classic dungeon fantasy, limited innovation beyond curating and polishing older mechanics