Adventurer Conqueror King System vs Ars Magica
Compare Adventurer Conqueror King System and Ars Magica side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Adventurer Conqueror King System | Ars Magica | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Historical |
| Tags | Crunchy, Sandbox, Domain Management, Character Building, Simulation, Dungeon Crawl, Ascending AC | Crunchy, Freeform Magic, Collaborative, Simulation, CC-Licensed Rules, Roll to Cast, Domain Management, Social Intrigue |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + modifiers vs. a target value for attack throws, saving throws, and proficiency throws. 18 classes across core (Fighter, Explorer, Thief, Mage, Crusader, Venturer), campaign (Assassin, Barbarian, Bard, Bladedancer, Paladin, Priestess, Shaman, Warlock, Witch), and demi-human archetypes. 110 proficiencies and 378 spells. Characters progress from adventurers to domain rulers with integrated systems for strongholds, realms, mercantile ventures, criminal syndicates, armies, pitched battles, and sieges. | Roll a d10 + Characteristic + Ability against an Ease Factor. Simple die rolls count the result at face value; stress die rolls on a 1 double the next roll (cascading), while a 0 risks a botch by rolling additional botch dice. Magic uses Technique + Form (five verbs like Creo, Perdo combined with ten nouns like Ignem, Corpus) to define any spell effect. Formulaic spells are pre-learned, spontaneous spells can attempt any Technique + Form combination by halving the casting total, and ritual spells handle large-scale or permanent effects. |
| Dice | d20 | d10 |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Availability | Paid | Paid |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Autarch LLC | Atlas Games |
| Year | 2024 | 2004 |
| Languages | English | English, French, Spanish, Italian |
| Best For | Groups who want a B/X-rooted OSR game that seamlessly scales from dungeon crawling to ruling kingdoms, with deeply integrated economics, domain management, and mass combat. | Groups who want a deeply researched medieval European setting with the most flexible magic system in tabletop RPGs and troupe-style play where multiple characters share the spotlight across seasons of game time. |
| Highlights | Detailed domain and kingdom management rules, economics and mercantile systems are integrated throughout, mass combat scales from skirmishes to wars, 18 classes with quick-start templates, builds on B/X foundations | Technique + Form magic system allows freeform spell creation by combining five verbs with ten nouns. Troupe-style play rotates magi, companions, and grogs so every player has multiple characters. Covenant management adds strategic play between adventures. Mythic Europe setting blends historical accuracy with medieval folklore and theology. |
| Considerations | 540+ page rulebook is intimidating, tightly coupled subsystems, fantasy-only with narrow genre support, very high GM prep for domain-level play | Core rulebook is dense at 240 pages with extensive magic subsystems that require study before play. Laboratory rules, seasonal advancement, and covenant management demand significant bookkeeping. The troupe-style format requires buy-in from the whole group. Combat is deliberately secondary to magic and social play. |