Adventurer Conqueror King System vs Dungeons & Dragons
Compare Adventurer Conqueror King System and Dungeons & Dragons side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Adventurer Conqueror King System | Dungeons & Dragons | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Crunchy, Sandbox, Domain Management, Character Building, Simulation, Dungeon Crawl, Ascending AC | Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Vancian Casting, Ascending AC |
| 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. | Make a D20 Test by rolling d20, adding relevant modifiers, and comparing the total to a target number. Ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls use this procedure. Advantage and disadvantage use two d20s and keep the higher or lower result. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Accessibility | Low | Very High |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$$ | Free |
| Publisher | Autarch LLC | Wizards of the Coast |
| Year | 2024 | 2024 |
| 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 heroic fantasy with configurable tactical combat, broad character options, and campaigns that span multiple levels. |
| 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 | Advantage and disadvantage resolve common situational effects by selecting the higher or lower of two d20 rolls. Backgrounds, classes, subclasses, and feats distribute character choices across creation and advancement. Weapon Mastery gives qualifying weapon users distinct tactical effects without replacing the action economy. |
| Considerations | 540+ page rulebook is intimidating, tightly coupled subsystems, fantasy-only with narrow genre support, very high GM prep for domain-level play | Spell preparation, spell slots, class features, and conditions create several interacting resources for players to track. High-level characters combine many spells and features, increasing adjudication work for the DM. Bastions add a separate downtime procedure for campaigns that use the stronghold rules. |