Against the Darkmaster vs Tales of Argosa
Compare Against the Darkmaster and Tales of Argosa side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Against the Darkmaster | Tales of Argosa | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Deadly, High-Fantasy, Journey, Character-Driven, Roll to Cast | Deadly, Sandbox, Combat-Heavy, Dungeon Crawl, Roll to Cast, Gritty, CC-Licensed Rules, Sword & Sorcery |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 + skill bonus against a difficulty threshold for skill checks, or against an opponent's defensive bonus for attacks. Rolls of 01–05 are automatic failures (fumbles); rolls of 96–00 are open-ended, allowing a second d100 roll added to the first for explosive results. Attack rolls that exceed the target produce hits on weapon-specific attack tables, with high results triggering critical strikes that cause injuries, bleeding, and conditions beyond simple hit point loss. | Roll d20 under attribute to succeed (roll-under). Luck saves deplete your Luck attribute with each success, ratcheting tension. Combat uses Nat 19 effects, Exploits, Fumbles, Crits, and Trauma tables. Dark & Dangerous Magic risks madness and Veil monsters when casting spells. |
| Dice | d100 | d20 |
| Complexity | High | Low |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Paid |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary (open00 SRD planned) | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Open Ended Games | Pickpocket Press |
| Year | 2020 | 2024 |
| Languages | English, Italian | English |
| Best For | Groups who want an epic good-versus-evil campaign with deep character creation, detailed travel mechanics, and crunchy percentile combat with critical hit tables: especially fans of Rolemaster or MERP looking for a modernized take. | Sword & sorcery fans who want fast, brutal combat with diminishing Luck, dark & dangerous magic, and rich emergent sandbox play: group or solo. |
| Highlights | Character creation combines Kin, Culture, Vocation, and Background into highly differentiated characters with personal Passions that mechanically drive play. Detailed overland travel system with terrain-specific hazard tables, foraging, camping, and safe haven mechanics. Magic system with 30+ Spell Lores and over 300 spells, available to all Vocations at different costs. The Darkmaster creation system lets the GM build a campaign-defining antagonist with servants, artifacts, and a dark stronghold. | Distinctive diminishing Luck mechanic, combat with Exploits and Trauma is consequential, large GM toolbox (hexploration, oracles, hirelings, mass battle), solo rules included, Creative Commons license |
| Considerations | 574-page core book requires significant reading investment before first play. Open-ended d100 rolls and critical hit tables can produce extreme outcomes that swing encounters unpredictably. No published setting: the GM must build or adapt one, though the included introductory campaign provides a starting framework. Character creation involves multiple layered steps (Stats, Kin, Culture, Vocation, Skills, Backgrounds, Passions) that can take an entire session. | The Diminishing Luck mechanic means characters weaken as they succeed. There are limited magical options in the core rules. The game requires GM comfort with sandbox hexcrawl prep. |