All Flesh Must Be Eaten vs Vampire: The Masquerade
Compare All Flesh Must Be Eaten and Vampire: The Masquerade side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| All Flesh Must Be Eaten | Vampire: The Masquerade | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Horror, Modern |
| Play Style | Simulation, Modular, Character Building, Roleplay-Heavy | Social Intrigue, Faction Play, Urban Fantasy, Corruption, Drama, Investigation, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d10 + attribute + skill vs a target number (typically 9). Characters are built with three power tiers: Norms (ordinary survivors), Survivors (action heroes), and Inspired (supernatural powers). The Zombie Master uses a detailed zombie creation system to customize the undead threat for each Deadworld setting. | Roll a pool of d10s (attribute + skill), count successes (6+). Hunger dice replace regular dice in the pool: their 10s trigger Messy Criticals and their 1s trigger Bestial Failures, making the Beast an ever-present threat. |
| Dice | d10 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary (Unisystem) | Proprietary |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Eden Studios | Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2004 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups who want a zombie survival RPG with flexible character creation, customizable zombie types, and multiple campaign settings from Romero-style horror to wuxia undead. | Drama-heavy campaigns exploring themes of addiction, power, and losing your humanity. |
| Highlights | Eleven distinct Deadworld settings in the core book, flexible Unisystem engine handles diverse genres, detailed zombie creation toolkit lets GMs craft unique threats, three character tiers support different play styles | Hunger system mechanically integrates the vampire's predatory nature into every dice roll. Clan membership and sect politics structure who a character allies with and opposes, giving the social game mechanical weight. Humanity and Stains system tracks moral erosion with narrative consequences. |
| Considerations | System shows its age compared to modern horror RPGs, supplements are out of print, rules can feel dated in places | Hunger dice inject swingy results at the worst moments, since a Bestial Failure can surface on a critical roll. Play leans heavily on social and political maneuvering, so groups expecting frequent combat will find that side of the system thin. Choosing a clan and predator type at creation assumes setting knowledge the player may not have yet. |