Art of Wuxia vs Rock & Stone
Compare Art of Wuxia and Rock & Stone side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Art of Wuxia | Rock & Stone | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Historical | Fantasy |
| Tags | Martial Arts, Heroic, Cinematic, Skill-Based, Character-Driven, Hackable, Random Tables, Strong GM Support, Fast-Paced | Classic Fantasy, Comedy, Dungeon Crawl, Fast-Paced, Heroic, High-Power, Random Tables, Rules-Light, Strong GM Support, Theater of the Mind |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or under a skill or ability score. Skills are calculated from a base ability score plus 10 per skill level, with bonuses for primary and secondary skill designations. Doubles (11, 22, 33, etc.) are critical: a critical success if under the target, a critical failure if over. Rolls of 00–05 always succeed and 96–99 always fail. Characters can take multiple actions per turn at a cumulative −20% penalty each, creating a press-your-luck dynamic. Qi points fuel kung fu techniques and mystic abilities. | For a test, roll a d20 and add the relevant skill; a total above the GM-set difficulty succeeds, while an exact match succeeds with a complication. Natural 20s and 1s produce especially heroic successes and fatal failures. |
| Dice | d100 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 2 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 applies to DwD Studios trademarks only; noncommercial printing of this document permitted) | AELF Open License Version 1.0a |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — AELF Open License Version 1.0a |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | DwD Studios | Sebastian Hahn |
| Year | 2020 | 2025 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want cinematic wuxia adventures with fast percentile-based mechanics, 25 distinct kung fu styles, and adjustable sliders for how fantastical the martial arts become. | Groups who want a fast, rules-light dungeon crawl about unusually capable dwarven mercenaries, with a compact setting and a ready-to-run starting adventure. |
| Highlights | 25 kung fu styles each with unique techniques, weapon proficiencies, and internal/external classifications. Cinematic Sliders let the GM adjust how fantastical combat and movement are: from grounded martial arts to high-flying xianxia. Moral code system ties character virtues to cultivation point rewards, reinforcing wuxia genre conventions. Built-in adventure and random dungeon generators with extensive creature bestiary. | Gold committed to the dwarven hoard pays for levels, tying treasure recovery directly to advancement. Archetypes grant selectable active and passive abilities, giving each dwarf a distinct role within the shared skill system. Carousing turns a between-adventure roll into complications and opportunities that can seed later expeditions. |
| Considerations | Setting is tightly focused on wuxia: groups wanting other martial arts subgenres (samurai, muay thai) would need adaptation. There is no free quickstart or SRD, and the stated Creative Commons grant applies only to DwD Studios trademarks rather than the core rules text. d00Lite system's skill score calculation (half ability + 10 per level + primary/secondary bonus) requires cross-referencing several values during character creation. | Characters are built around the last-dwarves premise, although the rules permit other heroes. Advancement grants its largest skill and ability gains through level four, after which levels add only hit points and one skill point. Spells are fixed archetype abilities with limited daily uses, so groups seeking open-ended magic will not find it here. |