Ashes Without Number vs The Quiet Year
Compare Ashes Without Number and The Quiet Year side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Ashes Without Number | The Quiet Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Post-Apocalyptic | Post-Apocalyptic |
| Play Style | Sandbox, Deadly, Gritty, Exploration, Survival, Faction Play, Ascending AC | GM-Less, Worldbuilding, Collaborative, Narrative, Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Fiction-First, Map-Drawing |
| Core Mechanic | 2d6 + skill + attribute modifier ≥ target for skill checks; d20 + modifiers for combat. Edges and Foci customize survivors. Enclave turn manages settlement-level play. Mutation system for mutant wasteland campaigns. | No dice, no GM. A deck of playing cards drives play: each suit is a season, each card a weekly prompt. On your turn, draw a card, answer the prompt, and choose to Discover Something New, Start a Project, or Hold a Discussion. Draw on the shared map to represent changes. Projects take multiple weeks to complete. The Contempt Token signals when a player feels unheard. The game ends when the Frost Shepherds arrive (King of Spades). |
| Dice | 2d6 / d20 | Diceless |
| Complexity | Medium | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Low |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Cost | Free / $$ | $ |
| Publisher | Sine Nomine Publishing | Buried Without Ceremony (Avery Alder) |
| Year | 2025 | 2013 |
| Best For | Sandbox post-apocalyptic campaigns (nuclear wastelands, zombie deadlands, or societal collapse) with the same incredible GM tools as Stars Without Number. | Groups who want to collaboratively build a community's story through map-drawing: 52 weeks of discoveries, projects, and tensions before everything changes. |
| Highlights | Three apocalypse flavors (mutant wasteland, zombie deadlands, after the fall), comprehensive sandbox GM tools with encounter site and enclave generators, mutations and cybernetics, compatible with other Without Number games | Card-driven structure (one card per week across four seasons) paces the narrative through 52 turns, map-drawing produces a physical artifact of the session, Contempt Token mechanic signals when a player feels unheard, works as a standalone game or worldbuilding tool for other campaigns |
| Considerations | OSR combat can feel flat, dense 294-page rulebook, requires GM comfort with sandbox play | Contempt mechanic can create genuine inter-player tension, no way to revisit or undo earlier map decisions, map quality depends on group comfort with drawing, limited replayability with the same group |