Band of Blades vs Beam Saber
Compare Band of Blades and Beam Saber side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Band of Blades | Beam Saber | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Horror | Sci-Fi |
| Tags | Fiction-First, Playbook-Driven, Grimdark, Mission-Based, Faction Play, Deadly, Survival | Mecha, Playbook-Driven, Fiction-First, Narrative, Faction Play, Mission-Based, Character-Driven, Collaborative |
| Core Mechanic | Forged in the Dark: roll a d6 dice pool equal to your action rating and read the highest die: 6 is a full success, 4–5 is a partial success with consequences, 1–3 is a bad outcome. Position (controlled, risky, desperate) sets the stakes, and players spend stress to resist consequences. Play alternates between a mission phase (specialists and rank-and-file Legionnaires execute one primary and one secondary mission) and a campaign phase, where each player runs a permanent Legion Role (Commander, Marshal, Quartermaster, Spymaster, or Lorekeeper) making strategic decisions about routes, supply, intel, and personnel as the army retreats toward Skydagger Keep. | Forged in the Dark: roll a d6 dice pool based on action rating and take the highest: 6 is a full success, 4–5 is a partial success, 1–3 is a bad outcome. Position (controlled/risky/desperate) sets consequences. Pilots and vehicles have separate action sets and stress tracks. Vehicles have Quirks: narrative traits that grant bonus dice when invoked. Progress clocks track complex obstacles. Missions follow a structured cycle of planning, engagement roll, action, and downtime. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Availability | Paid | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | Forged in the Dark | Forged in the Dark |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions / Off Guard Games | Austin Ramsay Games |
| Year | 2019 | 2022 |
| Languages | English, French, Spanish, Italian | English |
| Best For | Groups who want a campaign-length military fantasy where the Legion as a whole is the protagonist: character death is expected, players cycle through different soldiers each mission, and strategic decisions about routes, supply, and intel are split across the table rather than held by the GM. | Groups who want a mecha war drama where the pilot relationships, beliefs, and moral compromises matter as much as the vehicle combat: think Gundam meets Band of Brothers. |
| Highlights | Players rotate through Specialist, Soldier, and Rookie playbooks across missions rather than playing fixed characters, so attrition lands without ending personal arcs: the Legion endures even when individual soldiers fall. Each player also holds a permanent Legion Role that drives the campaign phase, splitting army-management decisions across the table instead of leaving them with the GM. Time and Pressure clocks turn the campaign into a race against the Cinder King: advancing toward Skydagger Keep burns time, but lingering builds undead pressure that escalates the difficulty and lethality of future missions. | Dual pilot/vehicle layer gives each character two distinct mechanical identities. Vehicle Quirks reward narrative creativity with mechanical bonuses. Faction system with supply points, trust, and entanglements models the politics of war. 10 pilot playbooks and 8 squad playbooks provide extensive starting variety. Includes a full default setting with factions, regions, and 24 vehicle models. |
| Considerations | The campaign phase (mission generation, spy deployments, supply, advance roll, Lorekeeper annals) takes substantial time between missions and only works if every player engages with their Role. Building a deep personal arc for a single Legionnaire is structurally difficult because characters rotate between missions: emotional investment lives with the Legion rather than any one soldier. The campaign is built around a single fixed arc ending at Skydagger Keep, with a defined map, locations, and Chosen/Broken roster. There is no open-ended sandbox mode, and a full campaign runs 12–20 sessions. | 438-page rulebook is dense for a FitD game and takes time to absorb. Vehicle and pilot systems are deeply intertwined, requiring players to track two character sheets. Setting-agnostic in theory but the default setting material is substantial and may overshadow custom worlds. |