Basic Fantasy RPG vs Old-School Essentials
Compare Basic Fantasy RPG and Old-School Essentials side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Basic Fantasy RPG | Old-School Essentials | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Classic Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Rules-Light, Ascending AC, Vancian Casting, Deadly, Exploration, Resource Management, Random Tables, CC-Licensed Rules | Dungeon Crawl, Exploration, Hexcrawl, Deadly, Sandbox, Resource Management, Inventory Management, Random Tables, Vancian Casting, Strong GM Support |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 plus attack and ability modifiers to meet or beat ascending Armor Class. Saving throws use d20 against targets determined by class and level. | Attacks roll d20 against an attack matrix or an optional ascending Armour Class target. Saving throws meet a category target on d20. Ability checks roll at or below an ability score on d20. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International | OGL 1.0a |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Creative Commons license | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | The Basic Fantasy Project | Necrotic Gnome |
| Year | 2023 | 2019 |
| Languages | English, Portuguese | English, Italian, Spanish, French, Czech, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean |
| Best For | Groups who want straightforward fantasy dungeon expeditions with lethal combat and careful management of supplies. | Groups who want treasure-driven dungeon expeditions and open wilderness campaigns with fragile starting characters. |
| Highlights | Separate race and class choices allow elves to combine spellcasting with fighting or thieving. Encounter reactions and morale let negotiation or retreat resolve threats without fighting to the death. Dungeon stocking and wilderness encounter tables help the GM prepare expeditions. | Treasure recovered from adventures provides most experience points, rewarding successful exploration over fighting alone. Reaction and optional morale rolls let encounters lead to negotiation or flight instead of automatic combat. Stronghold construction and taxation let accumulated wealth support a growing domain. |
| Considerations | Characters normally die at zero hit points unless the GM adopts an optional survival rule. Racial ability requirements and class restrictions limit character combinations. Casting can be interrupted by an attack on the same initiative count even if it misses. | Characters die at zero hit points, and failed poison saves are usually fatal. Demihuman characters combine ancestry with class and have lower level limits than human classes. Declared spells are lost if the caster is hit or fails a saving throw before acting. |