Basic Fantasy RPG vs Rock & Stone
Compare Basic Fantasy RPG and Rock & Stone side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Basic Fantasy RPG | Rock & Stone | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Classic Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Rules-Light, Ascending AC, Vancian Casting, Deadly, Exploration, Resource Management, Random Tables, CC-Licensed Rules | Classic Fantasy, Comedy, Dungeon Crawl, Fast-Paced, Heroic, High-Power, Random Tables, Rules-Light, Strong GM Support, Theater of the Mind |
| 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. | 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 | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 2 of 5 book tools |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International | AELF Open License Version 1.0a |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Creative Commons license | Commercial publishing allowed — AELF Open License Version 1.0a |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | The Basic Fantasy Project | Sebastian Hahn |
| Year | 2023 | 2025 |
| Languages | English, Portuguese | English |
| Best For | Groups who want straightforward fantasy dungeon expeditions with lethal combat and careful management of supplies. | 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 | 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. | 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 | 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 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. |