BESM vs Vagabond
Compare BESM and Vagabond side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| BESM | Vagabond | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Universal | Fantasy |
| Tags | Character Building, Cinematic, Heroic, Pulp Action, Anime | Fast-Paced, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, Sandbox, Heroic, Pulp Action, Solo-Friendly, Player-Only Rolls, Mana Points |
| Core Mechanic | Tri-Stat System: three Stats (Body, Mind, Soul) plus point-buy Attributes, Defects, and Skills built from a Character Point budget. Roll 2d6 + relevant Stat or Combat Value vs. a Target Number. Edges and Obstacles add or remove dice. Eight power levels scale from Sub-Human to Godlike. | Roll d20 vs. Difficulty (20 − Stat, doubled if Trained). Crit on nat 20, fail below Difficulty. All rolls player-facing. Spend Luck for Advantage (Favor) or rerolls (Fluke). Three saves: Endure (MIT×2), Reflex (DEX+AWR), Will (RSN+PRS). Defend with Block or Dodge on off-turns. Mana-based magic scales one spell from cantrip to nuke. Enemy AI action gambits run monsters for the GM. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | Book tools not listed | 1 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary (Tri-Stat) | Open Compatibility |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Dyskami Publishing | Land of the Blind |
| Year | 2019 | 2024 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want to play anime and manga-inspired adventures in any genre: from magical girls and mecha pilots to demon hunters and high school detectives. | Groups wanting modern character depth married to old-school speed: 20+ ancestries, 17 classes, non-Vancian mana magic, and built-in solo/co-op/guided play. |
| Highlights | Highly flexible point-buy system can model any anime concept, free primer available, scalable power levels from slice-of-life to cosmic | Mana-based magic scales a single spell from cantrip to high-powered effect, so casters shape output on the fly instead of tracking fixed spell slots. Enemy action gambits run monsters from decision tables, removing per-turn tactical choices from the GM's workload. A spendable Luck pool buys Advantage or rerolls, turning swing into a resource players ration across a session. |
| Considerations | Point-buy character creation can overwhelm newcomers, balance depends heavily on GM oversight, anime-focused tone may not suit all groups, dense attribute list requires bookkeeping | Dense class and ancestry options can overwhelm new players. Pulp-fantasy tone limits grimdark play. All rolls are player-facing, so the GM never rolls dice and every check rests on the players. |