Blades in the Dark vs Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Compare Blades in the Dark and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Blades in the Dark | Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Heist, Faction Play, Playbook-Driven, Fiction-First, Dark Fantasy, Collaborative, Open Source | Career-Based, Grimdark, Deadly, Investigation, Corruption, Licensed Setting |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of d6s equal to your action rating; keep the highest. 1–3 is a bad outcome, 4–5 is a partial success with consequences, 6 is a full success, and multiple 6s are a critical with additional advantage. Before rolling, the GM sets position (controlled, risky, or desperate) and effect level, which determine the severity of consequences and the impact of success. Players can spend stress to resist consequences or trigger flashbacks to retroactively establish preparation. | Roll d100 under skill or characteristic. Success Levels measure degree of success by comparing the tens digits of the target and the roll. Advantage accumulates during combat, adding +10 per point to attack tests. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d100 |
| Complexity | Low | Medium |
| Accessibility | Very High | Low |
| Runnability | Very High | High |
| License | CC BY 3.0 | No open license |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Cubicle 7 |
| Year | 2017 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups who want structured criminal heists with shared narrative authority, where the crew's reputation and entanglements matter as much as individual characters. | Groups who want dark, gritty fantasy where ordinary people face extraordinary dangers in a richly detailed setting. The career system creates unique character arcs from rat catcher to witch hunter. |
| Highlights | Flashback system lets players establish preparations retroactively instead of planning before a score. Position and effect framework gives the GM a structured way to set stakes on every roll. Detailed faction game tracks rival gangs, noble families, and institutions with their own agendas and territory. | The career system structures advancement around trades, moving a character through jobs that shape both skills and story. Success Levels measure how far a d100 test beats or misses its target, turning every roll into a degree of result. Advantage accumulates during a fight, rewarding momentum with stacking bonuses to attack tests. |
| Considerations | Stress is the currency for flashbacks, resistance rolls, and special abilities, so characters who use these tools heavily accumulate trauma faster. The faction tracking layer between sessions requires more GM bookkeeping than the score phase itself. Downtime phase has several interlocking subsystems (payoff, heat, entanglements, vice, projects) that take time to internalize. | The rules assume the Old World setting, so moving WFRP elsewhere means reworking its careers and tone. Comparing tens digits for Success Levels on every test adds a math step that can slow combat. Advancement is career-gated, so a character often must finish or leave a career before branching into new skills. |