Block, Dodge, Parry vs Mage: The Ascension
Compare Block, Dodge, Parry and Mage: The Ascension side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Block, Dodge, Parry | Mage: The Ascension | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Modern, Horror |
| Tags | Classless, Skill-Based, Tactical, Inventory Management, Gritty, Exploration, Social Combat, Freeform Magic, Hackable, CC-Licensed Rules | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | To resist a sudden danger, roll d20 equal to or under STR, DEX, or WIL; a 1 always passes and a 20 always fails. When a deliberate action's outcome is in doubt, the Warden checks Time, Gear, and Skill. A character with all three succeeds without a roll, and one with one or none fails. With two of the three, roll d6: 4–6 succeeds, 2–3 succeeds at a cost, and 1 fails. Attacks have no hit roll: the weapon die minus Armor reduces HP, and leftover damage reduces STR and triggers a Critical Damage Save. | Roll an Attribute-plus-Ability pool of d10s and count dice meeting the difficulty, usually 6. Each rolled 1 cancels a success. A roll botches only when no die meets the difficulty and at least one die shows 1. Magick instead rolls Arete, the mage's enlightenment rating, against a difficulty based on the highest Sphere used and whether the effect violates ordinary reality. Successes determine the effect's extent. |
| Dice | d20, d6 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Very High |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Medium | Very High |
| License | CC BY-SA 4.0 | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Creative Commons text reuse | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Dice Goblin Games | Onyx Path Publishing |
| Year | 2024 | 2015 |
| Languages | English, Portuguese | English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want old-school dungeon and wilderness expeditions with gear-driven fights and characters built from past careers rather than classes. Suits campaigns with downtime in settlements, where characters seek out trainers and new skills between adventures. | Groups who want long modern occult campaigns about conflicting beliefs and the consequences of reshaping reality. |
| Highlights | Defensive reactions depend on gear: a character's weapon and armor determine whether they can block or dodge an attack and whether doing so costs Fatigue. New skills come from using them, training with a teacher found in play, or studying books, so advancement follows goals the characters pursue in the world. Arcane casters choose how many Magic Dice to invest in a spell, and duplicate results risk Arcane Feedback that damages the caster. | Nine Spheres combine into improvised magical effects beyond a fixed spell list. A mage's beliefs determine the practices and instruments that make those effects possible. Concealing magick within plausible events reduces the risk of reality's backlash. |
| Considerations | Whether a deliberate action needs a roll depends on the Warden judging Time, Gear, and Skill, rather than on fixed difficulty numbers. Fatigue and wounds fill the same ten inventory slots as gear, and a full inventory leaves a character at 0 HP. Raising HP and ability scores normally requires paid training during downtime, so campaigns with little time between adventures see slow character growth. | Improvised magick requires the group to agree on what an effect can accomplish before rolling. Accumulated Paradox can injure a mage or trap them in a distorted reality. Cabals need shared motives to keep incompatible faction loyalties from pulling the campaign apart. |