Burning Wheel vs Legend of the Five Rings
Compare Burning Wheel and Legend of the Five Rings side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Burning Wheel | Legend of the Five Rings | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Crunchy, Roleplay-Heavy, Character Building, Drama, Low-Fantasy, Social Combat | Social Combat, Social Intrigue, Character-Driven, Drama, Character Building, Narrative, Tactical, Crunchy, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of d6s (ability exponent = number of dice). 4+ counts as a success. Meet or exceed the obstacle number. Beliefs, Instincts, and Traits earn artha rewards. | Choose a skill and elemental approach. Roll custom d6s equal to the ring value and custom d12s equal to the skill rank. Keep up to the ring's value in dice. Count successes on kept dice against a target number. Explosive successes can add rolls. Spend opportunity symbols for extra effects. Strife symbols on kept dice build emotional pressure. The core includes a conversion table for ordinary d6s and d12s. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d6 + d12 custom dice |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Paid |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Noncommercial only — Fan content policy |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | BWHQ | Edge Studio |
| Year | 2011 | 2018 |
| Languages | English | English, French, Italian, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want character beliefs and drama to mechanically drive play, with deep subsystems that reward mastery. | Groups who want samurai campaigns where personal desires clash with sworn duties, with detailed court intrigue and tactical duels. |
| Highlights | Beliefs mechanically drive play. Skills advance through use. The Duel of Wits and Fight subsystems offer detailed resolution. | Choosing an elemental approach changes how a skill tackles a problem and which opportunities a player can spend. Strife turns emotional pressure into a mechanical limit, inviting characters to reveal desires they are expected to conceal. Intrigues and duels give courtiers and warriors distinct tools for pursuing their goals. |
| Considerations | Steep learning curve, meant to be played as written (not hackable), print availability limited | Players track emotional pressure and social standing alongside the action. Keeping dice and choosing opportunities can slow checks until the group knows its options. Clan duties and Bushidō shape character creation and consequences, so campaigns in other settings require adapting those assumptions. |