Burning Wheel vs Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Compare Burning Wheel and Werewolf: The Apocalypse side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Burning Wheel | Werewolf: The Apocalypse | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Horror, Modern, Fantasy |
| Tags | Crunchy, Roleplay-Heavy, Character Building, Drama, Low-Fantasy, Social Combat | Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Corruption, Drama, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy |
| 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. | Build a d10 dice pool, usually from an Attribute plus a Skill. Each 6 or higher is a success, and meeting the Storyteller-set Difficulty wins. Each pair of 10s counts as four successes. Rage dice replace regular dice up to current Rage and can cause Brutal outcomes. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | BWHQ | Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2011 | 2023 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want character beliefs and drama to mechanically drive play, with deep subsystems that reward mastery. | Groups who want long-form modern horror about shapeshifter packs defending communities from ecological and spiritual threats, with violent power constrained by moral and social consequences. |
| Highlights | Beliefs mechanically drive play. Skills advance through use. The Duel of Wits and Fight subsystems offer detailed resolution. | Brutal outcomes can force destructive failures or add four successes to actions the Storyteller judges can benefit from Rage. Choosing a Garou form changes a character's capabilities, creating tactical and narrative options. Caerns give the pack an improvable spiritual home whose traits connect campaign advancement to territory and community. |
| Considerations | Steep learning curve, meant to be played as written (not hackable), print availability limited | A Crinos-form Garou who did not kill in the previous turn must spend Willpower at the start of the next turn or enter frenzy, making the war form difficult to sustain outside violent scenes. Harano and Hauglosk can remove a Garou from play when despair or absolutism fills either track, making moral decline a campaign-level consequence. The game centers mature environmental and spiritual horror, including graphic violence and themes of exploitation and extremism that require deliberate table boundaries. |