Cairn 1st Edition vs Shadowdark RPG
Compare Cairn 1st Edition and Shadowdark RPG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Cairn 1st Edition | Shadowdark RPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Rules-Light, Classless, Deadly, Attacks Always Hit, Random Character Creation, Inventory Management, Dark Fantasy, Fiction-First, Gritty, CC-Licensed Rules | Deadly, Dungeon Crawl, Rules-Light, Theater of the Mind, Roll to Cast, Random Tables, Resource Management, Inventory Management, Random Character Creation, Strong GM Support |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a d20 equal to or under STR, DEX, or WIL to pass a save; 1 always succeeds and 20 always fails. Attacks deal rolled damage directly, reduced by Armor and then Hit Protection (HP). Damage beyond HP reduces STR and requires a STR save to avoid critical damage. | Roll a d20 plus the relevant stat modifier and meet or beat the difficulty class or Armor Class. Advantage and disadvantage use two rolls and keep the better or worse result. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | CC BY-SA 4.0 | Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License Version 1.1 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | Commercial publishing allowed — Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Cairn Press | The Arcane Library |
| Year | 2020 | 2023 |
| Languages | English, Catalan, Chinese, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Toki Pona, Turkish, Ukrainian, Belarusian | English, French, Italian, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want dangerous woodland expeditions where equipment defines characters and creative problem-solving matters more than character builds. | Groups who want dangerous dungeon expeditions driven by resource choices and player ingenuity. Suits campaigns where recovering treasure matters more than defeating every monster. |
| Highlights | Equipment and spellcasting Fatigue share ten inventory slots, making magical power compete with carrying useful gear. Scars from attacks that reduce HP to exactly zero can increase attributes or maximum HP, tying mechanical growth to surviving danger. Characters can gain new abilities through training and experiences in the fiction rather than following classes or levels. | Torches burn for one hour of real time, putting a time limit on dungeon exploration. Gear slots make carrying treasure compete with supplies needed to survive the return trip. Procedural generators let the GM create dungeons and encounters during play. |
| Considerations | Attacks require no to-hit roll, making avoiding or controlling a fight more important than relying on a missed attack. Spellbooks cannot be copied or manufactured, leaving new spell acquisition dependent on discoveries in the world. The core leaves exploration timing to the Warden rather than providing a dungeon-turn or wilderness-travel procedure. | Low starting hit points make a few successful attacks potentially fatal. Class talents are rolled at odd-numbered levels, limiting control over advancement. Social interaction relies mainly on spoken arguments and GM judgment rather than a dedicated conflict subsystem. |