Cairn 1st Edition vs Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Compare Cairn 1st Edition and Werewolf: The Apocalypse side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Cairn 1st Edition | Werewolf: The Apocalypse | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Horror, Modern, Fantasy |
| Tags | Rules-Light, Classless, Deadly, Attacks Always Hit, Random Character Creation, Inventory Management, Dark Fantasy, Fiction-First, Sandbox, CC-Licensed Rules | Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Corruption, Drama, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 equal to or under STR, DEX, or WIL to pass a save; 1 always succeeds and 20 always fails. Attacks always hit: the attacker rolls a damage die, subtracts the target's Armor, and applies the remainder to Hit Protection. When HP reaches 0, damage spills into STR and triggers a critical damage save; reaching 0 STR means death. Characters have 10 inventory slots, two for hands, with bulky items occupying two slots. Fatigue from spellcasting or deprivation fills slots like gear. Spells are cast by holding a Spellbook in both hands and reading aloud, adding one Fatigue per cast. | 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 | d20, d4–d12 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very Low | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | CC BY-SA 4.0 | 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 | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Yochai Gal | Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2020 | 2023 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want a free 24-page toolkit for fae-haunted woodland adventure where character creation takes minutes, equipment defines the character, and any fight can kill you. Especially well suited to one-shots, hacking into custom settings, and learning rules-light fantasy. | 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 | Entire game fits in 24 pages, released under CC BY-SA 4.0 with full rights to remix and republish commercially, the ten-slot inventory unifies equipment and Fatigue into one resource, character generation rolls on d20 tables for names, traits, backgrounds, and starting gear plus a d100 spellbook table, a Scars table produces lasting consequences when HP is reduced to exactly 0 | 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 | Almost no setting detail beyond a vague mysterious Wood, only five creatures in the core bestiary, no structured procedures for exploration turns or dungeon rounds (added later in 2nd Edition), classless design offers no character build mechanics for players who enjoy optimization | 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. |