Cairn vs Shadowdark RPG
Compare Cairn and Shadowdark RPG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Cairn | Shadowdark RPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Rules-Light, Classless, Deadly, Dungeon Crawl, Exploration, Inventory Management, Fiction-First, Random Character Creation, Random Tables, Strong GM Support | 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 | To avoid a risky outcome, roll d20 equal to or below STR, DEX, or WIL; a 1 succeeds and a 20 fails. Only the participant most at risk rolls an opposed save. Attacks deal damage automatically, reduced by armor and then Hit Protection (HP). Damage beyond HP reduces STR and requires a save against the reduced STR 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 | Low | Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 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 — Creative Commons text reuse | 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 | 2024 | 2023 |
| Languages | English, Finnish, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish | English, French, Italian, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want dangerous woodland expeditions where equipment and preparation matter more than optimized character builds. Suits campaigns shaped by exploration and the consequences of encounters. | 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 | Fatigue occupies the same ten inventory slots as equipment, making spellcasting and hardship compete with useful gear. Dungeon turns and wilderness watches tie exploration choices to events and resource costs. Training and significant encounters can change abilities without an experience-point track. | 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 | Automatic attack damage makes direct confrontation dangerous even when characters wear armor. The Warden decides when fictional advantages remove the need for a save instead of using graded difficulty targets. Advancement depends on experiences and negotiated training rather than a predictable level progression. | 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. |