Cairn vs Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Compare Cairn and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Cairn | Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Rules-Light, Exploration, Classless, Deadly, Dungeon Crawl, Attacks Always Hit, Open Source, Gritty, Inventory Management, Fiction-First, Dark Fantasy, GM-Friendly | Gritty, Deadly, Career-Based, Dark Fantasy, Roleplay-Heavy, Atmospheric, Low-Fantasy, Investigation, Corruption, Lore-Heavy, Licensed Setting, Random Character Creation, Roll to Cast, Grimdark |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 equal to or under one of three attributes (STR, DEX, WIL) to make a save; 1 always succeeds, 20 always fails. Combat is simultaneous and attacks always hit — the attacker rolls a weapon die, subtracts armor, and applies the rest to HP. When HP reaches 0, damage spills into STR and triggers a Critical Damage save. | Roll d100 under skill or characteristic. Success Levels measure degree of success by comparing the tens digits of the target and the roll. Advantage accumulates during combat, adding +10 per point to attack tests. |
| Dice | d20, d4–d12 | d100 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Medium |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Community | Medium | Medium |
| License | CC BY-SA 4.0 | No open license |
| Cost | Free / $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Cairn Press | Cubicle 7 |
| Year | 2024 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups who want a fast, classless fantasy game where equipment defines the character, expeditions into the Wood are tense and lethal, and the GM can roll most of their prep from tables. | Groups who want dark, gritty fantasy where ordinary people face extraordinary dangers in a richly detailed setting. The career system creates unique character arcs from rat catcher to witch hunter. |
| Highlights | Inventory and Fatigue share the same 10 slots, so every spell cast, wound, or burden taken on competes with the equipment that defines a classless character. The Scars table turns surviving a near-death hit into permanent character development — a hit that drops a PC to exactly 0 HP rolls a unique injury or trait that often raises an attribute, making advancement a consequence of surviving danger rather than an XP track. Dungeon turns and three-watch wilderness travel each have their own resolution loop and event table, giving the Warden a structured procedure for both exploration modes instead of freeform improv. The Warden's Guide bundles procedural setting, faction, dungeon, and forest generators alongside the bestiary, so prep can be rolled rather than authored. | Detailed grimdark setting, career system creates varied character arcs, combat carries real consequences |
| Considerations | Starting HP is rolled on 1d6, so first-session characters can be killed by a single hit — Cairn assumes attrition and replacement rather than long heroic arcs. Combat is deterministic: attacks always hit and damage is rolled by the attacker, removing the to-hit decision space some tactical players want. There is no Charisma or Intelligence attribute and no fixed spell list — social conflict resolves through WIL saves, and a character's magical capability is shaped by which spellbooks the party finds rather than choices made at creation. Advancement comes through the Scars table rather than XP or milestones, so growth is a byproduct of surviving damage rather than a steady level-up curve. | Tightly bound to the Old World setting, Success Level math can slow play, expensive supplement line |