Carbon Grey RPG vs Dungeons & Dragons

Compare Carbon Grey RPG and Dungeons & Dragons side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Carbon Grey RPG	Dungeons & Dragons
Genre	Historical, Fantasy	Fantasy
Play Style	Combat-Heavy, Gritty, Atmospheric, Cinematic, Pulp Action, Tactical, Crunchy, Lore-Heavy, Corruption, Roll to Cast, Faction Play, Licensed IP, Heroic	Tactical, Heroic, Combat-Heavy, Dungeon Crawl, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Beginner-Friendly, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy, Ascending AC
Core Mechanic	Roll a pool of d6s equal to attribute + skill, sum the dice, and beat a Difficulty Number from 5 (Very Easy) to 30 (Extremely Difficult). One die in every pool is the Wild Die: a 6 grants an Advantage (Hero Point gain, success upgrade, or aid to an ally) and a 1 hands the GM a Complication that can deepen a failure. Margins above and below the DN scale results from Partial Success up to Exceptional Success and from Ordinary Failure down to Catastrophic Failure. Hero Points (start at 6) fuel doubled die codes, rerolls, and injury-level reductions.	Roll d20 + modifier against a target DC (for ability checks and saving throws) or AC (for attacks). Meeting or exceeding the target succeeds. Advantage rolls 2d20 and takes the higher; disadvantage takes the lower, replacing most situational modifiers.
Dice	d6 dice pool	d20
Complexity	Medium	Medium
Accessibility	Medium	High
Runnability	Medium	High
License	Proprietary	CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary
Cost	$$	$$$
Publisher	Magnetic Press Play	Wizards of the Coast
Year	2022	2024
Best For	Groups who want dieselpunk WWI-flavored heroics — trench fighting, airship dogfights, espionage, and court intrigue — with an opt-in reality-warping subsystem that physically and mentally scars characters who lean on it.	Groups who want heroic fantasy adventures with tactical grid combat, deep character customization, and access to more published adventures and supplements than any other RPG.
Highlights	Wild Die mechanic builds tier-based outcomes into every roll — a 6 grants an Advantage the player can spend on extra Hero Points, an upgraded success, or aid to an ally; a 1 hands the GM a Complication that can turn an ordinary failure into a Catastrophic one. Continuity Flux skills (Manipulate, Divine, Transmogrify) let characters bend reality but each use raises a tracked Surge Count, and a roll-low check at session end against accumulated Corruption Points can permanently strip an attribute, transform the character into an enemy-controlled stone demon, or erase them from existence. Character Persona stack — Quirks rolled on a d66 table, Obligations to factions or ideals, and Remarkable Abilities — pays out Skill Points at the end of any session the player honored their Obligation, and a session in which the character switches allegiance grants no Skill Points at all.	Advantage/disadvantage system simplifies most situational modifiers to a single mechanic. Extensive class and subclass options across 12 base classes with 48 subclasses in the 2024 PHB. The largest third-party content ecosystem in tabletop RPGs. Free basic rules and starter sets lower the barrier to entry.
Considerations	Combat layers multi-action penalties, scale rules between personal, vehicle, and grand-scale targets, weapon properties like Bypass ARM and Continuous, and dedicated subsystems for grenades, artillery bombardment, flak, hail of bullets, and minefields — each with its own DN, reaction options, and damage table. Continuity Flux powers are gated behind the Latent Flux Talent ability or GM-granted shard exposure, so a party without one is shut out of the reality-bending side of the setting unless the GM hands out access. Setting is tightly tied to the Carbon Grey graphic novel — eight named nations with specific factions, mythologies, and political alignments — so adapting the system to a homebrew dieselpunk world means cutting the lore that anchors most published episodes.	High-level play (tier 3-4) introduces significant spell interaction complexity and encounter balancing challenges for GMs. No official rules for non-fantasy genres. Three core books at $50 each represent a significant investment for the full rules.