Chronicles of Darkness vs Sentinel Comics RPG
Compare Chronicles of Darkness and Sentinel Comics RPG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Chronicles of Darkness | Sentinel Comics RPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Modern, Superhero |
| Tags | Atmospheric, Character Building, Character-Driven, Classless, Corruption, Drama, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Improvisation, Investigation, Strong GM Support | Heroic, Narrative, Superpowers, Combat-Heavy, Cinematic, Theater of the Mind |
| Core Mechanic | Build a d10 pool from an Attribute plus a Skill and count each 8, 9, or 10 as a success. Tens reroll, five successes are exceptional, and a pool reduced below one die becomes a chance die that succeeds only on a 10. | Roll three dice (from powers, qualities, and status) and use the middle result vs. difficulty. Your status zone (green/yellow/red) changes available abilities as you take damage. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | d4–d12 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $ | $$ |
| Publisher | Onyx Path Publishing | Greater Than Games |
| Year | 2015 | 2022 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want modern supernatural horror built around investigating mysteries, navigating personal consequences, and confronting threats before they overwhelm an ordinary life. | Superhero campaigns that feel like reading a comic book, with a unique status-shifting system and structured hero/villain/environment turns. |
| Highlights | The investigation system can reveal an Incomplete clue on a failed roll, preventing a mystery from stopping at one check. Conditions, Aspirations, and Beats link consequences and personal goals to character advancement. Horror Anchors create investigative inroads for supernatural threats. | Captures comic book pacing well, status system creates dramatic arcs, villain/environment turns keep things dynamic, developed published setting |
| Considerations | The core contains detailed procedures for combat, chases, investigation, social maneuvering, and supernatural threats, so groups need to decide which rules to emphasize in a campaign. Damage, Integrity breaking points, and Persistent Conditions create lasting consequences. Social Maneuvering includes sexual goals and hard leverage, so players should back away from uncomfortable concepts. | Tightly tied to the Sentinel Comics universe, status dice tracking requires careful bookkeeping, can feel constrained for freeform players |