Chronicles of Darkness vs Thrive to Survive
Compare Chronicles of Darkness and Thrive to Survive side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Chronicles of Darkness | Thrive to Survive | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Horror, Modern, Post-Apocalyptic |
| Tags | Atmospheric, Character Building, Character-Driven, Classless, Corruption, Drama, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Improvisation, Investigation, Strong GM Support | Survival, Tactical, Crunchy, Resource Management, Base-Building, Character Building, Simulation, Skill-Based |
| 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 d20 + skill ranks + the related attribute and meet or beat a difficulty set by the Apocalypse Master. An untrained skill adds half its attribute, while opposed checks compare totals. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | 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 | Caden Humpherys |
| Year | 2015 | 2026 |
| Best For | Groups who want modern supernatural horror built around investigating mysteries, navigating personal consequences, and confronting threats before they overwhelm an ordinary life. | Groups who want a long-form modern zombie-survival campaign built around tactical grid combat, body-location injuries, detailed crafting, and turning scavenged materials into a defended settlement. It suits an Apocalypse Master who wants tools for custom infections, encounters, and campaign goals. |
| 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. | Attacks pair maneuver-specific hit numbers with 2d10 location rolls, so armor, crippling injuries, and targeted strikes make each body part matter. Crafting links designs, material types, construction, generators, and storage, turning scavenged supplies into weapons and a working refuge. The Apocalypse Master chooses an infection model and modifies zombie templates, allowing campaigns to shift from base defense to a cure hunt without changing the core rules. |
| 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. | Combat resolves attacks through hit checks, location rolls, armor reduction, location health, and injury effects, creating multiple steps for every successful strike. Characters track food, water, sleep, fatigue, carry weight, ammunition, and ten crafting materials, making resource bookkeeping a central part of play. The system assumes a modern zombie apocalypse, so adapting it to other settings requires replacing much of its equipment, infection, and campaign material. |