DABaM vs Freeform Universal
Compare DABaM and Freeform Universal side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| DABaM | Freeform Universal | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Universal | Universal |
| Tags | Rules-Light, Beginner-Friendly, Classless, Skill-Based, Narrative, Toolkit, CC-Licensed Rules, One-Shot Friendly | Rules-Light, Narrative, Improvisation, One-Shot Friendly, Beginner-Friendly, Toolkit, Player-Only Rolls, CC-Licensed Rules |
| Core Mechanic | When an action calls for a Roll, it resolves on a d20 roll-under. The GM names the two Attributes that best fit the action and adds them for the Limit. If only one Attribute applies, its score is doubled instead. A relevant Background adds its score to the Limit, and situational Modifiers raise or lower it. The roll succeeds when the d20 lands at or under the Limit, and missing by three or less can still succeed at a cost. | Roll a d6 and read it as a yes/no answer to a stated question: 6 = yes and (a bonus), 4 = yes, 2 = yes but (a cost), 5 = no but, 3 = no, 1 = no and (it worsens). Each Descriptor, item of Gear, or factor that helps adds a bonus die and you keep the best; each that hinders adds a penalty die and you keep the worst; helping and hindering dice cancel one-for-one. FU Points buy extra dice or re-rolls, and only players roll. |
| Dice | d20 | d6 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | Book tools not listed | 3 of 5 book tools |
| License | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | CC BY 4.0 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | La Torre de Dimirag | Peril Planet |
| Year | 2024 | 2020 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups running convention demos, one-shots, or a first session for players new to tabletop RPGs. It also suits GMs who want a genre-neutral base to adapt to any setting. | Groups who want to improvise a story in any genre with almost no prep, and pick-up or one-shot games where character creation needs to take minutes. |
| Highlights | When a check is needed, one d20 roll-under resolves it by summing the two Attributes that best fit the action, so combat, social, and mental tasks share a single path. Backgrounds replace a fixed skill list with freeform descriptors the player defines, each adding its score to the rolls it applies to. The wound track escalates through named statuses from Beaten to Dying, each cutting the Body score used to resist the next injury. | Every roll answers a yes/no question on a six-step ladder, so one d6 produces graded outcomes from "yes, and" to "no, and" without separate hit, damage, or opposed rolls. Characters are built from four plain-language Descriptors plus Gear the table reads literally, so any setting plays with no stat conversion. Situational advantage adds bonus or penalty dice that cancel one-for-one and keep the single best or worst result, collapsing all modifiers into one step. |
| Considerations | Special abilities such as magic or superpowers are left entirely to the GM to design, as the core rules provide no framework for them. Advancement has no automatic progression, leaving the GM to decide when and what each character improves. The GM must pick which two Attributes and which Modifiers apply to every roll, placing resolution difficulty on GM judgment rather than fixed rules. | Outcomes hinge on table agreement about whether a Descriptor applies, so play depends on shared interpretation rather than fixed numbers. There is no default combat, health, or damage subsystem, so injuries are tracked as freeform Conditions and lethality is left to the group. Advancement is minimal, so long campaigns give characters little mechanical growth. |