Daggerheart vs Electric Bastionland
Compare Daggerheart and Electric Bastionland side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Daggerheart | Electric Bastionland | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Collaborative, Heroic, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Theater of the Mind, Character Building, Drama, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven | Rules-Light, Weird, Classless, Dungeon Crawl, Attacks Always Hit, One-Shot Friendly, Low-Prep |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d12 Duality Dice (Hope + Fear) and add modifiers vs. difficulty. Which die rolls higher determines whether the moment swings toward the players (Hope) or the GM gains Fear tokens to spend on complications. In combat, adversary attacks roll d20 + modifier against target's Evasion. | Roll d20 equal to or under attribute (STR, DEX, CHA) to avoid danger. Attacks always hit: roll weapon damage directly, reduced by armor. 100+ unique Failed Careers define your character through equipment and debt rather than stats. |
| Dice | 2d12 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | High |
| License | Darrington Press Community Gaming License (DPCGL) | Mark of the Odd SRD |
| Cost | $$$ | Free / $$ |
| Publisher | Darrington Press | Bastionland Press |
| Year | 2025 | 2020 |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy with emotionally driven storytelling, where every roll shifts momentum between hope and fear. Great for Critical Role fans and narrative-focused tables. | Short treasure-hunting campaigns in a surreal, modern-tinged city. Ideal for groups who love strange worldbuilding, fast character creation via 100+ Failed Careers, and fiction-driven play. |
| Highlights | Every action roll uses 2d12 Duality Dice, and whether Hope or Fear lands higher hands momentum to the player or the GM. Combat runs fiction-first with no fixed initiative, so the spotlight passes by the action rather than a turn order. Characters equip abilities as domain cards drawn from two domains, building a loadout the player can swap between. | Two pages of actual rules, 100+ varied Failed Careers, detailed GM guidance, free 42-page edition available, spawned an entire design movement |
| Considerations | The domain-card system runs best with printed cards, though it can be played from the character sheet alone. Players and the GM use asymmetric rules, so each side has its own procedures to learn. Mechanics are tied to the game's own setting and ancestries, which takes work to reskin for another world. | Tightly coupled to its surreal Bastion setting, minimal character progression, requires a confident GM, narrow genre focus |