Dice & Glory vs Dungeons & Dragons
Compare Dice & Glory and Dungeons & Dragons side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Dice & Glory | Dungeons & Dragons | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Universal | Fantasy |
| Tags | Crunchy, Toolkit, Character Building, Simulation, Tactical, Freeform Magic, Superpowers | Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Combat-Heavy, Exploration, Resource Management, Strong GM Support, CC-Licensed Rules |
| Core Mechanic | Dice Check: roll d20 plus a skill modifier (skill rank + attribute + miscellaneous) and meet or beat a difficulty the GM sets. Standard difficulties run from 10 for easy to 35 for impossible. Attack rolls and saving throws use the same d20, though an attack must also beat the target's Agility Class. A natural 20 is a critical success and a natural 1 a critical failure. | Roll a d20 and add applicable modifiers to meet or beat a target number. Checks and saving throws use a Difficulty Class; attacks use Armor Class. Advantage or disadvantage means rolling two d20s and keeping the higher or lower result. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Very High | High |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (SRD 5.2.1); proprietary core books |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Ranger Games Publishing | Wizards of the Coast |
| Year | 2014 | 2024 |
| Languages | English | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish |
| Best For | Rules-comfortable groups building a long campaign from scratch, who would rather engineer a spell or a fighting style than choose one from a list. | Groups who want heroic fantasy campaigns with tactical combat and extensive character customization. |
| Highlights | Experience points work as a currency rather than a level track, so an attribute increase and an extra attack come off the same price list. The core book contains no spell list, so a spell is built from its method and effect and then developed with money and time. Knockout points absorb nonlethal damage while weapons bypass them for hit points, so beating an opponent unconscious and killing them are different outcomes. | Weapon Mastery adds effects such as pushing or slowing enemies to qualifying weapon attacks. Class and feat choices let characters develop different roles over twenty levels. Optional Bastions give characters home bases with facilities that produce benefits between adventures. |
| Considerations | Task resolution switches between high-roll d20 checks and roll-under percentile proficiencies, so two scales run side by side. Spells and superhuman powers are built rather than chosen from a list, so two characters of the same level can differ widely in practical capability. Power scale needs policing: fantasy, superheroic, divine, and modern technology all run on one framework. | Spells and class abilities have separate resource limits and timing rules. Higher-level magic can change travel and encounter assumptions that the DM must prepare for. Social encounters rely on ability checks and DM judgments about NPC attitudes. |