Dogs in the Vineyard vs Dungeon World
Compare Dogs in the Vineyard and Dungeon World side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Dogs in the Vineyard | Dungeon World | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Historical, Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Narrative, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Tag-Based, Drama, Collaborative, Improvisation, Roleplay-Heavy, Social Combat, Strong GM Support | Fiction-First, Playbook-Driven, Classic Fantasy, Character-Driven, Collaborative, Exploration, Low-Prep, Improvisation, Strong GM Support, CC-Licensed Rules |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a d4–d10 pool from relevant Stats and Relationships. Players Raise with two dice and See by spending dice that match or exceed the Raise. Traits, belongings, and escalation add dice as they enter the conflict. Seeing with three or more dice earns Fallout. Giving concedes the stakes. | Moves trigger from events in the fiction. When a move calls for a roll, use 2d6 plus the specified modifier. Moves that call for rolls give outcomes for 10+ and 7–9, with the latter usually introducing a cost or compromise. On 6 or less, mark XP and the GM describes the consequences. |
| Dice | d4–d10 dice pool | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) |
| Third-Party Publishing | No verified route found | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | lumpley games | Burning Wheel |
| Year | 2004 | 2012 |
| Languages | English, Italian, German, Polish, Spanish | English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Korean |
| Best For | Groups who want episodic frontier drama built around difficult moral judgments and arguments that can escalate into violence. | Groups who want dungeon expeditions and fantasy campaigns shaped by their characters’ relationships and decisions. The table builds the world together and resolves danger through a continuous conversation. |
| Highlights | Escalation supplies fresh dice at the risk of harsher consequences, making continued opposition a choice about what the stakes are worth. Fallout changes Traits and Relationships to carry conflict consequences into later play. The town-creation ladder builds crises from interconnected grievances without prescribing how the Dogs should resolve them. | Bonds and alignment award experience for developing relationships and acting on personal convictions. Threat fronts track what dangers will do without intervention, giving the GM an evolving campaign without a scripted plot. Questions during character creation establish shared setting details that become material for adventures. |
| Considerations | The Faith's patriarchal theology supplies concrete grievances in the town-creation rules and needs deliberate rewriting for another religious framework. Conflicts abstract range and movement into narrated actions rather than measured positioning. The GM must challenge the Dogs' judgments without preparing a preferred solution. | Combat has no initiative order or fixed action allotment, so the table manages the spotlight through conversation. Base damage comes from the character’s class rather than weapon type, although weapon tags still change how attacks work. Advancement beyond tenth level requires retirement, an apprentice, or changing classes. |