Dragonslayer RPG vs Original Dungeons & Dragons

Compare Dragonslayer RPG and Original Dungeons & Dragons side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.

	Dragonslayer RPG	Original Dungeons & Dragons
Genre	Fantasy	Fantasy
Tags	Dungeon Crawl, Combat-Heavy, Gritty, Descending AC, Vancian Casting, Random Tables	Classic Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Exploration, Sandbox, Random Tables, Vancian Casting, Descending AC, Domain Management
Core Mechanic	Roll d20 + attack bonus against descending Armour Class to hit in combat. Saving throws are roll-over by category (Breath, Death, Stone, Wand, Spell). Initiative is d6 per side each round. The GM (Maze Controller) tracks time, light, encounters, and resources: torches burn out, rations deplete, and random encounters escalate with noise and delay.	Ability scores are rolled on 3d6, and combat uses a d20 attack matrix keyed to class or Hit Dice and Armor Class. Initiative uses dice, saving throws use class-and-level tables, and spellcasters have limited spells remembered per adventure.
Dice	d20	d20
Complexity	Medium	High
Availability	Free quickstart	Paid
Runnability	4 of 5 book tools	3 of 5 book tools
License	Proprietary	Proprietary
Third-Party Publishing	Not yet researched	Not yet researched
Publisher	Greg Gillespie	Tactical Studies Rules
Year	2024	1974
Languages	English	English
Best For	OSR veterans who want a traditional dungeon-crawling experience with descending AC, strict resource management, and classic class-and-level gameplay: especially fans of Barrowmaze and megadungeon play.	Groups who want an early fantasy campaign game with dungeon expeditions, open wilderness play, and substantial referee adjudication. It fits tables willing to choose or adapt procedures when the rules leave room.
Highlights	Comprehensive old-school toolkit with 11 classes and 8 races, heavy emphasis on dungeon exploration procedures (marching order, light, time), critical hit/miss tables add combat drama, designed by a megadungeon expert, extensive spell lists and equipment	A class-and-level attack matrix turns a d20 roll into a direct Armor Class result. Separate dungeon, wilderness, aerial, and naval procedures let a campaign expand beyond expeditions. Referee-facing dungeon design and stronghold rules support an open campaign beyond a prepared scenario.
Considerations	Descending AC and THAC0-adjacent math will alienate modern players, very large rulebook for an OSR game, tightly bound to classic dungeon fantasy, limited innovation beyond curating and polishing older mechanics	Classes, race limits, spell lists, and attack matrices impose a specific early D&D structure. The original rules distribute important procedures across separate subjects rather than one universal task rule. Running strict 1974 requires separating the original rules from Chainmail references and later compilation material.