Dragonslayer RPG vs Tales of Argosa
Compare Dragonslayer RPG and Tales of Argosa side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Dragonslayer RPG | Tales of Argosa | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Dungeon Crawl, Combat-Heavy, Gritty, Descending AC, Vancian Casting, Random Tables | Deadly, Sandbox, Combat-Heavy, Dungeon Crawl, Roll to Cast, Gritty, CC-Licensed Rules, Sword & Sorcery |
| 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. | Roll d20 under attribute to succeed (roll-under). Luck saves deplete your Luck attribute with each success, ratcheting tension. Combat uses Nat 19 effects, Exploits, Fumbles, Crits, and Trauma tables. Dark & Dangerous Magic risks madness and Veil monsters when casting spells. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Paid |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Greg Gillespie | Pickpocket Press |
| Year | 2024 | 2024 |
| 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. | Sword & sorcery fans who want fast, brutal combat with diminishing Luck, dark & dangerous magic, and rich emergent sandbox play: group or solo. |
| 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 | Distinctive diminishing Luck mechanic, combat with Exploits and Trauma is consequential, large GM toolbox (hexploration, oracles, hirelings, mass battle), solo rules included, Creative Commons license |
| 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 | The Diminishing Luck mechanic means characters weaken as they succeed. There are limited magical options in the core rules. The game requires GM comfort with sandbox hexcrawl prep. |