Dungeon Crawl Classics vs Shadowdark RPG
Compare Dungeon Crawl Classics and Shadowdark RPG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Dungeon Crawl Classics | Shadowdark RPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Dungeon Crawl, Deadly, Random Character Creation, Roll to Cast, Random Tables, Corruption, Gonzo, Exploration, Sword & Sorcery, Strong GM Support | Deadly, Dungeon Crawl, Rules-Light, Theater of the Mind, Roll to Cast, Random Tables, Resource Management, Inventory Management, Random Character Creation, Strong GM Support |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 plus modifiers to meet or exceed a difficulty or Armor Class. Circumstances shift the die up or down a chain from d3 to d30. | Roll a d20 plus the relevant stat modifier and meet or beat the difficulty class or Armor Class. Advantage and disadvantage use two rolls and keep the better or worse result. |
| Dice | d3–d30 | d20 |
| Complexity | High | Low |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | Open Game License 1.0a; DCC Indie Publisher license | Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License Version 1.1 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Publisher-approved compatibility license | Commercial publishing allowed — Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Goodman Games | The Arcane Library |
| Year | 2012 | 2023 |
| Languages | English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian | English, French, Italian, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want dangerous dungeon expeditions with randomly generated adventurers and risky magic. Campaigns can begin with several peasants per player and follow the survivors into classed adventuring. | Groups who want dangerous dungeon expeditions driven by resource choices and player ingenuity. Suits campaigns where recovering treasure matters more than defeating every monster. |
| Highlights | The character funnel lets survival determine the starting adventuring party. Mighty Deeds let warriors and dwarves attempt improvised combat maneuvers alongside attacks. Spell checks scale magical effects with the casting result. | Torches burn for one hour of real time, putting a time limit on dungeon exploration. Gear slots make carrying treasure compete with supplies needed to survive the return trip. Procedural generators let the GM create dungeons and encounters during play. |
| Considerations | Random starting attributes and occupations limit planned character builds. The default funnel puts several fragile characters under each player’s control. The dice chain uses unusual die sizes with ordinary-dice substitutions. | Low starting hit points make a few successful attacks potentially fatal. Class talents are rolled at odd-numbered levels, limiting control over advancement. Social interaction relies mainly on spoken arguments and GM judgment rather than a dedicated conflict subsystem. |