Dungeon Crawlers vs Rock & Stone
Compare Dungeon Crawlers and Rock & Stone side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Dungeon Crawlers | Rock & Stone | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Dungeon Crawl, Low-Prep, Fast-Paced, Fiction-First, Freeform Magic, Heroic, Theater of the Mind | Classic Fantasy, Comedy, Dungeon Crawl, Fast-Paced, Heroic, High-Power, Random Tables, Rules-Light, Strong GM Support, Theater of the Mind |
| Core Mechanic | Build a pool of Action dice (d6s) from trademarks and edges. Roll Danger dice for obstacles: matching Danger dice cancel Action dice. Highest remaining Action die determines success (6 = full, 4–5 = partial, 3 or less = fail). | For a test, roll a d20 and add the relevant skill; a total above the GM-set difficulty succeeds, while an exact match succeeds with a complication. Natural 20s and 1s produce especially heroic successes and fatal failures. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d20 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Low |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | Book tools not listed | 2 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | AELF Open License Version 1.0a |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — AELF Open License Version 1.0a |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Peril Planet | Sebastian Hahn |
| Year | 2020 | 2025 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups wanting instant fantasy dungeon-crawling with minimal rules: perfect for one-shots, new players, or when you forgot your rulebooks. | Groups who want a fast, rules-light dungeon crawl about unusually capable dwarven mercenaries, with a compact setting and a ready-to-run starting adventure. |
| Highlights | Entire game fits on 2 pages, character creation in minutes, freeform magic system, built-in adventure generator, same action/danger dice as Neon City Overdrive | Gold committed to the dwarven hoard pays for levels, tying treasure recovery directly to advancement. Archetypes grant selectable active and passive abilities, giving each dwarf a distinct role within the shared skill system. Carousing turns a between-adventure roll into complications and opportunities that can seed later expeditions. |
| Considerations | Very minimal: no detailed combat or advancement systems, limited long-campaign support, lacks depth for crunch-oriented players | Characters are built around the last-dwarves premise, although the rules permit other heroes. Advancement grants its largest skill and ability gains through level four, after which levels add only hit points and one skill point. Spells are fixed archetype abilities with limited daily uses, so groups seeking open-ended magic will not find it here. |