Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition vs Mage: The Ascension
Compare Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition and Mage: The Ascension side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition | Mage: The Ascension | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Modern, Horror |
| Tags | Tactical, Miniatures, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Crunchy, Ascending AC | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 plus relevant modifiers against a DC or target defense. A total equal to or higher than the target succeeds. Combat turns use standard, move, and minor actions, while powers specify their targets and effects. | Build a d10 pool from an Attribute plus an Ability and count each die that meets or exceeds the difficulty, usually 6. Each rolled 1 cancels a success, and a roll with no successes and at least one 1 botches. Magick uses Arete instead: the highest Sphere plus coincidence or vulgarity and witnesses establishes the base difficulty, with situational modifiers applied afterward. Successes determine the Effect, and vulgar casting risks Paradox. |
| Dice | d20 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | High | Very High |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Onyx Path Publishing |
| Year | 2008 | 2015 |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish | English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want role-defined heroes, grid-centered combat, and long campaigns with extensive tactical advancement. | Groups who want long-form modern occult campaigns about reality-shaping power, ideological conflict, and the consequences of imposing belief on the world. |
| Highlights | Class roles give defenders, strikers, leaders, and controllers distinct tactical jobs in a party. At-will, encounter, and daily powers make each class's available actions explicit at the table. Encounter-building rules pair monster roles with level and XP budgets, giving DMs a repeatable preparation procedure. | Nine Spheres combine to build open-ended Effects, allowing the same capability to emerge through different paradigms, practices, and instruments. Coincidental and vulgar classifications make subtlety a tactical choice because conspicuous magick raises difficulty and accumulates Paradox. Focus ties belief to procedure, so a mage's worldview determines the tools and rituals used to alter reality. |
| Considerations | Grid position, forced movement, marks, and opportunity attacks require continuous spatial tracking. Each character's power list grows across 30 levels, increasing turn options and rules lookups. Rituals, skill challenges, treasure parcels, and combat use separate procedures that the group must learn. | Improvised Effects place frequent adjudication on the Storyteller, who must apply Sphere permissions, focus, required successes, and consequences consistently. Vulgar magick generates Paradox even on success, so overt power can punish a mage through injury or metaphysical breakdown. Faction choices can make a cabal internally hostile, so character concepts need shared motives before play. |