Dungeons & Dragons vs Fellowship
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Fellowship side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | Fellowship | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Combat-Heavy, Exploration, Resource Management, Strong GM Support, CC-Licensed Rules | Fiction-First, Playbook-Driven, High-Fantasy, Heroic, Collaborative, Worldbuilding, CC-Licensed Rules, Strong GM Support |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a d20 and add applicable modifiers to meet or beat a target number. Checks and saving throws use a Difficulty Class; attacks use Armor Class. Advantage or disadvantage means rolling two d20s and keeping the higher or lower result. | Roll 2d6 + stat (Blood, Courage, Sense, Grace, or Wisdom). 10+ full success, 7–9 success with a cost, 6− the Overlord makes a Cut against you. Playbook moves trigger from fictional actions. Hope (roll 3d6 keep best two) and Despair (roll 3d6 keep worst two) modify all rolls and cancel each other out when both are present. |
| Dice | d20 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (SRD 5.2.1); proprietary core books | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | $ |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Liberi Gothica Games |
| Year | 2024 | 2019 |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish | English |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy campaigns with tactical combat and extensive character customization. | Groups who want LOTR-style co-operative epic fantasy where one player commits to playing the evil Overlord throughout the campaign and each hero treats themselves as the spokesperson for an entire fantasy people. |
| Highlights | Weapon Mastery adds effects such as pushing or slowing enemies to qualifying weapon attacks. Class and feat choices let characters develop different roles over twenty levels. Optional Bastions give characters home bases with facilities that produce benefits between adventures. | Dedicated Overlord playbook lets one player run the villain throughout the campaign with structured threat, plan, and Cut mechanics. Each hero playbook grants full authority over their fantasy people's lore, history, and culture: players are the canonical voice for their species. Over a dozen Destiny playbooks unlock at level 5 to transform heroes into greater figures (Chosen One, Cyborg, Witch, Lord of Beasts, and others). CC BY-SA 4.0 license permits free modification and redistribution. |
| Considerations | Spells and class abilities have separate resource limits and timing rules. Higher-level magic can change travel and encounter assumptions that the DM must prepare for. Social encounters rely on ability checks and DM judgments about NPC attitudes. | Requires one player to commit to running the villain full-time with no hero of their own. Hero playbooks are tightly themed around six fantasy archetypes (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Heir, Orc, Squire): groups wanting non-Tolkien-style species must reskin or hack the playbooks. Tracking Bonds, Companions, Hope, Despair, and tagged gear adds bookkeeping above the typical PbtA load. Whether a fictional Advantage exists for Finish Them often requires table interpretation. |