Dungeons & Dragons vs Land of Eem
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Land of Eem side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | Land of Eem | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Vancian Casting, Ascending AC | Narrative, Exploration, Rules-Light, Beginner-Friendly, Hexcrawl, Theater of the Mind, Fiction-First |
| Core Mechanic | Make a D20 Test by rolling d20, adding relevant modifiers, and comparing the total to a target number. Ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls use this procedure. Advantage and disadvantage use two d20s and keep the higher or lower result. | Roll 1d12 + skill modifier. Results on a 5-tier scale: Complete Failure (1–2), Failure with a Plus (3–5), Success with a Twist (6–8), Success (9–11), Complete Success (12+). Advantage/disadvantage rolls 2d12 take best/worst. |
| Dice | d20 | d12 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | Free |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Exalted Funeral Press |
| Year | 2024 | 2023 |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish | English |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy with configurable tactical combat, broad character options, and campaigns that span multiple levels. | Groups who want lighthearted, story-driven fantasy adventure with whimsical tone, hex crawl exploration, and meaningful roleplay: where talking to monsters is often better than fighting them. |
| Highlights | Advantage and disadvantage resolve common situational effects by selecting the higher or lower of two d20 rolls. Backgrounds, classes, subclasses, and feats distribute character choices across creation and advancement. Weapon Mastery gives qualifying weapon users distinct tactical effects without replacing the action economy. | Whimsical tone encourages creativity, graduated success/failure keeps things interesting, detailed hex crawl and exploration rules, combat designed to be avoidable through parley, character story mechanics with relationships and personal quests |
| Considerations | Spell preparation, spell slots, class features, and conditions create several interacting resources for players to track. High-level characters combine many spells and features, increasing adjudication work for the DM. Bastions add a separate downtime procedure for campaigns that use the stronghold rules. | Whimsical tone won't suit every group, combat is intentionally simple and abstract, tightly tied to its own setting |