Dungeons & Dragons vs Legend of the Elements
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Legend of the Elements side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | Legend of the Elements | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Heroic, Dungeon Crawl, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Beginner-Friendly, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy, Ascending AC | Narrative, Playbook-Driven, Beginner-Friendly, Cinematic |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + modifier against a target DC (for ability checks and saving throws) or AC (for attacks). Meeting or exceeding the target succeeds. Advantage rolls 2d20 and takes the higher; disadvantage takes the lower, replacing most situational modifiers. | Roll 2d6 + stat. On 10+ you succeed fully, on 7–9 you succeed with a cost or complication, on 6- the MC makes a move. Five stats (Natural, Hot, Solid, Keen, Fluid) map to elemental temperaments. Chi and Chakras fuel supernatural abilities; Oaths and Respect drive character relationships. |
| Dice | d20 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Medium |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary | All Rights Reserved |
| Cost | $$$ | $ |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | The Logbook Project |
| Year | 2024 | 2016 |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy combining tactical grid combat with deep character-build options, scaling from one-shots up through long multi-tier campaigns. | Groups who want to play Avatar: The Last Airbender-style supernatural martial arts stories with elemental bending, oaths, and chi. |
| Highlights | Advantage and disadvantage collapse most situational modifiers into one mechanic: roll a second d20 and keep the higher or lower, so play rarely stops to total small bonuses. Each of the 12 classes offers four subclasses in the 2024 Player's Handbook, letting players reshape a class's role without multiclassing. Bounded accuracy keeps proficiency bonuses small, so low-level threats stay relevant in numbers and DCs read consistently across all tiers. | Designed for Avatar-style elemental fantasy, wide playbook selection (15+ including sub-playbooks), Chi/Chakra economy adds depth beyond standard PbtA, accessible to new players |
| Considerations | High-level play (tier 3–4) introduces significant spell interaction complexity and encounter balancing challenges for GMs. No official rules for non-fantasy genres. Three core books at $50 each represent a significant investment for the full rules. | Very niche: requires buy-in to the wuxia/elemental genre, tightly coupled to its specific tone, MC section is dense for first-time PbtA GMs |