Dungeons & Dragons vs Maze Rats
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Maze Rats side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | Maze Rats | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Heroic, Dungeon Crawl, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Beginner-Friendly, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy, Ascending AC | Rules-Light, Dungeon Crawl, Sandbox, Random Tables, Improvisation, Freeform Magic, Open Source |
| 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. | Danger Roll: roll 2d6 + ability bonus (STR, DEX, or WIL), 10+ avoids danger. Advantage rolls 3d6 keep best two. Attack rolls use 2d6 + Attack Bonus vs. target's Armor. Spells are randomly generated from combination tables (effect + element + form) and erased after casting. |
| Dice | d20 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Low |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary | CC BY 4.0 |
| Cost | $$$ | $ |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Swordfish Islands LLC |
| Year | 2024 | 2024 |
| 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. | GMs who want a dead-simple system with extensive random tables that generate adventures, spells, NPCs, and monsters on the fly. |
| 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. | Fits in 12 pages, extensive random tables for on-the-fly worldbuilding, spell generation system is highly creative, CC BY 4.0 license, near-zero prep |
| 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 minimal: experienced players may want more mechanical depth, no bestiary or setting included, advancement is slow and simple, assumes GM comfort with improvisation |