Dungeons & Dragons vs Numenera

Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Numenera side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Dungeons & Dragons	Numenera
Genre	Fantasy	Scifi, Fantasy
Tags	Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Vancian Casting, Ascending AC	Exploration, Weird, Theater of the Mind, Player-Only Rolls, Low-Prep, Lore-Heavy, Cinematic, Atmospheric, Narrative
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.	GM sets task difficulty 1–10; the target number is difficulty × 3 on a d20. Players ease difficulty by being trained (one step) or specialized (two steps) in a skill, having a favorable asset, or applying Effort: spending points from Might, Speed, or Intellect Pools, with Edge in the relevant stat reducing the cost. Players make all rolls; defense rolls against creatures use the same d20 system as attacks. Natural 17–20 add bonus damage or trigger minor and major effects; natural 1 prompts a GM intrusion that awards the player XP.
Dice	d20	d20
Complexity	Medium	Medium
Accessibility	Very High	High
Runnability	Very High	High
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	$$
Publisher	Wizards of the Coast	Monte Cook Games
Year	2024	2018
Best For	Groups who want heroic fantasy with configurable tactical combat, broad character options, and campaigns that span multiple levels.	Groups who want exploration-driven science-fantasy where uncovering ancient technology and forgotten knowledge is the campaign's core reward. Particularly suited to GMs who prefer minimal preparation and players who enjoy spending stat-pool resources to ease tasks rather than tracking many subsystems.
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.	Cyphers are single-use, randomly determined gadgets that every character carries and that refresh each session, so combat and problem-solving options change constantly without permanent power creep. The GM never rolls: players make all attack and defense rolls against fixed creature target numbers. Three character types (Glaive, Nano, Jack) combine with dozens of descriptors and foci to produce sharply differentiated builds without a class-and-level structure. XP is awarded for discovery and for accepting GM intrusions rather than for combat, and players can spend XP on player intrusions to bend the narrative.
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.	Combat is theater of the mind by default with no grid or detailed positioning rules. GM intrusions are central to play and require player buy-in; players who prefer uninterrupted action control may find them disruptive. Cyphers must be rolled or selected fresh each session, adding GM workload that scales with party size. The Ninth World setting is intentionally vague in many places, leaving GMs to invent specific details.