Dungeons & Dragons vs Shadow of the Demon Lord
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Shadow of the Demon Lord side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | Shadow of the Demon Lord | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Horror |
| Tags | Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Combat-Heavy, Exploration, Resource Management, Strong GM Support, CC-Licensed Rules | Dark Fantasy, Gritty, Deadly, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Corruption, Character Building, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Atmospheric, 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 d20 plus an attribute modifier against 10 for a challenge or the target’s Defense or attribute for an attack. Boons and banes cancel one for one. Roll the remaining d6s and add the highest boon or subtract the highest bane. |
| Dice | d20 | d20, d6 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (SRD 5.2.1); proprietary core books | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | Commercial publishing allowed — Community content program |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Schwalb Entertainment |
| Year | 2024 | 2015 |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish | English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Chinese |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy campaigns with tactical combat and extensive character customization. | Groups who want lethal fantasy horror with flexible character paths and campaigns built around eleven adventures. |
| 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. | Novice, expert and master paths combine freely to create specialized characters. Fast turns trade movement for an earlier action. Insanity and Corruption give frightening encounters and forbidden acts lasting mechanical consequences. |
| 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. | Starting characters can die from a single strong hit. The rules include graphic body horror and disturbing effects of forbidden magic. Advancement ends at level 10 after the campaign’s final adventure. |