Dungeons & Dragons vs TALES From the Loom
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and TALES From the Loom side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | TALES From the Loom | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Combat-Heavy, Exploration, Resource Management, Strong GM Support, CC-Licensed Rules | Character Building, Collaborative, Crunchy, Deadly, Exploration, Freeform Magic, Journaling, Narrative, Tactical, Worldbuilding |
| 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. | Players roll a pool of d6s and count dice that meet or exceed a success threshold, usually 4+. They compare the successes with a GM-set difficulty rating. Three or more matching results create a WARP on a hit or a WEFT on a miss. The player then describes an extra benefit or a costly success, subject to GM approval. |
| Dice | d20 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (SRD 5.2.1); proprietary core books | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | Free |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Jarren Magnell |
| Year | 2024 | 2025 |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish | English |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy campaigns with tactical combat and extensive character customization. | Groups that want deep character customization, collaborative worldbuilding, and a GM comfortable adjudicating player-created magic. |
| 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. | The Weaving system prices player-created spells by tier and effect, giving each caster a distinct magical toolkit. WARPS and WEFTS turn matching dice into player-described benefits or complications, distributing narrative authority when matching results trigger. Reflections reward between-session character journaling with a bonus die on a later non-combat skill roll. |
| 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. | Freeform spell creation requires players and the GM to negotiate effects, costs, and scope. Combat uses abstract range and speed bands, so it does not provide grid-based positioning. Characters die at 0 Wounds by default, although an optional rule permits survival with a permanent reduction. |