Dungeons & Dragons vs The Last Book
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and The Last Book side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | The Last Book | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Vancian Casting, Ascending AC | Crunchy, Tactical, Simulation, Character Building, Classless, Deadly, Sword & Sorcery |
| 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. | The Last Book uses two resolution systems. Skill and attribute checks roll d100 under a calculated success chance, and how far under the number sets the success margin. Combat is an opposed contest where each side rolls 2d6 and adds a maneuver rating, and the higher total wins the exchange. The margin of victory, called Strike Severity, is added as bonus damage. |
| Dice | d20 | d100, 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | Free |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Patrick White |
| Year | 2024 | 2026 |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish | English |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy with configurable tactical combat, broad character options, and campaigns that span multiple levels. | Groups who enjoy 1980s-style point-buy character building and granular, location-based tactical combat, and want that level of crunch set in a violent sword and sorcery desert world. |
| 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. | The margin by which a 2d6 attack contest beats the defense becomes Strike Severity and is added to damage, so cleanly won exchanges hit harder rather than only landing. Attackers can aim for a specific body location such as the head or vitals, trading an accuracy penalty for effects like multiplied damage or a chance to cripple a limb. Esoteric Alchemy builds potions from five reagent types that each carry their own laws and effects, letting an alchemist mix custom concoctions instead of drawing from a fixed list. |
| 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. | The game runs on two separate resolution engines, a d100 roll-under for skills and a 2d6 opposed contest for combat, so players learn and switch between two different systems. Resolving one attack can involve wound level, strike location, vulnerability and status, encumbrance, and lighting at the same time, which keeps combat deliberate and slow. Character death is largely permanent and crippling injuries can persist well beyond a fight, so losing a heavily built character is a real risk. |