Dungeons & Dragons vs Those Who Wander
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Those Who Wander side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | Those Who Wander | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Heroic, Combat-Heavy, Dungeon Crawl, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Beginner-Friendly, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy, Ascending AC | Heroic, High-Fantasy, Character Building, Classless, Tactical, Worldbuilding, Vancian Casting, Crunchy |
| 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. | Roll d20 + ability bonus + proficiency bonus against a Difficulty Score. Abilities use direct modifiers (−1 to +5) instead of base scores, removing a calculation step from every roll. Character progression replaces classes and levels with a 20-step path: at each step you choose between two or more diverging features, and prerequisites gate later options. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Community | Very High | Low |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary | Proprietary (free Essential Rules quickstart) |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Gnome Made Games |
| Year | 2024 | 2022 |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy adventures with tactical grid combat, deep character customization, and access to more published adventures and supplements than any other RPG. | Groups familiar with d20 fantasy who want deeper character customization, inclusive design covering any parentage pairing and accessibility for disabled characters, and long campaigns where each hero's 20-step path diverges from the rest of the party. |
| Highlights | Advantage/disadvantage system simplifies most situational modifiers to a single mechanic. Extensive class and subclass options across 12 base classes with 48 subclasses in the 2024 PHB. The largest third-party content ecosystem in tabletop RPGs. Free basic rules and starter sets lower the barrier to entry. | Parentage system inherits traits from any two birth parents across 15 peoples (dwarven, elven, human, halfling, avian, celestial, draconic, genie, gnoll, gnomish, goblin, kobold, infernal, orc, plus Complex Parentage) for hundreds of pairing combinations. Accessibility rules treat Blind and Deaf characters as mechanically viable heroes and integrate prosthetics and wheelchairs as part of the character. The 20-step branching progression replaces classes and levels — each step is a choice between two or more features that gate further specializations. Awakening heirlooms (weapons, armor, trinkets) gain new properties as characters take steps, growing in power and personality alongside their owner. |
| 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. | 477-page rulebook with substantial mechanical innovation in character creation requires significant reading before a first session. No adventures are included in the core rules — GMs must design their own scenarios or source from d20-compatible content. The steps system departs from familiar level/class structure, so players coming from d20 fantasy must learn a new progression model. No native rolled initiative — the storyteller chooses one of four ability-based turn-order methods at the start of each combat. |