Dungeons & Dragons vs Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Heroic, Dungeon Crawl, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Beginner-Friendly, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy, Ascending AC | Career-Based, Grimdark, Deadly, Investigation, Corruption, Licensed Setting |
| 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 d100 under skill or characteristic. Success Levels measure degree of success by comparing the tens digits of the target and the roll. Advantage accumulates during combat, adding +10 per point to attack tests. |
| Dice | d20 | d100 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | Very High | Low |
| Runnability | High | High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary | No open license |
| Cost | $$$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Cubicle 7 |
| Year | 2024 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy combining tactical grid combat with deep character-build options, scaling from one-shots up through long multi-tier campaigns. | Groups who want dark, gritty fantasy where ordinary people face extraordinary dangers in a richly detailed setting. The career system creates unique character arcs from rat catcher to witch hunter. |
| Highlights | Advantage and disadvantage collapse most situational modifiers into one mechanic: roll a second d20 and keep the higher or lower, so play rarely stops to total small bonuses. Each of the 12 classes offers four subclasses in the 2024 Player's Handbook, letting players reshape a class's role without multiclassing. Bounded accuracy keeps proficiency bonuses small, so low-level threats stay relevant in numbers and DCs read consistently across all tiers. | The career system structures advancement around trades, moving a character through jobs that shape both skills and story. Success Levels measure how far a d100 test beats or misses its target, turning every roll into a degree of result. Advantage accumulates during a fight, rewarding momentum with stacking bonuses to attack tests. |
| 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. | The rules assume the Old World setting, so moving WFRP elsewhere means reworking its careers and tone. Comparing tens digits for Success Levels on every test adds a math step that can slow combat. Advancement is career-gated, so a character often must finish or leave a career before branching into new skills. |