Dungeons & Dragons vs Whitehack
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Whitehack side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | Whitehack | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Heroic, Dungeon Crawl, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Beginner-Friendly, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy, Ascending AC | Rules-Light, Narrative, Hackable, Mana Points, Freeform Magic |
| 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 under your attribute to succeed; the face value of a success indicates quality. Positive double rolls (roll 2d20, pick best) and negative double rolls (pick worst) replace flat modifiers. Characters are defined by Groups (species, vocations, and affiliations) which grant advantage on relevant tasks. The Wise class casts miracles by spending HP, with effects triangulated by their groups and wordings. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 + 3d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary | Proprietary |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Christian Mehrstam |
| Year | 2024 | 2023 |
| 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. | Experienced players who want a concise, elegant OSR system that rewards creative play: where freeform character groups replace rigid skill lists and miracles are flexible but costly. |
| 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. | Concise yet deep (~136 pages), Groups system replaces both skills and feats, compatible with old-school modules from 1974 onward, Auction mechanic adds tension to extended contests, miracles system rewards creative description, four editions of refinement |
| 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. | Dense writing requires careful reading: not a quick-start game, assumes familiarity with old-school play, no bestiary or setting included, rare classes may feel underdeveloped |