Epyllion vs No Thank You, Evil!
Compare Epyllion and No Thank You, Evil! side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Epyllion | No Thank You, Evil! | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Narrative, Beginner-Friendly, Family-Friendly, Rules-Light, Fiction-First, Character-Driven | Beginner-Friendly, Family-Friendly, Rules-Light, Narrative, Collaborative, Low-Prep |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d6 + stat (Courage, Charm, or Cunning): 10+ is a hit, 7–9 is a partial hit, 6− is a miss. Friendship Gems are passed between players to reward virtuous behavior and spent to power moon magic. A Shadow Track measures the Darkness's hold: fill it and you become your corrupted Shadowself until friends pull you back. | Simplified Cypher System: roll d6 vs. difficulty number (1–6). Spend points from pools (Tough, Fast, Smart, Awesome) to lower difficulty. Character sentences scale by age: 'I'm a Noun' (age 5+), 'I'm an Adjective Noun' (age 6+), 'I'm an Adjective Noun who Verbs' (age 8+). Every character has a Companion with a one-use Cypher power. Any player can shout 'No Thank You, Evil!' to instantly end a scary encounter. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d6 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Paid | Paid |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 3 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary (PbtA) | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Magpie Games | Monte Cook Games |
| Year | 2016 | 2015 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Families and groups who want a heartfelt, friendship-driven adventure where everyone plays young dragons protecting their world from a creeping Darkness. | Families with kids aged 5 and up who want a structured, supportive introduction to tabletop RPGs in a whimsical setting. |
| Highlights | Accessible gateway RPG for families and new players, friendship gem economy makes cooperation mechanical, dragon setting with its own lore, six playbooks with distinct Shadowself arcs | Three complexity tiers scale character sentences by age (5+, 6+, 8+), built-in safety mechanic lets any player end a scary encounter, every character has a Companion with a one-use Cypher power, uses simplified Cypher System rules as a gateway to Numenera and The Strange |
| Considerations | Very niche: you must want to play young dragons, limited mechanical depth, tightly bound to its setting | Designed for ages 5–12 with limited mechanical depth for older players, d6 vs. difficulty 1–6 resolution has narrow outcome range, setting is locked to the whimsical land of Storia, no advancement system beyond the three-tier sentence structure |