ESSER vs TSRPG
Compare ESSER and TSRPG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| ESSER | TSRPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Universal | Universal |
| Tags | Rules-Light, Theater of the Mind, One-Shot Friendly, Short Sessions, Fast-Paced, Low-Prep, Freeform Magic, Cinematic, Classless, Roll to Cast | Rules-Light, Diceless, Theater of the Mind, Tag-Based, Beginner-Friendly, Fast-Paced, Low-Prep, Solo-Friendly, Freeform Magic, Modular |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + skill bonus + attribute bonus. A result of 1–9 fails with a complication, 10–14 succeeds at a cost, 15–19 fully succeeds, and 20+ succeeds with an epic effect. | The storyteller sets a Challenge Rating (CR) and secretly picks a target number from 1 to the CR, by choice or at random. The leading character adds one attribute, every relevant trait and one piece of special equipment. Helpers add their traits and one piece of equipment each, capped in total at the leader's bonus. The target plus or minus the total bonus, wrapping around the range, is the span of success. The lead player then guesses a number. An exact guess is a critical success, and a guess one away is a near critical. A guess on either end of the span is a near miss, which succeeds with a complication. A guess outside the span fails. With a total bonus below +3, the only results are success and failure. Failure can impose penalties on participating characters' traits or attributes, weakening their later attempts. |
| Dice | d20 | Diceless |
| Complexity | Very Low | Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | Book tools not listed | 3 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | No verified route found | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Espen Erlandsen | Skirmisher Publishing |
| Year | 2026 | 2026 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups seeking a two-hour, genre-flexible one-shot where the same d20 engine handles action and conversation. | Groups who want one simple guessing procedure for risky actions, usable across fantasy and other genres without needing dice, maps or stat blocks. |
| Highlights | The same d20 roll handles standard checks and direct contests, making transitions between scene types quick. Interface scales open-ended supernatural or technical effects by skill tier, letting one procedure cover magic and hacking. NPCs need a core bonus, Strikes, and an optional trait, so a GM can prepare threats with few statistics. | The distance between a player's guess and the hidden target sets up to five outcome grades, so one guess decides both whether and how well a Challenge succeeds. Injuries are penalties on the same traits and attributes that build the bonus, and reducing every one of them to zero kills the character. Sacrificing a durable item or weapon after the guess turns a near miss into a full success and empties that slot until the next session. |
| Considerations | No default setting is provided, so groups must supply a world for their adventure. Gear grants fictional permission rather than numeric bonuses, limiting equipment-based builds. Strikes reset after each adventure, so the track does not preserve mechanical attrition between adventures. | Adventure opponents are written as Challenge Ratings rather than statistics, so the storyteller judges a rating for each approach to any new fight or obstacle. Fights resolve as one or a few group Challenges rather than individual turns, with fictional positioning in place of a tactical movement system. The storyteller calculates a fresh span of success from the group bonus for each guessed Challenge, and spans can wrap past the ends of the range. |