Everspark vs Vagabond

Compare Everspark and Vagabond side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.

	Everspark	Vagabond
Genre	Fantasy	Fantasy
Tags	Rules-Light, Solo-Friendly, GM-Less, High-Fantasy, Improvisation, Player-Only Rolls, CC-Licensed Rules	Fast-Paced, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, Sandbox, Heroic, Pulp Action, Solo-Friendly, Player-Only Rolls, Mana Points
Core Mechanic	Skill Checks roll a single d20 with no modifiers and read the result in five tiers: 20 is Very Good (success plus an Opportunity), around 15 is Good, around 10 is OK (success with a Complication), around 5 is Bad, and 1 is Very Bad (failure plus serious Complication). Leverage and Drawback shift the interpretation rather than the roll. Sparks track progress on anything in the fiction (combat, projects, threats, conditions) by drawing rays of a 5-point star on a sticky note; after each advance, roll a d6, and if it lands at or under the rays drawn, the Spark resolves. A 6 on the final check of a closed 5-ray Spark Overturns it, flipping the expected outcome.	Roll d20 vs. Difficulty (20 − Stat, doubled if Trained). Crit on nat 20, fail below Difficulty. All rolls player-facing. Spend Luck for Advantage (Favor) or rerolls (Fluke). Three saves: Endure (MIT×2), Reflex (DEX+AWR), Will (RSN+PRS). Defend with Block or Dodge on off-turns. Mana-based magic scales one spell from cantrip to nuke. Enemy AI action gambits run monsters for the GM.
Dice	d20, d6	d20
Complexity	Very Low	Low
Availability	Paid	Free quickstart
Runnability	4 of 5 book tools	1 of 5 book tools
License	CC BY-SA 4.0	Open Compatibility
Third-Party Publishing	Not yet researched	Not yet researched
Publisher	Cezar Capacle	Land of the Blind
Year	2025	2024
Languages	English	English
Best For	Solo players or groups who want zero-prep fantasy adventures with maximum narrative flexibility: especially anyone drawn to GM-less or solo play, brand-new players, or experienced groups looking for a relaxed alternative to crunchy fantasy systems.	Groups wanting modern character depth married to old-school speed: 20+ ancestries, 17 classes, non-Vancian mana magic, and built-in solo/co-op/guided play.
Highlights	Sparks abstract every progress system (combat damage, long-term projects, looming threats, resources, lasting conditions) into one shared mechanic, so the rules stay tiny while still tracking long-arc events. Skill checks are player-facing only: monsters, traps, and NPCs act fictionally and the player rolls a d20 to react, removing GM-side rolls entirely. Four built-in modes (solo, GM-less coop, parallel where each player runs their own protagonist, and hosted) let the same game work whether one person sits down alone or six gather at a table. Character sheets carry no numbers: Ancestry, Background, and Class drawn from 20 entries each yield 8,000 baseline combinations and can be rolled randomly in seconds or written out over fifteen minutes through question prompts.	Mana-based magic scales a single spell from cantrip to high-powered effect, so casters shape output on the fly instead of tracking fixed spell slots. Enemy action gambits run monsters from decision tables, removing per-turn tactical choices from the GM's workload. A spendable Luck pool buys Advantage or rerolls, turning swing into a resource players ration across a session.
Considerations	No combat mechanics, hit points, or numerical traits: players who want tactical positioning, action economy, or character build optimization won't find any of it. Sparks are freeform: when to create one, when to advance, and what counts as resolution are constant judgment calls rather than rules questions. No published setting: every world, faction, and pantheon must be created on the spot or imported from another game's material. Without DCs or modifiers, two characters with very different fictional competence still roll the same; mechanical differentiation is replaced entirely by Leverage/Drawback rulings and narrative description.	Dense class and ancestry options can overwhelm new players. Pulp-fantasy tone limits grimdark play. All rolls are player-facing, so the GM never rolls dice and every check rests on the players.