Fate Core vs Index Card RPG
Compare Fate Core and Index Card RPG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Fate Core | Index Card RPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Universal | Universal |
| Play Style | Narrative, Rules-Light, Collaborative, Cinematic, Improvisation, Theater of the Mind, Low-Prep, Roleplay-Heavy, Drama, Freeform Magic, Open Source, Tag-Based | Fast-Paced, Dungeon Crawl, Low-Prep, Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Combat-Heavy, Pulp Action, Ascending AC, Tag-Based |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 4 Fudge dice + skill vs. difficulty. Spend/earn Fate points to invoke aspects. | Roll d20 + stat vs. a single Target Number for the whole scene. On a hit, roll an Effort die (d4–d12 by type) to chip away at a task's Hearts (10 HP each). Timer dice count down each round to create urgency. |
| Dice | 4dF (Fudge dice) | d20 + d4–d12 |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Community | High | High |
| License | CC BY 3.0 | 3rd Party License |
| Cost | Free (SRD) | $$ |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Runehammer Games |
| Year | 2013 | 2019 |
| Best For | Narrative-focused groups who want to tell collaborative stories in any genre with minimal rules. | Groups who love D&D's d20 feel but want something faster, lighter, and more improvisational. Excellent for high-energy dungeon crawls with minimal prep. |
| Highlights | Genre-agnostic, encourages narrative play, free rules | Very fast play, extensive GM tools, five genre settings included, highly hackable, timer dice create real tension |
| Considerations | Aspect economy demands constant creative input which can exhaust players, character differentiation can blur with freeform aspects, requires system mastery from the GM to run smoothly | DIY philosophy can overwhelm new GMs, loot-as-progression feels punishing if gear is lost |