Fate Core vs Risus
Compare Fate Core and Risus side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Fate Core | Risus | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Beginner-Friendly, Comedy, Low-Prep, Narrative, Fiction-First, Freeform Magic, Tag-Based |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 4 Fudge dice + skill vs. difficulty. Spend/earn Fate points to invoke aspects. | Characters are defined by Clichés rated in d6s (e.g., Viking (4), Hacker (3)). Roll your Cliché dice vs. a target number or in opposed rolls where the low roller loses a die. |
| Dice | 4dF (Fudge dice) | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Low | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Community | High | Medium |
| License | CC BY 3.0 | Free (non-commercial) |
| Cost | Free (SRD) | Free |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Big Dice Games |
| Year | 2013 | 2021 |
| Best For | Narrative-focused groups who want to tell collaborative stories in any genre with minimal rules. | Pick-up games, emergency one-shots, comedy campaigns, or anytime you need a complete RPG in four pages that handles any genre. |
| Highlights | Genre-agnostic, encourages narrative play, free rules | Fits on four pages, broadly universal, character creation takes minutes, decades of community support, completely free |
| 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 | Cliché-based resolution can feel one-note over multiple sessions, limited advancement rules, team combat heavily favors larger groups, creating a strong incentive to always combine dice, comedy tone permeates all mechanical language |