Fate Core vs We Are But Worms
Compare Fate Core and We Are But Worms side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Fate Core | We Are But Worms | |
|---|---|---|
| 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, GM-Less, Freeform Magic, Experimental |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 4 Fudge dice + skill vs. difficulty. Spend/earn Fate points to invoke aspects. | The entire game is one word. No dice, no stats, no GM. Playable as a tabletop RPG or LARP. Explores physical embodiment and perspective through the act of play itself. |
| Dice | 4dF (Fudge dice) | Diceless |
| Complexity | Low | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Community | High | Very Low |
| License | CC BY 3.0 | Proprietary |
| Cost | Free (SRD) | Free / $ |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Riverhouse Games |
| Year | 2013 | 2019 |
| Best For | Narrative-focused groups who want to tell collaborative stories in any genre with minimal rules. | Anyone curious about the absolute boundary of what an RPG can be — a single-word game about embodiment, physicality, and being a worm. |
| Highlights | Genre-agnostic, encourages narrative play, free rules | Entire game is a single word, playable as tabletop or LARP, zero barrier to entry, has spawned numerous community hacks and adaptations |
| 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 | No mechanical structure — no dice, no stats, no resolution system, one word of rules text with no GM guidance or scenario framework, single session only, no character creation or advancement |