Fear and Panic vs Mothership
Compare Fear and Panic and Mothership side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Fear and Panic | Mothership | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror | Scifi, Horror |
| Tags | CC-Licensed Rules, Classless, Deadly, Fast-Paced, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Low-Prep, One-Shot Friendly, Rules-Light, Skill-Based, Theater of the Mind | Rules-Light, Deadly, One-Shot Friendly, Survival, Atmospheric, Low-Prep, Cinematic, Fast-Paced |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or below the relevant skill. In opposed tests, a success beats a failure, the higher success wins, and the higher roll wins if both sides fail; doubles are critical. | Roll d100 under stat/skill. Stress and panic mechanics escalate tension. |
| Dice | d100 | d100 |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | Low | Medium |
| License | CC BY 4.0 | 3rd Party License |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $ | $ |
| Publisher | Lyme | Tuesday Knight Games |
| Year | 2025 | 2022 |
| Best For | One-shots and short horror campaigns about ordinary people, especially groups converting existing d100 scenarios and wanting lethal conflict without tactical maps. | Terrifying sci-fi horror one-shots and short campaigns. Panic table creates unforgettable moments. |
| Highlights | Player-triggered Fear turns frightening moments into a resource for desperate actions such as rerolls or rapid investigation. One opposed Violence roll compares Fight or Flee against Menace and Escape, producing injuries, displacement, capture, or death without hit points. Scars persist between adventures and exchange one capability for another, making survival change characters mechanically. | Rules-light, well-regarded module library, panic system creates mechanical tension |
| Considerations | Fear gain relies on players deciding when their characters are scared, so the economy depends on shared genre judgment. Violence can end in death after one opposed roll, with simultaneous resolution, no tactical maps, and no hit points. Traits and campaign-specific skills are open-ended, leaving their scope and balance to GM adjudication. | Panic table can cascade and end sessions abruptly, limited long-campaign support in core rules, stress mechanics can feel repetitive over extended play |