Fear and Panic vs Shadow of the Demon Lord
Compare Fear and Panic and Shadow of the Demon Lord side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Fear and Panic | Shadow of the Demon Lord | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror | Fantasy, 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 | Grimdark, Short Sessions, Beginner-Friendly, Strong GM Support |
| 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 d20 + modifier vs. target number 10. Boons and banes (d6s) add or subtract from the roll, canceling each other out. |
| Dice | d100 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | Low | High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 | Forbidden Rules SRD |
| 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 | Schwalb Entertainment |
| Year | 2025 | 2015 |
| Best For | One-shots and short horror campaigns about ordinary people, especially groups converting existing d100 scenarios and wanting lethal conflict without tactical maps. | Groups who want fast, dark fantasy with streamlined d20 mechanics and a sense of impending doom. |
| 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. | Fast character creation, quick sessions, single boon/bane mechanic replaces most modifiers, 11 levels keep campaigns short |
| 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. | Dark horror tone limits genre range, setting tightly coupled to core rules |