Grimwild vs Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Compare Grimwild and Werewolf: The Apocalypse side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Grimwild	Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Genre	Fantasy	Horror, Modern, Fantasy
Tags	Narrative, Fiction-First, Cinematic, Character-Driven, Heroic, Low-Prep, Random Tables, Player-Only Rolls, CC-Licensed Rules	Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Combat-Heavy, Corruption, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy
Core Mechanic	Roll a pool of d6 stat dice and take the highest: 6 is a perfect, 4–5 is messy (you succeed with trouble), 1–3 is grim. Two or more 6s is a critical. For harder tasks the GM adds d8 thorns, which can cut a high die down a tier. Players spend spark to boost rolls; the GM spends suspense to complicate them. The GM never rolls.	Build a d10 dice pool, usually from an Attribute plus a Skill. Each 6 or higher is a success, and meeting the Storyteller-set Difficulty wins. Pairs of 10s add successes. Rage dice replace regular dice up to current Rage and can cause Brutal outcomes.
Dice	d6 dice pool, d8	d10 dice pool
Complexity	Low	High
Accessibility	Very High	Medium
Runnability	High	Very High
License	CC BY 4.0	All Rights Reserved
Third-Party Publishing	Not yet researched	Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault
Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.
Cost	Free	$$
Publisher	Oddity Press	Renegade Game Studios
Year	2025	2023
Best For	Groups who want fast, cinematic heroic fantasy that leans on dramatic story beats and character arcs rather than tactical grid combat.	Groups who want long-form modern horror about shapeshifter packs defending communities from ecological and spiritual threats, with violent power constrained by moral and social consequences.
Highlights	Action rolls take the highest of a d6 stat pool for a perfect, messy, or grim result, so every roll lands on a three-tier outcome rather than pass/fail. The GM raises difficulty by adding d8 thorns that can cut an otherwise good result, scaling danger without changing the dice you roll. Pools of d6 track resources, threats, and clocks by dropping dice as they deplete, unifying hit points, supplies, and looming dangers into one countdown.	Rage dice make supernatural power volatile because Brutal results can redirect failed actions into destruction or magnify successful violence. Choosing a Garou form changes a character's capabilities, creating tactical and narrative options. Caerns give the pack an improvable spiritual home whose traits connect campaign advancement to territory and community.
Considerations	The GM never rolls dice, so all pacing and threat escalation rest on GM judgment and spent suspense. Outcomes are deliberately cinematic rather than simulationist, abstracting away tactical positioning and precise resource accounting. Advancement is tied to resolving story and character arcs, so groups that skip arc play get little mechanical progression.	After a turn without a kill, Crinos requires Willpower each turn or frenzy follows, making the war form difficult to sustain outside violent scenes. Harano and Hauglosk can remove a Garou from play when despair or absolutism fills either track, making moral decline a campaign-level consequence. The game centers mature environmental and spiritual horror, including graphic violence and themes of exploitation and extremism that require deliberate table boundaries.