Hero Kids vs Mage: The Ascension
Compare Hero Kids and Mage: The Ascension side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Hero Kids | Mage: The Ascension | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Modern, Horror |
| Tags | Beginner-Friendly, One-Shot Friendly, Grid-Based, Family-Friendly, Low-Prep, Heroic | Freeform Magic, Character Building, Crunchy, High-Power, Roll to Cast, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Fear & Stress Mechanics |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d6 dice pool (pool size from hero card stats). Attacker's highest die vs. defender's highest die: equal or higher hits. Ability tests roll pool vs. target number (4/5/6). | Build a d10 pool from an Attribute plus an Ability and count each die that meets or exceeds the difficulty, usually 6. Each rolled 1 cancels a success, and a roll with no successes and at least one 1 botches. Magick uses Arete instead: the highest Sphere plus coincidence or vulgarity and witnesses establishes the base difficulty, with situational modifiers applied afterward. Successes determine the Effect, and vulgar casting risks Paradox. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | Low | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | 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 | $ | $$ |
| Publisher | Hero Forge Games | Onyx Path Publishing |
| Year | 2012 | 2015 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish |
| Best For | Parents introducing kids aged 4–10 to tabletop RPGs. Simple enough for young children, with grid combat and pre-made hero cards. | Groups who want long-form modern occult campaigns about reality-shaping power, ideological conflict, and the consequences of imposing belief on the world. |
| Highlights | Genuinely playable by young children, print-and-play hero cards and stand-ups, included introductory adventure, lots of expansion adventures available | Nine Spheres combine to build open-ended Effects, allowing the same capability to emerge through different paradigms, practices, and instruments. Coincidental and vulgar classifications make subtlety a tactical choice because conspicuous magick raises difficulty and accumulates Paradox. Focus ties belief to procedure, so a mage's worldview determines the tools and rituals used to alter reality. |
| Considerations | Too simple for older players, no character progression system, fantasy-only, requires printing materials | Improvised Effects place frequent adjudication on the Storyteller, who must apply Sphere permissions, focus, required successes, and consequences consistently. Vulgar magick generates Paradox even on success, so overt power can punish a mage through injury or metaphysical breakdown. Faction choices can make a cabal internally hostile, so character concepts need shared motives before play. |