Honey Heist vs Pirate Borg
Compare Honey Heist and Pirate Borg side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Honey Heist | Pirate Borg | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Modern | Fantasy, Horror |
| Tags | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Comedy, Heist, Random Character Creation, Random Tables, Low-Prep, Gonzo, Fast-Paced, Theater of the Mind | Deadly, Rules-Light, Gonzo, Pirates, Fast-Paced, Random Tables |
| Core Mechanic | When a bear acts and the outcome is in doubt, the player rolls 1d6 against the relevant stat, Bear or Criminal: a roll equal to or under the stat succeeds, and a roll over it fails. Using the bear type's skill or doing something covered by the character's role rolls 2d6 and keeps the lowest. When the lowest die rolled is a 6, the GM introduces a twist or unseen complication. | Roll d20 + ability modifier vs. a Difficulty Rating (DR). Players roll both attack and defense. Five abilities (STR, AGI, PRE, TOU, SPI). Classes include Brute, Rapscallion, Buccaneer, and Swashbuckler. Devil's Luck points provide clutch rerolls. Ship combat uses broadside volleys and boarding actions. Fully compatible with Mörk Borg content. |
| Dice | d6 | d20 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | Book tools not listed | 3 of 5 book tools |
| License | RR&D Community Licence v1.14 | Mörk Borg Third Party License |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — RR&D Community Licence (Grant Howitt's One Page RPGs) | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Rowan, Rook and Decard (Grant Howitt) | Limithron LLC / Free League Publishing |
| Year | 2017 | 2023 |
| Languages | English | English, Swedish |
| Best For | Groups who want a silly, low-prep one-shot as a crew of bears pulling a heist at a honey convention. | Groups who want fast, brutal pirate adventures with a doom-metal aesthetic: ship combat, cursed treasure, and a world spiraling toward annihilation. |
| Highlights | Greed moves a point from Bear to Criminal when the plan goes off without a hitch, and Frustration moves one back when the plan fails and the bear runs into difficulty. A player can shift a point toward Criminal by playing a flashback scene of the bears planning the heist, or toward Bear by eating a load of honey. The GM sets up each heist from random tables, including two security features and a complication kept secret from the players. | Simple rules, ship combat is fast-paced, Devil's Luck creates drama, fully Mörk Borg compatible, extensive random tables for pirate adventures |
| Considerations | There are no experience, advancement or campaign rules. Bear covers shrugging off damage, but the rules track no damage or injury. The sheet gives no rule for what a player does after their bear betrays the party or flips out at 6. | Class balance varies significantly, core book layout prioritizes style over reference usability, ship combat rules are lighter than expected, random character generation limits player investment |