Legend of the Five Rings vs Mistfall: Armageddon
Compare Legend of the Five Rings and Mistfall: Armageddon side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Legend of the Five Rings | Mistfall: Armageddon | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Modern |
| Tags | Social Combat, Social Intrigue, Character-Driven, Drama, Character Building, Narrative, Tactical, Crunchy, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support | Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Freeform Magic, Corruption, Character-Driven, Character Building, Crunchy, Lore-Heavy, Social Combat, Narrative |
| Core Mechanic | Choose a skill and elemental approach. Roll custom d6s equal to the ring value and custom d12s equal to the skill rank. Keep up to the ring's value in dice. Count successes on kept dice against a target number. Explosive successes can add rolls. Spend opportunity symbols for extra effects. Strife symbols on kept dice build emotional pressure. The core includes a conversion table for ordinary d6s and d12s. | A check adds a characteristic and a Skill die, then subtracts a Fate die, and succeeds when the total equals or beats a Challenge Level from 1 to 30. Skill rank sets the Skill die, from d4 untrained up to d20 plus d4 at rank seven. Each hindering element in the scene adds a rank of Fate, stepping the Fate die from d4 up to d20. A total below 1 is a Bane that brings a major complication. A total of double the Challenge Level or more is a heroic triumph that earns a Boon. Players roll for their own actions and for defense against adversaries. |
| Dice | d6 + d12 custom dice | d4–d20 |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Availability | Paid | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 3 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Noncommercial only — Fan content policy | Noncommercial only — Fair Use Conditions printed in the rulebook |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Edge Studio | 7th Reality Games |
| Year | 2018 | 2026 |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, Spanish | English |
| Best For | Groups who want samurai campaigns where personal desires clash with sworn duties, with detailed court intrigue and tactical duels. | Groups who want long urban-fantasy campaigns built around each character's personal nemesis, with deep investment in interlocking talents, traits and freeform magic. |
| Highlights | Choosing an elemental approach changes how a skill tackles a problem and which opportunities a player can spend. Strife turns emotional pressure into a mechanical limit, inviting characters to reveal desires they are expected to conceal. Intrigues and duels give courtiers and warriors distinct tools for pursuing their goals. | Each player designs a personal nemesis, and confronting it at the climax of a Nemesis Cycle (nine sessions is the recommended length) grants Edge win or lose and a characteristic increase on a win. Spells are assembled from manifestations and tags, with larger combinations costing more Soul on the caster's Corruption tracker. Damage to a player character lands on six status trackers tied to the six characteristics, so a social or financial attack wears down Influence or Affluence the way a blade wears down Physicality. |
| Considerations | Players track emotional pressure and social standing alongside the action. Keeping dice and choosing opportunities can slow checks until the group knows its options. Clan duties and Bushidō shape character creation and consequences, so campaigns in other settings require adapting those assumptions. | The core book contains no ready-to-play adventure, so a first session needs the free Quick Start scenario or material the Narrator builds. Character creation runs ten steps and ends with each player co-designing a nemesis, which makes it a full Session Zero activity. The mechanical content is dark: the Insanity injury table includes self-harm and suicidal ideation, and Warlock patrons can demand the blood sacrifice of an innocent. |