Low Fantasy Gaming vs The Black Hack
Compare Low Fantasy Gaming and The Black Hack side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Low Fantasy Gaming | The Black Hack | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Low-Fantasy, Gritty, Deadly, Sword & Sorcery, Corruption, Sandbox, Dungeon Crawl, Random Tables, Strong GM Support, Hackable | Rules-Light, Dungeon Crawl, Hackable, Beginner-Friendly |
| Core Mechanic | Combat uses standard d20 + class attack bonus + ability modifier vs. Armour Class. Out of combat, attribute checks roll equal-or-under (1d20 ≤ attribute, with degrees of success), and skills add +1 and grant access to a level-based Reroll Pool that smooths the d20 swing. Dropping to zero hit points triggers an All Dead vs. Mostly Dead check and a roll on the Injuries & Setbacks table (lost eyes and limbs, broken ribs, madness, permanent scars). Spell casting is uncertain: every cast carries a cumulative 1-in-20 chance of triggering the Dark & Dangerous Magic d100 table, which can mutate the caster, sap Luck, or summon hostile aberrations. The Luck attribute itself is a depleting meta-resource that fuels saves, Major Exploits, and Rescue Exploits. | Players roll d20 under their attribute scores to succeed at actions. Advantage and Disadvantage (roll 2d20, pick best or worst) modify difficulty. Armour provides a pool of d6 Armour Dice that absorb damage. Consumable resources use a Usage Die chain (d20→d12→d10→d8→d6→d4→gone): roll 1–2 to downgrade. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 + d4–d12 |
| Complexity | Medium | Very Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | OGL 1.0a | The Black Hack Open Game License |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Pickpocket Press | Gold Piece Publications |
| Year | 2020 | 2018 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want gritty low-magic fantasy where every combat carries real consequences (broken bones, lost limbs, madness) and where casting a spell is a calculated gamble that can corrupt the caster or summon something worse. | Groups wanting a fast, hackable OSR dungeon-crawling game with modern design sensibilities: roll under attributes, abstract distances, and usage dice that track resources without bookkeeping. |
| Highlights | Dark & Dangerous Magic puts every spell at risk of triggering a d100 corruption table (mutations, summoned aberrations, Luck loss, madness) with the chance climbing by 1 in 20 each cast until it fires, making sorcery a calculated gamble rather than reliable utility. Martial Exploits layer creative combat moves (Minor, Major, and Rescue) on top of a successful hit, such as disarms, decapitations, or throwing an ally clear of a fireball, fueled by depleting Luck checks rather than a fixed action menu, so combats are improvisation-driven rather than rotation-driven. Every PC designs a Unique Feature at 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th level in conversation with the GM, working off 36 worked examples (Awakened Host, Faustian Pact, Skill Prodigy, Slippery Bastard) that each scale through low, moderate, and high power tiers the table can cherry-pick. | Highly hackable: spawned an entire subgenre of 'X Hack' games, core rules fit in about 30 pages, Usage Die tracks resources without inventory math, armour-as-dice-pool adds a tactical layer, conversational writing style makes rules easy to learn |
| Considerations | Magic Users are deliberately weaker than other classes: no at-will spells, no teleport, no mind reading, no resurrection, and every cast risks a corruption effect, so spell-focused players have to accept playing a high-risk role that can lose its toolkit mid-adventure. The 12th-level cap shortens the campaign arc: the book trades long-haul progression for keeping monsters threatening and magic spectacular, but groups expecting decades-long advancement curves will hit the ceiling. Permanent injuries from the Injuries & Setbacks table are a regular outcome of going to zero hit points, and short of rare in-setting healing magic those disabilities stay, which can frustrate groups attached to keeping their characters physically whole. | Only 4 classes (Warrior, Thief, Cleric, Wizard) in the core, limited character customization beyond class and background, no setting included, light on GM guidance compared to larger games, may lack depth for long campaigns |