Mythras vs Rolemaster
Compare Mythras and Rolemaster side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Mythras | Rolemaster | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Universal | Fantasy |
| Tags | Crunchy, Tactical, Simulation, Character Building, Deadly, Sandbox | Crunchy, Simulation, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Gritty, Deadly, Roll to Cast, Mana Points, Hackable |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 under your skill percentage. In combat, degree of success vs. opponent determines Special Effects: tactical maneuvers like Disarm, Trip, Bypass Armor, and Bleed. Action Points govern actions per round, damage applies to hit locations. | Most rolls are d100 open-ended: 96–00 is rolled again and added, and a first roll of 01–05 is rolled again and subtracted. A maneuver adds the skill bonus and a difficulty modifier, and a total of 101 or higher succeeds. Some maneuvers allow partial success or partial progress on lower totals. An attack roll opens upward only, adds Offensive Bonus, subtracts the target's Defensive Bonus, and is read on the weapon's attack table in the column for the target's Armor Type. A hit gives damage and sometimes a critical, resolved by a separate d100 roll on a critical table. |
| Dice | d100 | d100 |
| Complexity | High | Very High |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Paid |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | ORC | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | The Design Mechanism | Iron Crown Enterprises |
| Year | 2016 | 2022 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want gritty, tactical, and realistic combat in a skill-based percentile system, particularly for historical, mythic, or low-fantasy settings. | Groups who want a long fantasy campaign with granular character building and combat where weapon, armor, and each wound carry mechanical weight. It suits tables comfortable resolving attacks and injuries through table lookups. |
| Highlights | Tactical Special Effects combat system, classless skill-based progression, five distinct magic systems, adaptable to many genres, free intro version (Mythras Imperative) | Armor Type selects the column on each attack table, so armor changes both the damage a blow delivers and the total needed to score a critical. Profession sets what each skill rank costs, so a Fighter can still take magical skills at a higher cost. Spell Law organizes magic into 171 lists of 25 spells, and a caster buys ranks in a list to reach its higher-level spells. |
| Considerations | Steep learning curve for combat, analysis paralysis when choosing effects, large combats become unwieldy, lengthy character creation | Core Law and Spell Law have no bestiary or treasure tables, which Core Law assigns to the separate Creature Law and Treasure Law volumes. Resolving one attack can take an attack-table lookup, a critical roll, and tracking of bleeding, stun, and injury penalties. Without magical healing, injuries can take days or longer to recover, and Core Law advises scheduling significant downtime between combat sessions. |