Numenera vs Werewolf: The Apocalypse

Compare Numenera and Werewolf: The Apocalypse side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Numenera	Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Genre	Scifi, Fantasy	Horror, Modern, Fantasy
Tags	Exploration, Weird, Theater of the Mind, Player-Only Rolls, Low-Prep, Lore-Heavy, Cinematic, Atmospheric, Narrative	Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Combat-Heavy, Corruption, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy
Core Mechanic	GM sets task difficulty 1–10; the target number is difficulty × 3 on a d20. Players ease difficulty by being trained (one step) or specialized (two steps) in a skill, having a favorable asset, or applying Effort: spending points from Might, Speed, or Intellect Pools, with Edge in the relevant stat reducing the cost. Players make all rolls; defense rolls against creatures use the same d20 system as attacks. Natural 17–20 add bonus damage or trigger minor and major effects; natural 1 prompts a GM intrusion that awards the player XP.	Build a d10 dice pool, usually from an Attribute plus a Skill. Each 6 or higher is a success, and meeting the Storyteller-set Difficulty wins. Pairs of 10s add successes. Rage dice replace regular dice up to current Rage and can cause Brutal outcomes.
Dice	d20	d10 dice pool
Complexity	Medium	High
Accessibility	High	Medium
Runnability	High	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	Monte Cook Games	Renegade Game Studios
Year	2018	2023
Best For	Groups who want exploration-driven science-fantasy where uncovering ancient technology and forgotten knowledge is the campaign's core reward. Particularly suited to GMs who prefer minimal preparation and players who enjoy spending stat-pool resources to ease tasks rather than tracking many subsystems.	Groups who want long-form modern horror about shapeshifter packs defending communities from ecological and spiritual threats, with violent power constrained by moral and social consequences.
Highlights	Cyphers are single-use, randomly determined gadgets that every character carries and that refresh each session, so combat and problem-solving options change constantly without permanent power creep. The GM never rolls: players make all attack and defense rolls against fixed creature target numbers. Three character types (Glaive, Nano, Jack) combine with dozens of descriptors and foci to produce sharply differentiated builds without a class-and-level structure. XP is awarded for discovery and for accepting GM intrusions rather than for combat, and players can spend XP on player intrusions to bend the narrative.	Rage dice make supernatural power volatile because Brutal results can redirect failed actions into destruction or magnify successful violence. Choosing a Garou form changes a character's capabilities, creating tactical and narrative options. Caerns give the pack an improvable spiritual home whose traits connect campaign advancement to territory and community.
Considerations	Combat is theater of the mind by default with no grid or detailed positioning rules. GM intrusions are central to play and require player buy-in; players who prefer uninterrupted action control may find them disruptive. Cyphers must be rolled or selected fresh each session, adding GM workload that scales with party size. The Ninth World setting is intentionally vague in many places, leaving GMs to invent specific details.	After a turn without a kill, Crinos requires Willpower each turn or frenzy follows, making the war form difficult to sustain outside violent scenes. Harano and Hauglosk can remove a Garou from play when despair or absolutism fills either track, making moral decline a campaign-level consequence. The game centers mature environmental and spiritual horror, including graphic violence and themes of exploitation and extremism that require deliberate table boundaries.