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, Resource Management, Character Building, Narrative, Theater of the Mind, Low-Prep, Strong GM Support, Lore-Heavy, Atmospheric | Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Corruption, Drama, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a d20 against a target number equal to three times the GM's task difficulty. Training, helpful assets and Effort reduce that difficulty before the roll. Effort spends points from Might, Speed or Intellect Pools, with Edge reducing the cost. Reducing difficulty to zero makes the task automatic. Players roll attacks and defenses against creature difficulty. | 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. Each pair of 10s counts as four 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 | Very High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Noncommercial only — Fan use policy | 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 |
| Languages | English, Italian, Portuguese | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want discovery-focused science fantasy and changing tools for solving unusual problems. It suits campaigns about exploring ancient ruins and deciding how to use their technology. | 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 | Single-use cyphers give every character temporary powers that can change their approach to an obstacle. Discoveries earn experience points, giving characters a reason to explore beyond combat. Combining a character type with a descriptor and focus supports distinct mechanical specialties. | Brutal outcomes can force destructive failures or add four successes to actions the Storyteller judges can benefit from Rage. 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 | Effort draws from the same stat Pools that absorb damage, so increasing the chance of success can reduce a character's resilience. GM intrusions let the GM add complications to successful actions, so players need to be comfortable with negotiated setbacks. The Ninth World's unexplained technology leaves many answers for the GM to invent. | A Crinos-form Garou who did not kill in the previous turn must spend Willpower at the start of the next turn or enter frenzy, 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. |