Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game vs Red Markets
Compare Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game and Red Markets side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game | Red Markets | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Historical | Horror, Post-Apocalyptic |
| Tags | Fear & Stress Mechanics, Player-Only Rolls, Theater of the Mind, Character Building, Character-Driven, Narrative, Resource Management, Low-Prep, Weird, Licensed IP | Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gritty, Resource Management, Roleplay-Heavy, Character-Driven |
| Core Mechanic | The GM sets a task difficulty from 0 to 10, with a target number equal to three times the difficulty. Players roll a d20 for tasks, attacks and defenses and succeed by meeting that target. Skills, assets and Effort ease the difficulty; a task reduced to 0 succeeds automatically. Effort costs points from Might, Speed or Intellect Pools, with Edge reducing the cost. | Roll 2d10: one black (skill), one red (threat). Black higher than red means success; doubles are critical results. Characters track economic resources via Bounty (currency), gear with limited charges and upkeep costs, and a negotiation system using a Sway Tracker. Humanity erodes through Trauma, Stress, and Detachment tracks. |
| Dice | d20 | 2d10 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Availability | Paid | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | Book tools not listed |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | No verified route found | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Monte Cook Games | Hebanon Games |
| Year | 2023 | 2017 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups seeking community-centered folk horror in an alternate Appalachia of the 1920s and 1930s. It suits tables comfortable with personal goals driving advancement, spending health resources on tasks and discussing horror boundaries together. | Groups who want a zombie RPG that's really about economic survival: negotiating contracts, managing resources, and deciding what you're willing to sacrifice to keep your dependents alive. |
| Highlights | Personal character arcs award XP for completed steps and climaxes, making chosen goals part of advancement. Single-use cyphers frequently replace spent charms and strange objects, encouraging players to use unusual tools. What Wakes Mode widens the natural-roll range for GM intrusions until a ten-hour recovery normally resets it, turning supernatural attention into escalating pressure. | Economic focus makes every job feel high-stakes, negotiation mechanics add tension before combat even starts, humanity/trauma system creates character arcs, zombie threat serves a story about capitalism and survival |
| Considerations | Stat Pools pay for Effort and abilities as well as absorb harm, so spending them can reduce a character’s resilience. The GM chooses task difficulties and introduces complications, making consistent adjudication a substantial responsibility. The core centers on alternate Appalachia in the 1920s and 1930s, so a different setting requires adapting its lore and character connections. | Heavy bookkeeping with multiple resource tracks, relentlessly bleak tone, steep learning curve for the Profit system, limited availability of the full rulebook |