Old-School Essentials vs White Box: FMAG
Compare Old-School Essentials and White Box: FMAG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Old-School Essentials | White Box: FMAG | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Dungeon Crawl, Exploration, Hexcrawl, Deadly, Sandbox, Resource Management, Inventory Management, Random Tables, Vancian Casting, Strong GM Support | Rules-Light, Classic Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Deadly, Hackable, Beginner-Friendly, Random Character Creation, Vancian Casting, Descending AC, Hexcrawl |
| Core Mechanic | Attacks roll d20 against an attack matrix or an optional ascending Armour Class target. Saving throws meet a category target on d20. Ability checks roll at or below an ability score on d20. | Roll d20 + modifiers against a target number derived from the defender's Armor Class (descending AC by default, ascending AC optional). Attribute modifiers are compressed to −1, 0, or +1. Each class has a single saving throw number that improves with level. Side-based initiative is rolled each round on d6. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 2 of 5 book tools |
| License | OGL 1.0a | OGL 1.0a |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Necrotic Gnome | Seattle Hill Games |
| Year | 2019 | 2016 |
| Languages | English, Italian, Spanish, French, Czech, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean | English |
| Best For | Groups who want treasure-driven dungeon expeditions and open wilderness campaigns with fragile starting characters. | Groups wanting the simplest possible version of original D&D: four classes, compressed modifiers, and intentional rules gaps that invite house rules and Referee creativity. |
| Highlights | Treasure recovered from adventures provides most experience points, rewarding successful exploration over fighting alone. Reaction and optional morale rolls let encounters lead to negotiation or flight instead of automatic combat. Stronghold construction and taxation let accumulated wealth support a growing domain. | Attribute modifiers compressed to −1/0/+1 keeps math fast and reduces stat dependency. Complete game in 143 pages including monsters, treasure, spells, and wilderness/dungeon procedures. A free PDF and a low-cost print edition make it one of the most accessible OSR games. Intentional rules gaps and a blank House Rules page explicitly invite customization. |
| Considerations | Characters die at zero hit points, and failed poison saves are usually fatal. Demihuman characters combine ancestry with class and have lower level limits than human classes. Declared spells are lost if the caster is hit or fails a saving throw before acting. | Four classes (three without the optional Thief) limits character variety. No formal skill system: the Referee adjudicates all non-combat actions. Level tables cap at 10, requiring house rules for extended campaigns. |