OpenQuest vs Tales of Argosa
Compare OpenQuest and Tales of Argosa side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| OpenQuest | Tales of Argosa | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Skill-Based, Classless, Beginner-Friendly, Deadly, Sword & Sorcery, Mana Points, Roll to Cast, Theater of the Mind, CC-Licensed Rules, Strong GM Support | Deadly, Sandbox, Combat-Heavy, Dungeon Crawl, Roll to Cast, Gritty, CC-Licensed Rules, Sword & Sorcery |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or under a skill percentage to succeed. Doubles on a success (11, 22, 33) are critical successes; doubles on a failure are fumbles. Modifiers apply in meaningful increments of ±20% or ±50% only. Opposed tests have both sides roll, with the highest successful roll winning. Fortune points allow rerolls and can prevent character death. | Roll d20 under attribute to succeed (roll-under). Luck saves deplete your Luck attribute with each success, ratcheting tension. Combat uses Nat 19 effects, Exploits, Fumbles, Crits, and Trauma tables. Dark & Dangerous Magic risks madness and Veil monsters when casting spells. |
| Dice | d100 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Paid |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD) | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | D101 Games | Pickpocket Press |
| Year | 2021 | 2024 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups wanting a streamlined D100 fantasy system that retains the feel of classic BRP (deadly combat, three distinct magic systems, and percentile skills) without hit locations or fiddly modifiers. | Sword & sorcery fans who want fast, brutal combat with diminishing Luck, dark & dangerous magic, and rich emergent sandbox play: group or solo. |
| Highlights | Three magic systems (Personal Magic, Divine Magic, and Sorcery) each with distinct mechanics and progression. Simplified modifiers (±20% or ±50% only) reduce bookkeeping without sacrificing impact. Social combat subsystem handles fast talk, oratory, and intimidation with mechanical structure. Full SRD released under CC BY 4.0, which has spawned commercial derivatives like Jackals (Osprey Games). | Distinctive diminishing Luck mechanic, combat with Exploits and Trauma is consequential, large GM toolbox (hexploration, oracles, hirelings, mass battle), solo rules included, Creative Commons license |
| Considerations | No hit location system: groups wanting granular wound tracking should look to Mythras or RuneQuest. Low hit point totals make combat swingy from single lucky or unlucky rolls. Non-human character options (Ducks, Elves, Dwarves) are optional rules only. | The Diminishing Luck mechanic means characters weaken as they succeed. There are limited magical options in the core rules. The game requires GM comfort with sandbox hexcrawl prep. |