Red Markets vs Vampire: The Masquerade
Compare Red Markets and Vampire: The Masquerade side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Red Markets | Vampire: The Masquerade | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Post-Apocalyptic | Horror, Modern |
| Play Style | Horror, Gritty, Resource Management, Roleplay-Heavy, Character-Driven | Social Intrigue, Drama, Roleplay-Heavy, Atmospheric, Faction Play, Investigation, Collaborative, Character-Driven, Urban Fantasy, Corruption, Lore-Heavy, Noir |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Roll a pool of d10s (attribute + skill), count successes (6+). Hunger dice replace regular dice in the pool — their 10s trigger Messy Criticals and their 1s trigger Bestial Failures, making the Beast an ever-present threat. |
| Dice | 2d10 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | Low | Medium |
| Community | Low | High |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Hebanon Games | Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2017 | 2018 |
| Best For | 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. | Drama-heavy campaigns exploring themes of addiction, power, and losing your humanity. |
| Highlights | 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 | Hunger system mechanically integrates the vampire's predatory nature into every dice roll. Detailed social and political frameworks with clan-based faction play. Humanity and Stains system tracks moral erosion with narrative consequences. |
| Considerations | Heavy bookkeeping with multiple resource tracks, relentlessly bleak tone, steep learning curve for the Profit system, limited availability of the full rulebook | Hunger dice introduce high randomness at critical moments, dense lore spanning 30+ years can overwhelm new players, predator type and clan choice during character creation require setting knowledge to make informed decisions |