RuneQuest vs Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Compare RuneQuest and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| RuneQuest | Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Crunchy, Tactical, Lore-Heavy, Deadly, Character-Driven | Career-Based, Grimdark, Deadly, Investigation, Corruption, Licensed Setting |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 under your skill percentage. Criticals at 1/20th of skill, specials at 1/5th, fumbles at 95+. Seven characteristics (STR, CON, SIZ, DEX, INT, POW, CHA). Combat uses hit locations (d20) with per-location HP and armor. Strike ranks determine action order. Runes are percentile-rated cosmic affinities that fuel magic and shape personality. Passions (Love, Hate, Honor, Loyalty) augment skills when invoked. | Roll d100 under skill or characteristic. Success Levels measure degree of success by comparing the tens digits of the target and the roll. Advantage accumulates during combat, adding +10 per point to attack tests. |
| Dice | d100 | d100 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Accessibility | High | Low |
| Runnability | High | High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | No open license |
| Cost | Free (Quickstart) / $$$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Chaosium Inc. | Cubicle 7 |
| Year | 2018 | 2018 |
| Best For | Groups who want deep mythic fantasy where characters are embedded in cults, clans, and cosmic forces: with tactical hit-location combat and a world steeped in decades of lore. | Groups who want dark, gritty fantasy where ordinary people face extraordinary dangers in a richly detailed setting. The career system creates unique character arcs from rat catcher to witch hunter. |
| Highlights | Glorantha is one of the most detailed settings in RPG history, Rune and Passion mechanics tie characters to the mythic world, hit-location combat adds tactical detail, skill-based advancement through use, three distinct magic systems | The career system structures advancement around trades, moving a character through jobs that shape both skills and story. Success Levels measure how far a d100 test beats or misses its target, turning every roll into a degree of result. Advantage accumulates during a fight, rewarding momentum with stacking bonuses to attack tests. |
| Considerations | Very steep learning curve, tightly coupled to Glorantha setting, combat bookkeeping is heavy, expensive to collect all sourcebooks, dense lore for new players | The rules assume the Old World setting, so moving WFRP elsewhere means reworking its careers and tone. Comparing tens digits for Success Levels on every test adds a math step that can slow combat. Advancement is career-gated, so a character often must finish or leave a career before branching into new skills. |