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 |
| Tags | Crunchy, Tactical, Lore-Heavy, Deadly, Character-Driven | Career-Based, Combat-Heavy, Corruption, Crunchy, Dark Fantasy, Grimdark, Gritty, Licensed IP, Strong GM Support, Tactical |
| 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 equal to or under the relevant Skill or Characteristic. Success Levels compare the tens digits of target and roll, with circumstances modifying the result. Opposed Tests compare the sides' Success Levels. |
| Dice | d100 | d100 |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Chaosium Inc. | Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. |
| Year | 2018 | 2026 |
| 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 a career-driven grim fantasy campaign where social pressure, investigation, travel, and consequential combat make precarious adventurers feel rooted in the Old World. |
| 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 | Success Levels make ordinary and opposed Tests express degree of outcome as well as success or failure. Careers connect a character's status, equipment, and advancement to their work and history. Between-adventure procedures give downtime lasting consequences for a character's finances, opportunities, and advancement. |
| Considerations | Very steep learning curve, tightly coupled to Glorantha setting, combat bookkeeping is heavy, expensive to collect all sourcebooks, dense lore for new players | Combat links hit locations, critical wounds, Conditions, armour, weapons, and psychology. Career progression uses eligibility, status, trappings, and tracked advances instead of entirely freeform choices. Magic and religion add role-specific procedures on top of the shared Test system. |