The Black Hack vs The Elf Game
Compare The Black Hack and The Elf Game side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| The Black Hack | The Elf Game | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Universal |
| Tags | Rules-Light, Dungeon Crawl, Hackable, Beginner-Friendly | Rules-Light, Beginner-Friendly, Hackable, Descending AC, CC-Licensed Rules |
| Core Mechanic | Players roll d20 under their attribute scores to succeed at actions. Advantage and Disadvantage (roll 2d20, pick best or worst) modify difficulty. Armour provides a pool of d6 Armour Dice that absorb damage. Consumable resources use a Usage Die chain (d20→d12→d10→d8→d6→d4→gone): roll 1–2 to downgrade. | Assign six ability scores rolled on 3d6, then resolve any uncertain action by rolling a D20 and subtracting your adjustments. A result at or under the relevant Ability Score succeeds, and a higher result fails. A natural 1 always succeeds and a natural 20 always fails. Attacks use the same roll-under method, subtracting a Melee or Ranged score and comparing the total to the target's Armor Class. |
| Dice | d20 + d4–d12 | d20 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | Book tools not listed |
| License | The Black Hack Open Game License | Public Domain |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Gold Piece Publications | S&A Baudelaire |
| Year | 2018 | 2025 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups wanting a fast, hackable OSR dungeon-crawling game with modern design sensibilities: roll under attributes, abstract distances, and usage dice that track resources without bookkeeping. | Groups who want a free, pick-up-and-play system for a first RPG or a one-shot, especially tables happy to supply their own spells or borrow rules from other old-school games. |
| Highlights | Highly hackable: spawned an entire subgenre of 'X Hack' games, core rules fit in about 30 pages, Usage Die tracks resources without inventory math, armour-as-dice-pool adds a tactical layer, conversational writing style makes rules easy to learn | Ability tests and attacks both roll a D20 under a target number, so players learn a single resolution method and apply it to skills, combat, and saving throws alike. A character picks a class and a stance independently, so Fighter or Tradesman combined with Magical or Mundane yields several distinct builds from a tiny ruleset. Characters advance only from Level 0 to Level 3 by Referee fiat, so there is no experience economy to track. |
| Considerations | Only 4 classes (Warrior, Thief, Cleric, Wizard) in the core, limited character customization beyond class and background, no setting included, light on GM guidance compared to larger games, may lack depth for long campaigns | Advancement caps at Level 3, so extended campaigns quickly run out of mechanical growth. Spells are named but never detailed on the rules sheet, so magical characters draw their actual spell effects from the Referee or compatible outside material. Every uncertain action is a single Ability Test with no fixed difficulty tiers, so how hard a task is depends on which ability the Referee calls for rather than a set target number. |