The Derelict Speaks vs Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Compare The Derelict Speaks and Werewolf: The Apocalypse side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| The Derelict Speaks | Werewolf: The Apocalypse | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi, Horror | Horror, Modern, Fantasy |
| Tags | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Character-Driven, Deadly, Low-Prep, Theater of the Mind, CC-Licensed Rules | Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Corruption, Drama, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | When a Speaker opposes a Responder, the player rolls 2d6 and assigns one die to Survival and the other to Sanity. Each die is read separately: 5–6 avoids the consequence, 3–4 causes a lesser consequence and transfers one Blood to the GM, and 1–2 causes a severe consequence and transfers two Blood. Aiding adds a third die and keeps the best two, but every participant suffers the final results. | Build a d10 dice pool, usually from an Attribute plus a Skill. Each 6 or higher is a success, and meeting the Storyteller-set Difficulty wins. Each pair of 10s counts as four successes. Rage dice replace regular dice up to current Rage and can cause Brutal outcomes. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very Low | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | CC BY-SA 4.0 | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Precision Chaos Machine | Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2021 | 2023 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups seeking a semi-competitive science-fiction horror one-shot where player elimination becomes active antagonist play. | Groups who want long-form modern horror about shapeshifter packs defending communities from ecological and spiritual threats, with violent power constrained by moral and social consequences. |
| Highlights | Assigning one die to Survival and one to Sanity makes each opposed roll threaten body and mind independently. A defeated Responder becomes a Speaker who spends Blood on manifestations, keeping eliminated players active as antagonists. Four Acts raise the Speakers' manifestation limits and Blood supply, producing a complete escalation arc from briefing to escape. | Brutal outcomes can force destructive failures or add four successes to actions the Storyteller judges can benefit from Rage. Choosing a Garou form changes a character's capabilities, creating tactical and narrative options. Caerns give the pack an improvable spiritual home whose traits connect campaign advancement to territory and community. |
| Considerations | The rules support one hostile-derelict scenario and contain no advancement or campaign procedure. Minor harm, serious harm, cracking under pressure, and meltdowns have no additional mechanical definitions, leaving their consequences to the table. The semi-competitive structure turns defeated characters into antagonists, changing play from cooperative survival to active opposition. | A Crinos-form Garou who did not kill in the previous turn must spend Willpower at the start of the next turn or enter frenzy, making the war form difficult to sustain outside violent scenes. Harano and Hauglosk can remove a Garou from play when despair or absolutism fills either track, making moral decline a campaign-level consequence. The game centers mature environmental and spiritual horror, including graphic violence and themes of exploitation and extremism that require deliberate table boundaries. |