Universalis vs VRBS

Compare Universalis and VRBS side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.

	Universalis	VRBS
Genre	Universal	Universal
Tags	GM-Less, Narrative, Collaborative, Worldbuilding, Experimental, Hackable, Tag-Based, Resource Management, Improvisation, Low-Prep	Toolkit, Rules-Light, GM-Less, Solo-Friendly, Hackable, CC-Licensed Rules, Classless, Mission-Based, Collaborative, Family-Friendly
Core Mechanic	There is no GM. Players spend Coins to add to the story: most statements that establish a Fact, such as a new character, a Trait or an Event, cost 1 Coin. A Complication decides who narrates the outcome of a clash between Components controlled by different players. Each involved player builds a pool of d10s by using relevant Traits for free or buying dice for 1 Coin each. Every die showing 1 to 5 is a Success, and the side with more Successes wins. Winners gain Bonus Coins equal to the total on their successful dice and spend them first to narrate the outcome. Losers gain 1 Bonus Coin per die rolled and narrate with whatever the winners have not cancelled.	To try something interesting, roll 1d6 and add the tally marks (up to 3) on the matching verb, or nothing if your sheet lacks that verb. On 1–4 you get what you want with a complication and the team loses one energy. On 5–6 you get what you want. On 7+ you get what you want and the team gains one energy.
Dice	d10 dice pool	d6
Complexity	Low	Very Low
Availability	Paid	Free core rules
Runnability	3 of 5 book tools	1 of 5 book tools
License	Proprietary	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Third-Party Publishing	No verified route found	Commercial publishing allowed — Open license
Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.
Publisher	Ramshead Publishing	Amalara Game Studio
Year	2006	2022
Languages	English	English
Best For	Groups who want to build a setting and story from nothing without a GM, in any genre, and who enjoy bargaining over who decides what happens next.	Groups who want a tiny, open d6 engine to build their own short GM-less game, or who are happy to invent verbs and mission prompts together at the table.
Highlights	Rules Gimmicks are proposed as Tenets for 1 Coin, so a group can add or change rules mid-game the same way it adds story facts. Coins spent defending an established Fact count double when a Challenge goes to bidding, which makes contradicting the shared record more expensive without a referee. Another player can turn an Event into an Obstacle by buying dice against it, so the table supplies difficulty instead of a GM.	The roll sets how much energy an action costs rather than whether it works, so a mission is lost only when the team's shared energy pool runs out. A roll of 1–4 adds a tally to the verb used (up to three) or writes a new verb onto the sheet, so characters improve by attempting what they are bad at. A mission aims for three scenes plus one per player, so the story's length scales with the group.
Considerations	Control of a character does not carry over between scenes, and creating a character gives no claim to it later. There is no prescribed mechanical ending, so a story runs until the players agree it is finished. Every paid Fact is written down so it can be enforced later, which adds steady bookkeeping to play.	Mission and scene d6 tables are left blank for the group to write, so play needs that content invented beforehand or improvised prompt by prompt. The book has no rules for combat, harm, equipment or opposition beyond the single roll, so the table decides what complications and antagonists do. Rolls have no task-difficulty adjustment, so rolled actions with the same verb bonus use the same outcome odds.