Vagabond vs Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Compare Vagabond and Werewolf: The Apocalypse side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Vagabond | Werewolf: The Apocalypse | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Horror, Modern, Fantasy |
| Tags | Fast-Paced, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, Sandbox, Heroic, Pulp Action, Solo-Friendly, Player-Only Rolls, Mana Points | Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Corruption, Drama, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 vs. Difficulty (20 − Stat, doubled if Trained). Crit on nat 20, fail below Difficulty. All rolls player-facing. Spend Luck for Advantage (Favor) or rerolls (Fluke). Three saves: Endure (MIT×2), Reflex (DEX+AWR), Will (RSN+PRS). Defend with Block or Dodge on off-turns. Mana-based magic scales one spell from cantrip to nuke. Enemy AI action gambits run monsters for the GM. | 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 | d20 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Low | High |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Runnability | Very Low | Very High |
| License | Open Compatibility | 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 | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Land of the Blind | Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2024 | 2023 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups wanting modern character depth married to old-school speed: 20+ ancestries, 17 classes, non-Vancian mana magic, and built-in solo/co-op/guided 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 | Mana-based magic scales a single spell from cantrip to high-powered effect, so casters shape output on the fly instead of tracking fixed spell slots. Enemy action gambits run monsters from decision tables, removing per-turn tactical choices from the GM's workload. A spendable Luck pool buys Advantage or rerolls, turning swing into a resource players ration across a session. | 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 | Dense class and ancestry options can overwhelm new players. Pulp-fantasy tone limits grimdark play. All rolls are player-facing, so the GM never rolls dice and every check rests on the players. | 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. |