Werewolf: The Apocalypse vs Whitehack
Compare Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Whitehack side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Werewolf: The Apocalypse | Whitehack | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern, Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Corruption, Drama, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy | Rules-Light, Narrative, Hackable, Mana Points, Freeform Magic |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Roll d20 under your attribute to succeed; the face value of a success indicates quality. Positive double rolls (roll 2d20, pick best) and negative double rolls (pick worst) replace flat modifiers. Characters are defined by Groups (species, vocations, and affiliations) which grant advantage on relevant tasks. The Wise class casts miracles by spending HP, with effects triangulated by their groups and wordings. |
| Dice | d10 dice pool | d20 + 3d6 |
| Complexity | High | Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Renegade Game Studios | Christian Mehrstam |
| Year | 2023 | 2023 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese | English |
| Best For | 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. | Experienced players who want a concise, elegant OSR system that rewards creative play: where freeform character groups replace rigid skill lists and miracles are flexible but costly. |
| Highlights | 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. | Concise yet deep (~136 pages), Groups system replaces both skills and feats, compatible with old-school modules from 1974 onward, Auction mechanic adds tension to extended contests, miracles system rewards creative description, four editions of refinement |
| Considerations | 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. | Dense writing requires careful reading: not a quick-start game, assumes familiarity with old-school play, no bestiary or setting included, rare classes may feel underdeveloped |