Table Comparing Dungeon World to 5 Hacks

Some of the most common questions over on the Dungeon World Reddit are how to choose between the different hacks. To better answer that question, with help from the Dungeon World+ Discord, I’ve developed this side-by-side comparison. (All errors and wrong opinions my own!)

	Dungeon World	Chasing Adventure	Freebooters on the Frontier	Homebrew World	Uncommon World	Unlimited Dungeons
Pitch	PbtA + D&D	DW – D&D	PbtA + OD&D	Stonetop – Stonetop	DW 1.5 + 3rd-party playbooks &c.	DW 2.0
Requires DW	–	No	No	No	No	Yes
# stats	6	5 (removes CON)	7 (adds Luck)	6	6	6
3-18 scores	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Typical bonuses	+1/-1	Advantage/ disadvantage	+1/-1	Advantage/ disadvantage	+1/-1	Advantage/ disadvantage
Harm system	HP	Conditions	HP and ability damage	HP	HP	HP
Debilities	6	5 conditions	Condition tags	3	6	6 (renamed)
Dice	d4, d6, d8, d10, d12	d6	d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20	d4, d6, d8, d10, d12	d4, d6, d8, d10, d12	d6
Monetary system	Coins	Abstract (tags)	Coins	Abstract (tags)	Coins	Abstract (tags)
Quantum gear	Some quantum items	Many quantum items	Primarily concrete items	Many quantum items	Some quantum items	Many quantum items
Encumbrance	Load	None	Load (called Weight)	Load	Load	Load
Base classes	10	10	4	10	0	10
Background	Race	Backgrounds	Heritage	Backgrounds	Backgrounds	Heritage
Alignment	Alignment	Backgrounds	Alignment	Drives	Drives (subsumes Alignment)	Drives
Bonds	Yes	Favor system	Yes	No	No	Yes

And a longer elevator pitch for each:

• Dungeon World: “A game with modern rules and old-school style.”
• Chasing Adventure: “Started as a refinement of Dungeon World, but has since evolved into its own game.”
• Freebooters on the Frontier: “Takes the freeform improvisational spirit of *World games and imbues it with the survivalist sensibility of old-school D&D.”
• Homebrew World: “Mini-hack of Dungeon World, optimized for one-shots and short-term campaigns.” [Or… Stonetop (the game) – Stonetop (the setting).]
• Uncommon World: “Compatible with third-party DW playbooks, monsters, and adventure starters, while updating the core moves with what has been learned over the past decade.”
• Unlimited Dungeons: “A more consistent set of rules for the game that would still be easy to pick up and learn, [while making] the choices of the players more meaningful.”

This is obviously a reductive exercise. Since most of these systems are free, I encourage you to check them out in detail!

See also:

• Alternatives to Dungeon World
• FAQ: The Right Fantasy PbtA for You
• Fantastic Worlds: An Anthology of Resources for Fantasy PbtA Games

Photo by Patti Black on Unsplash. (To me, the salamander symbolizes Dungeon World, because of its Immolator playbook, I guess.)