2025 is proving to be a great year for tabletop roleplaying games. While Dungeons & Dragons is still seen as the king, with more content releasing this year, there are a number of competitors rising up. One of the most promising and interesting is BREAK!! RPG. This TTRPG smashed through its Kickstarter, and the store is finally open to non-backers. With another upcoming Kickstarter for its tutorial module, BREAK!! RPG is becoming more and more appealing. But veterans of Dungeons & Dragons may be wondering how BREAK!! RPG differs, and why they should switch from the TTRPG they know and love.
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BREAK!! RPG stands out from D&D with its old-school anime and video game inspirations, as well as the numerous changes to its systems. Here are seven of the biggest differences between BREAK!! RPG and Dungeons & Dragons.
Streamlined Combat
Combat in BREAK!! RPG is the single biggest change from Dungeons & Dragons. Everyone who has played D&D 5e knows it can be a slog. BREAK!! RPG takes some unique ideas to speed this up while making combat more high-stakes. The most notable change is turn order. Whoever initiates the fight, the entire group belonging to that side goes first. There is no back and forth-with players and enemies alternating turns. Ambushes can further give the starting team another turn, heavily swaying fights in one’s favor.
With BREAK!! RPG’s unique combat system, players have more coordination over their actions. When it is the player’s turn, they agree on a turn order amongst themselves. From there, each player takes their turn, either attacking, repositioning, using a cunning action, or assisting another player. Since each player can act before the enemy team does, creating a battle plan is highly effective and can greatly increase the odds of survival. That said, players should know when a battle is unwinnable. Fortunately, unlike D&D, all players can run on the same turn instead of waiting for each player to get a chance to retreat.
While D&D uses more hard and determined battlefields, BREAK!! RPG is a little more loose with this. For each attack, players have a certain attack range, and the battlefield is typically divided into areas. Melee attacks would only be able to hit one area away, but long-range attacks could hit two or more areas away. Likewise, all players will have a speed, which determines how many areas in a battlefield players can move. Using player speed and attack ranges is crucial to controlling the battlefield, especially if there are hazards within the battlefield.
Damage is directly related to Hearts, a character’s attack, and a character’s defense. Defense determines whether an attack hits, meaning players need to roll above this with a d20 and their modifiers or roll a natural 20. Landing an attack deals one Heart damage to a foe. When enemies are reduced to zero Hearts, players can determine if they are dead or incapacitated. However, if a player is reduced to zero hearts, they roll on the injury table to determine what happens to them. Players can continue fighting with zero Hearts, but any damage inflicted from there on causes another injury.
Finally, BREAK!! RPG has special rules for fighting massive enemies. Colossal Combat completely changes how combat works, involving Strike Points on a colossus and the ability to climb and move on these giant foes. Colossi represent some of the most challenging and dangerous battles in BREAK!! RPG, but the unique twist on combat brings a layer of depth to the world and systems.
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D20 Only
One major difference that is quickly obvious is the dice system. BREAK!! RPG only uses the d20, which is admittedly the best dice anyway, while D&D uses everything from the d4 to the d20. While many are addicted to collecting the shiny clickety-clacketys, it can be convoluting and confusing, especially for newcomers, on what dice to roll. Only using the d20 simplifies the system without sacrificing depth where it matters.
The systems still work the same, just with less dice. Players roll their d20, add any appropriate modifiers, and then compare it to the opposing target’s attribute. If the player rolls below or at the threshold, they are successful. This is reversed in combat, where players must roll above a target’s defense. A natural 20 is a guaranteed success in certain situations as well. Each action will have a defined DC or difficulty check, which is determined in the rules or up to the game master.
Narrative Focus
BREAK!! RPG shines the most in its narrative. The creators have filled the core rule book with information about the world while leaving it open to creativity from the player and game master. Each section regarding worldbuilding, character creation, and more has presets that can be used, but give ideas on how to create custom content. BREAK!! RPG has a focus on narrative role-playing rather than tactical combat that many game masters will adore.
That isn’t to say narrative is the only focus, but rather the driving force. BREAK!! RPG challenges the player to keep moving, using a semi-point crawl narrative campaign structure. Encounters and locations build off one another, culminating in an adventure’s epic climax. BREAK!! RPG doesn’t have many modules, though START is launching on Kickstarter soon, game masters can shape their stories within the confines of Outer World using both included information and homebrewed content.
Exploration System
While exploration in D&D is certainly important, it does not play the same role as it does in BREAK!! RPG. Taking from its video game and anime inspirations, exploration is one of the major pillars of the TTRPG. Exploring the world can lead to wonderful discoveries, take players where they want to go and provide opportunities for adventure. However, exploration in BREAK!! RPG’s Outer World is incredibly dangerous, especially if one doesn’t have a map or guide. Some terrain can’t be passed unless players have the necessary abilities or mounts to do so.
Due to the lore of Outer World, the world is shattered and very few travel outside of their home city or area. As a result, it is rare for one to travel, especially between regions. Players can often get lost on their journeys, making a map or guide necessary. As players explore, they can fill out their map, ensuring they do not get lost. While getting lost is incredibly dangerous, seeing as how it can take you off course or cause you to run out of rations, it can also lead to wonderous discoveries.
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Character Quirks
One of the more unique ideas implemented in BREAK!! RPG is Quirks. These act as ancestry-specific traits that impact a player’s character positively and negatively. No matter what trait you pick, your character has a trade-off. These include minor increases and decreases in stats, how NPCs in the world view you, and even physical changes that give your character special abilities. While Quirks will always offer a pro and cons, players can decide how big of an effect these have during the character creation process. Managing your Quirk and the tradeoffs that come with them is crucial to the world of BREAK!! RPG.
For example, one with a potentially minor impact is the Big Eater Quirk. This allows you to consume a day’s worth of rations to restore one heart, a major plus if you are in trouble. The downside is your character consumes double the amount of rations in a day compared to other characters. Another more pronounced example is the Winged Quirks. As the name implies, taking this Quirk grants you the ability to glide, slow your descent, and grant extra height when jumping. However, the cost is having pneumatized bones and suffering -1 to your heart totals, and the weight of your wings causes -1 to Grit Aptitude.
Bright and Dark Allegiance
BREAK!! RPG has a lore-friendly magic system, with those who use magic growing their ties with The Invincible Bright and The Profound Dark. Each spell selected notes whether players gain a Bright Allegiance Point or Profound Dark Point. Players Once players reach three points in either Bright or Dark, they can select a gift from the respective table. Gifts from the Bright and Dark tables forever alter your character’s physical appearance. While these don’t necessarily affect gameplay, they are excellent for narrative and role-playing aspects.
Players’ allegiance to The Invincible Bright and The Profound Dark is interchangeable. Players are considered Dark or Bright Aligned when one exceeds the other by two points. Players are considered Unaligned if they have one or fewer allegiance points, and Twilight Aligned if neither Bright or Dark exceeds the other by two points. Players can receive gifts from both the Bright and Dark alignments depending on what spells they select.
Side Activities
Downtime is another of BREAK!! RPG’s core pillars. While most would see this as something that passes by without mention in D&D, this TTRPG incorporates it into its mechanics and systems. Downtime is when players relax and recover from their adventures, but also a time to get things done. BREAK!! RPG includes numerous activities for players to do when doing downtime.
Downtime in BREAK!! RPG typically lasts about a week, and this is when players should use this time for various activities. Recovering from an injury is one of the most important, as this prevents players from slowing their party down in future adventures. Players can also use downtime to craft powerful items, though this requires special materials in some instances. Identifying relics, preparing for future journeys, recruiting followers, managing reputations, researching, taming animals, and training are just some of what players can get up to.
