That might all be true. But I was only talking about the comparison between WWN and OSE.
Ah. Maybe I misunderstood your post. I think your assessment is fair. I’m going to go a bit more into my thoughts on differences since I’m actually running a version of OSE I hacked into WWN. This isn’t necessarily in response to your post (more like prompted by it).
What I’ve found hacking OSE into WWN is that WWN is pretty lacking as an exploration-based game. Stuff’s just missing to make that work, or it’s incomplete. For example, I’d expect the Dolmenwood hex crawl to run worse under WWN because WWN’s exploration rules are incomplete to missing. I’d expect adventures with a strong exploration component to suffer problems to varying degrees. That’s also why I’ve been referring to it a story-driven sandbox game.
Aside from that, the equipment chapter is also pretty lacking. It wastes a lot of space discussing different armors, but it says nothing about what various bits of adventuring gear do. Can you light oil and throw it? How does splash damage work? I know SWN has rules for grenades, but I ended pulling from 3e on splash damage. I want splash damage to feel like D&D, so no saving throws after attacking a spot.
The biggest place where I deviated was using my exploration procedure, but I also changed how XP works. I use both individual and group goals. Individual goals are decided at the start of the session. Group goals are decided at the end. You gain 3 XP at the end of the session if you complete an individual goal (player decides), 1 XP each other Pc’s goal you help complete (player decides), and 3 XP for completing the group goal (group decides). To gain a new level, spend XP equal to six times the next level. This can be done only at the end of a session.
I also replaced reaction rolls with a Cha/Convince skill check against the reaction table, and I based retainers on Cha/Lead instead of having a Charisma-based table. The retainer’s reaction to your offer is based on a Cha/Convince skill check versus the reaction table from OSE. As a rule of thumb, I want players making these rolls instead of having me roll stuff behind the screen that’s modified by their stats. That also helps keep them engaged and gives added value to their skills, and it helps reduce the number of similar but arbitrarily different mechanics.
Anyway, going through the process of hacking OSE is what prompted my questions over the last few pages. I kept running into stuff that was missing bits or lacked clarity once one dialed down the verbosity.