13th Age vs Pathfinder
Compare 13th Age and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| 13th Age | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Combat-Heavy, GM-Friendly, Heroic, Ascending AC | Tactical, Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Heroic, Ascending AC, Exploration, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + modifier vs. defense. The escalation die (a d6 that increases each combat round, adding to player attacks) builds momentum. One Unique Things and Icon Relationships tie characters to the setting and drive story. | Roll d20 + modifier against a DC. Four degrees of success: critical success (beat DC by 10+), success, failure, and critical failure (miss by 10+). Each turn grants three actions to spend freely on strikes, movement, spellcasting, or other activities. Multi-attack penalty (-5/-10) discourages repeated strikes and encourages tactical variety. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Community | Medium | Very High |
| License | ORC License | ORC |
| Cost | $$ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Pelgrane Press | Paizo |
| Year | 2025 | 2023 |
| Best For | Groups who love d20 fantasy combat but want more narrative freedom, improvisational play, and story-driven character connections baked into the mechanics. | Groups who want deep character customization, tactical grid combat with meaningful turn-by-turn decisions, and a richly detailed fantasy setting with free rules. |
| Highlights | Escalation die keeps combat moving, One Unique Things and Icon Relationships create narrative hooks, streamlined monster design makes GM prep fast | Complete rules available free on Archives of Nethys. Three-action economy gives every turn meaningful tactical decisions. Character customization through ancestry feats, class feats, skill feats, and general feats at every level. Four degrees of success on every roll add granularity to outcomes. |
| Considerations | Tightly coupled to its default setting through the Icon system, some classes have complex trigger systems | New players must learn the trait system, conditions, and four degrees of success before combat runs smoothly. Multi-attack penalty and numerous combat actions can slow turns for indecisive players. Character creation requires selecting feats from multiple categories at every level, which can overwhelm new players. |