Adventures in Middle-earth vs Pathfinder First Edition

Compare Adventures in Middle-earth and Pathfinder First Edition side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Adventures in Middle-earth	Pathfinder First Edition
Genre	Fantasy	Fantasy
Tags	Journey, Corruption, Licensed IP, Low-Fantasy, Lore-Heavy, Social Intrigue, Character Building	Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Vancian Casting
Core Mechanic	Uses the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition engine: roll a d20, add an ability modifier and proficiency, and compare the total to a difficulty number. Advantage and disadvantage, rolling two d20s and keeping the higher or lower, are the main swing on that roll.	Most uncertain actions roll a d20, add relevant modifiers, and compare the total with a target or opposing result. Difficulty Class, Armor Class, and Combat Maneuver Defense are common targets; natural 1s and 20s can override some comparisons.
Dice	d20	d20
Complexity	High	Very High
Accessibility	Very Low	Very High
Runnability	Very High	Very High
License	OGL 1.0a; Middle-earth Enterprises license	Open Game License 1.0a
Cost	Unavailable	Free
Publisher	Cubicle 7	Paizo Publishing, LLC
Year	2016	2009
Best For	Groups who already know 5th Edition D&D and want a low-magic, Tolkien-faithful campaign built around travel, reputation among the Free Peoples, and slow-burn corruption instead of spellcasting and dungeon loot. It suits a long campaign that plays out the Journey and Fellowship Phase cycle across in-game years more than a single one-shot.	Groups who want long fantasy campaigns centered on detailed character development and tactical grid combat.
Highlights	The Journey subsystem resolves overland travel through assigned companion roles and branching event tables, so a trek across Wilderland produces its own hazards and pacing rather than being skipped over. Shadow points replace alignment with a tracked corruption economy that climbs from the Miserable condition to permanent madness, giving each character a mechanical moral pressure tied to their class. Audiences resolve encounters with lords and elders through an eleven-culture attitude chart and an introduction check, so a hero's standing among the Free Peoples is a concrete mechanical fact rather than pure GM judgment.	Eleven core classes progress through twenty levels with interlocking feat and class choices that support specialized builds. Combat makes positioning and turn timing consequential through attacks of opportunity and combat maneuvers. Prepared and spontaneous spellcasting draw from hundreds of level-gated spells, giving magical classes distinct planning and resource cycles.
Considerations	None of the six classes cast spells, so a group wanting a traditional wizard or cleric has to import one from another 5e game. Combat is essentially unmodified 5th Edition, so groups already tired of standard tactical D&D combat will find the same core fight rules here. Shadow adds a second per-character failure economy alongside hit points, with permanent points that never heal and must be tracked across an entire campaign.	Character creation and advancement require cross-checking large option catalogs and prerequisites, which can front-load decision making. Combat combines situational modifiers with nested action and exception rules, which can slow adjudication. High-level play layers additional character abilities and magical options, increasing preparation for players and GMs.