Changeling: The Lost vs Pathfinder

Compare Changeling: The Lost and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Changeling: The Lost	Pathfinder
Genre	Horror, Fantasy, Modern	Fantasy
Tags	Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Superpowers, Faction Play, Social Intrigue, Character-Driven, Exploration, Strong GM Support, Lore-Heavy	Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy
Core Mechanic	Build a d10 pool, usually from an Attribute plus a Skill, and count each 8, 9, or 10 as a success. One success is enough for most simple actions, and five or more normally make an exceptional success. Tens in a normal pool are usually rerolled for a chance at more successes. A pool reduced to zero or fewer dice becomes a single chance die that succeeds only on a 10, has no 10-again, and suffers a dramatic failure on a 1. A character can spend a point of Willpower to add three dice to a roll.	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	d10 dice pool	d20
Complexity	High	High
Accessibility	Medium	Very High
Runnability	Very High	Very High
License	All Rights Reserved	ORC
Third-Party Publishing	Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault	Commercial publishing allowed — Open and compatibility licenses
Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.
Cost	$	Free
Publisher	Onyx Path Publishing	Paizo
Year	2019	2023
Languages	English, French	English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Best For	Groups who want modern fairy-tale horror about surviving abduction and rebuilding a life, with seasonal court politics, binding oaths, and journeys through the Hedge. It suits tables willing to explore trauma and abuse themes within agreed limits.	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	Clarity tracks a changeling's trust in her own perceptions, and Touchstones attached to the track reduce the damage that breaking points deal to it. Every Contract has a Loophole, a condition of the fae bargain that lets a changeling invoke its basic effect without spending Glamour. Hedgespinning spends surplus successes and Glamour from ordinary actions in the Hedge on changes to terrain, equipment, or Conditions.	The three-action economy gives every turn the same three actions to spend on strikes, movement, or spells, so each turn is a fresh tactical decision. Characters customize through ancestry, class, skill, and general feats gained at nearly every level, letting builds diverge sharply within a single class. Four degrees of success, set by beating or missing the DC by 10, turn each roll into a range of outcomes rather than a binary result.
Considerations	Abduction, abuse, and trauma are core subject matter, so the group needs to agree on limits before play. Breaking points risk Clarity damage that can eventually leave a changeling comatose. Goblin Contracts normally add a point of Goblin Debt on each successful use, which the Storyteller can spend to penalize rolls or impose Conditions.	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 draws feats from ancestry, class, skill, and general pools at every level, making each build a slow step.