Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine vs Pathfinder
Compare Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Cozy, Narrative, Diceless, Collaborative, Character-Driven, Worldbuilding, Drama, Fiction-First, Roleplay-Heavy | Tactical, Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Heroic, Ascending AC, Exploration, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Diceless. Intention equals skill minus Obstacle; spend Will points to boost Intention above zero for success. Players drive play by selecting quests and earning XP through genre-specific actions (Pastoral, Gothic, Adventure Fantasy, etc.). Three XP types: Action XP (shared group pot), Emotion XP (earned by evoking specific emotions in other players), and Bonus XP (from quest tasks). Quests combine into eight color-coded Arcs. The GM is called the HG (Hollyhock God). Characters fade into the background after XP actions, rotating spotlight. | 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 | Diceless | d20 |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Accessibility | Low | Very High |
| Runnability | Medium | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | ORC |
| Cost | $ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Eos Press (Jenna Katerin Moran) | Paizo |
| Year | 2014 | 2023 |
| Best For | Groups who want collaborative, slice-of-life storytelling in a whimsical Ghibli-inspired setting — where wishes, friendships, and personal growth drive play instead of combat. | 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 | Genre modes shape play through XP incentives — different genres reward different player behaviors, Emotion XP ties advancement to evoking specific reactions from other players, player-driven quests shift narrative agency from HG to group, eight Arc types support stories from pastoral slice-of-life to cosmic fantasy | 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 | Multiple overlapping XP and quest tracking systems require bookkeeping throughout play, Will resource and Intention math replace dice but add calculation per action, characters have Skills Connections Perks and Arc Traits that interact across multiple subsystems, fading mechanic forces characters out of the spotlight after XP actions | 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. |