Draw Steel vs Pathfinder
Compare Draw Steel and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Draw Steel | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Tactical, Grid-Based, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Crunchy, Resource Management, Attacks Always Hit, Cinematic, High-Power, Strong GM Support | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d10 plus a characteristic modifier for a power roll: 11 or less gives tier 1, 12–16 gives tier 2, and 17 or more gives tier 3. Edges and banes modify the roll or its tier. Tests and abilities specify results for each tier. | 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 | 2d10 | d20 |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | Draw Steel Creator License | ORC |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Creator license | Commercial publishing allowed — Open and compatibility licenses |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | MCDM Productions | Paizo |
| Year | 2025 | 2023 |
| Languages | English | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy campaigns with coordinated grid combat and extensive character customization. | 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 | Each class builds and spends its own heroic resource during combat, opening stronger abilities as the battle develops. Negotiations track an NPC’s interest and patience, giving arguments and motivations mechanical consequences. Encounter budgets and objectives help Directors build battles with goals beyond defeating every enemy. | 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 | Combat requires a grid and careful positioning. Each class has its own resource rules to learn and track during battle. Exploration uses tests and cinematic sequences rather than detailed travel supplies or encumbrance. | 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. |