Dungeon Crawl Classics vs Pathfinder
Compare Dungeon Crawl Classics and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeon Crawl Classics | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Deadly, Exploration, Gonzo, Dungeon Crawl, One-Shot Friendly, Theater of the Mind, Fast-Paced, Ascending AC, Roll to Cast, Random Tables | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + modifiers. Unique dice chain shifts die size up/down. Mercurial magic tables. | 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 | d3–d30 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | 3rd Party License | ORC |
| Cost | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Goodman Games | Paizo |
| Year | 2012 | 2023 |
| Best For | Old-school dungeon crawls with unpredictable magic, character funnels, and a sense of wonder. | 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 | Character funnels are distinctive, unpredictable magic system, Appendix N aesthetic | 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 | Requires unusual dice (d3, d5, d7, d14, d16, d24, d30), spell result tables slow play at higher levels, funnel adventures require many disposable characters | 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. |