Dungeon Crawlers vs Pathfinder
Compare Dungeon Crawlers and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeon Crawlers | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Dungeon Crawl, Low-Prep, Fast-Paced, Fiction-First, Freeform Magic, Heroic, Theater of the Mind | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Build a pool of Action dice (d6s) from trademarks and edges. Roll Danger dice for obstacles: matching Danger dice cancel Action dice. Highest remaining Action die determines success (6 = full, 4–5 = partial, 3 or less = fail). | 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 | d6 dice pool | d20 |
| Complexity | Very Low | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Very High |
| Runnability | Low | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | ORC |
| Cost | $ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Peril Planet | Paizo |
| Year | 2020 | 2023 |
| Best For | Groups wanting instant fantasy dungeon-crawling with minimal rules: perfect for one-shots, new players, or when you forgot your rulebooks. | 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 | Entire game fits on 2 pages, character creation in minutes, freeform magic system, built-in adventure generator, same action/danger dice as Neon City Overdrive | 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 | Very minimal: no detailed combat or advancement systems, limited long-campaign support, lacks depth for crunch-oriented players | 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. |