Electric Bastionland vs Pathfinder
Compare Electric Bastionland and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Electric Bastionland | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Rules-Light, Weird, Classless, Dungeon Crawl, Attacks Always Hit, One-Shot Friendly, Low-Prep | Tactical, Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Heroic, Ascending AC, Exploration, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 equal to or under attribute (STR, DEX, CHA) to avoid danger. Attacks always hit — roll weapon damage directly, reduced by armor. 100+ unique Failed Careers define your character through equipment and debt rather than stats. | 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 | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Very Low | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Community | Medium | Very High |
| License | Mark of the Odd SRD | ORC |
| Cost | Free / $$ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Bastionland Press | Paizo |
| Year | 2020 | 2023 |
| Best For | Short treasure-hunting campaigns in a surreal, modern-tinged city. Ideal for groups who love strange worldbuilding, fast character creation via 100+ Failed Careers, and fiction-driven play. | 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 | Two pages of actual rules, 100+ varied Failed Careers, detailed GM guidance, free 42-page edition available, spawned an entire design movement | 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 | Tightly coupled to its surreal Bastion setting, minimal character progression, requires a confident GM, narrow genre focus | 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. |