Fellowship vs Pathfinder
Compare Fellowship and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Fellowship | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Fiction-First, Playbook-Driven, High-Fantasy, Heroic, Collaborative, Worldbuilding, Open Source, Theater of the Mind, GM-Friendly, Roleplay-Heavy | Tactical, Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Heroic, Ascending AC, Exploration, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d6 + stat (Blood, Courage, Sense, Grace, or Wisdom). 10+ full success, 7–9 success with a cost, 6− the Overlord makes a Cut against you. Playbook moves trigger from fictional actions. Hope (roll 3d6 keep best two) and Despair (roll 3d6 keep worst two) modify all rolls and cancel each other out when both are present. | 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 | 2d6 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Community | Low | Very High |
| License | Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 | ORC |
| Cost | $ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Liberi Gothica Games | Paizo |
| Year | 2019 | 2023 |
| Best For | Groups who want LOTR-style co-operative epic fantasy where one player commits to playing the evil Overlord throughout the campaign and each hero treats themselves as the spokesperson for an entire fantasy people. | 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 | Dedicated Overlord playbook lets one player run the villain throughout the campaign with structured threat, plan, and Cut mechanics. Each hero playbook grants full authority over their fantasy people's lore, history, and culture — players are the canonical voice for their species. Over a dozen Destiny playbooks unlock at level 5 to transform heroes into greater figures (Chosen One, Cyborg, Witch, Lord of Beasts, and others). CC BY-SA 4.0 license permits free modification and redistribution. | 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 | Requires one player to commit to running the villain full-time with no hero of their own. Hero playbooks are tightly themed around six fantasy archetypes (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Heir, Orc, Squire) — groups wanting non-Tolkien-style species must reskin or hack the playbooks. Tracking Bonds, Companions, Hope, Despair, and tagged gear adds bookkeeping above the typical PbtA load. Whether a fictional Advantage exists for Finish Them often requires table interpretation. | 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. |