Grimwild vs Pathfinder
Compare Grimwild and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Grimwild | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Fiction-First, Cinematic, Character-Driven, Heroic, Low-Prep, Random Tables, Player-Only Rolls, Open Source | Tactical, Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Heroic, Ascending AC, Exploration, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of d6 stat dice and take the highest: 6 is a perfect, 4–5 is messy (you succeed with trouble), 1–3 is grim. Two or more 6s is a critical. For harder tasks the GM adds d8 thorns, which can cut a high die down a tier. Players spend spark to boost rolls; the GM spends suspense to complicate them. The GM never rolls. | 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, d8 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 | ORC |
| Cost | Free / $ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Oddity Press | Paizo |
| Year | 2025 | 2023 |
| Best For | Groups who want fast, cinematic heroic fantasy that leans on dramatic story beats and character arcs rather than tactical grid combat. | 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 | Action rolls take the highest of a d6 stat pool for a perfect, messy, or grim result, so every roll lands on a three-tier outcome rather than pass/fail. The GM raises difficulty by adding d8 thorns that can cut an otherwise good result, scaling danger without changing the dice you roll. Pools of d6 track resources, threats, and clocks by dropping dice as they deplete, unifying hit points, supplies, and looming dangers into one countdown. | 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 | The GM never rolls dice, so all pacing and threat escalation rest on GM judgment and spent suspense. Outcomes are deliberately cinematic rather than simulationist, abstracting away tactical positioning and precise resource accounting. Advancement is tied to resolving story and character arcs, so groups that skip arc play get little mechanical progression. | 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. |