Hero Kids vs Pathfinder
Compare Hero Kids and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Hero Kids | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Beginner-Friendly, One-Shot Friendly, Grid-Based, Family, Low-Prep, Heroic | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d6 dice pool (pool size from hero card stats). Attacker's highest die vs. defender's highest die: equal or higher hits. Ability tests roll pool vs. target number (4/5/6). | 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 | High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | ORC |
| Cost | $ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Hero Forge Games | Paizo |
| Year | 2012 | 2023 |
| Best For | Parents introducing kids aged 4–10 to tabletop RPGs. Simple enough for young children, with grid combat and pre-made hero cards. | 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 | Genuinely playable by young children, print-and-play hero cards and stand-ups, included introductory adventure, lots of expansion adventures available | 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 | Too simple for older players, no character progression system, fantasy-only, requires printing materials | 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. |