Ironsworn vs Pathfinder
Compare Ironsworn and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Ironsworn | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Solo-Friendly, Rules-Light, Sandbox, Low-Fantasy, Exploration, Theater of the Mind, Open Source, Random Tables | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 1d6 + stat vs two d10 challenge dice. Beat both for a strong hit, beat one for a weak hit, beat neither for a miss. Momentum can cancel challenge dice. Progress tracks measure long-term objectives; iron vows drive the narrative forward. | 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 + 2d10 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | ORC |
| Cost | Free | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Shawn Tomkin | Paizo |
| Year | 2018 | 2023 |
| Best For | Solo or small-group dark fantasy questing with fiction-first moves, oracle tables, and zero GM-prep 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 | Fully free PDF, well-designed solo play, momentum system creates tension, oracle tables eliminate need for a GM | 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 | Progress track math can feel opaque at first, oracle tables can produce contradictory results requiring interpretation, limited asset variety in the base game, momentum economy requires careful management | 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. |