Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition vs Pathfinder
Compare Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Character Building, Heroic, Combat-Heavy, Exploration, Crunchy, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Grid-Based, Journey, Resource Management, Open Source, Ascending AC | Tactical, Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Heroic, Ascending AC, Exploration, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | d20 + modifier vs. DC/AC with advantage/disadvantage. Adds expertise dice, combat maneuvers with exertion pool, and structured exploration/social systems. | 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 | High | High |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Community | Medium | Very High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 | ORC |
| Cost | $$ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | EN Publishing | Paizo |
| Year | 2021 | 2023 |
| Best For | 5e players who want deeper character builds, meaningful exploration and social pillar mechanics, and combat maneuvers without changing the core d20 framework. | 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 | Backwards-compatible with 5e adventures, much deeper exploration and social pillars, combat maneuvers for martial classes, rich origin system (heritage + culture + background + destiny) | 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 | More complex than base 5e, some players find the extra systems overwhelming, Requires the separate Trials & Treasures book for GM tools and magic items while monsters are in the Monstrous Menagerie book. | 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. |