Magical Kitties Save the Day vs Pathfinder
Compare Magical Kitties Save the Day and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Magical Kitties Save the Day | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Modern, Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Beginner-Friendly, Family, Rules-Light, Narrative, Character-Driven, Collaborative, Freeform Magic, Player-Only Rolls, Fast-Paced | Tactical, Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Heroic, Ascending AC, Exploration, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d6s equal to your attribute (Cute, Cunning, or Fierce, rated 1–4). Each die meeting or exceeding the GM-set difficulty (3–6) counts as a success. Zero successes is a failure with a complication, one is a partial success, two is a clean success, and three or more grants a bonus. Talents add one die, Magical Powers add two dice once per scene, and Injuries subtract dice. Kitty Treats — earned by playing your Flaw in interesting ways — can reroll dice, prevent injuries, or add story elements. Failed checks award Experience Points, encouraging risk-taking. | 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 |
| Community | Low | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | ORC |
| Cost | $$ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Atlas Games | Paizo |
| Year | 2020 | 2023 |
| Best For | Families with kids aged 6 and up, mixed-age groups, and anyone who wants a gentle introduction to RPGs with a cozy premise and mechanically simple but rewarding 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 | Character creation takes about five minutes using three attributes, one Talent, one Flaw, and one Magical Power. Failed rolls award XP, which encourages players to attempt difficult actions. Each kitty has a human with ranked Problems that drive adventures and give the story personal stakes. Kitty Treats earned from Flaws let players reroll dice or add narrative elements to the scene. | 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 | No free quickstart or SRD available — the core rules require purchase. Characters cannot die; they get knocked out and recover between scenes. The premise is specifically tied to playing magical cats, limiting genre flexibility. | 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. |