Maze Rats vs Pathfinder
Compare Maze Rats and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Maze Rats | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Rules-Light, Dungeon Crawl, Sandbox, Random Tables, Improvisation, Freeform Magic, Open Source | Tactical, Crunchy, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Heroic, Ascending AC, Exploration, Classic Fantasy, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Danger Roll: roll 2d6 + ability bonus (STR, DEX, or WIL), 10+ avoids danger. Advantage rolls 3d6 keep best two. Attack rolls use 2d6 + Attack Bonus vs. target's Armor. Spells are randomly generated from combination tables (effect + element + form) and erased after casting. | 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 | 2d6 | d20 |
| Complexity | Very Low | High |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Community | Low | Very High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 | ORC |
| Cost | $ | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Swordfish Islands LLC | Paizo |
| Year | 2024 | 2023 |
| Best For | GMs who want a dead-simple system with extensive random tables that generate adventures, spells, NPCs, and monsters on the fly. | 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 | Fits in 12 pages, extensive random tables for on-the-fly worldbuilding, spell generation system is highly creative, CC BY 4.0 license, near-zero prep | 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 | Very minimal — experienced players may want more mechanical depth, no bestiary or setting included, advancement is slow and simple, assumes GM comfort with improvisation | 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. |