Numenera vs Pathfinder

Compare Numenera and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Numenera	Pathfinder
Genre	Scifi, Fantasy	Fantasy
Tags	Exploration, Weird, Theater of the Mind, Player-Only Rolls, Low-Prep, Lore-Heavy, Cinematic, Atmospheric, Narrative	Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy
Core Mechanic	GM sets task difficulty 1–10; the target number is difficulty × 3 on a d20. Players ease difficulty by being trained (one step) or specialized (two steps) in a skill, having a favorable asset, or applying Effort: spending points from Might, Speed, or Intellect Pools, with Edge in the relevant stat reducing the cost. Players make all rolls; defense rolls against creatures use the same d20 system as attacks. Natural 17–20 add bonus damage or trigger minor and major effects; natural 1 prompts a GM intrusion that awards the player XP.	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	Medium	High
Accessibility	High	Very High
Runnability	High	Very High
License	Proprietary	ORC
Third-Party Publishing	Not yet researched	Commercial publishing allowed — Open and compatibility licenses
Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.
Cost	$$	Free
Publisher	Monte Cook Games	Paizo
Year	2018	2023
Best For	Groups who want exploration-driven science-fantasy where uncovering ancient technology and forgotten knowledge is the campaign's core reward. Particularly suited to GMs who prefer minimal preparation and players who enjoy spending stat-pool resources to ease tasks rather than tracking many subsystems.	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	Cyphers are single-use, randomly determined gadgets that every character carries and that refresh each session, so combat and problem-solving options change constantly without permanent power creep. The GM never rolls: players make all attack and defense rolls against fixed creature target numbers. Three character types (Glaive, Nano, Jack) combine with dozens of descriptors and foci to produce sharply differentiated builds without a class-and-level structure. XP is awarded for discovery and for accepting GM intrusions rather than for combat, and players can spend XP on player intrusions to bend the narrative.	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	Combat is theater of the mind by default with no grid or detailed positioning rules. GM intrusions are central to play and require player buy-in; players who prefer uninterrupted action control may find them disruptive. Cyphers must be rolled or selected fresh each session, adding GM workload that scales with party size. The Ninth World setting is intentionally vague in many places, leaving GMs to invent specific details.	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.