Pathfinder for Savage Worlds vs Those Who Wander
Compare Pathfinder for Savage Worlds and Those Who Wander side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Pathfinder for Savage Worlds | Those Who Wander | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Heroic, High-Fantasy, Character Building, Tactical, Fast-Paced | Heroic, High-Fantasy, Character Building, Classless, Tactical, Worldbuilding, Vancian Casting, Crunchy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a trait die (d4–d12) plus a Wild Die (d6); keep the highest. Dice 'explode' (ace) on their max value. Beat a Target Number (usually 4) to succeed; each raise (4 over) improves the result. Playing cards determine initiative. Bennies let you reroll or soak damage. Class Edges capture Pathfinder archetypes as progressive talent trees. | Roll d20 + ability bonus + proficiency bonus against a Difficulty Score. Abilities use direct modifiers (−1 to +5) instead of base scores, removing a calculation step from every roll. Character progression replaces classes and levels with a 20-step path: at each step you choose between two or more diverging features, and prerequisites gate later options. |
| Dice | d4–d12 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Availability | Paid | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | Savage Worlds (Proprietary) | Proprietary (free Essential Rules quickstart) |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Not yet researched |
| Publisher | Pinnacle Entertainment Group / Paizo | Gnome Made Games |
| Year | 2023 | 2022 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who love the Pathfinder world of Golarion but want faster, more cinematic combat: Savage Worlds' exploding dice and Bennies replace Pathfinder's tactical crunch with pulp-action heroics. | Groups familiar with d20 fantasy who want deeper character customization, inclusive design covering any parentage pairing and accessibility for disabled characters, and long campaigns where each hero's 20-step path diverges from the rest of the party. |
| Highlights | Fast combat compared to standard Pathfinder, Golarion setting fully supported with ancestries and deities, Class Edges capture iconic Pathfinder classes, Bennies keep heroes in the action, compatible with Savage Worlds Adventure Paths | Parentage system inherits traits from any two birth parents across 15 peoples (dwarven, elven, human, halfling, avian, celestial, draconic, genie, gnoll, gnomish, goblin, kobold, infernal, orc, plus Complex Parentage) for hundreds of pairing combinations. Accessibility rules treat Blind and Deaf characters as mechanically viable heroes and integrate prosthetics and wheelchairs as part of the character. The 20-step branching progression replaces classes and levels: each step is a choice between two or more features that gate further specializations. Awakening heirlooms (weapons, armor, trinkets) gain new properties as characters take steps, growing in power and personality alongside their owner. |
| Considerations | Requires Savage Worlds familiarity: not standalone for new SW players, some Pathfinder depth lost in translation, not compatible with standard Pathfinder adventures without conversion | 477-page rulebook with substantial mechanical innovation in character creation requires significant reading before a first session. No adventures are included in the core rules: GMs must design their own scenarios or source from d20-compatible content. The steps system departs from familiar level/class structure, so players coming from d20 fantasy must learn a new progression model. No native rolled initiative: the storyteller chooses one of four ability-based turn-order methods at the start of each combat. |