Pathfinder vs Scarlet Heroes
Compare Pathfinder and Scarlet Heroes side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Pathfinder | Scarlet Heroes | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy | Solo-Friendly, Sandbox, Dungeon Crawl, Low-Prep, Random Tables, Heroic, Ascending AC |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Checks: roll 2d8 + attribute modifier + highest relevant trait vs. difficulty number. Attacks: roll d20 + attack bonus vs. AC 20. Unique damage conversion: each damage die reads individually (1 = 0, 2–5 = 1 point, 6–9 = 2 points, 10+ = 4 points), making a single hero viable against hordes. Heroes roll a Fray die each round to auto-damage lesser enemies. |
| Dice | d20 | 2d8 / d20 |
| Complexity | High | Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | High |
| License | ORC | OGL 1.0a |
| Cost | Free (ORC) | $$ |
| Publisher | Paizo | Sine Nomine Publishing |
| Year | 2023 | 2014 |
| Best For | Groups who want deep character customization, tactical grid combat with meaningful turn-by-turn decisions, and a richly detailed fantasy setting with free rules. | Solo players, duet groups (1 player + 1 GM), or anyone wanting to run classic old-school adventures without a full party: one hero can tackle any module. |
| Highlights | 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. | Solo and duet scaling makes any old-school module playable with one hero, Fray die and damage conversion solve the action economy, solo oracle and adventure generators included, compatible with B/X and OSR modules, Red Tide setting included |
| Considerations | 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. | Solo adventure tools require creative self-GMing, Red Tide setting is baked in (though easily reskinned), limited character options compared to full OSR games, older layout |