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, Combat-Heavy, Character Building, Dungeon Crawl, High-Fantasy, Grid-Based, Heroic, Ascending AC, Exploration, Classic Fantasy, 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 | Medium |
| Community | Very High | Low |
| 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 | 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. | 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 requires selecting feats from multiple categories at every level, which can overwhelm new players. | 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 |