Pathfinder vs Shadowdark RPG

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

	Pathfinder	Shadowdark RPG
Genre	Fantasy	Fantasy
Play Style	Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy	Deadly, Dungeon Crawl, Rules-Light, Low-Prep, Theater of the Mind, Ascending AC, Roll to Cast, Random Tables
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.	Roll d20 + ability modifier vs. DC/AC. Real-time torch tracking (1 real-world hour per torch), risky spellcasting (fail a check and lose the spell until you rest), and randomized character generation (3d6 down the line).
Dice	d20	d20
Complexity	High	Low
Accessibility	Very High	High
Runnability	Very High	Very High
License	ORC	Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License
Cost	Free (ORC)	$$
Publisher	Paizo	The Arcane Library
Year	2023	2023
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.	Tense, fast-paced dungeon crawling where resource management and player ingenuity matter more than character builds. Ideal for groups wanting old-school lethality with a modern, 5e-familiar ruleset.
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.	Light burns in real time (one torch lasts one real-world hour), turning the dungeon into a ticking clock that pressures every decision. Built-in random tables for dungeons, NPCs, and treasure let the GM generate content at the table with almost no prep. Casting requires a spellcasting check, and failure ends the spell and locks it until you rest, making every spell a gamble rather than a guaranteed resource.
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.	Character creation offers limited customization: ancestry, class, and rolled stats, with little room for build optimization. Talents are gained by random roll at level up, so advancement is partly out of the player's control. Real-time light tracking only works if someone reliably tracks elapsed time, which can be disruptive or forgotten at the table.