Pathfinder vs Starfinder
Compare Pathfinder and Starfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Pathfinder | Starfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Scifi |
| Play Style | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, Heroic, Ascending AC, Space Opera, Ship-Based, Exploration |
| 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. | d20 + modifier vs. DC. Three-action economy per turn. Four degrees of success. Cross-compatible with Pathfinder 2e. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | ORC | ORC |
| Cost | Free (ORC) | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Paizo | Paizo |
| Year | 2023 | 2024 |
| 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. | Sci-fi fans who want Pathfinder 2e's tactical depth with plasma rifles and starships. Great for PF2e veterans looking for cross-compatible space adventure. |
| 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. | Free rules on Archives of Nethys, deep tactical combat, cross-compatible with PF2e, distinct class identity |
| 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. | Steep learning curve, fewer classes and options than PF2e (still growing), tactical starship combat rules deferred to a future supplement with current rules being narrative only |