Pathfinder vs Thirsty Sword Lesbians
Compare Pathfinder and Thirsty Sword Lesbians side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Pathfinder | Thirsty Sword Lesbians | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Scifi, Cyberpunk, Modern |
| Tags | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy | Narrative, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Drama, Roleplay-Heavy, Collaborative, Playbook-Driven, CC-Licensed Rules, Beginner-Friendly, One-Shot Friendly |
| 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. | When a move's fictional trigger occurs, roll 2d6 plus Daring, Grace, Heart, Wit, or Spirit. Each move defines the consequences for an up beat on 10+, a mixed beat on 7–9, or a down beat on 6-; down beats mark XP and let the GM introduce a complication. |
| Dice | d20 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | High | Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | ORC | CC BY-SA 4.0 (text) |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open and compatibility licenses | Commercial publishing allowed — Powered by Lesbians open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | Free |
| Publisher | Paizo | Evil Hat Productions |
| Year | 2023 | 2021 |
| 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. | Groups seeking queer action romance centered on personal relationships. It supports one-shots and campaigns built through collaborative setting creation. |
| 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. | Conditions impose concrete penalties until recovery scenes or destructive actions clear them. Strings let characters influence rolls or tempt choices, making relationships mechanically consequential. Playbook conflicts and Smitten prompts give each romance a source of dramatic tension. |
| 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. | There is no general move for persuading an NPC directly, so mechanical leverage comes from gaining and spending Strings. The default Fight move resolves one exchange rather than a turn-based combat round, but optional Expanded Fight Moves support longer duels. Exploration and investigation rely on fictional positioning or Defy Disaster instead of dedicated procedures. |