Pathfinder vs Wanderhome
Compare Pathfinder and Wanderhome side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Pathfinder | Wanderhome | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Cozy, Narrative, Diceless, GM-Less, Collaborative, Character-Driven, Atmospheric, Rules-Light, Roleplay-Heavy |
| 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. | No dice, no GM. Belonging Outside Belonging engine — earn tokens by inconveniencing yourself or stepping outside your comfort zone; spend tokens to help others, reveal secrets, or achieve difficult actions. Violence is explicitly absent. Playbooks define each character's nature through lists of things they can always do, things that earn tokens, and things that cost tokens. Seasons and nature guide the journey. |
| Dice | d20 | Diceless |
| Complexity | High | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Community | Very High | Medium |
| License | ORC | Proprietary |
| Cost | Free (ORC) | $$ |
| Publisher | Paizo | Possum Creek Games |
| 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 who want gentle, non-violent storytelling about animal-folk journeying through a pastoral world — exploring themes of community, seasons, and small acts of kindness. |
| 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. | Best TTRPG 2021 from Polygon and Dicebreaker, token economy — earn tokens by stepping outside comfort zone, spend them to help others — mechanically enforces non-violent play, Belonging Outside Belonging engine removes dice and GM roles, seasonal calendar structures the journey |
| 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. | Token economy is the only pacing mechanism which can stall play, shared narrative authority can lead to uneven participation, playbook Natures may feel constraining over long sessions, limited published supplemental content |