Pathfinder vs White Box: FMAG
Compare Pathfinder and White Box: FMAG side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Pathfinder | White Box: FMAG | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Rules-Light, Classic Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Deadly, Hackable, Beginner-Friendly, Random Character Creation, Vancian Casting, Descending AC, Hexcrawl |
| 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 + modifiers against a target number derived from the defender's Armor Class (descending AC by default, ascending AC optional). Attribute modifiers are compressed to −1, 0, or +1. Each class has a single saving throw number that improves with level. Side-based initiative is rolled each round on d6. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | High | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Community | Very High | Low |
| License | ORC | OGL 1.0a |
| Cost | Free (ORC) | Free/$ |
| Publisher | Paizo | Seattle Hill Games |
| Year | 2023 | 2016 |
| 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 wanting the simplest possible version of original D&D — four classes, compressed modifiers, and intentional rules gaps that invite house rules and Referee creativity. |
| 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. | Attribute modifiers compressed to −1/0/+1 keeps math fast and reduces stat dependency. Complete game in 143 pages including monsters, treasure, spells, and wilderness/dungeon procedures. Free PDF and under $5 in print makes it one of the most accessible OSR games. Intentional rules gaps and a blank House Rules page explicitly invite customization. |
| 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. | Four classes (three without the optional Thief) limits character variety. No formal skill system — the Referee adjudicates all non-combat actions. Level tables cap at 10, requiring house rules for extended campaigns. |