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, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, 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 |
| Runnability | Very High | Low |
| License | ORC | OGL 1.0a |
| Cost | Free | 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 | 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. | 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 draws feats from ancestry, class, skill, and general pools at every level, making each build a slow step. | 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. |