Pathfinder vs Worlds Without Number
Compare Pathfinder and Worlds Without Number side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Pathfinder | Worlds Without Number | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Sandbox, Exploration, Faction Play, Worldbuilding, Tactical, Ascending AC, Vancian Casting |
| 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. | 2d6 + skill + attribute ≥ target for skills; d20 + modifiers vs. AC for combat. OSR-inspired with modern refinements. |
| Dice | d20 | 2d6 / d20 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | ORC | Proprietary |
| Cost | Free (ORC) | Free / $$ |
| Publisher | Paizo | Sine Nomine Publishing |
| 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. | Sandbox fantasy campaigns with deep worldbuilding tools, faction turns, and an OSR-flavored system from the creator of Stars Without Number. |
| 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. | Free version is very generous, comprehensive sandbox and worldbuilding tools, faction system, compatible with SWN |
| 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. | OSR combat can feel basic compared to modern tactical systems, limited mechanical support for narrative or story-arc campaigns, no built-in social encounter system |