Railgun XXVI vs Starfinder
Compare Railgun XXVI and Starfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Railgun XXVI | Starfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi | Scifi |
| Play Style | Tactical, Player-Only Rolls, Deadly, Gritty, Mission-Based, Random Character Creation, Beginner-Friendly | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, Heroic, Ascending AC, Space Opera, Ship-Based, Exploration |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 and add one of four stats (STR, CRD, AGI, or MND) against a standard difficulty of 12. Every roll is player-facing: players roll to attack and also roll to dodge incoming attacks, so the GM never needs to roll dice. Rolling a natural 20 banks an adrenaline point, which buys an extra action on top of the two each character gets per turn. | d20 + modifier vs. DC. Three-action economy per turn. Four degrees of success. Cross-compatible with Pathfinder 2e. |
| Dice | d20 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Low | Very High |
| License | MÖRK BORG Third Party License | ORC |
| Cost | Free | Free (ORC) |
| Publisher | Nathan Freeman | Paizo |
| Year | 2026 | 2024 |
| Best For | Groups who want short, lethal firefights on a grid and a GM who narrates enemies rather than rolling for them. Suits a few-session campaign or a drop-in mission night more than a long character-driven arc. | Sci-fi fans who want Pathfinder 2e's tactical depth with plasma rifles and starships. Great for PF2e veterans looking for cross-compatible space adventure. |
| Highlights | Every roll is player-facing, including dodges against incoming attacks, so the GM runs enemies without touching the dice. Dropping to 0 HP forces a critical injury roll that permanently reduces a stat, so downed characters degrade instead of bouncing back up. Several weapons chain into a free attack when they drop an enemy, making target order a tactical decision rather than a formality. | Free rules on Archives of Nethys, deep tactical combat, cross-compatible with PF2e, distinct class identity |
| Considerations | Social scenes have no dedicated stat or subsystem, so persuasion is settled by player argument rather than mechanics. Play assumes a gridded map with movement and line of sight measured in squares, leaving theater-of-the-mind groups to convert those rules themselves. Out-of-combat scenes lean on ad hoc GM rulings and a single falling-forward technique rather than a dedicated exploration or investigation subsystem. | Steep learning curve, fewer classes and options than PF2e (still growing), tactical starship combat rules deferred to a future supplement with current rules being narrative only |