Pathfinder has 1000 times more character combos than D&D

a split image of two Pathfinder 2e adventures, flying druid, orc swinging on a rope
(Image credit: Paizo)

While Dungeons & Dragons may be the system that first comes to mind when you think of TTRPGs, plenty of players have jumped ship from D&D 5E and embraced Pathfinder as an alternative. 

Both are considered among the best tabletop RPGs, but each has their individual strengths and weaknesses. According to defenders of the 50-year-old classic, D&D is a whole lot simpler for beginners to get to grips with and has a wealth of iconic settings to choose from. On the other hand, Pathfinder players appreciate the more rule-dense gameplay and the massive level of customization.

Just how much customization is there? Well, one Twitter user crunched the numbers on each system to establish exactly how much freedom they provide in creating your player character and the numbers are surprising.

D&D Ranger lurks in the trees and watches over a forest

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)

According to their calculations, there are 15,468 unique combinations you can come up with when drafting up your character in D&D 5E. That’s not anything to scoff at. However, Pathfinder 2E blows it out of the water. It has around 1,000 times that with a whopping 14,817,660 possible character options. How do you even arrive at such a mighty figure? Well, once you factor in race, ancestry, class, and subclass, things really start to add up.

For example, D&D’s 118 lineage options come from considering base races like Dwarf, but also subraces like Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, and Duergar. Pathfinder takes an even more focused approach to this by allowing you to choose your ancestry and heritage, adding up to 726 total lineage combinations. The 131 D&D subclasses and 157 Pathfinder subclasses aren’t too dissimilar, but D&D's lack of archetype choices (essentially sub-sub-classes) leave it lagging behind Pathfinder’s 130.

While there’s plenty to draw from across the best D&D books, plenty of players have introduced homebrew content to fill in gaps between the kinds of heroes they want to create and what the system allows them to do already. Given the new D&D rulebooks will develop the minutiae of subclasses more, it seems like these revisions will provide a good middle ground between Pathfinder’s complexity and D&D’s simplicity. Maybe it may even be enough to bring back some Pathfinder devotees to D&D.


For more great tabletop experiences, check out our guide to the top board games for adults and these must-have board games for 2 players.

Abigail Shannon
Tabletop & Merch Writer

Abigail is a Tabletop & Merch writer at Gamesradar+. She carries at least one Magic: The Gathering deck in her backpack at all times and always spends far too long writing her D&D character backstory. She’s a lover of all things cute, creepy, and creepy-cute.

Read more
A wide collection of monsterous playable characters from Battlezoo Ancestries Living Legends
Play as a Mindflayer or a swarm of bees in this upcoming D&D supplement from a Pathfinder 2E co-creator
Art from Pathfinder:Kingmaker showing a group of adventurers in combat
Save $722 and experience Pathfinder’s best adventure path with this massive Humble Bundle deal
Key art for Solasta 2.
A single D&D spell in Solasta 2's Steam Next Fest demo proved to me that not every RPG needs to be Baldur's Gate 3
Guildmaster Rhys and others look on mockingly as a recruit falls flat on their face
Ex-D&D Designer says the OGL controversy has possibly rendered the game permanently “uncool”
D&D character sheet and cards from Heroes of the Borderlands box set
The new D&D Starter Set is the first one I've been excited about in years
A selection of lifestyle images showing four of the best tabletop RPGs in use
Best tabletop RPGs 2025: Must-have adventures you need to try
Latest in Tabletop Gaming
Kill Team: Blood and Zeal box on a wooden surface
Kill Team: Blood and Zeal pre-orders just went live, and I wish other Warhammer games were this weird
Photographs of the Agricola board game in play
Agricola review: "Accurate representation of the highly competitive and often unstable world of agriculture"
Pokemon Journey Together Elite Trainer Box with a card standing beside it
Where to buy Pokemon TCG Journey Together ahead of launch
Cards from Zhenya's Wonder Tales
Embrace your inner bear-lover in a Baldur's Gate 3 sidequest-style tale of social turmoil in this Slavic storytelling board game, now crowdfunding
A dwarf with a pipe and weapon on their shoulder stands in front of a table, chair, and fireplace
D&D virtual tabletop Sigil is as good as dead, and I can't stop thinking about what could have been
A purple snake wearing a green and gold crest coiled around a pillar with wisteria in bloom
This MTG Tarkir: Dragonstorm card might be the prettiest I've seen
Latest in News
Adam Scott as Mark S and Britt Lower as Helly R in Severance season 2
There might have been another reason for Mark's decision in the Severance season 2 finale
Silent Hill f art showing a person covered in plants
Silent Hill f has been pre-emptively banned in Australia, with no reason given for the 'refused classification' rating
Assassin's Creed Shadows review gameplay showing Yasuke overlooking the sea and lush green scenery
Assassin's Creed Shadows has already "surpassed the launches of AC Origins and Odyssey" with 2 million players and counting
Helldivers 2 screenshot showing someone using a big gun
Helldivers 2 boss says "death and rebirth" is a natural part of the games industry, but it's "unnecessarily brutal" right now "because we don't diversify enough"
A Dragon Age character stares out against a blue background.
BioWare makes a return to Dragon Age: The Veilguard with a surprise PC update, months after layoffs and a seemingly final patch
God of War 3
God of War PSP's seamless loading was only possible because a Jak & Daxter game was also running in the background