N.E.W vs Starfinder

[Ednoc]

Hey guys,

I was wondering what was the difference between these two different games ?
"A lot" you're thinking.

I played Pathfinder a little, and I'm interested by N.E.W and old who just came out recently. Then, I discovered Starfinder lately and... They look both awesome.

So I was wondering if they are aiming same public... I heard that N.E.W introduced some dog fight in space, that look like a wargame. Which is not a good point. I guess. But eh, I don't have test it so I can't tell.
I went to Starfinder subforum and I saw a lot of little figs, maps, some artworks etc... But I don't know what think of all that.

Can someone explain to me what these game are about ? Are they focusing on trying to be some sort of wargaming with a bit of roleplaying game, are they trying to be both... ?
One seems to be close to Enworld (Am I right ?) and one is published by a well-known editor. Quality of work is independant of that but, I know Paizo and if they are going what they did to Pathfinder, there are going to add a lot (A LOT) of add-on to their setting. Which can be cool... But really expansive.

So, I'll try to be concise and ask some questions, can someone know... ?

- Which one is more combat-oriented ?
- Are they aiming same audience ?
- Which one is the less heavy in terms of rules ?
- I know that Starfinder isn't out yet. But I suppose that a lot of you, who are big fans of Pathfinder/WOIN, maybe or just waiting for some Sci-fi settings, are aware of what make them different.
- I won't ask "Which one is going to be better than the other ?" Because... It semms obivous that the answer is going to be suggestive. And I'm not here to create an argument here.

Thanks by advance.

 

[Morrus]

Well, I'm the author of NEW. I haven't played Starfinder, so I can't really comment on it. I expect it will be awesome. NEW is sci-fi while Starfinder looks like it's science fantasy, so there's a very different feel there right from the outset. You can combine NEW with OLD and add fantasy to your sci-fi, though.

WOIN is a little less rules-heavy than Pathfinder, and a little more toolkit-oriented - it has a lot of tools for building your own setting, with dials to turn regarding the genre and tech level. I'd guess that both systems are about equally combat oriented, although WOIN's combat has a tactical and skirmishy feel and is a bit more gritty. WOIN also is not level based and characters don't grow rapidly in power - they'll always be vulnerable to getting shot.

Both games have hex-based starship combat. I don't know much about Starfinder's but NEW's has a few options - theatre of the mind (no minis or map), cinematic, and Newtonian - to choose from for the level of complexity and "wargaminess" you want to feel from it.

 

[Ednoc]

Hi,

Thank you Morrus for your answer... And my apologies for being so late. I totally forgot about this topic... FORGIVE ME YOUR HIGNESS !

Aheum.

I wanted to thank you for your tips and the light you brought me. I don't know if I can say that... But tank you for your tips, and all your work on WOIN. It's really impressive.
And having an anwser of you directly is even better !

I just bought it (Yeah.) and... Oh god. There's a LOT of things ! I will have to learn all the mechanics. It looks pretty good actually. (Even if I'm not a big fan of the races who look like a bit too much to classic fantasy races with some stuff like blue skin or some tusk added on it for futuristic purpose... But eh. I saw somewhere that the "generic" tone was made for having people to be free to play with, create their own species at their will etc... And that's why you're talking about toolkit. Last chapters look neat and well-made for setting your own world.

I was asking myself : I'm a bit afraid by fighting rules. I only have read diagonaly (I don't know if this expression exist so understand : Reading fast) and... I think there is a lot of manoeuver, it reminds me D&D3.5 in many way. So... Am I wrong or do they feel like wargame... A little ?

I don't care much about how players grow in power. Because it depends on what the GM want to give them big guns, armored suits, money and so on or not... Most of the time. And... Since I don't know N.E.W well, I can't really tell.

If anyone could tell me, some players or this system, how fight fell. It would be awesome !

Thank you again Morrus.

 

[Morrus]

I was asking myself : I'm a bit afraid by fighting rules. I only have read diagonaly (I don't know if this expression exist so understand : Reading fast) and... I think there is a lot of manoeuver, it reminds me D&D3.5 in many way. So... Am I wrong or do they feel like wargame... A little ?

A war-game to me involves large battles wth tons of miniatures. But I'm not a war-game player, so I could be wrong.

There are options for using miniatures or for using theatre of the mind. So I guess it feels as war-gamey or cinematic as you want it to.

It looks pretty good actually.

The number of people I've seen append the word "actually" onto the end of positive statements about the game.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

N.E.W. is TV- and videogame-cinematic. Starfinder is DnD-cinematic.

N.E.W., I would say, is actually more comparable to Savage Worlds than Starfinder; it fills the same niche.

It really depends on what style of game you want to have.

 

[Ednoc]

A war-game to me involves large battles wth tons of miniatures. But I'm not a war-game player, so I could be wrong.


There are options for using miniatures or for using theatre of the mind. So I guess it feels as war-gamey or cinematic as you want it to.






The number of people I've seen append the word "actually" onto the end of positive statements about the game.

That's exactly what I want to avoid. Wargaming. I prefer my game more "Roleplay-friendly" and action-oriented than having ot move square by square some miniatures on a map and having to take care about multiple variables, and numbers from every advantages or disavantages giving by the map or anything...

And for the niche... WHat kind of niche are you talking about ?

 

[Morrus]

Niche?


Sent from my iPhone using EN World

 

[Ednoc]

Niche?


Sent from my iPhone using EN World

Sorry, I was talking to ArchfiendBobbie, about the niche.