Main differences between pathfinder/starfinder and D&D 5E?

[AkhiMertail]

Im a brand new player to the Pathfinder/Starfinder game, ive been playing 5E D&D for a few years so reading the Starfinder book, honestly im getting a bit lost trying to comprehend how much i need to be a new DM for this game. Can anyone give me some major differences between the two and things that are 100% vital for any game to be played?

 

[Zardnaar]

Complexity. It's why you're lost PF2 did me in.

 

[Catolias]

Complex is one word. Another is options.

It is somewhat difficult to condense the difference between the two but there have been a few threads on this over the last 18 months. If you are interested, the better ones are:
Rate pathfinder
Actual play experience
Trying out pathfinder for first time

You’ll find quite a lot of discussion on comparing the two rpgs over that time. Clearly some of those posting have clear favourites and have some use to inform you. Hope this is helps

 

[Porridge]

Im a brand new player to the Pathfinder/Starfinder game, ive been playing 5E D&D for a few years so reading the Starfinder book, honestly im getting a bit lost trying to comprehend how much i need to be a new DM for this game. Can anyone give me some major differences between the two and things that are 100% vital for any game to be played?

I take it from your comment here that you're mainly concerned with the differences between 5e and Starfinder.

Two preliminary remarks. First, you can find all of the published Starfinder content online for free on the Archives of Nethys. Second, there's now a free online Starfinder character generator that's super useful for your players, and useful for getting a feel for the game.

This question gets raised a lot on reddit, so I'll direct you to some of the most helpful replies I've found:



And there are also several helpful comments about transitioning from 5e to Starfinder in this thread:


I hope that helps!

 

[dave2008]

Just to be clear: Are you going to be playing Pathfinder 1e, Starfinder, or Pathfinder 2e?