A stepper is definitely hobbyist friendly, but not driven by PWM and a H-bridge. The various stepper drivers make it easier to drive and are a lot cheaper overall to implement.
A unipolar is the easiest to drive, but also gives the lowest torque output.
The individual coils of the motor are switched on and of in a predetermined sequence to make the motor move, that sequence has to be obeyed to get the movement. The speed of movement (RPM) is controlled by the rate at which the sequence is repeated, not the voltage, not like a DC(brush) motor.
The driver allows the motor to be moved, just one step at a time, a predetermined number of steps, at a certain speed, or stopped and holding position, just by giving it the correct commands. That can be done by, switches, a CPU, or a PIC, depending on your needs.