Adventurer Conqueror King System vs Shadowrun
Compare Adventurer Conqueror King System and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Adventurer Conqueror King System | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Crunchy, Sandbox, Domain Management, Character Building, Simulation, Dungeon Crawl, Ascending AC, Vancian Casting | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + modifiers vs. a target value for attack throws, saving throws, and proficiency throws. 18 classes across core (Fighter, Explorer, Thief, Mage, Crusader, Venturer), campaign (Assassin, Barbarian, Bard, Bladedancer, Paladin, Priestess, Shaman, Warlock, Witch), and demi-human archetypes. 110 proficiencies and 378 spells. Characters progress from adventurers to domain rulers with integrated systems for strongholds, realms, mercantile ventures, criminal syndicates, armies, pitched battles, and sieges. | Roll a pool of d6s equal to attribute + skill, counting 5s and 6s as hits. Meet or exceed a threshold to succeed. Situational advantages generate Edge points rather than modifying dice pools directly; Edge is spent on tactical effects like rerolling dice, adding successes, or imposing penalties on opponents. |
| Dice | d20 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | High | Very High |
| Accessibility | Low | Medium |
| Community | Low | High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | No open license |
| Cost | $$$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Autarch LLC | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2024 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want a B/X-rooted OSR game that seamlessly scales from dungeon crawling to ruling kingdoms, with deeply integrated economics, domain management, and mass combat. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Detailed domain and kingdom management rules, economics and mercantile systems are integrated throughout, mass combat scales from skirmishes to wars, 18 classes with quick-start templates, builds on B/X foundations | Unique cyberpunk-fantasy setting blending megacorporate intrigue with magic and metahuman races. Dedicated subsystems for Matrix hacking, magic, rigging, and astral space. Edge system replaces many situational modifiers with a spendable tactical resource. Decades of published lore spanning in-world history from 2011 to the 2080s. |
| Considerations | 540+ page rulebook is intimidating, tightly coupled subsystems, fantasy-only with narrow genre support, very high GM prep for domain-level play | Matrix hacking runs as a parallel subsystem that can leave non-decker players waiting. Multiple supplemental rulebooks needed for full coverage of magic, Matrix, and rigging. Published books have documented editing and layout issues. |