Aether Nexus vs Shadowrun
Compare Aether Nexus and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Aether Nexus | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Mecha, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Collaborative | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 under an aspect (Stone, Flux, Aether, or Hearth) to succeed on tests. Favor and hindrance work like advantage/disadvantage (roll 2d20, pick better or worse). Knights pilot Apparatus (mechs) with resource dice: Armor Die reduces damage, Damage Die deals it, and Nexus Die represents the bond with allies — rolling max on the Nexus Die triggers a powerful Nexus Surge but downgrades the die. Battles play out on a span-based battlefield with tactical positioning. | 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 + d4–d12 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Very High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Community | Very Low | High |
| License | Proprietary | No open license |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Absolute Tabletop | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2025 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want a fantasy mecha experience — knight pilots bonded to towering Apparatus through a shared Nexus, battling Oghdra horrors across the floating Fragments of a shattered world called Eskhara. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Fills a fantasy-mecha niche with detailed lore, 10 playable kin and 16 Apparatus frames offer character variety, Nexus Die creates risk-reward tension, span-based combat is tactical without requiring a grid, built on The Black Hack's proven core | 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 | Tightly bound to the Eskhara setting — hard to use outside it, moderate complexity with many subsystems (conditions, augments, boons, arsenal points), requires investment to learn unique terminology, combat-focused sessions may overshadow exploration and social 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. |