Cyberpunk 2020 vs Shadow of the Demon Lord
Compare Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadow of the Demon Lord side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Cyberpunk 2020 | Shadow of the Demon Lord | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk | Fantasy, Horror |
| Tags | Combat-Heavy, Skill-Based, Deadly, Lore-Heavy, Corruption, Crunchy, Tactical, Simulation, Gritty, Character Building | Dark Fantasy, Gritty, Deadly, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Corruption, Character Building, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Atmospheric, Strong GM Support |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 1d10 + the relevant stat + skill and meet or exceed a difficulty number. Opposed checks compare totals, with ties favoring the defender. A natural 1 automatically fails the check. A natural 10 adds one extra 1d10 to the total. | Roll d20 plus an attribute modifier against 10 for a challenge or the target’s Defense or attribute for an attack. Boons and banes cancel one for one. Roll the remaining d6s and add the highest boon or subtract the highest bane. |
| Dice | d10 | d20, d6 |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Availability | Paid | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Noncommercial only — Homebrew Content Policy | Commercial publishing allowed — Community content program |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | R. Talsorian Games | Schwalb Entertainment |
| Year | 1993 | 2015 |
| Languages | English, Italian, Japanese, Polish | English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Chinese |
| Best For | Groups who want dangerous urban jobs with customized cybernetic characters and detailed firefights. Campaigns can draw on personal enemies and corporate power struggles in Night City. | Groups who want lethal fantasy horror with flexible character paths and campaigns built around eleven adventures. |
| Highlights | Role-specific abilities give specialists distinct ways to influence a job. Lifepath events establish enemies and allies that can become campaign hooks. Cyberware trades mechanical upgrades for Humanity loss that reduces Empathy. | Novice, expert and master paths combine freely to create specialized characters. Fast turns trade movement for an earlier action. Insanity and Corruption give frightening encounters and forbidden acts lasting mechanical consequences. |
| Considerations | Extended Net infiltrations use separate procedures that can leave other characters waiting. Armor layering and damage to specific body locations require repeated calculations during firefights. A sufficiently damaging head hit kills outright regardless of remaining health. | Starting characters can die from a single strong hit. The rules include graphic body horror and disturbing effects of forbidden magic. Advancement ends at level 10 after the campaign’s final adventure. |