Dragonbane vs Shadowrun
Compare Dragonbane and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dragonbane | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Beginner-Friendly, Tactical, Classic Fantasy, Solo-Friendly, Fast-Paced, Mana Points | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 equal to or under your skill value to succeed. Boons roll 2d20 and keep the lowest; banes keep the highest. Six attributes (STR, CON, AGL, INT, WIL, CHA). Willpower Points fuel heroic abilities, class features, and spells across four magic schools. Combat uses initiative cards drawn each round for unpredictable turn order. Based on Drakar och Demoner (1982). | 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 | Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Community | Medium | High |
| License | Free League Third-Party License | No open license |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Free League Publishing | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2023 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want approachable, fast-paced fantasy with a mix of adventure and humor — great for new players and veterans of classic European RPGs alike. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Approachable roll-under system, initiative cards keep combat dynamic, Willpower Points unify magic and abilities cleanly, solo play rules included, boxed set includes maps and cards | 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 | d20 roll-under can feel swingy at low skill values, fewer character options than comparable fantasy RPGs, initiative card system adds components to track | 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. |