Dragonslayer RPG vs Shadowrun
Compare Dragonslayer RPG and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dragonslayer RPG | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Dungeon Crawl, Combat-Heavy, Gritty, Descending AC, Vancian Casting, Random Tables | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + attack bonus against descending Armour Class to hit in combat. Saving throws are roll-over by category (Breath, Death, Stone, Wand, Spell). Initiative is d6 per side each round. The GM (Maze Controller) tracks time, light, encounters, and resources: torches burn out, rations deplete, and random encounters escalate with noise and delay. | 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 | Medium | Very High |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | No open license |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Greg Gillespie | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2024 | 2019 |
| Best For | OSR veterans who want a traditional dungeon-crawling experience with descending AC, strict resource management, and classic class-and-level gameplay: especially fans of Barrowmaze and megadungeon play. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Comprehensive old-school toolkit with 11 classes and 8 races, heavy emphasis on dungeon exploration procedures (marching order, light, time), critical hit/miss tables add combat drama, designed by a megadungeon expert, extensive spell lists and equipment | The setting fuses megacorporate intrigue with magic and metahuman races, so a single team mixes street samurai, mages, and deckers. Distinct subsystems model Matrix hacking, spellcasting, drone rigging, and astral space, each carrying its own rules depth. The Edge economy converts situational advantages into a spendable resource for rerolls, extra hits, or penalties on opponents. |
| Considerations | Descending AC and THAC0-adjacent math will alienate modern players, very large rulebook for an OSR game, tightly bound to classic dungeon fantasy, limited innovation beyond curating and polishing older mechanics | Matrix hacking runs on its own timescale and can leave non-decker players idle during a run. Character creation spreads across attributes, skills, magic or resonance, gear, and lifestyle, making the first build long. Dice pools grow large at high skill, so counting hits on a fistful of d6s slows resolution. |