Epyllion vs Shadowrun
Compare Epyllion and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Epyllion | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Beginner-Friendly, Family, Rules-Light, Fiction-First, Character-Driven | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d6 + stat (Courage, Charm, or Cunning): 10+ is a hit, 7–9 is a partial hit, 6− is a miss. Friendship Gems are passed between players to reward virtuous behavior and spent to power moon magic. A Shadow Track measures the Darkness's hold — fill it and you become your corrupted Shadowself until friends pull you back. | 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 | 2d6 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Community | Low | High |
| License | Proprietary (PbtA) | No open license |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Magpie Games | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2016 | 2019 |
| Best For | Families and groups who want a heartfelt, friendship-driven adventure where everyone plays young dragons protecting their world from a creeping Darkness. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Accessible gateway RPG for families and new players, friendship gem economy makes cooperation mechanical, dragon setting with its own lore, six playbooks with distinct Shadowself arcs | 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 | Very niche — you must want to play young dragons, limited mechanical depth, tightly bound to its setting | 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. |