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, 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 | Medium | High |
| Runnability | High | Very 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 | 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 | Very niche: you must want to play young dragons, limited mechanical depth, tightly bound to its setting | 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. |