Godbound vs Shadowrun
Compare Godbound and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Godbound | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Sandbox, High-Power, Worldbuilding, Toolkit, Ascending AC, Mana Points | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Attribute checks: roll 1d20 equal to or above (21 minus attribute score). Attacks: roll 1d20 + attack bonus vs AC. Fray die deals automatic damage to lesser foes each round. Divine powers fueled by Effort (commit to activate gifts). Dominion points spent to reshape the world at large. | 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 | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | OGL (Free Edition available) | No open license |
| Cost | Free/$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Sine Nomine Publishing | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2016 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want to play divine heroes reshaping nations and battling gods: epic-scale OSR sandbox campaigns with world-building baked in. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Free edition is a complete game, Dominion/Faction system for world-shaping, Fray die handles demigod power level cleanly, detailed GM sandbox tools, compatible with OSR modules | 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 | High-power premise limits traditional dungeon crawling, Effort tracking across multiple Words gets complex, Arcem setting is deeply baked in | 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. |