Grizzled Adventurers vs Shadowrun
Compare Grizzled Adventurers and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Grizzled Adventurers | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Dungeon Crawl, One-Shot Friendly, Rules-Light, Low-Prep, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven, Theater of the Mind, Ascending AC | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | OSR rules: roll d20 under ability score for checks, d20 + attack bonus vs. AC for combat. Shared character creation via pass-around worksheets builds backstory and party bonds. Fortune Points grant rerolls and cheat death. Three classes (Warrior, Rogue, Mage) with familiar saving throws and hit dice. | 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 | Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Community | Very Low | High |
| License | OGL 1.0a | No open license |
| Cost | $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Flatland Games | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2022 | 2019 |
| Best For | One-shot dungeon crawls with experienced mid-level heroes — perfect for pickup games or nights when a player or two are missing. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Shared character creation instantly builds party history and bonds, plays a full dungeon in one evening, OSR-compatible with existing modules and monsters, includes dungeon-building tools for the GM, handout-driven setup requires only dice and friends | 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 | Fantasy dungeon crawl only — no overland or campaign play, very niche premise (old adventurers), three classes limit build variety | 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. |