Iron Valley vs Shadowrun
Compare Iron Valley and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Iron Valley | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Cozy, Solo-Friendly, Rules-Light, Narrative, Beginner-Friendly, Open Source, Random Tables | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 1d6 (action die) + stat against 2d10 (challenge dice). Beat both challenge dice for a strong hit, beat one for a weak hit, beat neither for a miss. A simplified hack of Ironsworn with only 10 moves. Promises replace vows, satisfaction replaces XP, and a favor economy drives gift-giving and relationships. Extensive oracle tables (50+ pages) generate characters, events, locations, and heart events for solo play. | 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 | d6 + 2d10 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 | No open license |
| Cost | $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | M. Kirin | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2023 | 2019 |
| Best For | Solo players who want a cozy, low-stakes RPG about building a life in a small town: farming, crafting, making friends, and maybe falling in love, with no combat or death mechanics. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Fills a cozy niche in TTRPGs: no combat, no death, just wholesome small-town life, extensive oracle tables support solo replayability, simple rules accessible to complete beginners, CC BY 4.0 license encourages sharing and hacking | 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 | Oracle tables can produce repetitive prompts over multiple sessions, minimal mechanical depth limits replay variety, no structured campaign or arc progression | 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. |