Legend of the Elements vs Shadowrun
Compare Legend of the Elements and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Legend of the Elements | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Narrative, Playbook-Driven, Beginner-Friendly, Cinematic | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 2d6 + stat. On 10+ you succeed fully, on 7–9 you succeed with a cost or complication, on 6- the MC makes a move. Five stats (Natural, Hot, Solid, Keen, Fluid) map to elemental temperaments. Chi and Chakras fuel supernatural abilities; Oaths and Respect drive character relationships. | 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 | Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | Medium | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | No open license |
| Cost | $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | The Logbook Project | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2016 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want to play Avatar: The Last Airbender-style supernatural martial arts stories with elemental bending, oaths, and chi. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Designed for Avatar-style elemental fantasy, wide playbook selection (15+ including sub-playbooks), Chi/Chakra economy adds depth beyond standard PbtA, accessible to new players | 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: requires buy-in to the wuxia/elemental genre, tightly coupled to its specific tone, MC section is dense for first-time PbtA GMs | 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. |