Magical Kitties Save the Day vs Shadowrun
Compare Magical Kitties Save the Day and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Magical Kitties Save the Day | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Modern, Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Beginner-Friendly, Family, Rules-Light, Narrative, Character-Driven, Collaborative, Freeform Magic, Player-Only Rolls, Fast-Paced | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d6s equal to your attribute (Cute, Cunning, or Fierce, rated 1–4). Each die meeting or exceeding the GM-set difficulty (3–6) counts as a success. Zero successes is a failure with a complication, one is a partial success, two is a clean success, and three or more grants a bonus. Talents add one die, Magical Powers add two dice once per scene, and Injuries subtract dice. Kitty Treats (earned by playing your Flaw in interesting ways) can reroll dice, prevent injuries, or add story elements. Failed checks award Experience Points, encouraging risk-taking. | 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 dice pool | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | No open license |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Atlas Games | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2020 | 2019 |
| Best For | Families with kids aged 6 and up, mixed-age groups, and anyone who wants a gentle introduction to RPGs with a cozy premise and mechanically simple but rewarding play. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Character creation takes about five minutes using three attributes, one Talent, one Flaw, and one Magical Power. Failed rolls award XP, which encourages players to attempt difficult actions. Each kitty has a human with ranked Problems that drive adventures and give the story personal stakes. Kitty Treats earned from Flaws let players reroll dice or add narrative elements to the scene. | 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 | No free quickstart or SRD available: the core rules require purchase. Characters cannot die; they get knocked out and recover between scenes. The premise is specifically tied to playing magical cats, limiting genre flexibility. | 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. |