Mercs, Mages, and Monsters vs Shadowrun
Compare Mercs, Mages, and Monsters and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Mercs, Mages, and Monsters | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Classic Fantasy, Skill-Based, Tactical, Comedy, High-Fantasy, Roll to Cast, Character Building, Mission-Based | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | G.U.T.S. (General Understanding of The System) — sum 3d8 and try to roll equal to or under your Trait Level (starts 8, capped at 17). The margin of success or failure is called the Success Level or Failure Level and scales the effectiveness of the action. Knack Mastery shifts the effective trait by −4 (Untrained) to +2 (Master). Difficulty adjustments (Very Easy to Very Hard) add or subtract 4 to 2 from the trait. | 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 | 3d8 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Very High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Community | Very Low | High |
| License | Proprietary | No open license |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Bad Toad Games | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2025 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want a comedic high-fantasy adventure with mechanical breadth — mastery-tiered skills, three magic schools, twin crafting paths — paired with a simple roll-under core. Characters are sworn Members of a Guild taking hired contracts in the kingdom of Yogath, often unknowingly working for the Crown or a shadowy Consortium plotting against it. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Rolling doubles on an attack triggers weapon-typed Status Effects — swords impale, blunts stun, axes amputate — so weapon choice shapes battlefield complications, not just damage. Mages can attempt spells above their Mastery tier, but a failed overcast rolls on a Miscast table that can escalate to a Wild Magic explosion damaging the caster and nearby allies. Elixirs grant a temporary trait buff offset by a matching Withdraw penalty once combat ends, making potion timing a tactical trade-off rather than free power. | 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 | Weapon-typed Status Effects, weather penalties, and per-weapon damage tables add table-reference overhead during combat. The comedy-grim tone — Goblin Piss Paste as a crafting ingredient, an Iron Pan spell cast by yelling 'I cast iron pan!', a Mad Child King on the throne — will not fit groups expecting straight high-stakes fantasy. Adventures are built around Guild Contracts in the kingdom of Yogath, so dropping into a homebrew setting means reworking the Crown and Consortium hooks that drive published material. | 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. |