Neon City Overdrive vs Shadowrun
Compare Neon City Overdrive and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Neon City Overdrive | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Fast-Paced, Low-Prep, Fiction-First, Atmospheric, Cinematic, Tag-Based | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of action dice (d6s) based on advantages, then roll danger dice for obstacles. Danger dice cancel matching action dice. Your result is the highest remaining action die. | 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 | Low | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | No open license |
| Cost | $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Peril Planet | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2020 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want fast, fiction-first cyberpunk action with minimal rules overhead and maximum style. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Simple action/danger dice mechanic, fast character creation, fiction-first tags drive everything, compact 72-page rulebook, strong cyberpunk atmosphere | 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 | Tag-based characters can feel mechanically samey, limited advancement system, danger dice can stack to make rolls feel futile, short rulebook leaves many situations to GM judgment | 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. |