Old-School Essentials vs Shadowrun
Compare Old-School Essentials and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Old-School Essentials | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Dungeon Crawl, Deadly, Sandbox, Low-Prep, Beginner-Friendly, Gritty, Ascending AC, Descending AC, Vancian Casting | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 vs. descending AC via attack matrix (THAC0). Five-category saving throws. Side-based d6 initiative each round. | 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 | d20 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | Very High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | OGL 1.0a | No open license |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Necrotic Gnome | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2019 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups wanting a clean, beautifully organized take on classic B/X D&D with decades of compatible old-school content. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Clear layout and organization, wide B/X and OSR compatibility, modular supplements, highly hackable | 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 domain play or mass combat in core rules, treasure-as-XP requires careful GM economy management, limited character options in Classic edition without Advanced supplements | 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. |