OpenQuest vs Shadowrun
Compare OpenQuest and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| OpenQuest | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Skill-Based, Classless, Beginner-Friendly, Deadly, Sword & Sorcery, Mana Points, Roll to Cast, Theater of the Mind, Open Source, GM-Friendly | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or under a skill percentage to succeed. Doubles on a success (11, 22, 33) are critical successes; doubles on a failure are fumbles. Modifiers apply in meaningful increments of ±20% or ±50% only. Opposed tests have both sides roll, with the highest successful roll winning. Fortune points allow rerolls and can prevent character death. | 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 | d100 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Community | Low | High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD) | No open license |
| Cost | $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | D101 Games | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2021 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups wanting a streamlined D100 fantasy system that retains the feel of classic BRP — deadly combat, three distinct magic systems, and percentile skills — without hit locations or fiddly modifiers. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Three magic systems — Personal Magic, Divine Magic, and Sorcery — each with distinct mechanics and progression. Simplified modifiers (±20% or ±50% only) reduce bookkeeping without sacrificing impact. Social combat subsystem handles fast talk, oratory, and intimidation with mechanical structure. Full SRD released under CC BY 4.0, which has spawned commercial derivatives like Jackals (Osprey Games). | 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 | No hit location system — groups wanting granular wound tracking should look to Mythras or RuneQuest. Low hit point totals make combat swingy from single lucky or unlucky rolls. Non-human character options (Ducks, Elves, Dwarves) are optional rules only. | 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. |