OSRIC vs Shadowrun
Compare OSRIC and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| OSRIC | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Dungeon Crawl, Tactical, High-Fantasy, Character Building, Theater of the Mind, Heroic, Descending AC, Vancian Casting | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + modifiers vs. target numbers (THAC0/AC for combat, saving throws for hazards). Ability scores rolled on 3d6, class and level determine hit dice, spells, and abilities. GM acts as referee for rulings. | 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 | Medium | Very High |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Community | Medium | High |
| License | AELF + CC BY 4.0 (SRD 5.1) | No open license |
| Cost | $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Mythmere Games | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2024 | 2019 |
| Best For | Players who want the classic AD&D 1e experience with cleaner organization, well-defined rules for combat and spells, and a huge library of compatible OSR content. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Faithful AD&D 1e rules reorganized for clarity, large back-catalog of compatible adventures, middle-ground complexity between B/X and modern D&D, active OSR community, free PDF available | 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 | Deliberately old-school — THAC0 and descending AC may confuse modern players, less balanced than modern systems, relies heavily on GM rulings, limited character customization compared to newer games | 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. |