Pathwarden vs Shadowrun
Compare Pathwarden and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Pathwarden | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Tactical, Classless, Character Building, Exploration, Sandbox, Character-Driven, Mana Points, GM-Friendly | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + the relevant Proficiency and modifiers and meet or beat a difficulty. Beating or missing it by 10 produces a critical result, while a natural 20 or 1 shifts the degree one step. Benefit and Detriment change the difficulty by 5. | 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 | High | Very High |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | Medium | Very High |
| License | ORC License | No open license |
| Cost | $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Ghost Spark | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2024 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want classless tactical fantasy with grid combat, build experimentation, and campaigns that alternate between exploration, conflicts, and long-term projects. It suits a Lorewarden comfortable preparing a regional sandbox. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Fast and Slow Turns let players trade one action for acting before enemies, turning initiative into a round-by-round tactical choice. Three classless Paths open Boons and Feats that let characters combine martial, magical, and skill-focused abilities. Exploration and Horizon procedures connect regional travel, threat clocks, and long-term Projects to the consequences of each adventure. | 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 | Grid combat asks players to track action costs, positioning, conditions, and multiple-attack penalties each round. Character advancement spreads options across Boons, Feats, Skills, and magical Disciplines, so players compare abilities drawn from several chapters. The campaign structure expects the Lorewarden to prepare an Adventure Map of regions and threats before play. | 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. |