Pirate Borg vs Shadowrun
Compare Pirate Borg and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Pirate Borg | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Horror | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Play Style | Deadly, Rules-Light, Gonzo, Pirates, Fast-Paced, Random Tables | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 + ability modifier vs. a Difficulty Rating (DR). Players roll both attack and defense. Five abilities (STR, AGI, PRE, TOU, SPI). Classes include Brute, Rapscallion, Buccaneer, and Swashbuckler. Devil's Luck points provide clutch rerolls. Ship combat uses broadside volleys and boarding actions. Fully compatible with Mörk Borg content. | 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 | High | High |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | Mörk Borg Third Party License | No open license |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Limithron LLC / Free League Publishing | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2023 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want fast, brutal pirate adventures with a doom-metal aesthetic: ship combat, cursed treasure, and a world spiraling toward annihilation. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | Simple rules, ship combat is fast-paced, Devil's Luck creates drama, fully Mörk Borg compatible, extensive random tables for pirate adventures | 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 | Class balance varies significantly, core book layout prioritizes style over reference usability, ship combat rules are lighter than expected, random character generation limits player investment | 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. |