Shadowrun vs Tales of Xadia
Compare Shadowrun and Tales of Xadia side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Shadowrun | Tales of Xadia | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk, Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy | Narrative, Character-Driven, Character Building, Classless, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Corruption, Roll to Cast, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Licensed IP |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Build and roll a d4–d12 dice pool from an attribute, a value and a distinction, adding one applicable specialty and assets. Results of 1 are hitches and cannot contribute to the total or effect. Add two eligible results to beat the opposition's total. Choose an unused eligible die whose size determines the effect rather than its rolled number. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d4–d12 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very High | High |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | No open license | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs | Dire Wolf Digital |
| Year | 2019 | 2022 |
| Languages | English, German, French, Italian | English |
| Best For | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. | Groups who want fantasy campaigns where changing convictions and relationships matter mechanically alongside magical adventures in The Dragon Prince's setting. |
| Highlights | 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. | Questioning a value statement triples its die for a roll and feeds growth, making changes of conviction mechanically consequential. Contests can change major non-player characters' values, letting persuasion reshape their future behavior. Extended challenges resolve varied approaches against a shrinking dice pool, supporting obstacles beyond physical combat. |
| Considerations | 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. | Stress strengthens opposing dice pools, making unresolved setbacks harder to overcome. Guided rune-mage creation links ancestry and upbringing to magical vocation, limiting characters' inherent access to different sources of primal magic. Trait advancement uses growth dice in tests that can fail, rather than guaranteeing an upgrade after every story arc. |