Shadowrun vs The Dark Eye
Compare Shadowrun and The Dark Eye side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Shadowrun | The Dark Eye | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk, Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy | Crunchy, Skill-Based, Lore-Heavy, Character Building, Simulation, Realistic, Social Intrigue, High-Fantasy |
| 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. | Skill checks require rolling a d20 three times, each against a different linked attribute (roll under). A pool of Skill Points can be spent to reduce individual rolls that exceed their target attribute. Remaining Skill Points after all three rolls determine the Quality Level of the success. Combat uses d20 roll-under for attacks, with separate Parry and Dodge defense rolls. Spellcasting costs Arcane Energy points and uses the same triple-check system. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d20 |
| Complexity | Very High | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Community | High | Low |
| License | No open license | Scriptorium Aventuris (community content program) |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs | Ulisses Spiele |
| Year | 2019 | 2017 |
| Best For | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. | Groups who want a detailed, skill-rich fantasy RPG with a deeply developed setting and mechanics that model character competence through point-based skill management rather than binary pass/fail. |
| Highlights | 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. | Triple d20 skill check system rewards investment in both attributes and skills, Aventuria is one of the most extensively detailed published RPG settings, free quickstart rules available, Scriptorium Aventuris community content program supports third-party publishing |
| Considerations | 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. | Eight attributes and dozens of skills make character creation lengthy, triple d20 check resolution is slower than single-roll systems, English-language community is much smaller than the German-language base, core rulebook is dense and requires significant reading before play |