Shadowrun vs Tiny Taverns
Compare Shadowrun and Tiny Taverns side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Shadowrun | Tiny Taverns | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk, Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy | Cozy, Rules-Light, Narrative, Beginner-Friendly, Slice-of-Life, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Low-Prep, Tag-Based |
| 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. | Roll 2d6 — if any die shows 5 or 6, you succeed. Advantage grants 3d6; Disadvantage drops to 1d6. Focus expands success to 4+. Tavern chores, cooking minigames, and emotional wellness mechanics replace dungeon crawling. Fortune points bend the story. Built on the TinyD6 engine from Tiny Dungeon 2e. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Very High | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Community | High | Low |
| License | No open license | Proprietary (TinyD6) |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs | Gallant Knight Games |
| Year | 2019 | 2020 |
| Best For | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. | Groups who want cozy, low-stakes fantasy focused on running a tavern, building relationships, and exploring everyday life in a magical world. |
| 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. | Fills a niche no other RPG covers with slice-of-life play, gentle tone with built-in safety tools, tavern creation and cooking minigames, emotional wellness system adds depth, TinyD6 core is simple to learn |
| 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. | Very niche — must want low-stakes tavern life, limited combat and adventure content, limited appeal for action-oriented groups |