Shadowrun vs Whitehack
Compare Shadowrun and Whitehack side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Shadowrun | Whitehack | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk, Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Play Style | Crunchy, Tactical, Combat-Heavy, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy | Rules-Light, Narrative, Hackable, Mana Points, Freeform Magic |
| 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 d20 under your attribute to succeed; the face value of a success indicates quality. Positive double rolls (roll 2d20, pick best) and negative double rolls (pick worst) replace flat modifiers. Characters are defined by Groups — species, vocations, and affiliations — which grant advantage on relevant tasks. The Wise class casts miracles by spending HP, with effects triangulated by their groups and wordings. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d20 + 3d6 |
| Complexity | Very High | Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Community | High | Medium |
| License | No open license | Proprietary |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs | Christian Mehrstam |
| Year | 2019 | 2023 |
| Best For | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. | Experienced players who want a concise, elegant OSR system that rewards creative play — where freeform character groups replace rigid skill lists and miracles are flexible but costly. |
| 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. | Concise yet deep (~136 pages), Groups system replaces both skills and feats, compatible with old-school modules from 1974 onward, Auction mechanic adds tension to extended contests, miracles system rewards creative description, four editions of refinement |
| 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. | Dense writing requires careful reading — not a quick-start game, assumes familiarity with old-school play, no bestiary or setting included, rare classes may feel underdeveloped |