Shadowrun vs Cyberpunk: What's Different and Which to Play
The short version
Shadowrun is cyberpunk plus magic: elves, trolls, spellcasters and dragons share a corporate near-future. Cyberpunk (Cyberpunk 2020, Cyberpunk Red) has no magic and puts its weight on style, street-level crime and what chrome does to a person.
On this page
The short version#
Both games drop you into a world run by megacorporations where you work off the books for people who can't be seen paying you. Shadowrun adds one rule to that: in 2011 magic came back, and the world has been a bad fantasy novel with a security budget ever since.
Shadowrun was published by FASA in 1989, a year after the first Cyberpunk. It's a mix of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime. Cyberpunk is a straight dystopia. Neither is the better setting. They're answering different questions.
Magic, metahumans and what you play#
In Shadowrun, humans can be born elves or dwarves, or change into orks and trolls. Characters can be magicians who cast spells and summon spirits, adepts who channel magic into their bodies, or deckers who hack. Dragons exist, and some run corporations. Cyberware and bioware are common here too, but implants wear down Essence, the stat that powers magic, so a mage pays for every upgrade twice.
In Cyberpunk, everyone is human. You pick a role, such as Solo, Netrunner or Fixer (see Cyberpunk RED roles), and the supernatural gap is filled by cyberware and netrunning. The danger is cyberpsychosis, not a lich.
Where it happens#
Shadowrun is a global setting, shaped by Seattle (a Metroplex city-state, where Shadowrun Returns is set), with Denver, Manhattan, Chicago and Neo-Tokyo all covered in its organized-play seasons. North America is broken up: Native American Nations hold western tracts and an elven state called Tir Tairngire covers Oregon.
Cyberpunk is mostly about one city. Night City sits on the California coast and is the default stage, with the timeline running from 2013 (first edition) to 2045 in Cyberpunk Red. Shadowrun's years run from 2050 (first edition) to 2080 in the Sixth World edition, which makes it the more distant future of the two.
Editions at a glance#
Shadowrun has had six main editions: 1989, 1992, 1998, 2005, 2013 and Sixth World in 2019, plus a simplified spin-off called Shadowrun Anarchy (2016). Cyberpunk has had four: Cyberpunk (1988), Cyberpunk 2020 (1990), Cyberpunk v3.0 (2005) and Cyberpunk Red (2020).
Our read: skip Cyberpunk v3.0, which replaced the Interlock engine with Fuzion and took heat for its action-figure art. The 2020 vs RED comparison is the one to read before buying.
The video games#
Shadowrun has had eight video games. There was an action RPG on the Super Nintendo in 1993 and a different one on the Sega Genesis in 1994. Microsoft's 2007 shooter ignored the tabletop timeline, so the publishers said it was only loosely Shadowrun. The good ones came from Harebrained Schemes: Shadowrun Returns (2013), Dragonfall (2014) and Hong Kong (2015), all turn-based RPGs.
Cyberpunk's best-known video game is Cyberpunk 2077, a first-person action RPG made by CD Projekt Red. Different genre, different feel. For a longer list of both worlds, see Best Cyberpunk Games.
Fixer's notes: which one to play#
Opinion: if your table likes noir, a knife-fight in a bar and a sad ending, run Cyberpunk Red. Start with the first session guide. If your table wants a heist with a mage, a rigger and a street samurai, run Shadowrun and accept that you'll buy more books.
Our read, for video games: play Shadowrun Returns for the tabletop feel and Cyberpunk 2077 for the atmosphere. Pick the pen-and-paper one that matches your group, not the one with the louder fans.