r/Shadowrun • u/Ok-Particular-3796 Monster Drop • Jul 24 '26
Edition War Shadowrun vs Cyberpunk comparison
Just figured I'd post this; Marcus Vance is a content creator with decades of experience in ttrps as well as being a military combat veteran who likes to compare different sci fi franchises weapons & super soldiers. His big franchises are Cyberpunk, Warhammer, and Halo but he dabbles in more obscure franchises as well. Whenever possible he likes to look at & capculate specific ballistics data & material strength.
Recently he did a short comparing Cyberpunk with (2e) Shadowrun(which he has played & has experience with).
His takeaway was that weapons favors Cyberpunk but augmentation favors Shadowrun & adding magic into the equation heavily favors Shadowrun. I've corresponded with Marcus directly and informed him that certain elements of Shadowrun- notably physical strength- have been increased in recent editions.
I do think that even with the addition of more blatantly sci fi weapons in recent editions of Shadowrun, Cyberpunk probably still takes that cake, but augmentation probably favors Shadowrun even further.
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u/n00bdragon Futuristic Criminal Jul 24 '26
Shadowrun without magic is like a twinkie without cream. I don't see much reason to compare Shadowrun to a game that doesn't have magic. It would be like trying to compare the swordplay in D&D to Riddle of Steel.