Shadowrun 6th Edition Review

This Shadowrun 6th edition review is part of my “Best Tabletop RPGs of All Time” article. If you want to check out more TTRPGs and see how other top-tier tabletop RPGs are ranked, visit that page.


My Review – 81 / 100

Shadowrun 6th Edition Review

Shadowrun is a game set in a distant future. It’s a dark and gritty world where hackers, organized crime, tech and cyborg parts dealers, and thugs abound. It’s a world where corporations/ government have near-absolute control.


Shadowrun is the cyberpunk genre at its best. Play as a cyborg samurai, a sniper, a tech wizard, and more. Think something that shares similarities with a setting like “Ghost in the Shell” and you have a good idea what the game’s about. The biggest difference is that there are true magic-users in Shadowrun, in addition to “tech wizards.”

Shadowrun Uniqueness: (9/10)

Shadowrun’s game mechanics are unique, and the setting is very unique.


Skill checks are resolved by rolling a pool of 6-sided dice equal to your character’s skill value, plus attribute score relevant to what you’re trying to accomplish. You always succeed by rolling 5’s or 6’s on your dice, and you have a limit to how many “successes” you can count according to the limits for that action (ex: weapons only allow you to have so many “successes” from a roll, depending on the weapon’s quality). Get enough “successes,” and your skill check passes.


If you roll half of your total dice as 1’s, a “Glitch” occurs, which throws in additional challenges and problems.


I like that Shadowrun keeps things simple with the target numbers you want to roll for your dice. Since you only ever have to roll 5’s and 6’s, it’s easy to remember.


I also like that unlike other TTRPGs that use a similar system of checking results, Shadowrun doesn’t require you to buy special dice to play.

When it comes down to it, Shadowrun lets you roll lots of dice (very fun), yet still resolve outcomes very quickly. Most games that roll a lot of dice typically take a long time to see what actually happens as a result of the roll.


Ease of Learning Shadowrun 6th Edition: (8/10)

Math in Shadowrun is pretty easy. Since you aim for “hits” with your dice rolls (5’s and 6’s) instead of adding every dice roll together, the game is inherently easier than those that require more math.


Overall, Shadowrun’s a pretty straightforward game for people who are used to tabletop gaming. However, it’s still not super easy for someone new to the genre, as character building takes quite a bit of time and intentionality. Similar to games like DnD 5th Edition, you’re probably looking at 45 minutes or more to make your character.


One thing that threw me off a bit when I first played Shadowrun 6th Edition is that there are characters who excel physically, technologically, and magically. It’s almost like there are three worlds all with their own rules, that converge.


These different “worlds,” or aspects of play don’t make the game more difficult or anything – it’s just another unique element that is relevant to learning the game.


Shadowrun 6th Edition Presentation: (8/10)

Shadowrun’s core rulebook is well-organized and conveys its messages with a great deal of clarity. There is some artwork mixed in with the text, which is a great addition. Even the font styles chosen for the rulebook brings you, as the reader, into the kind of cyberpunk world the game designers have created.


Overall, the rulebook is thoughtfully laid out and enjoyable to read and reference.


Shadowrun Lore: (10/10)

Shadowrun lore is very interesting. It’s not something you need to read in order to play the game. But it does give you plenty of material to work for creating your own story in the game’s universe.


The times I’ve played Shadowrun (I always gamed as a player for Shadowrun sessions, not as a game master), our group never used much of the official lore. But even though our game master created her own setting, the classes, items, skills, and really everything else to do with your character are all firmly rooted in the Shadowrun setting. So, while gaming, we still got to experience a large part of the Shadowrun lore, by default.


There are parts of the Shadowrun lore that I like better than others (personally, I think the magical aspects are a bit out of place with the rest of the setting). And there are parts of the lore that are almost too real (mega corporations taking over all aspects of life… yikes! Gives me some serious “Ready Player One” vibes).


But I have to say that the lore is top-notch and provides an endless world in which to explore.


Eternity TTRPG Article Shop

Combat in Shadowrun: (7/10)

When I think about categorizing Shadowrun combat, what comes to mind is three separate pieces: physical, magic, and technology (as mentioned above).


If you have characters in your gaming group with a variety of classes, it’s not uncommon for unique fights to break out on at each of those three “levels.” As in, fighters slash with swords and fire guns. Wizards fight in the magic realm. Those who can hack and manipulate technology combat in cyberspace. It’s a cool concept.


From my experience though, the three spaces don’t really intermix very well. What ends up happening is that each character in your party ends up fighting their own individual battle at their own “level” of space and competency. Because everyone’s separated, it doesn’t really feel like you’re a team working together. To me, it feels like you’re three individuals fighting on your own.


It’s a little hard for me to conceptualize battles in Shadowrun, I think is what it comes down to. While the cyborg samurai is running around slashing people with his ultra katana, the technomancer is physically standing in place, combating in the “virtual” world. Honestly, it does kind of make sense, it’s just a bit jarring for me to visualize.


One thing I do like though about battles in Shadowrun is that having high initiative in a battle allows you to take actions with your character multiple times in a single turn. It’s a much more dramatic method of initiative tracking than simple turn-taking.


Game “Flow”: (7/10)

Getting into the flow of a gaming session from a perspective of Shadowrun’s lore is very easy. Every part of your character and the “missions” you undertake are firmly rooted in the game world.


However, the game’s rules are not always smooth, and don’t always keep things moving quickly. Determining damage from weapons is not simple, for example, as you have to mitigate armor, then a number of other small steps.


I find that game mechanics often get in the way of the game’s storytelling. Oftentimes, tabletop RPGs try to “realistically” resolve relatively unimportant details (when it comes to the story – what people actually care about), resulting in play taking much longer than it really needs to.


Unfortunately, Shadowrun has a little bit of that unnecessary resolution stuff going on – not a ton, but a little bit.


Shadowrun 6th Edition Artwork: (8/10)

Shadowrun’s art features a dark and edgy style that’s very unique and high quality. Run a search for any Shadowrun artwork (official or fan-made) and you’ll immediately get a strong sense for the gaming world.


Additionally, the artwork is a help when it comes to inspiration for game sessions, so it definitely has its own utility.


Ease of Purchase: (6/10)

Oddly, Shadowrun’s website is not extremely easy to navigate, nor is it easy to purchase Shadowrun on the website. I tend to favor games that practically put the book I’m looking for in the online cart for me. It’s just nice when I’m purchasing something for fun when the experience is very smooth and easy.


Shadowrun can be found on Amazon, but even there it’s not clear which book you should purchase to start playing (unless you’re already familiar with Shadowrun 6th Edition, and the supplemental books you want to purchase).


The game’s famous enough that you can find this information elsewhere, online, but that still doesn’t make it a wonderful user experience.


Price & How Many Books Do You Need to Play: (10/10)

You only need one book to play that goes for $20 as a PDF. That’s about as good of a price as you’ll find for any game, anywhere. Hardcover versions of the game can also be purchased for about $50 which isn’t bad at all, either.


If you’re new to Shadowrun, it’s relatively inexpensive to give the game a shot.


Fame & Availability of Supplemental Material: (8/10)

Shadowrun is pretty famous among hardcore tabletop gamers, but not among casual players. If you do get into the game and get a group going, there is all kinds of fan content and supplemental material available to help you create or otherwise run a campaign.


Overall, if you find people who are interested in the sound of Shadowrun’s lore, you should have an easy time setting up an RPG campaign.


Shadowrun is Produced By:

Catalyst Game Labs


Jacob Tegtman Eternity TTRPG Creator

Jacob Tegtman

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed my article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.


I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.


If you love the site, please share it with others! I have lots of gaming-related material for you to peruse and use in your own gaming sessions. If you have any questions about the site or want to contribute, just send me a message using the "Contact" page, which you can find in the site's footer.

Jacob Tegtman Eternity TTRPG Creator

Jacob Tegtman

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed my article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.


I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.


If you love the site, please share it with others! I have lots of gaming-related material for you to peruse and use in your own gaming sessions. If you have any questions about the site or want to contribute, just send me a message using the "Contact" page, which you can find in the site's footer.

November 2, 2026
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLpxQkh_SVI Transcription DM Pet Peeves === [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Eternity TT RPG YouTube channel, where I go over different things in the tabletop role playing universe from the game my husband and I created to D&D to different tabletops in between. So this go around, I'm gonna talk about something that I think happens in almost every tabletop role playing game. Um, of course, D&D is the biggest in the tabletop role playing genre, so they're gonna be mentioned a bit, right? Um, with any tabletop role playing game, you always have a game master, dungeon master, GM, DM, whichever, you know, you wanna call it and use it, right? And the dungeon master takes so much time creating this beautiful story. This beautiful story with all these encounters, all these puzzles, the strategy, the bosses, and all these backstories, all these NPCs. It's just... It's like you're writing a book without writing a book, right? [00:01:00] So what can get kind of frustrating when you're a DM is that your party starts making decisions that you never expect, y- and you have to think on the fly. So here's some things that your parties do that you just, you kind of look at them and you go like, "Please don't make that decision," or, "Can we get through this?" Right? So one of the things that comes up immediately in my mind is that you spend 20 minutes, 30 minutes, a hour going over, is this an ordinary door or is this a trap? And you're, you're just sitting there like, "Just turn the doorknob. Please turn the doorknob." But you can't say that because, you know, you're trying to create this cool environment for [00:02:00] your players, right? So if you are a player, keep in mind your dungeon masters are not always doing something devious. They're just, you know, they just needed to put a door there 'cause it's going into a building. Please just grab the doorknob. Go in. Okay? Um, other thing that we end up seeing is that every NPC can get treated like a final boss, right? So one thing that's really fun with being a dungeon master is that you do a lot of foreshadowing, right? So this random person that you met in session one could end up coming back in, like, session 10, session 20, and end up being your final boss of the whole campaign. You don't know. So if you don't know as a player, of course, you're gonna be like, "Well, we'll see you again, I bet." Um, so there's a lot of suspicion around every person you encounter when they could just be a normal shopkeep, [00:03:00] right? So the thing about having a high suspicion is that your players, of course, could be really smart, and that's a really good survival strategy. But it's also just another, like, "Hey, guys, come on, it's literally just a shopkeeper that wants to give you this. Like, don't l- don't look too far into it. Please just let me keep going." Eternity TTRPG has released a card game battler which emulates combat from the tabletop role-playing genre. Sparks of Eternity: Emanation is fast-paced, easy to learn, and features six classes from your favorite TTRPGs. Each class deck comes with its own set of unique abilities, which everyone plays at the same time, so there's never any downtime at your table. Each turn, everyone's characters levels up, giving players access to even more options. If you're interested in taking a look, we have our sales page live now, packed with details. Um Other thing I'm gonna wrap back around for a [00:04:00] minute to, you know, is the door cursed or is it a normal door? When you encounter things like that, or even when you encounter an actual fight, the your players can spend, like, an hour planning how to attack this thing, planning how to attack this, like, goblin foe or whatever, and then it lasts barely two minutes because they spend all that time planning, and then they get to actually, like, encountering and you're just like, "Oh yeah, he's here to lead you here. He's helpful." Like, ugh, it shouldn't take you, as a player, hours to come up with a way to get through something, right? When it is just going to end up being two minutes of the game. Right? So one thing that I tend to talk about a lot, um, in my personal life is how we as a [00:05:00] society, like, we have gone to shorter entertainment. Like, movies are shorter, books are shorter, music is shorter. Like, I remember four or five minute songs, and now we're down to, like, two and a half minutes, right? So that's where I think, like, role playing games are headed a little bit, okay? 'Cause you can spend an hour planning it, your DM can create this masterful campaign, but sometimes we just wanna skip the boring parts. Is that so hard to ask? So moving on, now that I'm off my little soapbox. Um, another thing that we tend to do as players, and I am definitely guilty of this one, is we adopt creatures that the dungeon master isn't expecting, right? You just see this random thing in the woods and decide, "Oh, it's mine," and now the DM has to, like, weave it into the story because you decided to have it, right? So now you just, you just gotta deal with it and roll with [00:06:00] it, and dungeon masters, I'm actually supportive of, of this one, so think on your feet for it. Um, last thing that I wanna cover is that when you're dungeon master, you are thinking of, like, everything from A, B, to Z, right? Going over all the possible outcomes and you think you have them all. You think you have every idea that your players can come up with. And then you don't. Um, perfect example of this, my husband and I were doing a session of, uh, the game that he created, right? And he was DM'ing for me, and this, like, NPC went and kidnapped another NPC using her Nether Night magic, and I was trying to think, "Well, how can I track them down? What can I do?" Because we're in a paved city, obviously no tracks, like, what's gonna work? And one of the abilities that I had, [00:07:00] I inquired if it could detect any magical essence, because I knew that this NPC Nether Night was using magic to disguise themselves and get away faster. And my husband looked at me, and he was like, "That might be the smartest thing you've ever done." And I'm just like, "Okay, cool. I'm glad I figured something out." Um, but that's just a perfect example of how, um, people and your players can figure out something that, like, just works differently, right? Um, so with all of that being said, you know, DMs don't take it to heart, players don't take it to heart, but, you know, somehow we gotta keep meeting in the middle, and that's what makes a good, uh, gaming group. So let me know, as a DM, what's your pet peeve? What's the thing that has just bugged you to no end? Players, what do you think a DM should change, right? And then just [00:08:00] drop any, you know, stories, questions, anything in the comments. Like, comment, subscribe. Let us know how we're doing, and we'll catch y'all next time.
October 30, 2026
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TicIZUlQV08 Transcription IMG_7957 === [00:00:00] Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG YouTube channel, where I go over different happenings in the tabletop role-playing universe, from D&D to the game my husband and I are creating. Um, as we all know, it is going on Halloween weekend, which is usually when we all get together with our tabletop role-playing groups and try to do a one-shot adventure. So for all of the last-minute DMs trying to throw something together for their friends, I've got a couple of ideas for you that I am just gonna rapid fire, okay? So first one, you have a haunted house that does not want you to leave. So your party is invited to investigate an abandoned mansion manor where a family mysteriously disappeared. Um, the twist in this is that the house itself changes its layout depending on the party's actions. So the rooms move, doors disappear, and the house seems to, [00:01:00] like, know the party's secrets somehow, right? Um, different encounter ideas in here is gonna be, like, animated f- um, furniture, possessed portraits, um, secret locations, and the, like, finale can be the house itself is a monster, so you have to, you know, figure out how the monster stays alive and how you can get out. Um, second one, we have the village that celebrates Halloween every night. So your, uh, tabletop role-playing party arrives at a village where everyone is celebrating a strange festival. However, nobody remembers the previous night, and the festival repeats it every single night. So you get Halloween every night. So you have different, like, strange villagers going on. You can start incorporating other, um, you know, Halloween things like scarecrows and werewolves and, [00:02:00] um, jack-o-lan-lanterns. Um, so then also finale with this one, your party discovers that the village is trapped in a curse, and you have to break the ritual before midnight of any given night that you're there. Cool. Um, third one, something is hunting in the woods. This is where we get our werewolves, our spiders, you know, all of our creepies. So travelers have gone missing near a forest, and the party's hired to investigate. So something can be following your party into there, but they never get a clear look at what is following them. So you start dealing with, like, false tracks and abandoned campsites, strange noises, and different things like that. You can even throw in environmental hazards in there, like a river, a bog, um, quicksand, that corn-- sort of stuff. Um, finale of this, a terrifying creature corners the party, and you have to choose how [00:03:00] to get past it. Um, moving on, the Last Night at the Graveyard. So local graveyard keeper hires the party to protect the cemetery during a night when the dead are supposed to rise. Um, twist with this, the undead aren't attacking randomly. They're all trying to, like, reach a certain spot, so you're trying to figure out how do you get to that spot, right? Um, you can have your skeletons, restless spirits, zombies, different kind of puzzles around the crypts and around the grave sites. Um, finale with this, the party uncovers the secret about the person buried there and why the dead are so desperate to get to them. Final one that I'm gonna try and finish this rapid fire off with is a Carnival of Curses. So a mysterious traveling carnival arrives outside of the town that you're at, and the visitors enter smiling, but nobody leaves quite the same. So the twist with this is, like, every [00:04:00] attraction is a magical challenge, and the carnival owner is collecting something from every visitor, so it could be, like, collecting their soul, their spirit, um, or you could go a bit more morbid with it and collecting, like, different parts maybe. Um, so encounter ideas with this is gonna be, like, cursed mirror maze, a rigged fortune teller, enchanted games, creepy performers like Cirque du Soleil style. Um, finale with this, the party has to defeat the carnival owner or escape the carnival itself. So that was super quick. There was five ideas for you to try and make a one-shot, hopefully before your, uh, one-shot this weekend. If not, you can always revisit this and do it anytime. I mean, why not have a fun one-shot to, like, break up what you're doing with your D&D group? So as always, like, comment, subscribe, drop different ideas down below, and we will catch y'all next time. See ya.
Woman in blue shirt speaking in a room with shelves of books, figurines, and a plush toy behind her.
By Jacob Tegtman • October 27, 2026
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTjh_PsRn3o Transcription Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG YouTube channel, where we talk about the world of Eternity as well as other tabletop role-playing games, D&D, and all the stuff in the genre that we can find. So this go around, ~I know it's been a little while since we posted, but ~I wanted to go ahead and just do something that I think everyone can get behind, which is talking about monsters that you find in tabletop role-playing games. ~Um, ~you're obviously gonna have your classic monsters that you see in D&D, and then we can just branch out from there, right? So reason this is coming up is that with the Sparks of Eternity Emanation, ~um, ~which is going really well, it's where you have your different classes, ~um, ~fighting each other to a duel to the end, right? ~And that's been great. It's been going great. ~We have a lot more classes in the works, but we were wondering, well, what could be next? And that's when you start looking at, like, armor, races, monsters, ~um, ~and, like, items and stuff, right? Because that's what makes a campaign happen is when you add all [00:01:00] of these things in. ~Um, ~so with that in mind, we started thinking monsters. ~Instead of having this PVP experience, we're talking, we're looking at more of a cooperative experience ~So now we're thinking classic monsters, and that has got to be the most classic of them are all is gonna be dragons, right? ' Cause you have anywhere from your dragon with the wings, fiery breath, always guarding something, guarding their pile of gold, or holding someone captive, or something like that. You're always gonna find that in any kind of mythology, lore, D&D campaign. Like, it's just... It's your classic thing. So how can we take this classic thing and switch it up a little bit? And this is where we started to wonder with our game design where to go, and we're still fleshing that out. ~Um, but I see great things in the works with it, right?~ Taking a classic thing and going a different direction. ~Um, ~other classic thing when you think of D&D monsters has got to be the mimic. ~Um, ~so that is, of course, [00:02:00] gonna be your shape-changing predator, right? You're going through a dungeon, you find a treasure chest, you think it's a normal chest, and turns out it's a mimic and it's trying to bite your face off. ~Total classic thing. Um, ~so how can we change this up? Is there a way to change up this D&D thing? ~Um, ~with that, my mind goes to what other inanimate objects can it become. Is it always gonna be your treasure chest, or could it be a table in the room? Or perhaps a weapon next to a, ~um, ~next to a skeleton, right? Because then you get this idea of, well, what if this, ~uh, ~sword just starts wielding on its own. ~Anyway, cool thought. But, you know, I just... ~It's fun to take things that you think are one way and just shift them completely, and I think that what... That is what makes the entire genre of tabletop role-playing so great is that we do take these different ideas, expand them, change them, and create something new. Eternity TTRPG has released a card game battler [00:03:00] which emulates combat from the tabletop role-playing genre. Sparks of Eternity Emanation is fast-paced, easy to learn, and features six classes from your favorite TTRPGs. Each class deck comes with its own set of unique abilities which everyone plays at the same time so there's never any downtime at your table. Each turn, everyone's characters levels up, giving players access to even more options. If you're interested in taking a look, we have our sales page live now, packed with details. ~Um, ~other D&D classic things has got to be the beholder. ~Um, you know, ~your floating eye with random tentacles coming off of it, right? That's what I think of when I think of a beholder. And I feel like that is used so much to depict what D&D is, and when I see that, all I think is D&D. I never go to anything else. So with those thoughts in mind, we have been trying to decide does [00:04:00] the world of Eternity, Sparks of Eternity, have a monster that just defines Eternity Or do we have, you know, an art style that defines it or, you know, ~just, ~just something that makes it different. And, you know, as always, I'm behind the scenes 'cause I get to be with the game maker and see all of his, ~uh, ~gears rotating, right? ~So I see things coming. I'm very excited to share those eventually. I do see that coming down the line. Um, ~but in the meantime, drop any ideas for monsters that you have below that you want to see, that you have seen, any ideas, just something. You know, use it as a giant brainstorming session. ~Um, ~as always, like, comment, subscribe. Let us know how we're doing. Give me any ideas you wanna see for upcoming news and we'll catch y'all next time.
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