2300 AD vs Cepheus Engine
Compare 2300 AD and Cepheus Engine side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| 2300 AD | Cepheus Engine | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi | Scifi |
| Tags | Career-Based, Skill-Based, Simulation, Combat-Heavy, Tactical, Crunchy, Ship-Based, Exploration, Random Tables, Strong GM Support | Sandbox, Toolkit, Ship-Based, Career-Based, Skill-Based, Random Character Creation, Random Tables, Exploration, Simulation, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | For a task, roll d10 and add modifiers from applicable skills and characteristics; meet a difficulty target from 2 for Simple to 18 for Impossible to succeed. A natural 1 fumbles, while failed checks use a separate roll to determine whether the character may retry or suffers a mishap. Hasty, hazardous, uncertain, and cooperative tasks modify time, failure risk, information, or group participation without changing the core check. | Roll 2d6 and add the relevant skill, characteristic modifier and difficulty modifiers. A total of 8 or more succeeds. The margin above or below 8 is the Effect, which determines the outcome where the rules call for it. |
| Dice | d10 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Open Game License 1.0a |
| Third-Party Publishing | Noncommercial only — Mongoose Publishing Fair Use Policy | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | GDW | Samardan Press |
| Year | 1988 | 2016 |
| Languages | English | English, Italian, French |
| Best For | Groups who want career-shaped crews exploring a politically divided interstellar frontier where starship operations and hard-science constraints drive missions. | Groups who want interstellar sandbox campaigns built around trading or exploring aboard a shared ship. |
| Highlights | Career terms turn pre-play service into skills and organizational ties, giving each crew member a practical history that feeds later missions. Space combat uses hex movement and signature-based detection, making maneuver and sensor discipline as important as weapon range. Linked world-generation and mapping procedures build planets down to regional terrain, giving exploration campaigns playable locations instead of setting prompts. | Career terms generate experienced characters whose skills and starting assets reflect their prior lives. Planetary trade codes modify cargo prices, giving merchants a reason to compare routes and markets. World and encounter tables provide the referee with material for an interstellar sandbox. |
| Considerations | Character creation can end when a turning-point roll fails, leaving a concept in its current career before the player intended. Combat routes each hit through location and damage-type tables, adding several lookups to a fight. The future history assumes a World War III and French hegemony, so campaigns are tied to a specific 1980s vision of the 24th century. | Failed career survival rolls kill characters by default, with an optional mishap alternative requiring referee approval. Damage reduces physical characteristics, weakening injured characters until they recover. Operating a ship requires tracking recurring expenses alongside its income. |