Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier vs Cepheus Engine
Compare Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier and Cepheus Engine side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier | Cepheus Engine | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Historical | Sci-Fi |
| Tags | Simulation, Crunchy, Deadly, Gritty, Sandbox, Classless, Career-Based, Tactical, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support | Sandbox, Toolkit, Ship-Based, Career-Based, Skill-Based, Random Character Creation, Random Tables, Exploration, Simulation, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | Gunfights run on a Count Up measured in tenths of a second instead of turns or rounds. Each character rolls d10 and adds Speed for a Starting Initiative, where lower is better, then adds each action's Count cost to find when it happens. To shoot, place the Shot Clock overlay on the aimed point of a Target Silhouette and roll d20 plus Accuracy modifiers. A 25 or higher hits the exact spot and 14 or less misses. Totals in between draw a poker card whose suit sets the direction the shot drifts from the aim point. Skill checks roll d100 and succeed at or above a mastery number that falls as the skill improves, while ability checks roll d20 at or under the score. | 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 | d20, d100 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | High | High |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Open Game License 1.0a |
| Third-Party Publishing | No verified route found | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Kenzer & Company | Samardan Press |
| Year | 2007 | 2016 |
| Languages | English | English, Italian, French |
| Best For | Groups who want a long-running, town-centered Western campaign where characters build careers and reputations, and where gunfights are rare, precise, and often fatal. | Groups who want interstellar sandbox campaigns built around trading or exploring aboard a shared ship. |
| Highlights | Shots target specific locations rather than an abstract opponent, so a near miss can still strike nearby and hit location feeds a detailed wound and healing system. Profession Paths award Building Points for career objectives such as opening a business or winning an election, so a banker or rancher advances as surely as a gunfighter. Cattle drives and jury trials run as complete mini-games with their own daily checks or juror track, so frontier work generates play outside combat. | 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 | Running the full game takes the Player's Guidebook plus its separate GM Addendum PDF, along with a poker deck, the Shot Clock overlay, and Target Silhouettes for gunfights. Characters die at 0 hit points with no recovery from death, and slow healing, infection, and incurable disease can sideline a character for weeks of game time. The alternate-history setting presents slavery and period racial attitudes as setting facts with mechanical effects, such as a higher literacy cost for freed-slave characters. | 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. |