Cities Without Number vs Oceania 2084
Compare Cities Without Number and Oceania 2084 side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Cities Without Number | Oceania 2084 | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk | Scifi, Cyberpunk |
| Play Style | Sandbox, Classless, Noir, Ascending AC | GM-Less, Narrative, Collaborative, Drama, Roleplay-Heavy, Solo-Friendly, Crunchy, Open Source |
| Core Mechanic | 2d6 + attribute mod + skill for skill checks; d20 + modifiers vs. AC for combat. Edge and chrome (cyberware) add abilities and complications. Faction turn system runs corporate, gang, and government power struggles between sessions. Tag-based city generation creates districts and neighborhoods on the fly. | Resistance characters' Acts normally succeed as narrated within a six-phase Day in Dystopia. When a Value is challenged, roll d6 against the linked Emotion: Good Values succeed on a roll above it and Bad Values on a roll below it. |
| Dice | 2d6 / d20 | d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | Proprietary | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Cost | Free | Free |
| Publisher | Sine Nomine Publishing | Jocher Symbolic Systems |
| Year | 2023 | 2024 |
| Best For | Cyberpunk sandbox campaigns with comprehensive GM worldbuilding tools, faction turns, and noir-tinged urban adventure: fully compatible with Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number. | Groups who want a politically explicit dystopian campaign about preserving private bonds under state surveillance. It suits tables comfortable sharing narrative authority with an adversarial Big Brother player, character turnover, and post-session debriefs. |
| Highlights | Free version is very generous, comprehensive sandbox and faction tools, seamlessly compatible with SWN/WWN family, noir investigation mechanics, detailed city generation system | Acts normally resolve through narration rather than task rolls, keeping attention on what resistance costs instead of whether a character can perform it. Value Tests turn public loyalty and private belief into emotional pressure: success shifts a shadow emotion, and failure causes an outburst or Stress. Physical Notes written by dead characters grant 2 Hope when another dissident finds them; a Note carried into interrogation can be confiscated as evidence. |
| Considerations | OSR combat can feel basic, cyberpunk genre may overlap with Shadowrun expectations, less support for narrative/story-arc campaigns | The campaign assumes the regime eventually breaks or vaporizes its dissidents, so it does not support a conventional revolution or heroic victory arc. The Big Brother player tracks a concealed surveillance economy and interprets its Reaction tables, making that role more demanding than a neutral facilitator. The game requires a shared willingness to portray propaganda, betrayal, and emotional distress, even though it includes safety and debrief procedures. |