Neon City Overdrive vs The Sprawl
Compare Neon City Overdrive and The Sprawl side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Neon City Overdrive | The Sprawl | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Cyberpunk | Cyberpunk, Scifi |
| Tags | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Fast-Paced, Low-Prep, Fiction-First, Atmospheric, Cinematic, Tag-Based | Mission-Based, Espionage, Heist, Noir, Gritty, Faction Play, Playbook-Driven, Fiction-First, Player-Only Rolls, One-Shot Friendly |
| Core Mechanic | Roll a pool of action dice (d6s) based on advantages, then roll danger dice for obstacles. Danger dice cancel matching action dice. Your result is the highest remaining action die. | When an action matches a move's fictional trigger, roll 2d6 plus Cool, Edge, Meat, Mind, Style, or Synth. A 10+ is a strong hit, 7-9 is a weak hit, and a 6 or less lets the MC make a move. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Very Low | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | Low | Medium |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $ | $$ |
| Publisher | Peril Planet | Ardens Ludere |
| Year | 2020 | 2016 |
| Languages | English | English, French |
| Best For | Groups who want fast, fiction-first cyberpunk action with minimal rules overhead and maximum style. | Groups who want structured heist-style missions with a hacking minigame and a growing web of corporate rivals across a campaign. It suits players who enjoy risky planning and personal ties that complicate the crew's loyalties. |
| Highlights | Simple action/danger dice mechanic, fast character creation, fiction-first tags drive everything, compact 72-page rulebook, strong cyberpunk atmosphere | Countdown Clocks track legwork noise, mission alertness, and corporate attention on separate tracks, giving missions a visible pressure gauge instead of a single doom clock. Cyberdeck ratings and tiered ICE turn hacking into its own tactical minigame layered on the standard moves. The Legwork and Action phase structure lets intel and gear earned through investigation convert directly into narrated advantages during the mission itself. |
| Considerations | Tag-based characters can feel mechanically samey, limited advancement system, danger dice can stack to make rolls feel futile, short rulebook leaves many situations to GM judgment | Combat and infiltration rely on fictional positioning and MC judgment as much as dice modifiers, so groups who want tightly defined tactical rules may find some outcomes settled by table discussion. Running an ongoing campaign means the MC tracks separate Countdown Clocks for every corporation, threat, and mission in play at once. Choosing how a character paid for their starting cyberware can permanently tie that character to being owned or hunted by a specific corporation. |