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The Sprawl

v1.0
Disposable operatives run corporate espionage missions in a neon-drenched cyberpunk sprawl
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cyberpunkscifi
Mission-BasedEspionageHeistNoirGrittyFaction PlayPlaybook-DrivenFiction-FirstPlayer-Only RollsOne-Shot Friendly
Languages: English, French
Dice2d6
System FamilyPbtA
Cost$$
LicenseProprietary
PublisherArdens Ludere
Year2016
Complexity High
Accessibility Medium
Runnability Medium

Core Mechanic

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.

Best For

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

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

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.

No verified publishing route found Bounded review of the rulebook credits, the DriveThruRPG listing, and the publisher's site (live and archived via Wayback Machine) found no published third-party or compatibility license. A substantial ecosystem of commercial supplements and an authorized French translation are sold via itch.io and DriveThruRPG and cross-linked from the designer's own itch.io page, but no explicit terms document was located. Reviewed 2026-09-22 · Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.