Aether Nexus vs Tenra Bansho Zero
Compare Aether Nexus and Tenra Bansho Zero side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Aether Nexus | Tenra Bansho Zero | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy, Sci-Fi |
| Tags | Mecha, Tactical, Collaborative | Drama, Character-Driven, Roleplay-Heavy, Corruption, One-Shot Friendly, Anime, Mecha, Cinematic, High-Power, Strong GM Support |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 under an aspect (Stone, Flux, Aether, or Hearth) to succeed on tests. Favor and hindrance work like advantage/disadvantage (roll 2d20, pick better or worse). Knights pilot Apparatus (mechs) with resource dice: Armor Die reduces damage, Damage Die deals it, and Nexus Die represents the bond with allies: rolling max on the Nexus Die triggers a powerful Nexus Surge but downgrades the die. Battles play out on a span-based battlefield with tactical positioning. | Roll a number of d6 equal to an attribute. Each die showing the skill level or lower counts as a success. The GM announces how many successes are needed, usually between 1 and 6, before the roll. In an opposed roll, the defender's successes set the number the attacker must beat. Kiai points can add dice or raise a general skill before a roll, or buy extra successes after it. |
| Dice | d20 + d4–d12 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Availability | Paid | Paid |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Absolute Tabletop | Kotodama Heavy Industries |
| Year | 2025 | 2013 |
| Languages | English | English, Japanese, Spanish |
| Best For | Groups who want a fantasy mecha experience: knight pilots bonded to towering Apparatus through a shared Nexus, battling Oghdra horrors across the floating Fragments of a shattered world called Eskhara. | Groups who want a complete anime-style drama of samurai, sorcerers and mecha pilots in one long session, with the whole table rewarding memorable performances. |
| Highlights | Fills a fantasy-mecha niche with detailed lore, 10 playable kin and 16 Apparatus frames offer character variety, Nexus Die creates risk-reward tension, span-based combat is tactical without requiring a grid, built on The Black Hack's proven core | Aiki chits awarded by the table for memorable in-character play convert into the Kiai that buys dice and successes. Spent Kiai builds up as Karma, which players pay down by rewriting or sublimating their character's Fates. The Zero Act gives each character an opening scene and a GM-assigned Destiny, setting up a story meant to finish in one 4 to 6 hour session. |
| Considerations | Tightly bound to the Eskhara setting: hard to use outside it, moderate complexity with many subsystems (conditions, augments, boons, arsenal points), requires investment to learn unique terminology, combat-focused sessions may overshadow exploration and social play | A character whose Karma is still above 108 at the end of an intermission normally becomes a GM-controlled Asura and leaves play. The book has no dedicated army-scale battle rules, though individual combat and Strategy rolls can still matter within a war. Scenes usually include only two or three PCs, so players spend much of the session as the audience or voicing NPCs. |