Call of Cthulhu vs Heartbeats in Perfect Sync
Compare Call of Cthulhu and Heartbeats in Perfect Sync side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | Heartbeats in Perfect Sync | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Modern, Fantasy |
| Tags | Investigation, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Mystery, Deadly, Corruption, Skill-Based, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Character-Driven, Narrative | Anime, Character-Driven, Cinematic, Collaborative, Drama, Fast-Paced, Rules-Light, Superpowers, Tag-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or below a skill or characteristic. Hard and Extreme tests use half and one-fifth of that rating. Bonus and penalty dice select a better or worse tens digit. Eligible failed skill rolls can be pushed by taking further action, risking a harsher consequence. | When an outcome is uncertain, the GM sets a target number of hits. Roll a d6 pool equal to your current Heart Rate; each 5 or 6 is a hit, and meeting or exceeding the target succeeds. Results can shift Heart Rate, changing the size of later pools. |
| Dice | d100 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Low |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Community content program | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $ |
| Publisher | Chaosium | Nathan Blades |
| Year | 2014 | 2024 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Chinese | English |
| Best For | Groups who want clue-driven horror with ordinary investigators and lasting consequences. Suits focused mysteries and campaigns where survival matters more than defeating every threat. | Groups who want episodic urban-fantasy action centered on emotional escalation, relationship drama, and coordinated anime-style set pieces. |
| Highlights | Pushing a failed roll offers another chance at the goal with a more serious consequence if it fails. Learning Mythos lore reduces maximum Sanity, tying useful knowledge to lasting vulnerability. An Idea roll gets a stalled investigation moving again, with failure putting investigators into danger. | Heart Rate serves as both the dice pool and an emotional track, so roll outcomes alter the odds of later actions. Perfect Sync lets characters with matching Heart Rates combine their pools for a shared roll at the cost of later spotlight turns. While Heartbroken, the altered-state aspect does not expire, and later thresholds lead to recovery or loss of player control. |
| Considerations | A major wound can leave an investigator dying, making direct confrontation dangerous. Bouts of madness temporarily place investigator actions under Keeper control. Foot and vehicle chases track relative speed and movement actions, adding a separate procedure to pursuit scenes. | The default City is deliberately sparse, so groups build most setting detail themselves or begin from the included scenario. The GM decides uncertainty, target hits, and failed-roll consequences case by case. Under the base rules, Perfect Sync requires matching Heart Rates, though an optional Heartstring move can bypass that limit. |