Dungeons & Dragons vs Heartbeats in Perfect Sync
Compare Dungeons & Dragons and Heartbeats in Perfect Sync side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons | Heartbeats in Perfect Sync | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Modern, Fantasy |
| Tags | Tactical, Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Vancian Casting, Ascending AC | Anime, Character-Driven, Cinematic, Collaborative, Drama, Fast-Paced, Rules-Light, Superpowers, Tag-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | Make a D20 Test by rolling d20, adding relevant modifiers, and comparing the total to a target number. Ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls use this procedure. Advantage and disadvantage use two d20s and keep the higher or lower result. | 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 | d20 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Low |
| License | CC BY 4.0 (SRD); core books proprietary | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Open license | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | Free | $ |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast | Nathan Blades |
| Year | 2024 | 2024 |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic fantasy with configurable tactical combat, broad character options, and campaigns that span multiple levels. | Groups who want episodic urban-fantasy action centered on emotional escalation, relationship drama, and coordinated anime-style set pieces. |
| Highlights | Advantage and disadvantage resolve common situational effects by selecting the higher or lower of two d20 rolls. Backgrounds, classes, subclasses, and feats distribute character choices across creation and advancement. Weapon Mastery gives qualifying weapon users distinct tactical effects without replacing the action economy. | 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 | Spell preparation, spell slots, class features, and conditions create several interacting resources for players to track. High-level characters combine many spells and features, increasing adjudication work for the DM. Bastions add a separate downtime procedure for campaigns that use the stronghold rules. | 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. |