Heartbeats in Perfect Sync vs Shadowrun
Compare Heartbeats in Perfect Sync and Shadowrun side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Heartbeats in Perfect Sync | Shadowrun | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Modern, Fantasy | Cyberpunk, Fantasy |
| Tags | Anime, Character-Driven, Cinematic, Collaborative, Drama, Fast-Paced, Rules-Light, Superpowers, Tag-Based, Urban Fantasy | Crunchy, Tactical, Heist, Character Building, Faction Play, Lore-Heavy, Skill-Based, Mission-Based, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Roll a pool of d6s equal to attribute + skill, counting 5s and 6s as hits. Meet or exceed a threshold to succeed. Situational advantages generate Edge points rather than modifying dice pools directly; Edge is spent on tactical effects like rerolling dice, adding successes, or imposing penalties on opponents. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | Low | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | No open license |
| Third-Party Publishing | No verified route found | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Nathan Blades | Catalyst Game Labs |
| Year | 2024 | 2019 |
| Best For | Groups who want episodic urban-fantasy action centered on emotional escalation, relationship drama, and coordinated anime-style set pieces. | Groups who want cyberpunk-fantasy heists with deep mechanical subsystems for hacking, magic, and combat. |
| Highlights | 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. | The setting fuses megacorporate intrigue with magic and metahuman races, so a single team mixes street samurai, mages, and deckers. Distinct subsystems model Matrix hacking, spellcasting, drone rigging, and astral space, each carrying its own rules depth. The Edge economy converts situational advantages into a spendable resource for rerolls, extra hits, or penalties on opponents. |
| Considerations | 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. | Matrix hacking runs on its own timescale and can leave non-decker players idle during a run. Character creation spreads across attributes, skills, magic or resonance, gear, and lifestyle, making the first build long. Dice pools grow large at high skill, so counting hits on a fistful of d6s slows resolution. |