Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition vs Rifts

Compare Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition and Rifts side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition	Rifts
Genre	Fantasy	Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero
Tags	Character Building, Classic Fantasy, Crunchy, Descending AC, Dungeon Crawl, Random Tables, Tactical, Vancian Casting	Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical
Core Mechanic	Roll 1d20 to attack and meet or exceed THAC0 minus the target’s descending Armor Class. Ability and proficiency checks roll a d20 against an appropriate score. Spellcasters choose spells to memorize before casting.	Combat and saving throws use a d20 plus bonuses, with high results overcoming a target number or opposing roll. Skills use d100 and succeed when the result is at or below the character's percentage.
Dice	d20	d20, d100
Complexity	High	Very High
Accessibility	Medium	Medium
Runnability	High	Very High
License	All Rights Reserved	All Rights Reserved
Third-Party Publishing	Not yet researched	Noncommercial only — Palladium Books Internet Policy limited license
Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing.
Cost	$$	$$
Publisher	TSR, Inc.	Palladium Books Inc.
Year	1995	2005
Languages	English	English
Best For	Groups who want referee-led fantasy campaigns with class-and-level characters, prepared spells, optional proficiencies, and detailed combat procedures.	Groups who want long-form science-fantasy campaigns that move from a ruined Earth to other dimensions. The game suits tables whose GM will decide which parts of the broad setting a campaign uses.
Highlights	THAC0 expresses attack chances as a single target-number calculation against descending Armor Class. Parallel PHB and DMG organization and a DMG index covering both books make rules topics easier to locate. Optional proficiencies add chosen weapon and nonweapon capabilities to class-based characters.	Occupational and racial class packages assign distinct abilities and advancement tracks, giving each archetype a different role in the party. Mega-Damage places many supernatural creatures and war machines on a separate durability scale beyond the reach of ordinary Structural Damage Capacity attacks. Rifts and ley lines make dimensional travel a standing feature of the setting, letting campaigns move between devastated Earth and other worlds.
Considerations	Core rules remain split between the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide, including DM-only procedures. Descending Armor Class, initiative modifiers, and special combat procedures require reference beyond a basic d20 roll. Optional proficiency rules increase character choices and exception handling.	Character creation combines rolled attributes with extensive skill selection, making first-time preparation lengthy. Combat asks each player to track an action economy, active defenses, and which damage scale applies. Magic and psionics use separate point pools and power procedures, adding class-specific rules to the shared system.