All Flesh Must Be Eaten vs Rifts

Compare All Flesh Must Be Eaten and Rifts side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	All Flesh Must Be Eaten	Rifts
Genre	Horror, Modern	Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero
Tags	Simulation, Modular, Character Building, Roleplay-Heavy	Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical
Core Mechanic	Roll d10 + attribute + skill vs a target number (typically 9). Characters are built with three power tiers: Norms (ordinary survivors), Survivors (action heroes), and Inspired (supernatural powers). The Zombie Master uses a detailed zombie creation system to customize the undead threat for each Deadworld setting.	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	d10	d20, d100
Complexity	Medium	Very High
Accessibility	High	Medium
Runnability	Very High	Very High
License	Proprietary (Unisystem)	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	Eden Studios	Palladium Books Inc.
Year	2004	2005
Languages	English	English
Best For	Groups who want a zombie survival RPG with flexible character creation, customizable zombie types, and multiple campaign settings from Romero-style horror to wuxia undead.	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	Eleven distinct Deadworld settings in the core book, flexible Unisystem engine handles diverse genres, detailed zombie creation toolkit lets GMs craft unique threats, three character tiers support different play styles	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	Character creation is point-buy across Attributes, Qualities, Drawbacks, Skills, and Metaphysics, which front-loads a long series of choices before play begins. Combat applies damage multipliers after the hit roll and then subtracts armor, so a single exchange runs through several steps. The book supplies eleven Deadworld settings as construction kits rather than one canonical premise, so a group must settle its own zombie rules and tone first.	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.