Candela Obscura vs Rifts

Compare Candela Obscura and Rifts side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.

	Candela Obscura	Rifts
Genre	Horror	Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero
Tags	Investigation, Playbook-Driven, Corruption, Atmospheric, Mission-Based, Fiction-First	Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical
Core Mechanic	Roll a pool of d6s equal to your action rating (0–3), take the highest result. A 6 is a full success, 4–5 is a mixed success, 1–3 is a miss. Spend Drive points (Nerve, Cunning, or Intuition) to add dice. Gilded actions replace one die with a special gilded die: choosing its result recovers 1 Drive. The GM sets stakes (low, standard, or high) and expectations before each roll.	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	d6 dice pool	d20, d100
Complexity	Low	Very High
Accessibility	High	Medium
Runnability	Very High	Very High
License	Darrington Press Community Gaming License	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	Darrington Press	Palladium Books Inc.
Year	2023	2005
Languages	English	English
Best For	Groups who want atmospheric horror investigation with narrative-first mechanics, where supernatural corruption slowly erodes characters across a series of assignments.	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	Gilded dice create meaningful risk-reward tension on every roll, Drive system elegantly ties character resources to narrative themes, assignment structure gives the GM a clear framework for pacing, marks and scars make supernatural exposure feel consequential	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	No free core rules: only a free quickstart guide is available, setting is tightly bound to the Fairelands world, limited character customization compared to Blades in the Dark, combat is intentionally de-emphasized in favor of investigation and social play	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.