Dice & Glory vs Rifts
Compare Dice & Glory and Rifts side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dice & Glory | Rifts | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy, Universal | Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero |
| Tags | Crunchy, Toolkit, Character Building, Simulation, Tactical, Freeform Magic, Superpowers | Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | Dice Check: roll d20 plus a skill modifier (skill rank + attribute + miscellaneous) and meet or beat a difficulty the GM sets. Standard difficulties run from 10 for easy to 35 for impossible. Attack rolls and saving throws use the same d20, though an attack must also beat the target's Agility Class. A natural 20 is a critical success and a natural 1 a critical failure. | 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 | Very 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 | Ranger Games Publishing | Palladium Books Inc. |
| Year | 2014 | 2005 |
| Best For | Rules-comfortable groups building a long campaign from scratch, who would rather engineer a spell or a fighting style than choose one from a list. | 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 | Experience points work as a currency rather than a level track, so an attribute increase and an extra attack come off the same price list. The core book contains no spell list, so a spell is built from its method and effect and then developed with money and time. Knockout points absorb nonlethal damage while weapons bypass them for hit points, so beating an opponent unconscious and killing them are different outcomes. | 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 | Task resolution switches between high-roll d20 checks and roll-under percentile proficiencies, so two scales run side by side. Spells and superhuman powers are built rather than chosen from a list, so two characters of the same level can differ widely in practical capability. Power scale needs policing: fantasy, superheroic, divine, and modern technology all run on one framework. | 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. |