Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Holmes) vs Rifts
Compare Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Holmes) and Rifts side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Holmes) | Rifts | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero |
| Tags | Classic Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Resource Management, Random Character Creation, Deadly, Vancian Casting, Descending AC, Map-Drawing | Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 1d20 and meet or exceed the target supplied by the attack or saving-throw table. Exploration, reactions, thief abilities, doors, and treasure use separate d6 or percentile procedures rather than one universal action rule. | 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 | Medium | Very High |
| Accessibility | Very Low | Medium |
| Runnability | Low | Very High |
| License | Proprietary | 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 | Unavailable | $$ |
| Publisher | Tactical Studies Rules | Palladium Books Inc. |
| Year | 1977 | 2005 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want a referee-led, map-and-torch dungeon campaign with low-level adventurers, treasure-driven advancement, tactical table-based combat, and room for improvised rulings. | 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 | Ten-minute turns make mapping, searching, light, rest, and wandering monsters central expedition pressures. Worked melee and referee-player examples demonstrate combat, formation, secret-door searches, and encounter pacing in context. The included Zenopus dungeon and removable reference tables provide a ready starting site and consolidated table aid. | 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 | The rulebook covers only the first three character levels and points longer campaigns toward Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Combat, saving throws, thief abilities, doors, traps, and reactions each use separate procedures instead of one task mechanic. Low hit points, poison, paralysis, and other severe effects can remove characters abruptly, and no current legal complete-core storefront was located. | 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. |