Grizzled Adventurers vs Rifts
Compare Grizzled Adventurers and Rifts side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Grizzled Adventurers | Rifts | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero |
| Tags | Dungeon Crawl, One-Shot Friendly, Rules-Light, Low-Prep, Beginner-Friendly, Character-Driven, Theater of the Mind, Ascending AC | Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | OSR rules: roll d20 under ability score for checks, d20 + attack bonus vs. AC for combat. Shared character creation via pass-around worksheets builds backstory and party bonds. Fortune Points grant rerolls and cheat death. Three classes (Warrior, Rogue, Mage) with familiar saving throws and hit dice. | 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 | Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | Medium | Very High |
| License | OGL 1.0a | 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 | Flatland Games | Palladium Books Inc. |
| Year | 2022 | 2005 |
| Best For | One-shot dungeon crawls with experienced mid-level heroes: perfect for pickup games or nights when a player or two are missing. | 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 | Shared character creation instantly builds party history and bonds, plays a full dungeon in one evening, OSR-compatible with existing modules and monsters, includes dungeon-building tools for the GM, handout-driven setup requires only dice and friends | 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 | Fantasy dungeon crawl only: no overland or campaign play, very niche premise (old adventurers), three classes limit build variety | 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. |