Iron Valley vs Rifts
Compare Iron Valley and Rifts side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Iron Valley | Rifts | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero |
| Tags | Cozy, Solo-Friendly, Rules-Light, Narrative, Beginner-Friendly, CC-Licensed Rules, Random Tables | Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | Roll 1d6 (action die) + stat against 2d10 (challenge dice). Beat both challenge dice for a strong hit, beat one for a weak hit, beat neither for a miss. A simplified hack of Ironsworn with only 10 moves. Promises replace vows, satisfaction replaces XP, and a favor economy drives gift-giving and relationships. Extensive oracle tables (50+ pages) generate characters, events, locations, and heart events for solo play. | 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 + 2d10 | d20, d100 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very High |
| Accessibility | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | CC BY 4.0 | 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 | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | M. Kirin | Palladium Books Inc. |
| Year | 2023 | 2005 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Solo players who want a cozy, low-stakes RPG about building a life in a small town: farming, crafting, making friends, and maybe falling in love, with no combat or death mechanics. | 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 | Fills a cozy niche in TTRPGs: no combat, no death, just wholesome small-town life, extensive oracle tables support solo replayability, simple rules accessible to complete beginners, CC BY 4.0 license encourages sharing and hacking | 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 | Oracle tables can produce repetitive prompts over multiple sessions. Minimal mechanical depth limits replay variety. There is no structured campaign or arc progression. | 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. |