Old-School Essentials vs Rifts
Compare Old-School Essentials and Rifts side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Old-School Essentials | Rifts | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero |
| Tags | Dungeon Crawl, Deadly, Sandbox, Low-Prep, Beginner-Friendly, Gritty, Ascending AC, Descending AC, Vancian Casting | Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d20 vs. descending AC via attack matrix (THAC0). Five-category saving throws. Side-based d6 initiative each round. | 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 | Very High | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | 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 | Free | $$ |
| Publisher | Necrotic Gnome | Palladium Books Inc. |
| Year | 2019 | 2005 |
| Languages | English, Italian, German, Spanish, French | English |
| Best For | Groups wanting a clean, beautifully organized take on classic B/X D&D with decades of compatible old-school content. | 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 | Clear layout and organization, wide B/X and OSR compatibility, modular supplements, highly hackable | 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 | There is no domain play or mass combat in the core rules. Treasure-as-XP requires careful GM economy management. Character options are limited in the Classic edition without the Advanced supplements. | 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. |