Rifts vs Scum and Villainy
Compare Rifts and Scum and Villainy side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Rifts | Scum and Villainy | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero | Scifi |
| Tags | Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical | Narrative, Heist, Faction Play, Low-Prep, Roleplay-Heavy, Exploration, Atmospheric |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Forged in the Dark. Roll d6 dice pool, read highest: 6 = full success, 4–5 = partial success, 1–3 = bad outcome. Position (controlled/risky/desperate) sets stakes. Flashbacks replace planning. Progress clocks track complex obstacles. |
| Dice | d20, d100 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very High | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Forged in the Dark |
| Third-Party Publishing | Noncommercial only — Palladium Books Internet Policy limited license | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Palladium Books Inc. | Evil Hat Productions / Off Guard Games |
| Year | 2005 | 2018 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | 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. | Groups who want Firefly/Star Wars-style spaceship crew adventures with Blades in the Dark's fiction-first mechanics. |
| Highlights | 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. | Flashbacks eliminate tedious planning, ship playbooks level up alongside characters, detailed faction system, low GM prep |
| Considerations | 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. | The game is tightly tied to its specific setting. Ship playbook progression can overshadow individual characters. The faction system requires significant GM prep between sessions. |