Rifts vs Tales of the Valiant
Compare Rifts and Tales of the Valiant side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Rifts | Tales of the Valiant | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero | Fantasy |
| Tags | Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical | Heroic, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Tactical |
| 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. | Roll d20 + modifier against a target number or opposed check. Uses the core 5e framework: six ability scores, proficiency bonus, advantage/disadvantage. Adds a Talent system for additional character customization, reorganizes spells into numbered Circles, and introduces new Heritages and Lineages for character creation. |
| Dice | d20, d100 | d20 |
| Complexity | Very High | Medium |
| Accessibility | Medium | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 (Black Flag Reference Document) |
| 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 | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Palladium Books Inc. | Kobold Press |
| Year | 2005 | 2024 |
| 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 to continue playing 5e-style fantasy with backwards-compatible adventures but prefer an independent publisher with new heritages, talents, and spell circle organization. |
| 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. | Fully backwards-compatible with 5e adventures and supplements, Talent system adds character customization beyond subclass choice, spell Circles streamline spell level organization, backed by Kobold Press's extensive monster and adventure catalog |
| 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. | Very similar to 5e: groups satisfied with existing 5e rules may not find enough differentiation, still building its own identity separate from D&D, Monster Vault sold separately |