Rifts vs The Derelict Speaks
Compare Rifts and The Derelict Speaks side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Rifts | The Derelict Speaks | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Post-Apocalyptic, Scifi, Fantasy, Horror, Superhero | Scifi, Horror |
| Tags | Character Building, Combat-Heavy, Crunchy, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Gonzo, High-Power, Mana Points, Mecha, Superpowers, Tactical | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Character-Driven, Deadly, Low-Prep, Theater of the Mind, CC-Licensed Rules |
| 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. | When a Speaker opposes a Responder, the player rolls 2d6 and assigns one die to Survival and the other to Sanity. Each die is read separately: 5–6 avoids the consequence, 3–4 causes a lesser consequence and transfers one Blood to the GM, and 1–2 causes a severe consequence and transfers two Blood. Aiding adds a third die and keeps the best two, but every participant suffers the final results. |
| Dice | d20, d100 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Very High | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| 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. | Precision Chaos Machine |
| Year | 2005 | 2021 |
| 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 seeking a semi-competitive science-fiction horror one-shot where player elimination becomes active antagonist play. |
| 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. | Assigning one die to Survival and one to Sanity makes each opposed roll threaten body and mind independently. A defeated Responder becomes a Speaker who spends Blood on manifestations, keeping eliminated players active as antagonists. Four Acts raise the Speakers' manifestation limits and Blood supply, producing a complete escalation arc from briefing to escape. |
| 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 rules support one hostile-derelict scenario and contain no advancement or campaign procedure. Minor harm, serious harm, cracking under pressure, and meltdowns have no additional mechanical definitions, leaving their consequences to the table. The semi-competitive structure turns defeated characters into antagonists, changing play from cooperative survival to active opposition. |