Rifts vs Wanderhome
Compare Rifts and Wanderhome side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Rifts | Wanderhome | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Cozy, Narrative, Diceless, GM-Less, Collaborative, Character-Driven, Atmospheric, Rules-Light, Roleplay-Heavy |
| 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. | No dice, no GM. Belonging Outside Belonging engine: earn tokens by inconveniencing yourself or stepping outside your comfort zone; spend tokens to help others, reveal secrets, or achieve difficult actions. Violence is explicitly absent. Playbooks define each character's nature through lists of things they can always do, things that earn tokens, and things that cost tokens. Seasons and nature guide the journey. |
| Dice | d20, d100 | Diceless |
| Complexity | Very High | Very Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary |
| 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. | Possum Creek Games |
| 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 who want gentle, non-violent storytelling about animal-folk journeying through a pastoral world: exploring themes of community, seasons, and small acts of kindness. |
| 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. | Best TTRPG 2021 from Polygon and Dicebreaker, token economy (earn tokens by stepping outside comfort zone, spend them to help others) mechanically enforces non-violent play, Belonging Outside Belonging engine removes dice and GM roles, seasonal calendar structures the journey |
| 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. | Tokens are earned and spent to take certain actions, so a table that loses track of them can stall its own pacing. Shared narrative authority spreads scene framing across the whole group, which can leave participation uneven when confidence differs. Playbook Natures fix a character's emotional register, which can feel constraining across a long campaign. |