Rifts vs Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
Compare Rifts and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Rifts | Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Career-Based, Combat-Heavy, Corruption, Crunchy, Dark Fantasy, Grimdark, Gritty, Licensed IP, Strong GM Support, 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 d100 equal to or under the relevant Skill or Characteristic. Success Levels compare the tens digits of target and roll, with circumstances modifying the result. Opposed Tests compare the sides' Success Levels. |
| Dice | d20, d100 | d100 |
| Complexity | Very High | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Noncommercial only — Palladium Books Internet Policy limited license | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Palladium Books Inc. | Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. |
| Year | 2005 | 2026 |
| 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 a career-driven grim fantasy campaign where social pressure, investigation, travel, and consequential combat make precarious adventurers feel rooted in the Old World. |
| 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. | Success Levels make ordinary and opposed Tests express degree of outcome as well as success or failure. Careers connect a character's status, equipment, and advancement to their work and history. Between-adventure procedures give downtime lasting consequences for a character's finances, opportunities, and advancement. |
| 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. | Combat links hit locations, critical wounds, Conditions, armour, weapons, and psychology. Career progression uses eligibility, status, trappings, and tracked advances instead of entirely freeform choices. Magic and religion add role-specific procedures on top of the shared Test system. |