Rifts CCG

Rifts CCG is Precedence Publishing's 1995 CCG based on Kevin Siembieda's Rifts tabletop RPG from Palladium Books. It ran from 1995 through 1997 across the Base Set and several expansions before Precedence wound down the product line.

The game

Rifts as a setting is one of the most maximalist RPG universes ever designed: a post-apocalyptic Earth where dimensional rifts have opened across North America, letting through mechs from Japan, vampires from Mexico, dragons from fantasy dimensions, and cyborg Coalition States soldiers trying to keep order. The CCG tried to capture that kitchen-sink aesthetic through character cards representing every faction Palladium had ever published, with combat resolution using a dice-pool modifier system layered over card play.

The context

1995 was when Palladium was at peak productivity, with Rifts supplement books shipping every few months and the setting expanding into dozens of World Books. Precedence's CCG was the paper-card extension of that universe, and it leveraged Palladium's deep existing fan base. The design had trouble competing with Magic and the wave of licensed CCGs from larger publishers, but the Palladium fandom kept the game circulating through its short run.

The collector angle

The 1995 Base Set and the 1996 Promise of Power expansion are the primary collector targets. Specific Coalition States and Mechanoid character cards are the chase rares, and sealed Precedence product from this era is becoming genuinely scarce. For Palladium Rifts fans, the CCG is an important tie-in to one of the longest-running independent RPG universes in tabletop history.