Take Your First Look At The Upcoming ALTERNITY RPG!

Later this year, Sasquatch Game Studios will be releasing the new version of the 1990s Alternity science fiction roleplaying game. It features a brand new system, and is designed by industry veterans Dave Noonan, Richard Baker, and Bill Slavicsek. The creators have kindly sent along a sneak preview of the upcoming game, which I'm excited to share with you right here. Next week, there will be a 50(ish) page free demo/playtest packet you can download, with a short adventure by Dave Noonan, another by Rich Baker, and a brief rules overview. For now, though, take a look at the preview below!

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[FreeXenon]

I am liking what I am seeing so far, especially the First, Focus on the Present (pg 18) part.
Good Stuff.

 

[Giorgicus]

The new Alternity playtest digital document is close to 300 pages and too long for me to read on my phone or tablet, I would rather have a physical copy.

Anyone have any good experiences with Print on Demand (POD) services they can recommend?

I can always go to my local Office Depot/Max, but I know from recent experience their prices are not easy on the wallet, and I can't afford to print this on my HP printer at home.

 

[Giorgicus]

The new Alternity playtest digital document is close to 300 pages and too long for me to read on my phone or tablet, I would rather have a physical copy.

Anyone have any good experiences with Print on Demand (POD) services they can recommend?

I can always go to my local Office Depot/Max, but I know from recent experience their prices are not easy on the wallet, and I can't afford to print this on my HP printer at home.

I contacted Drivethrurpg.com to see if they had a POD option, but it is not available for this playtest doc. Looking for other alternatives.

 

[Valdier]

If you have a computer the printer is attached to, can't you read it on that?

Also, get it printed two sided in black and white if you need it printed.

 

[Giorgicus]

If you have a computer the printer is attached to, can't you read it on that?

The vast majority of the day I am away from a computer monitor, thus the reason I end up doing most of my daily reading on a phone or tablet; neither of which are comfortable for reading a 300 page or so of a PDFs.

Also, get it printed two sided in black and white if you need it printed.

Looking for printing options is the whole purpose of my questions above.

 

[Giorgicus]

So after doing some research on POD I went with Lulu and printed out the playtest for a little under $12 and it should arrive in about 2 weeks or so. Here is hoping everything turns out OK.

 

[Giorgicus]

Full options: Lulu Exrpess

Lulu POD: Alternity RPG 2018 Playtest

Cost with S&H: Under $12

Delivery Time: Under 1.5 weeks

Book Size: US Trade (6 x 9in)
US Trade is perfect for a work of fiction or non-fiction and is the most common size in the print book market

Book Bindings: Coil Bound (2–470 pages)
A flexible, black plastic coil allows the book to lie flat. Coil Bound is great for music books, notebooks, agendas, and any other project meant for display.

Print Quality and Paper Type: Standard Black & White
Ideal for text-heavy content with a limited number of images, graphs, or illustrations that have low to moderate ink coverage

Paper types: 60# White - Uncoated
Versatile and economical white paper commonly found in a wide range of books

Preformatted Templates: Default
*I added a title for the book and uploaded an image for the cover


Now that I was able to open my very first POD book, some initial feedback.

Overall I am happy with the experience and the final product. It took about 15-20 minutes to set up my Lulu account, read the options for printing, create a title for the book, upload my playtest PDF, upload an Alternity image from Google, use the default templates, check everything, pay with a credit card and process the order. In a future purchase I can probably do it faster and with more use of the available options.

I made my order on 4/2/18 and receive it on 4/11/18, well before the projected 4/17/18 delivery date.

The "US Trade" book size was smaller then I expected, but I find it comfortable for reading and it fits into my tablet's carrying case, which is a nice bonus as I can take it with me when I leave the house. The text is all black and white/gray scale and it is very easy to read, even the images look good. The coil binding is solid and makes flipping the pages a breeze.

My first POD experience was a positive one and I will use this service again for PDFs I intend use on a regular basis (as reading large PDFs on a tablet or monitor is not fun for me), such as rules, instructions, game modules and adventures.

 

[Giorgicus]

Update: 11/22/18

The Alternity RPG core rules are available as a physical book (I recently got my copy) and the PDFs are currently on sale. All discussions are basically on hold until the Protostar Campaign and Starship books are released next year. Until then, there is not much to say.

Alternity Core Rulebook

Thunder Run Adventure