What are your guy's thoughts on Alternity?

Raduin711 · Jun 26, 2013

It's looking to be my turn to GM our group, and I have had the Alternity PHB for ages, and something about it kind of fascinates me. Any thoughts or recommendations?

scourger · Jun 26, 2013

I couldn't grok Alternity Gamma World. The setting was great, but I didn't get the rules. I've read that it has many design elements that were precursor to 3e, though.

Raduin711 · Jun 26, 2013

scourger said:
I couldn't grok Alternity Gamma World. The setting was great, but I didn't get the rules. I've read that it has many design elements that were precursor to 3e, though.

It does, a bit. You can see the beginnings of 3e's skill system in Alternity. The entire Alternity system is based off of the skill set, which makes the game feel more homogeneous than 3e does, with its numerous class abilities, BAB, and magic systems. One thing it does differently is that it does not pretend that all skills are made equally, with some skills requiring more points to improve than others. There are also class skills, but the penalty is not so severe to dip into skills that belong to other classes, and trained only skills are present also.

The die mechanic is much different though. While you still make frequent use of the D20, you want low rolls, not high. The GM assigns bonuses and penalties to the roll, (In the form of polyhedral dice to add or subtract from the roll) but DC's are inherent; a player will know right away whether his roll was a success or not, because it's right there on the character sheet. There are also degrees of success and failure as well.

The game does not assume you will be using miniatures to play. With no concerns over how the characters might move on a grid, or how much space a character takes up on the board, AOO's and the like, it is more assumed that you will not be using miniatures. One thing that might be hard to grok nowadays is that the game seems to assume you know what constitutes an "action". In most cases this would constitute a skill check, but is standing up an action? Opening a door? The game does allow you to move and act, but there is no list of free actions, move equivalent actions, and the like. (that I have been able to find, anyway)

I almost wonder what a 2nd edition Alternity might look like, with more modern game design elements in it.

FreeXenon · Jun 26, 2013

I would love to see Alternity 2E!
I would squeee with excitement.

The rules are not too well written or organized, so learning the rules can be a chore for new players.
I put together a rules primer document complete with charts, etc.
If you would like me to send you a copy PM me and I can send it to ya.

Umbran · Jun 26, 2013

Alternity is a fine game, and the Dark*Matter setting is one of the best setting books ever produced, IMHO. Star*Drive is likewise very good.

Lhorgrim · Jun 26, 2013

I'm an Alternity fan, but I only got to play a few times. I liked the dice mechanics, but The skill system was a little intimidating at first. I would happily play an Alternity game again if I had the chance. I thought the Star*Drive setting was really cool, and I loved the different race options. I owned the game for years before I was re-reading it and realized that sesheyans are almost as tall as humans. For some reason I had pictured them as much smaller creatures even though the entry lists them as 1.7 meters tall on average.

Of course I also thought infravision in D&D was pronounced "infraysion" for a year or so because that's the way my first DM pronounced it and I didn't actually read the rules until much later. Sorta shows how my mind malfunctions.

Raduin711 · Jun 27, 2013

FreeXenon said:
I would love to see Alternity 2E!
I would squeee with excitement.

I wonder who has the rights to Alternity these days? Probably WOTC. Baker and Slavicsek have both left the company... Maybe if they kickstarted it? Probably never gonna happen...

Lhorgrim said:
I'm an Alternity fan, but I only got to play a few times. I liked the dice mechanics, but The skill system was a little intimidating at first. I would happily play an Alternity game again if I had the chance. I thought the Star*Drive setting was really cool, and I loved the different race options.

I think the alien races are probably one of the best bits. I wasn't as crazy about the various stellar nations, though I do love the villainous VoidCorp. I kind of yearn for something more like Star Trek's Federation in the setting, and a little more political clout for the various alien races.

It seems kind of odd to me that Star Drives were made possible thanks to both the technology of the Fraal and the Humans, yet it seems like the Humans have taken ownership of everything, while the Fraal just seem to exist, when by rights they should own half the galaxy.

FreeXenon · Jun 27, 2013

That was created under TSR. I expect that WotC has the rights with their buy out.
I expect that they would not consider a Kickstarter unless they gave up/sold the rights to someone else to Kickstart.

We can dream! I would like to see a new version especially if they took in some of what FFG's Star Wars: Edge of the Empire is doing. Some good stuff there