Recent content by NSpicer

Don't forget The Game Mechanics... Be sure to keep a watchful eye on The Game Mechanics for new D20 Modern and D20 Future products. Comprised of many of the original WotC designers for the D20 Modern roleplaying game, TGM has been carrying that banner for quite some time now. Most of the guys...

It's nice to see the FPC get some props...in particular, the robot familiar rules. From author to consumer, thanks! --Neil

The answer to this is definitely "no"...the free broad skills for each species does NOT count against your maximum number of starting broad skills. Also, just as FYI, if you're using the table in the Alternity Player's Handbook for defining starting skill points based on Intelligence, you might...

Hello everyone. Just dropping a quick note. Someone crossposted your game thread over at A.net. Just wanted to say good luck with the Star*Drive game. I'm one of the regulars at both AlternityRPG.net and Tequilla Starrise and contributed a few fan-created products to help keep the setting...

If you're at all interested in seeing what the official fansite community for STAR*DRIVE has created, you can visit them at TS.net. Anyone who's familiar with the TransVerge News reports that were once hosted on Wizards' website, might also find the following supplement useful. I'll be up...

Hi, Eric. I've actively gamed with both systems (Alternity and D20) for several years now. And I can definitely back Sean up with regards to elevating the points allocated within Alternity's character generation system to fit whatever game you've got in mind. For instance, within the...

Hmmm...maybe so. I'm inexperienced when it comes to Ars Magica. Jonathan Tweet's involvement in both projects probably did serve to help with D20's development. All of the designers pretty much brought a number of experiences to bear with the D20 system. There are elements of Alternity that...

For those of you who might be interested, a few of the Alternity/STAR*DRIVE loyalists are planning an adhoc get-together at GenCon this year. For some of us, it will be the first time we've ever put a face to a net-handle. We've even tossed around the idea of someone GM'ing a quick game of...

For those who might be interested, there's a much wider and long-running discussion of Alternity on RPG.net at the following link. I agree with CarlZog. That's a useful descriptor to tag onto Alternity. Individual characters within that game system are more empowered, and yet more fragile...

Chris (& others), Thanks to you guys for sharing these developers' journals for Thieves' World. They go a long way toward explaining the design process, D20 considerations, and dedication to preserving the "mood" of Sanctuary from the novels. I like the insight Rob has provided into the new...

You might want to hold off on torching the new Thieves World RPG just yet then. Read one of the new books first. Look through the new supplements from Green Ronin. And then make your comparison and decide after that. I think you'll find that these products (both the new books and RPG...

Magic items that grow and improve as their owners increase in level have already made a pre-emptive appearance in The Game Mechanics' Artifacts of the Ages series. It requires that a hero take levels in the new Scion prestige class for each type of item, however. That approach didn't appeal to...

I agree. As a storytelling-style of GM, I'm more interested in the "fluff" aspects, usually. If I want to tinker with new, crunchy prestige classes, feats, etc., I can do that on my own time...usually after the adventure's story inspires me to do so based on how I'd fit it into my ongoing...

And, if you have the Burst Fire feat, you can make a targeted autofire attack against a single opponent rather than the less accurate hail of bullets into a 10 x 10 area. And, the Strafe feat allows you to change that autofire area to 5 x 20. These feats ultimately stack with the full-round...

It's essentially a standard attack action, but if a character has additional attacks, as part of a full round attack, he can make multiple autofire attacks in that same round. My two-cents, --Neil