Alternity vs D20 Modern

[Shadowlord]

Is D20 Modern the new Alternity ?

ALT only existed a couple of years and it's a shame it died so soon. Looked really good but now it's unavailable... seems there isn't a decent alternative for Alternity yet, or is D20M a good substitute (if not perfect or superior)?

 

[aurin777]

d20 Modern is a good choice to set your Alternity game in. The conversions arn't so bad, and the characters in D20 modern can hold up well in the Alternity world. The starships on the other hand, as well as starship combat, will most likely have to wait until d20 future, or you can steal some rules from good ol Dragonstar.
~~Brandon

 

[Shadowlord]

Will Future be an expansion or will it be a total new corebook (-> d20 Future) ?

 

[Robbert Raets]

Will Future be an expansion or will it be a total new corebook (-> d20 Future) ?

Rules Expansion & Campaign Settings.

 

[Shadowlord]

So, did anyone here played Alternity before? What are your thoughts if you compare d20M to it?

 

[Mordane76]

Honestly... I thought Alternity rocked out most excellently.

The step modifier system was cool, and the psionics as skills was perfect. I don't know why, but I really enjoyed the system as a whole.


D20 Modern looks really slick -- I think it will be a good system, once we get our teeth fully into it; however, I presently think it's too early to say definitively that I really like it. Compared to other d20 material before it, I think Modern has some innovative mechanics, a few shaky bits, but overall it's good. Compared to Alternity, though, I'm biased; I think Alternity was a superior system, and I was sad to see it quelled.

 

[Shadowlord]

I think Alternity was a superior system, and I was sad to see it quelled.

Can you tell us how ? What do you think is better in ALT than modern?

 

[EricNoah]

I liked that there were "degrees" of success in Alternity. Everything from an attack roll to initiative to a skill check could have Marginal/Ordinary/Good/Amazing results based on what you rolled.

I also liked how armor worked (it absorbed damage instead of making you harder to hit). It was a bit more recordkeeping in some ways because you had three groups of "hit points" to worry about (stun, wound, and mortal), but getting hurt in combat usually had noticable repercussions on your ability to continue fighting.

What I didn't ever get used to was that I couldn't just eyeball a character and gauge how powerful it might be. That's one of the drawbacks of a "level-less" system, in my opinion.

 

[Shadowlord]

Can't you have a similar effect in d20?

For different degrees of succes you have skills: if you beat a DC by 10 or so, you have an amazing succes. If you fail by 5 or more (or 10+) something went terribly wrong (for ex trap sets off when you fail Dis Dev by 10+). Some skills have specific notes for this but if they don't you can spontaneously make them up.

Combat is lethal at all levels in modern since you have the mas dam rule.
If you want armor to absorb some damage and don't want to switch to V-W, I suggest you simply add a bonus to your MD treshold depending on your armor type (light +0; medium +2; heavy +4). Check this LINK .
If you want to go even further with degrees of damage, you could rule becoming Fatigued when under 1/2 max HP and Exhausted when under 1/4 max HP.

 

[Alzrius]

To me, the worst part of the loss of Alternity was that so many great supplements for it were lost also. Tangents remains one of the best supplements ever, for anything, IMHO. The sourcebooks for psionics, FX, datawares, star ships, warships...they were all such great products, because they presented their material so completely in a manner that was easy and fun to read, and fit into those relatively small books.

Also deserving a mention is the Dark Matter campaign. The campaign book ranks up there with Tangents for how good it is. I don't think TSR/WotC ever made a product better than that. I'd really like to see it brought back for d20 Modern.