What was Alternity like?

[CarlZog]

I have "Walter" and I agree that functionally it is a superb program. My problem is that I haven't been able to get it to generate a usefully formatted character sheet that I can print. I admit that I'm no expert at using this program so there may be a method that I don't know about. The author's website has little documentation and the link to the forums seems to be broken. Henry, how did you print your character sheets?

I don't use Walter, but I'd suggest posting your question to the alternityrpg.net forums:
http://www.alternityrpg.net/onlineforums/

There's a lot of folks there that use the program regularly and could probably point you in the right direction.

Carl

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I see a LOT posters commenting on how much they liked Alternity. What was special about it? Are there any games or components of games recently that implement Alternity rules?

Compared to 2e, it was a million times better. There was no comparison, really.

Compared to 3e, it's more flexible. There's only a few base classes, but each is very broad, and each class can do things. (You can play a Tech Op, for instance, who is a good shot or a good brawler, something you can't do in DnD core rules.)

It also made FX optional rules.

D20 Modern has a lot of similarities to Alternity, and I'm glad for that.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Damn You People!

This thread got me to take a serious look at Alternity and Star*Drive. Now I'm fiending to pick them up, but can't*!







*Damn you Seattle International Film Festival!

 

[wingsandsword]

The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that d20 Modern is Alternity Second Edition, it's just not called that officially.

d20/D&D 3e was a huge jump from AD&D, you could see the resemblance and lineage but it was a whole new engine, and people still consider it a new edition of the same game.

Alternity was a game obviously derived heavily from AD&D, down to the same 6 ability scores (with some different names on a slightly different scale), 4 basic classes that has some vague analog to the Fighter-Rogue-Cleric-Wizard quartet of D&D, and an identical and compatible level system, with relatively simple conversion rules right in the Alternity core.

d20 Modern is about as different from Alternity as D&D 3.x is from AD&D 2e, a little less actually since Alternity was clearly a design step between AD&D and d20. The official d20 Modern works have been full of Alternity material, especially the Menace Manual (it's Web Enhancement was even a guide of how to update Alternity creatures to d20 Modern), and d20 Future (with most of the alien races, the Progress Level and the Star*Drive setting transplanted outright).

Personally, I prefer the d20 Modern (Future/Past whatever) engine over Alternity, although Alternity was a good system for it's time and had some great source material that is relatively easy to adapt to d20 crunch-wise.

 

[dblade]

The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that d20 Modern is Alternity Second Edition, it's just not called that officially.

d20/D&D 3e was a huge jump from AD&D, you could see the resemblance and lineage but it was a whole new engine, and people still consider it a new edition of the same game.

Alternity was a game obviously derived heavily from AD&D, down to the same 6 ability scores (with some different names on a slightly different scale), 4 basic classes that has some vague analog to the Fighter-Rogue-Cleric-Wizard quartet of D&D, and an identical and compatible level system, with relatively simple conversion rules right in the Alternity core.

d20 Modern is about as different from Alternity as D&D 3.x is from AD&D 2e, a little less actually since Alternity was clearly a design step between AD&D and d20. The official d20 Modern works have been full of Alternity material, especially the Menace Manual (it's Web Enhancement was even a guide of how to update Alternity creatures to d20 Modern), and d20 Future (with most of the alien races, the Progress Level and the Star*Drive setting transplanted outright).

Personally, I prefer the d20 Modern (Future/Past whatever) engine over Alternity, although Alternity was a good system for it's time and had some great source material that is relatively easy to adapt to d20 crunch-wise.

I couldn't disagree more with these statements. The examples you gave are very superficial similarities and are very misleading. Alternity is a very distinct system from AD&D and the d20 system. In fact D&D 3.x has a lot more in common with AD&D 2e then Alternity ever did. D&D 3.x maintains structured character classes, it has the same escalating hit point system, and the armor class is basically the same abstract system as the earlier edition. Alternity on the other hand is skill-based (the professions don't determine what skills you can buy and there is not a set increase in specific abilities each level), its durability system is broken down into Stuns/Wounds/Mortals/Fatigues based on Constitution rather than level, and armor can reduce damage.

 

[NSpicer]

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 like Alternity because I see its system as more character-centric.

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 than in other systems I've tried. That's why the Alternity game mechanics provide a unique blend of "cinematic" play with just enough so-called "realism" to satisfy in a way that super-heroic fantasy-based games usually can't.

The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that d20 Modern is Alternity Second Edition, it's just not called that officially.

I would disagree here. I view the D20 system in general as a blending of original D&D/AD&D with a few lessons learned from Alternity. Then, the progression from generic D20 (i.e., the rules as portrayed for just D&D 3/3.5) into D20 Modern and now D20 Future is really just more tweaking of the D20 mechanics because the designers realized the rules didn't go far enough to support the modern/futuristic genres.

If I drew a chart, I'd list it like a family tree. You'd have two systems, old D&D/AD&D and Alternity, acting as the mother-father of D20. And then, the iterations of D20 as D20 Modern and D20 Future would just be further generations within the same lineage. Maybe I'm just playing with words, though. Clearly, what you see in D20 Modern, D20 Future, and D20's underlying mechanics, in general...DO have roots in Alternity. But there's enough of the old D&D/AD&D heritage in there that you can't really view them as Alternity 2.0. And that's because there are quite a few elements (including many good ones) in Alternity that got left behind when they created D&D 3/3.5, etc.

Just my two-cents,
--Neil

 

[Nightchill]

I ran Alternity for a while and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mechanics wise, it was a leap forward from the other TSR stuff (and as people have said, led to what we have now). For me though, it was the campaign settings. The Star Drive campaign was nicely done throughout - interesting races, interesting factions, interesting plot. In fact, all the sourcebooks I look back on with some fondness The adventures were fun, the meta plot (including one that could pretty much count as "the ending") all excellent.

 

[Impeesa]

Man.... Alternity was great, so great that it's the best classless, level-less system I've ever tried - high praise for a game with classes and levels.

--Impeesa--

 

[NSpicer]

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 Alternity...for nostalgia's sake (to some)...and as a form of D20 defiance (to others). If interested, a few months back I started a forum thread over at A.net to get everyone organized. Drop by and read up if you'll be in town. GenCon is scheduled for August 18th-21st...

--Neil

 

[Staffan]

If I drew a chart, I'd list it like a family tree. You'd have two systems, old D&D/AD&D and Alternity, acting as the mother-father of D20.

I really don't see all that much of Alternity in d20. I think it's more of a marriage between AD&D and Ars Magica (or any of the other dozens of games that use die+stat+skill vs difficulty, but Ars Magica was made by Jonathan Tweet who also made 3e). Alternity might take the place of the distant uncle in the family tree, or something like that.