What's Alternity?

[Tyler Do'Urden]

You know, I wonder why Hasbro is calling their next game "d20 Modern" instead of "Alternity 2e". I think they should have just made the transition to d20 with both games, instead of dropping one and keeping the other (I wouldn't mind if they had killed the settings like they did with D&D as well... I always used my own setting based off of the old "Starflight" computer games instead... )

 

[Henry]

I understand why Wizards does not want to publish Alternity - besides its lack of money-making capacity, it was a core design philosophy back when Ryan Dancey was still there - don't promote two totally separate game systems at the expense of totally splitting your market. Though it doesn't mean that Alternity deserved to die, I do understand why WotC didn't want it.

 

[Rain]

While i wasnt fond of Star*Drive and Gamma World, Dark*Matter was a really great setting....

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

Wow. That's all I have to say about Dark*Matter. It's quite simply one of the most fantastic game products I have ever read in my life. I am dying to run a campaign with D*M, but am rather reluctant to have to teach all of my players the Alternity rules that even I'm not all that familiar with.

I'd say jsut convert it to d20 and play it with d20 Modern, but I noticed in another thread about this awhile ago that Monte Cook suggested using CoC d20. When an author of both books suggests something like that, I'd definately take the suggestion...

 

[Friadoc]

Yeah,

...I would have to agree on the 'if you must convert Dark*Matter, use CoC d20' - I would have done that even if Monte never suggested it, but it helps that he does.

When I first saw the layout, design, and art of CoC d20 it made my heart hurt in memory of Dark*Matter - seriously people, if you do not have the Dark*Matter book, either get it or look at someone's book and you will see what I mean about it, as well as Alternity, being the mold from what d20 (the layout and design, not the system) spring forth.

It is, visually, one of the best books I've ever seen and it was so packed with detail, ideas, and springboards for a capaign that no other WotC book has as much detail - it's like an SJ Games book, but color (although, I'm pleased to say, the Transhuman Space book with color is coming out soon).

I'm even getting to run a Dark*Matter session soon, thanks to a local reply here in Idaho from my initial response to this thread - I still need to find my horror rules though.

Anyhow, all in all I feel Dark*Matter deserves a resurrection in d20 - but, in my opinion, only if you can snag Wolfgang AND Monte - with the same style and look of the first book.

Heck, it's one of the few 'core' books I've had in my grubby hands which has everything you need to plot solid, thought out plots and campaigns - the only needed addition, for me, was the A&E Guide and Xenos, which we got - heck, technically we don't need anything else, but as us gamers tend to be, we like to have 'anything else'

 

[Wild Fandango]

Well I have to say that I did like Alternity and I do have most of the stuff for the game including the two mods that were discussed before.

The only problem with the game I had from a GM stand point is that it was really mathmatically intense. I can see if they re-did the game following a more D20 system, I think the game would just rock. I did find a D20 conversion that someone did for the game on thier own, but I admit I have not really looked through it as my game group is currently in D&D and Spycraft.

Never got into Dark Matter, I preferd the far future stuff more.