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The appearance of the Alternity supplement books has been going down ever since the first Alien Compendium. This book doesn't look anywhere as nice as the previous two books, but its content is very meaty. This book expands on the rules for artificial intelligences, robots, and life on the grid...or cyberpunk.

I felt that not much more could be added to the information in the Player's and GM's Guides, yet these rules regarding the grid really seem to add a lot to the game, without making you feel that the information in the other books is obsolete. I like expansions that add and complement the main rules (this is like most of the books in the Fading Suns line), without destroying or amending them to death (White Wolf does this, and so did Chaosium's Nephilim). Most of the information is complementary, though the information on robots and AIs really adds to some criminally underdevolped stuff in the other books.

I like the way that the grid/computer networks are handled in this game. Rather than being excessively complex, or allowing the gridrunner to overshadow the actions of other players, these rules act to make gridrunning complementary to other actions, and also interesting in their own right. The rules are also nicely robust. They are neither simplistic, nor complicated, but seem to be just about right.

Most GMs should pick up this book for its information on robots, and its expansions regarding the grid. Most players could probably do without this book, unless they like running the grid. This book is a good solid "B." It gets downgraded a bit because some of this information really belonged in the main rulebooks.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Alternity Dataware
Author: Wolfgang Baur Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Cost: 16.95 Page count: 96 ISBN: 0-7869-1215-4 Capsule Review by Scott Shafer on 10/31/98. Genre tags: Science_fiction Far_Future Space	The appearance of the Alternity supplement books has been going down ever since the first Alien Compendium. This book doesn't look anywhere as nice as the previous two books, but its content is very meaty. This book expands on the rules for artificial intelligences, robots, and life on the grid...or cyberpunk. I felt that not much more could be added to the information in the Player's and GM's Guides, yet these rules regarding the grid really seem to add a lot to the game, without making you feel that the information in the other books is obsolete. I like expansions that add and complement the main rules (this is like most of the books in the Fading Suns line), without destroying or amending them to death (White Wolf does this, and so did Chaosium's Nephilim). Most of the information is complementary, though the information on robots and AIs really adds to some criminally underdevolped stuff in the other books. I like the way that the grid/computer networks are handled in this game. Rather than being excessively complex, or allowing the gridrunner to overshadow the actions of other players, these rules act to make gridrunning complementary to other actions, and also interesting in their own right. The rules are also nicely robust. They are neither simplistic, nor complicated, but seem to be just about right. Most GMs should pick up this book for its information on robots, and its expansions regarding the grid. Most players could probably do without this book, unless they like running the grid. This book is a good solid "B." It gets downgraded a bit because some of this information really belonged in the main rulebooks. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Alternity Dataware