The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Alternity. First off, it's not a game. It's a game mechanic, and the Alternity Players Handbook is only the first part of it. The introduction to the APHB is quick to point out that it is not AD&D in space. Maybe not, but there are far too many similarities to say that it leapt from the game designers' heads in an immaculate conception of a game, free from the sins of progenitors. Alternity is the child of AD&D and science fiction clichés.

TSR has a history of producing science fiction games. Star Frontiers didn't exactly scale new heights. TSR had even put out sci-fi settings based around a single game mechanic; remember Amazing Engine? One might think that "Bug Hunters" and the "Galactos Barrier" would have soured TSR on that. With Alternity, the company hopes to create a place in science fiction gaming to match their lead in fantasy. With half a dozen character races and loads of future tech for replicating every sci-fi sub-genre from cyberpunk to space opera, a wide net has been cast.

Alternity has character classes and those classes have levels. The classes are called professions and are barely restrictive, a far cry from the old classes. Skills are almost entirely dependent on ability (attribute) levels. If your combat spec (fighter) has a strength of 12, then skill (proficiencies) related to that will probably be 12s. There are levels for some skills, but they really feel like an extension of AD&D fighters' weapon specialization, carried out to non-weapon proficiencies. One can improve the specialization of certain "specialty skills." The broad skills cannot be improved, corresponding to the proficiencies of AD&D. The skill/ability system isn't incredibly complicated; it's just not as workable as it might have been.

There isn't an enormous amount of realism in the system. I've found it to be more realistic than AD&D (but so is rock, paper, scissors), and almost on par with Fuzion and Silhouette. As the designers proudly declare, the system is based on a unique dice mechanic. Unique should not be interpreted to mean better. Personally, as a crotchety old-timer, I prefer to use time-tested principles, like adding skills to attributes and rolling under them. It's familiar and it works. The D20 + Dx of Alternity is foreign. One rolls the D20 or "control die", and the modifier die, or "situation die." One adds (or subtracts) the former to (from) the latter to get a number which should be under the number of the ability that's being tested. For somewhat difficult tasks the GM might assign a +D6 for the situation die, making it less likely for someone to roll under the ability score. This allows long shots to work in a situation where the old style modifiers would have rendered the task nearly impossible. More drama, less certainty.

Combat is handled with skills, rather than THAC0s. There is something akin to an armor class for handling combat where someone is wearing body armor. Armor usage is also handled with dice rolls. Another vestige of the old fantasy system is the character levels. Reading through the rules on them, there didn't appear to be much reason behind having them. One can buy improvements to the character at certain levels. Then the system lost me; the book says, "Achievement points are equivalent to skill points - every achievement point earned by a hero represents one skill point that can be spent at some later time." Though in the summary it says, "a level 4 character needs to build up a total of 21 achievement points to reach that level, and upon attaining level 4 he receives 8 skill points to spend or save..." Wait. The player gets skill points for reaching a level? What of the 21 points? Couldn't you just convert those to skill points? Without a doubt, the skill system is the single most complicated aspect of the new system.

As mentioned before, there are six races, or species, to which a player character, or hero, can belong. A description and history are included, along with notes for featuring them in different settings. Fraal (say frahl) are essentially Greys. They also come across as being the obligatory elves of the game. They're wise, peace-loving, and long-lived. It should be noted that the male pictured in the book looks quite a bit like David Hyde Pierce. Next are the Mechalus, who know technology so well that they've integrated it with their biology. Mechalus are far less like the Borg than one would suspect. The Seshayan look like a bat and a water moccasin had offspring. T'sa are hyperactive lizard people and the weren look like a two-armed version of Fading Sun's Vorox.

Character creation took longer than I'm used to. Using the Star Wars RPG as a measuring stick, Alternity characters take some work. Part of that may be that the system is still new, but I have a lingering suspicion that it will always be a process on par with the creation of an AD&D character.

The APHB doesn't have a shot at an Origins Award for presentation unless the rest of the industry goes belly up in '98 (which is looking less far fetched with each passing month). Green abounds. A marketing guru must have told the folks at TSR/WotC that people between the ages of 16 and 40 associate space with the color green. That, or it's a subliminal hint to gamers to start thinking about trading heaps of green paper for an onslaught of $25 supplements. Compared to the presentation of the "Star Wars Second Edition Revised & Expanded," this book has traces of amateur work. At least there are no annoying characters like Tom Olam or Tirog the Bounty Hunter at the beginning of each chapter. The artwork is a mixture of the fair and the low end of mediocrity. rk post is responsible for many of the book's nicer pieces. APHB isn't a bad looking book; it's just not up to the standards of many new products.

Overall, Alternity has quite a bit of promise. The mechanics are not too complicated and usually make sense after some study. Stardrive (the first setting for Alternity) should be in stores by the time you read this. If I have one gripe to be considered by someone looking to buy a new science fiction RPG, it's the price factor. Alternity is the most expensive game I've come across since AD&D. The rules are split up between two books and the setting is in a third volume. Each book will set a gamer back $30. Toss in the GM's screen (which I always do) and the price tag has topped $100 before a single supplement has been added.

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

Alternity Player's Handbook
Author: Bill Slavicsek & Richard Baker Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Cost: $29.95 Page count: 256 ISBN: 0-7869-0728-2 Capsule Review by C.H. Gallant on 07/15/98. Genre tags: none	Alternity. First off, it's not a game. It's a game mechanic, and the Alternity Players Handbook is only the first part of it. The introduction to the APHB is quick to point out that it is not AD&D in space. Maybe not, but there are far too many similarities to say that it leapt from the game designers' heads in an immaculate conception of a game, free from the sins of progenitors. Alternity is the child of AD&D and science fiction clichés. TSR has a history of producing science fiction games. Star Frontiers didn't exactly scale new heights. TSR had even put out sci-fi settings based around a single game mechanic; remember Amazing Engine? One might think that "Bug Hunters" and the "Galactos Barrier" would have soured TSR on that. With Alternity, the company hopes to create a place in science fiction gaming to match their lead in fantasy. With half a dozen character races and loads of future tech for replicating every sci-fi sub-genre from cyberpunk to space opera, a wide net has been cast. Alternity has character classes and those classes have levels. The classes are called professions and are barely restrictive, a far cry from the old classes. Skills are almost entirely dependent on ability (attribute) levels. If your combat spec (fighter) has a strength of 12, then skill (proficiencies) related to that will probably be 12s. There are levels for some skills, but they really feel like an extension of AD&D fighters' weapon specialization, carried out to non-weapon proficiencies. One can improve the specialization of certain "specialty skills." The broad skills cannot be improved, corresponding to the proficiencies of AD&D. The skill/ability system isn't incredibly complicated; it's just not as workable as it might have been. There isn't an enormous amount of realism in the system. I've found it to be more realistic than AD&D (but so is rock, paper, scissors), and almost on par with Fuzion and Silhouette. As the designers proudly declare, the system is based on a unique dice mechanic. Unique should not be interpreted to mean better. Personally, as a crotchety old-timer, I prefer to use time-tested principles, like adding skills to attributes and rolling under them. It's familiar and it works. The D20 + Dx of Alternity is foreign. One rolls the D20 or "control die", and the modifier die, or "situation die." One adds (or subtracts) the former to (from) the latter to get a number which should be under the number of the ability that's being tested. For somewhat difficult tasks the GM might assign a +D6 for the situation die, making it less likely for someone to roll under the ability score. This allows long shots to work in a situation where the old style modifiers would have rendered the task nearly impossible. More drama, less certainty. Combat is handled with skills, rather than THAC0s. There is something akin to an armor class for handling combat where someone is wearing body armor. Armor usage is also handled with dice rolls. Another vestige of the old fantasy system is the character levels. Reading through the rules on them, there didn't appear to be much reason behind having them. One can buy improvements to the character at certain levels. Then the system lost me; the book says, "Achievement points are equivalent to skill points - every achievement point earned by a hero represents one skill point that can be spent at some later time." Though in the summary it says, "a level 4 character needs to build up a total of 21 achievement points to reach that level, and upon attaining level 4 he receives 8 skill points to spend or save..." Wait. The player gets skill points for reaching a level? What of the 21 points? Couldn't you just convert those to skill points? Without a doubt, the skill system is the single most complicated aspect of the new system. As mentioned before, there are six races, or species, to which a player character, or hero, can belong. A description and history are included, along with notes for featuring them in different settings. Fraal (say frahl) are essentially Greys. They also come across as being the obligatory elves of the game. They're wise, peace-loving, and long-lived. It should be noted that the male pictured in the book looks quite a bit like David Hyde Pierce. Next are the Mechalus, who know technology so well that they've integrated it with their biology. Mechalus are far less like the Borg than one would suspect. The Seshayan look like a bat and a water moccasin had offspring. T'sa are hyperactive lizard people and the weren look like a two-armed version of Fading Sun's Vorox. Character creation took longer than I'm used to. Using the Star Wars RPG as a measuring stick, Alternity characters take some work. Part of that may be that the system is still new, but I have a lingering suspicion that it will always be a process on par with the creation of an AD&D character. The APHB doesn't have a shot at an Origins Award for presentation unless the rest of the industry goes belly up in '98 (which is looking less far fetched with each passing month). Green abounds. A marketing guru must have told the folks at TSR/WotC that people between the ages of 16 and 40 associate space with the color green. That, or it's a subliminal hint to gamers to start thinking about trading heaps of green paper for an onslaught of $25 supplements. Compared to the presentation of the "Star Wars Second Edition Revised & Expanded," this book has traces of amateur work. At least there are no annoying characters like Tom Olam or Tirog the Bounty Hunter at the beginning of each chapter. The artwork is a mixture of the fair and the low end of mediocrity. rk post is responsible for many of the book's nicer pieces. APHB isn't a bad looking book; it's just not up to the standards of many new products. Overall, Alternity has quite a bit of promise. The mechanics are not too complicated and usually make sense after some study. Stardrive (the first setting for Alternity) should be in stores by the time you read this. If I have one gripe to be considered by someone looking to buy a new science fiction RPG, it's the price factor. Alternity is the most expensive game I've come across since AD&D. The rules are split up between two books and the setting is in a third volume. Each book will set a gamer back $30. Toss in the GM's screen (which I always do) and the price tag has topped $100 before a single supplement has been added. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Alternity Player's Handbook