It was an "arpaxti" as we say here in Greece. Kind of like a snatch. They used the PC game popularity to sell the product which was lame in artwork and rules. I played some sessions since one of my friends bought it back then but now it is just for show.
Yes, they made a starcraft roleplaying game... kinda. they actually just made an adventure kit for Alternity that was marketed with starcraft. it used a butchered version of the already butchered Alternity fast-play rules. the game was a joke, the only benefit it had was some original artwork, and a single paragraph. which expanded on the universe vaguely. the item was a cash-in that didnt work out. and goes down in history as having the most laughably inadequite game masters screen ive ever seen.
Alternity - Starcraft Rule book (48 pages full color saddle stitched)
Alternity - Starcraft Adventures(48 pages full color saddle stitched)
Alternity Game Masters Screen (bi-fold full color high gloss card)
8 Alternity Starcraft character folders (8 pamphlets full color)
as for the system it was based on, Alternity...
for the brief period it was on the market, it was the fastest selling futuristic roleplaying game in history, and the system was quite popular. it was cancelled because wizards of the coast purchased tsr and decided they wanted every game they made to use the same system. the system that they started with was alternity, and they took everything they liked, and got rid of everything they didnt, then slowly worked it into something else (d20). if you have never played alternity pick up the books for a look at history, they are cheap ($5 for the core set) and the darkmatter campaign setting has won hundreds of awards. the system was actually quite good, and shared alot in common with dungeons and dragons 3e (though alot less in common with 3.5). and there were a number of successful lines introduced along the brand such as: a version of Gamma World (though poorly done in the extreme compared to the modern version) Dark Matter (a very fun and very cool xfiles kind of game) and stardrive (an extremely cool take on the space opera setting that is in all honesty far more fun for me than star wars ever will be.)
It was a damn good RPG if there ever was one.
About Wizards cancelling everything they didn't like:
Its possible, but keep in mind that Wizards bought TSR in 1996, and Alternity came out in 97. Wizards, for the most part, let TSR go about its business, except for putting more business-orientated prices on some of TSR's books.
It was'nt until Hasbro bought Wizards(Shortly before 3rd edition appeared), that TSR was desolved, and Alternity was cancelled.
Hasbro, then used their near-monopolic statis to buy the company that produced the Star Wars RPG, the intellectual rights for Call of Cthulthu, and the intellectual rights for Wheel of Time, and dumped all of these into their now subsiduary(TSR was Wizard's subsiduary) Wizards of the Coast.
Since Star Wars(Kind of) filled the Sci-Fi nitch, Hasbro determined that Alternity was unnessisary, and forced Wizards to cancel it(They are now the parent company, after all).
Wizards was doing fine on its own, and killed themselves ultimately by choosing to go ahead with the Hasbro merger.
Now Wizards has almost no compitition, and this will kill them eventually.
I agree that buying out so much competition weakened the playingfield, but they are by no means the only producer of quality RPGs. Yes, they are the biggest fish in a rather small pond, but other companies are still around, and new ones are getting stronger every day.
an example of some very good companies that release high quality RPGs, and have a relatively good portion of the market share follows:
The Top 3 Competitors
Steve Jackson Games the creators of Gurps, Munchkin, Chez Dork, and In Nomine among others.
Whitewolf Games
The creators of the World of Darkness (Vampire: The Masquerade, Demon: The Fallen, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Changling: The Dreaming, Wraith: The Ablivion, and other Noun: The Noun titles as well as Exalted. Oh, and they also own and operate Sword and Sorcery Studios, the largest secondary developer of d20 source material. I recommend looking up Ravenloft, The Scarred Lands, Warcraft, Engel, and Gammaworld... you can Burn Everquest on a pyre though.
Palladium Games
Creators of the Palladium Multiverse, which includes such games as Rifts, Heroes Unlimited, Nightbane, and Mechanoids. They also publish the deadly RECON.
The Also Rans
Guardians of Order
Creators of the Tristat series of games including Big Eyes Small Mouth, Silver Age Sentinels, Trigun, The Slayers, Fushigi Yugi, and Hellsing. they are also the brains behind The soon to be released Nobilis and Tekumel, and the Magnum Opus project - a publishing firm which uses their custom tailored point based varient of the d20 system first seen in Anime D20.
Key 20 Publishing
Creators of the disturbingly fantastic, and critically acclaimed Little Fears: Roleplaying Childhood Terror as well as the much anticipated Wyrd is Bond, EAK, Justifiers, Cr34tion AD, and Modern Myths.
Fanpro Publishing
The current Publisher of The Shadowrun RPG, and the german producer for a number of Wizkids products. Also working on development of a new Crimson Skies RPG if rumors are true.
Pinnacle Entertainment
Creators of the quite popular Deadlands line which includes Deadlands: The Weird West a old west with magic setting, Deadlands: Hell on Earth post apocalyptic with magic, and Deadlands: Lost Colony futuristic with magic. They are also the creators of the new, and rather exciting Savage Worlds, and Weird Wars II. Not to mention a plethora of past Collectible Card games, and War games.
Alderac Entertainment Group
Creators of the popular Legend of the Five Rings(Oriental Adventures/Rokugan), 7th Sea (Swashbuckling Adventures), Farscape, Stargate, and Spycraft worlds, as well as a number of collectible card games such as L5R, 7th Sea, Warlord, Initial D, and HumAliens.
Decipher Incorporated
The creator of the quite popular Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game. Decipher is actually famous for their collectible card game lines such as: Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and .Hack//Enemy.
------------------------------------
there are countless others, but I dont feel like remembering them all right now.
Disclaimer: please note that during this listing, I didnt include the vast group of 'd20 publishers' who only create settings using the standard system.
Originally posted by Sword_Of_Geddon
Thats good news, I was worried Rpgs were dying. Maybe Alternity should have been retooled into a D20 game, rather than cancelled outright.
Although I can see moving the Alternity settings (Star Drive, Dark Matter) into the D20 ruleset, Alternity is a game system in its own right. Once the game mechanics change it no longer is Alternity. Of course I am just arguing semantics here. Now something semi-useful...
I think it would be interesting to see a hybrid of D20 and Alternity. A pure skill-based system using aspects of the D20 dice system. Broad classes that start as a very basic template (ala Alternity). Combat tied to skills rather than classes. If you want to get better at guns you put your skill points into modern-ranged weapons. Basically Alternity but you roll a 20-sided dice and add skill rank and compare to DC rather than using the d20 base dice and situation dice mechanic of Alternity. This is just an academic discussion on my part since I would never trade the Alternity mechanics for D20, at least any variation I have encountered.
I was playing d20 Spycraft and the Gamemaster had our operatives surrounded by 10 bad guys with guns in the first scene. I was actually scared for my character's safety until I remembered we weren't playing Alternity and that my vitality points would hold out while we took out the goons. It was a little less satisfying then worrying about the good old stun/wound/mortals of Alternity heroes which tends to make in-game danger seem a little more real.
Daryl B.
Feh. If someone is rich enough to buy Alternity IP from Wizards of the Coast -- but not Dark*Matter and Star*Drive which are separate IPs -- I wish them good luck.
star drive and dark matter were outstanding
you can bring the best parts of alternity to d20 star frontiers and never miss the beat
Originally posted by beavis123
why do people play games??..is it the game mechanics...i don't think so...it's the story lines you can develop
star drive and dark matter were outstanding
you can bring the best parts of alternity to d20 star frontiers and never miss the beat
But the game mechanics can have a large impact on the atmosphere of the setting, especially if you want a more realistic or cinematic feel to your game which is what I think the Alternity rules offer. I would argue that a lot of people care about how the game mechanics affect the actual playing of the campaign. That is why there are Alternity enthusiasts like myself who would rather convert the Star Frontiers setting over to the Alternity ruleset than use the d20 rules. You might prefer the other way.
Story is important, but if the rules get in the way of the telling than the story doesn't work as well as it should.
By the way, I agree that Star Drive and Dark Matter are outstanding. I've played them both and they are detailed settings with rich and interesting material (although I wish Alternity Dark Matter would have had a chance to expand).
Daryl B.
Originally posted by Ranger REG
So Alternity, like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, is basically a ruleset, not a setting.
Feh. If someone is rich enough to buy Alternity IP from Wizards of the Coast -- but not Dark*Matter and Star*Drive which are separate IPs -- I wish them good luck.
Yep. Alternity is a ruleset just like d20 is a ruleset.
If I won the lottery I would definately try to buy Alternity. What a great hobby that would be. Publishing new material using my favorite game system. I wouldn't even care if I made money. I could think of worst ways of burning my fortune.
Daryl B.
Originally posted by beavis123:
why do people play games??..is it the game mechanics...i don't think so...it's the story lines you can develop
BUT if that is the case, then it does not really matter whether you're using D&D ruleset, d20 Modern ruleset, or Alternity ruleset, correct?
Based on what I have read in this forum and the old Alternity forums, many Alternity fans (of one setting or both) have publicly stated they'd rather have Alternity and publicly stated they woudn't touch d20 Modern with a 20-foot telephone pole.
Curious. Hmm.
Originally posted by Ranger REG
Again, good luck.
BUT if that is the case, then it does not really matter whether you're using D&D ruleset, d20 Modern ruleset, or Alternity ruleset, correct?
Based on what I have read in this forum and the old Alternity forums, many Alternity fans (of one setting or both) have publicly stated they'd rather have Alternity and publicly stated they woudn't touch d20 Modern with a 20-foot telephone pole.
Curious. Hmm.
Thanks for your genuine sentiment. I'm sure you mean it, Ranger.
Now all I have to is win the lottery.
Although I prefer Alternity I will still poke d20 Modern with a yardstick when the opportunity arises. Less satisfying but gaming is gaming and I like the company.
Daryl B.
the user reviews are all 94%+ for it.
or check the other 200 resources for something cool http://alternity.net/latest_res.php3
or check the forum, people post lots of expansions, items, vehicles etc in there - this is a link to the star craft forum section http://alternity.net/onlineforums/index.php?s=&act=SF&f=13
P.S.
Oh lord in heaven, I just reffered to myself as a grognard... god help us.
Easy money, and alot of new gamers have never heard of Alternity anyway. Good thing WoTC never advertised it!!
They never advertise most of their products, and except for D&D, they all bomb. Wonder why??
(Of course, if it is nothing, then it begs the next question: why are you here? That is like me visiting White Wolf messageboards, where I have absolutely nothing in common with those gamers because I personally dislike the Storyteller System. No offense intended.)
Complete warrior was very good, The Extended Psionics handbook is great so far, but ill save a full opinion for after I read it completely. I loved the draconomicon, I was pleased with Forgotten Realms: Unapproachable East, and I liked most of what Oriental Adventures had to offer. Ive always been a big fan of D20 Modern (though I like Spycraft better) and In general, I have been impressed with most of what has been released for the Forgotten Realms.
I am a huge fan of everything Wizards published for the Alternity system, and hope desperately that they release Darkmatter as a standalone campaign setting (though thats unlikely seeing as a good portion of it was thrown into Urban Arcana).
but for every book which I truly like, they come out with something bad too, Savage Species didnt even look to be properly proofread, the original Psionics Handbook was horribly ill concieved, and about 60% of what went into the original class guides looked like it would have never even seen print with the people at Legends and Lairs.
I heard alot of people bash Savage species.
Originally posted by beavis123
I meant they never advertised it when it was an active game.
They never advertise most of their products, and except for D&D, they all bomb. Wonder why??
Because TSR made way too many products for so little audience. Not each and every D&D Player's Handbook owners are going to pick up every product they launched, not even Alternity Player's Handbook (I admit, I never got around to purchase one). Their prime fanbase will only stick to D&D, usually the core products, not something like Birthright or Al-Qadim.
Even now, it is still the same. I pray that d20 Modern stick around longer than Alternity once did. If not, then WotC will not do any more modern genre product forever.
Good luck buying Alternity IP.
It all goes back to advertising or lack there of. That's why they went to the one simple universal system of D20.
D20 Modern and D20 Future will continue on for a few years. Not alot new ideas there. And if they bomb, I think that will be it.
How many times can you re invent the wheel???
Alternity has a good but complex system.
I will always say the difference is advertising!!