This week, we’re giving you a look at the meta-structure of the Alternity product line. We want Alternity to be the Sci-Fi RPG that lets you choose your own future, and by that, we mean that we want you to be able to implement whichever genre of Sci-Fi that fits your interest. How do we achieve that? Part of the answer is addressing campaign tech levels, but another element we refer to as Modular Design. Here’s Dave to tell you more:
Alternity Design Blog #6: Musing on Archetypes
We’ve had tremendous interest thus far from fans interested in the upcoming Alternity Playtest, which has exceeded our expectations! We’ll continue collecting email addresses (you can sign up here on our previous blog entry), and we’ll provide more information about the playtest plan in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Rich would like to share some thoughts on player archetypes – take it away, Rich!
Alternity Design Blog #5: Sign Up for Playtesting
Want to be help playtest Alternity? Sign up here! Continue reading
Alternity Design Blog #4: Encounters and Improvisation
This week, Dave gives a glimpse of how our approach to Alternity affects encounter design and enables improvisation. Take it away, Dave!
Your “Alterniteers” (Rich, Bill, Steve, and I) are hard at work on building the first public playtest packet. Look for it soon! As we do that, here are a couple of “hey, that’s kinda neat” moments that emerged from our design work thus far. Continue reading
Alternity Design Blog #3: A Playtest Escape
This week, we want to give you a glimpse of our ongoing Alternity playtests so you can watch as we hone the rules and explore different SF settings. These early reports won’t be a deep dive into the rules specifics, because when we were playing, the rules were… let’s go with “fragmentary.” Yeah, fragmentary. You should get a sense of how the design is progressing, though and the interesting conflicts and dilemmas that Alternity characters find themselves in. Here’s Dave with this week’s report: Continue reading
Alternity Design Blog #2: The Core Mechanic
Let’s face it—any discussion of the 1996 Alternity game begins with the distinctive core mechanic of the game, as the original game had a novel take that used a d20 and one or more other dice for resolution, with the possibilities of different levels of success based on the result. In this week’s Design Blog, Rich takes us through our process as we evaluate the core mechanics for Alternity 2017. Continue reading
Alternity Design Blog #1: Why Alternity?
Welcome to the Alternity design blog! Over the next few months we’re going to examine various topics and decision points in the process of building the game. As we noted in our announcement before GenCon, the first step in launching a new Alternity game is to engage the audience (you!) and begin a conversation. We want to give you a chance to “look behind the curtain” and see what kind of design decisions we’re making—and we want to float some trial balloons and see if our potential backers are in favor of our design direction or not.
So, with all that said, let’s turn to Design Blog Topic #1: Why Alternity? Continue reading
Ultimate Scheme Rulebook Up, Kickstarter Running
We’ve posted the rulebook for Ultimate Scheme! The kickstarter for Ultimate Scheme is running, with half of its funding goal already reached. Back it now, if you haven’t already!
Primeval Thule Hardcovers Available for Limited Time
We are now taking orders for Primeval Thule hardcovers and GM Screens! On our order page, you can select Thule in the game system you want, including 5e, Pathfinder, 4th edition, or 13th Age, and have it shipped to your door. We’ll be collecting orders until April 17, and then ship out all orders on April 18th. If you missed the kickstarter, your FLGS can’t get a copy in, or maybe have the PDF but would really like your own hardcover, now is the time to get one.
This sales window runs through April 17, so get your book now on our Order Page!
Primeval Thule for Savage Worlds!
We’re pleased to announce that we have partnered with Pinnacle Entertainment Group and Evil Beagle Games to make our Primeval Thule Campaign Setting available in the popular Savage Worlds roleplaying game system!
This is a natural partnership for both the Primeval Thule setting and the Savage Worlds game system. From the start we envisioned Thule as a setting that could be adapted to multiple different RPG systems, while Savage Worlds is a fun and flexible rules set that already accommodates a variety of exciting game worlds. The game system shines when it’s used for fast-paced, pulpy, action-heavy adventure—and the Primeval Thule setting was inspired by exactly those kind of stories. It’s been described as “Conan vs. Cthulhu,” but Thule also has plenty of Pellucidar, Lankhmar, and Clark Ashton Smith’s Hyperborea in its DNA. Continue reading