Alternity

A Table Top Role Playing Game published by TSR, Inc. (then newly a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast) in 1998. Just as TSR's flagship RPG, Dungeons and Dragons, provided a way to play almost any kind of Fantasy campaign, Alternity was intended to do the same for Science Fiction, with rules and scenarios for Faster Than Light Travel, Psychic Powers, Alternate Universes, and other common sci-fi tropes. Unfortunately for sales, the game was hindered by a clunky ruleset.

The core product line gave general rules for various different kinds of sci-fi genres, but like D&D, Alternity offered players a variety of premade campaign settings. Four were published:


 * Star*Drive, a Space Opera universe designed to show off almost all of Alternity's features.
 * Dark•Matter, a modern-day setting of Conspiracy Theories and Paranormal Investigation.
 * Gamma World, a remake of TSR's classic Post Apocalyptic RPG.
 * Starcraft Adventures, a licensed adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment's popular video game.

Alternity was discontinued around the same time as D&D's 2nd edition. Because Wizards still owns the intellectual rights to Alternity, some of its elements have cropped up in later products, including remakes of Star*Drive and Dark•Matter in D 20 Modern and another new edition of Gamma World based on D&D 4th edition rules.