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.