Dark•Matter: Alternity vs. d20

 Last year, I spent some quality time with the Alternity Game system, particularly Dark•Matter. I wanted to spend some time comparing the d20 version with the Alternity version. Actually my plans had been to cover a lot of the d20 Sci-fi games this month, but I just didn't really feel the drive to do it this year.

I wanted to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the d20 system (which I guess doesn't actually happen till Fall) but the desire wasn't there this year. I mean if Wizards of the Coast isn't going to put forth the effort then why should I?

Both games were produced by Wizards of the Coast and still have Wolfgang Baur and Monte Cook as their authors. There are "additional designers" who are basically the designers WotC had on their d20 Modern teams at the time. 

The books "feel" similar with the differences easily chalked up to different game systems, seven years, and the aid of additional designers and editors.

Rather than being the same game with different editions they feel like a "1st" and "2nd" edition of the game. The Alternity edition weighs in at 288 pages. The d20 one at 160 pages. This is expected since the bulk of the rules of the d20 version are handled by the d20 Modern book.

There is a subtle tone difference in the games. Alternity Dark•Matter is post X-files paranoia and distrust of the Government. The d20 edition is post 9/11 and distrust of everyone. Was this intentional or am I reading into it?

The two games' content is largely the same, minus system differences. 

You can play the same sorts of games with either version in basically the same way. The Alternity system was designed to cover a wide variety of Sci-Fi type "modern" games, and d20 is, well, d20. These strengths mean that you can add things to your games as you see fit. Obviously, 20 has a lot more options due to its greater success. 

This is also a weakness. To play d20 Dark•Matter, you need the Dark•Matter rule book and the d20 Modern System rule book. I also added Urban Arcana material to play with as I like. 

The thing is, I am sitting here rereading all these books that I have not touched in years, and I am feeling a little nostalgic. Will I ever run a Dark•Matter game again? No. I can't see that happening, not really. NIGHT SHIFT is where my heart lies now. Which is too bad, really, because there is a lot of fun still to be had with this game. 

As I said last year, Dark•Matter is a great game, and I love the setting. The D20 system is better suited to me than the Alternity system, but both are a lot of fun.  While I could certainly play a Dark•Matter-like game with NIGHT SHIFT, I have so many games to play.

Larina Nix for Alternity Dark•Matter

 It's time to put everything together and see how it works. Since this is a modern horror sci-fi game, I'm going to use my standard character for these things. But first, I should at least talk about how I'm going to do it all.

I knew I had to use both the Alternity Core rules as well as the Dark•Matter campaign setting. I also looked into two of the other books I have here, Mindwalking: A Guide to Psionics and Beyond Science: A Guide to FX. Both books are good, but they are designed with Star*Drive in mind. Plus the rules for Psionics and FX, in particular Arcane and Miracles, have been updated in the Dark•Matter book. The designers even mention there are differences. So as fun as those too books look, I am going to not use them for this build.  

Now, one of the things I have had for Dark•Matter, well, forever, it seems, is this download on Witchcraft FX. While I am not 100% sure where I got it originally, it can still be downloaded from the alternityrpg.net site. 

• Witchcraft in Dark•Matter by Christopher West and Rod Bedison

I like it. I have liked it for many years now*, and I really wanted to use it. Instead of explaining it, you can download it for free yourself.  Here Witchcraft is a Faith-based FX. I like this. It tracks with what I was doing with Larina and all my witches at the same time. My own 1999 Complete Netbook of Witches & Warlocks had witches as a type of priest using wisdom. 

I began my base stats for Dark•Matter Larina using her AD&D 2nd Ed stats as a base. I used the guidelines in the Alternity Gamemaster's Guide for conversion. For her "back story" well, I used the version I was using at the time in WitchCraft. Here she is, a 29-year-old divorcee living in Chicago and working in the library of a major university. She is a librarian and linguist by training but an occultist "by night."  This gave me a good idea of who this Dark•Matter Larina was going to be.

Larina "Nix" Nichols

Human Female, Age 29 (1998)
Height: 5'4"  Weight: 125 lbs

Level: 10

Profession: Diplomat
Career: Occultist

Attributes
Motivation: Find the truth
Morals: Ethical / Just
Traits: Curious

Allegiance: Independent

Ability
Strength 8  (Res. Mod. 0)
Dexterity 9  (Res. Mod. 0)
Constitution 9
Intelligence 14  (Res. Mod. +2)
Will 14  (Res. Mod. +2)
Personality 14

Stun 9
Wound 9
Fatigue 5
Mortal 5

Last Resorts 3

Action Check Score
Marginal 13+
Ordinary 12
Good 6
Amazing 3

Combat Movement Rates
Sprint 8
Run 6
Walk 2
Easy Swim 1
Swim 8
Glide (8)
Fly (16)

Armor: None

Special Abilities: Witchcraft (Faith) FX

Perks: Great Looks, Second Sight

Flaws: Obsessed (+2)

Social Class: Middle Class

Contacts: Scott Elders (Psychic), Heather McHael (Seer). 

Enemies: Eric MacAlister (ex-husband, former IRA operative)

Attack Forms
Unarmed 4/2/1 LI/O Personal d4a/d4+1s/d4+2s
Athame 8/4/2 LI/O Personal d4w/d4w+1s/d4+2w

Skill Points Spent: 91  Stored: 6

Skills

Skill	Cost	Ability	Rank	Score
Athletics	3	STR		8	4	2
Vehicle Operation	3	DEX		9	4	2
Land Vehicle	3	DEX	1	10	5	2
Stamina	3	CON		9	4	2
Knowledge	3	INT		14	7	3
Lang. English	1	INT	3	17	8	4
Lang. Latin	1	INT	3	17	8	4
Lang. Greek	1	INT	3	17	8	4
Lang. Hebrew	1	INT	1	15	7	3
Lang. Russian	1	INT	1	15	7	3
Medical Science	3	INT	1	15	7	3
Psychology	5	INT	2	16	8	4
Physical Science	7	INT	1	15	7	3
Astronomy	3	INT	1	15	7	3
Social Science	6	INT	1	14	7	3
Anthropology	3	INT	2	16	8	4
Linguistics	3	INT	2	16	8	4
Awareness	3	WIL		14	7	3
Intuition	3	WIL	1	15	7	3
Perception	2	WIL	1	15	7	3
Investigate	7	WIL	1	14	7	3
Research	3	WIL	3	17	8	4
Lore	6	WIL	1	14	7	3
Conspiracy Theories	3	WIL	1	15	7	3
Occult Lore	3	WIL	2	16	8	4
Psychic Lore	3	WIL	1	15	7	3
Entertainment	4	PER	1	14	7	3
Sing	2	PER	1	15	7	3
Interaction	3	PER		14	7	3
Charm	3	PER	2	16	8	4
Seduce	3	PER	1	15	7	3

Bolded skills are Free. Skills in Purple are from Dark•Matter.

FX

Spell	Cost	Ability	Rank	Score
Witchcraft	13
Glamour	4	INT	1	15	7	3
Cast the Circle	2	WIL	2	16	8	4
Divination	3	WIL	3	17	8	4
Earth's Harvest	2	WIL	3	17	8	4
Part the Veil	4	WIL	3	17	8	4
Spellbind	2	WIL	2	16	8	4
Ward of Protection	3	WIL	2	16	8	4
Call Familiar	3	PER	1	15	7	3
Crone's Curse	4	PER	1	15	7	3

I went ahead and gave her Glamour even though it is not on the witchcraft list—it should be.

--

So I REALLY like this build. A few notes.

Levels in Alternity are treated differently than they are in *D&D games. In D&D games, you gain a level, and that helps define how powerful your abilities and skills will be. In Alternity, it is the other way around; your skills and powers help determine your level.

So Larina here would be a lot more skilled if she had dumped all of those skill points she spent on FX  (65 total) on more skills. 

She is not a combat person. She has no combat skills to speak of, and I am not likely to add much more to her for that. She can read a lot of languages and is a good researcher. More importantly, she has magic. I should give her some sort of blasty magic, but she is a support character for the most part. 

She compares well to her WitchCraft and AD&D 2nd Ed versions. I should get her WitchCraft version up sometime.

I will admit this build took me a while. A lot of it was my unfamiliarity with the system. It still took a bit. Going between multiple books is never really ideal. But this is a character I would play.

Now, if I were to get serious about Alternity Dark•Matter, I would likely work up my go-to psychic character, Scott Elders. He is a good choice since it would allow me to use all of the Mindwalking rules. He has alternates in AD&D, Modern times, and the Far Future so that also makes him a good fit.

*In the process of re-reading this to post today I found my original Dark•Matter sheets for Larina AND the printout of the Witchcraft Faith FX.

I started working on her back in March of 2000.

It only took me 24 years to finish.