Customer Reviews

Star Drive Campaign Setting (Alternity Sci-Fi Roleplaying, Star Drive Campaign Setting, 2802)

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Star*Drive is a campaign setting for the popular Alternity sci-fi gaming system, and requires both the Alternity Player's Handbook and Alternity Gamemaster Guide for play. In a game that emphasizes a build-your-own world approach, the Star*Drive universe provides a quick but customizable campaign and a large selection of compatible add-ons.

This 256-page book describes a 26th century world of faster-than-light speed travel, frontier exploration, alien-human commerce, war, and interstellar nations. The comparison with Star Trek is obvious but not an over-riding factor; Star*Drive has its own flavor and plenty of room for your own additions, whatever your TV, movie, or literary favorites might be.

Mutants, psionics, and cybertech-enhanced beings (all optional in the basic rules) are included in this campaign. Also given are statistics and descriptions for 26th century technology (ships, military, medicine, robots, and much more), the 13 stellar nations of Old Space, and 18 solar systems of the Verge (the edge of Star*Drive's frontier). Brief histories of campaign technology, alien contact, and wars are also covered. The five alien player character species will be familiar from the Alternity Player's Handbook (Fraal, Mechalus, Sesheyan, T'sa, and Weren), as are the five basic professions; however, Star*Drive offers several subcategories under each profession (49 total) as models for your character.

Accessories for the Star*Drive campaign include Alien Compendium: Creatures of the Verge, Planet of Darkness, Outbound: An Explorer's Guidebook, Arms & Equipment Guide, and Threats from Beyond.

Star*Drive offers excellent possibilities for your Alternity game.

--Sharon Daugherty for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

I am NOT a TSR fan. Haven't played their games in years. But I picked this up and its great. The artwork is stunning, the information is very detailed, and the setting is very interesting. I am looking forward to adventuring in the Verge.

As a veteran gamer who probably has more gaming material than should be healthy, I'm pleased to see TSR introduce this book for the very promising Alternity game.

Unlike much of the game products out there, this book is vividly written with inspiration and flair, bringing alive the technology, citizens, and cultures of the setting. All this is finished off by quality art as well. This terrific book prompted me to add the Alternity game to my gaming cabinet.

Star*Drive is unlike most other settings you find in science fiction today. It's a "space-opera" type setting with a brain. 13 "Stellar Nations" have colonized a region of space that was cut off from humanity when these nations went to war. When they return, all hope to profit, but aren't necessarily welcomed back with open arms. Something sinister has happened out there, and trust is no longer taken for granted.

The technology is different from the standard "ray-gun" and starfighter mix, and the social concepts offer a unique flavor. Never once did I find myself thinking "Oh, that's a Star Wars / Battlestar Galactica knock-off idea.", or "Sound like Star Trek / Babylon 5." The feeling was of a setting that was unlike anything cooked up before, charged with overt and covert motives and the several layers of depth that make for good plot-building.

The thing you'll probably have the most trouble with if you Game-master a S*D campaign, is introducing your player's characters to the setting's complexity and rich detail without burying your story in it. It will be worth it, for the immersive qualities of the storylines you can generate.

This campaign setting has got to be the best ever put out by the TSR team. In fact you could play a free lance game without dice just from the amount of information in this book. The book is very decorative and uses simple language. I have not read it cover to cover but I have read most of it and have to say !!!Good job!!! not only is it loaded with information, it also clears up a lot of the misunderstanding I had with the players hand book and the GM's guide. If your a GM and want a good place to start I suggest this book, however I do not suggest the first adventure that you can purchase seperately, untill you have put several alternity missions together, it's very confusing. Again GOOD JOB TSR!!!!

This book has alot of information that will allow you to run a campaign in the Verge. It includes detailed maps of every system in the Verge and every inhabited world within those systems. It also includes a complete history of all the stellar nations and gives you rules to help you run a character from each of the nations, as well as a character who is from the Verge. It lacks in the fact that it doesn't include any more equipment, abilities, etc. This book is only for those who wish to run campaigns in the Star Drive setting.

Star Drive Campaign Setting (Alternity Sci-Fi Roleplaying, Star Drive Campaign Setting, 2802)
I'm a strong RPG player, and I bought this book and i really enjoy the setting, have a lot of information if you like the good SCI/FI games you will enjoy this one.
Obviously you must need a copy of the Alternity Player Guide Core Book if you don't have it 'till.

This game wouldn't be successful without the superb writing and information given in these books. It creates a -very- realistic setting for the game.