Alternity: Incident at Exile : Fast-Play Game

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Beginning to a Wonderful Game
Review: Incident at Exile is by all means an introduction to the Alternity Role Playing Game from TSR. The content is split between a rules summary for the game and an introductory adventure.

The rules are a simplified version of the Alternity game system, concentrating on the basic concepts rather than dealing with the "nitty-gritty" that this wonderful game system is capable of. Excluding such concepts such as success levels and mortal damage, the rules are much more managable for a beginning troupe of players as well as a splendid introduction to the system. Once the basics have been mastered through this simplified version, one can easily add the more detailed rules found in the hardcover rulebooks.

The adventure section is where the supplement loses a bit of its charm. The heroes simply "stumble upon" a derelict vessel and need to explore it... It feels like an AD&D dungeoncrawl in space, which is a concept that the designers of Alternity tried very hard to move away from.

All in all, you get a good deal for your cash. It provides a stepping stone into the greater Alternity universe (one of my picks for the best RPG engines so far), and if the players don't like it, they're only down 7 bucks or so, not 30 by buying the PHB.