TSR--the company that virtually invented role-playing with their ground-breaking Dungeons and Dragons--now brings you the brave new world of Alternity, where players act out the adventures of heroes, citizens and scoundrels against a science-fiction backdrop populated with intriguing personalities and exotic aliens. While not "generic," Alternity is much more flexible than D&D or many other role-playing games on the market. The system promotes character creation (instead of random generation) and complete worldbuilding, and the rules allow the game to be set anytime between next week to the dawn of the fourth millennium. Alternity emphasizes storytelling over statistics, and players are encouraged to use their role-playing skills and imaginations. But your polyhedron dice will still get a workout; Alternity employs a clever method of success determination that uses both a 20-sided die and second "situation" die that varies depending on the difficulty of the situation. The Player's Handbook (along with the Alternity Gamemaster Guide) contains all the rules necessary to play, including a "Quick Rules" section that allows players to jump in quickly. Additional sections cover character creation (featuring five alien races and several professions to choose from), mutations, psionics, weapons and equipment. --Matthew Baldwin