Modular Abilities and Alternate Abilities

[PK]

Originally Posted by Anders

I actually originally used Alternative, but discovered that the tag was Alternate so I went with that.

Fixed the tag. :)

The word "alternate" refers to a repeated cycle: The traffic lights on US-27 alternate between red, yellow, and green in a frustrating pattern.

The word "alternative" refers to a choice between items: Because I wish to avoid the traffic lights on US-27, I'm taking an alternative route.

It's become an "Americanism" to misuse the former as the latter. (Much as we like to use "literally" as a generic emphasis word now.) Some dictionaries have even added "(regional) synonym for alternative" to the definition of "alternate." But that's still not what the word was ever intended to mean.

A set of "alternate abilities" would be a fixed set of abilities in which you had access to the first one, then the second one, then the third one, etc., looping back to the first after the last. And no, I don't plan to weigh in on how to model that, because it is a silly thing. :)