Shatterzone


Shatterzone is a space opera role-playing game by West End Games. The game went out of print in 1997 after the company went bankrupt. It came back in 2011, published by Precis Intermedia.
The universe of Shatterzone shares some structural similarities to the Star Wars expanded universe including an intergalactic government called the Consortium run from a central region of space known as the Core Worlds, large megacorps that run galactic affairs, and a super-industrialized capital world, called Centaurus, but similar to Star Wars' Coruscant. Likewise, there is a sentiment of xenophobia in the setting similar to that of the Empire in Star Wars. Humans, Glahns, and Ishantras, the three ruling races of the Consortium and a few others are given full citizen status while other races suffer under prejudice and second-class-citizenship. In an interview with the creator of Shatterzone, Scott Palter, he refuted the connection stating that his intention was for a "darker setting, more to my tastes than Star Wars" citing inspiration instead from C. J. Cherryh’s Company Wars.
The namesake feature of the setting is the "Shatterzone", an uncharted and mysterious sector of space consisting of dark matter and strange gravitational phenomena as well as strange energy storms and asteroid fields. The Shatterzone is home to cult worshippers, bands of alien exiles called "bolters" seeking to flee Armagon oppression, and groups of deep space miners looking to make a fortune off the rare minerals to be had in this unusual sector of space.

Alien races

In Shatterzone there are three classes of race: Citizens, which only Humans, Glahns, and Ishantras have the right to become; Allied, which consist of races who have signed nonaggression pacts with the Consortium, but which have no rights to representation; and Hostile/Unidentified, which are considered suspicious and are treated with caution.
  • Glahns - one of the three ruling races in the galaxy, blue skinned humanoids organized into clans
  • Ishantras - another ruling race, immensely varied due to cross-species gene-engineering, who lost their homeworld in an ancient cataclysm
  • Armagons - an incredibly powerful alien empire of various races which rule from beyond the Shatterzone, pillaging and destroying one world after another
  • Yithras - a disagreeable race whose thin, wood-like bodies emanate chill rather than warmth
  • Kestarians - golden-skinned, four-armed matriarchical humanoids who use their allure to influence others
  • Rednas - reptilian humanoids with traditions of violence, whose pre-spacefaring civilization is prized for its metalwork.
  • Veronians - shapeshifters from an unidentified homeworld nearly eradicated by other races out of paranoia
  • Reavers - aggressive humanoids allied with the Armagons as shock troops

    Planets and regions

  • Xenos Sector - a little-explored region near the Shatterzone
  • Planet Haven - torn apart in a civil war, now a staging ground for pirates and mercenaries
  • Planet Bartonrealm - corporate owned world, home of BartonCorp
  • Planet Ral Sikkim - desert frontier world claimed by an alliance of pirate organizations
  • Planet Centaurus - superpopulated capital world, Core World and center of civilization
  • Planet Delera - home to a race of technophobes
  • Planet Mandamus - mining planet that produces terraforming compounds
  • Planet Vantage Point - old corporate world overthrown by colonists
  • Planet Aureus - arid world populated by mystics who disbelieve in space travel

    Timeline

The current era is the 25th Century.
The development of coldsleep technology and mastery of nuclear fusion engines enable easy travel within the Solar System, and the possibility of extrasolar colonization. The overwhelming desire to escape the restrictions of life on Earth drive some to establish illegal "black" colonies without the consent of the government. The Secessionist Wars ensue and the first intergalactic fleets of warships are created.
2276: Humans discover a derelict alien space vessel, and while the science of how its quantum drive functions is beyond the grasp of human science, it is a relatively simple mechanism which researchers are soon able to recreate and mass-produce. Using the new alien technology, human ships become capable of reaching speeds 365 times the speed of light. Abundant faster-than-light engines allow a phenomenon called the Diaspora, in which the world population drops from 25 billion to 500 million over the next two centuries as extrasolar colony worlds become genuine home worlds to large populations of humans.
2320: First contact with the Glahn.
2486: The establishment of the Consortium of Worlds, a joint government of the homeworlds of the Humans, Glahn, and Ishantra.

Rules

The system uses a pair of d10 dice rather than a d6 or d20.
Most rolls are made with two d10. The results are added together, with "0" being equivalent to "10" and two "0"s being equal to "20". A natural "10" result is a Critical Success. Like the "Wild Die" in Savage Worlds, the player can roll an additional time per Critical until they get a result lower than "10". Then the player adds the numbers together as the roll's result.
It also uses a deck of 108 cards called the MasterDeck that was later used in the generic MasterBook system. Similar to WEG's earlier TORG Drama Deck and later influencing the Savage Worlds Action Deck, it came in three types of effects. The 83 black Enhancement cards are handed in by the player for random benefits, like a bonus on a character's task roll, temporarily allowing extra actions, or granting extra Life Points. The 17 red Subplot cards are used immediately by the Game Master to create a random event or encounter. The four Picture cards are Wild Cards that can provide special effects that the gamemaster can tailor to their needs. The remaining 4 were two blank cards and 2 blank Picture cards. Expansions to the MasterDeck come with 12 blank cards and 24 Plot Development Cards, which are Subplot cards that the players control that potentially could grant extra Skill Points.

Characters

Like WEG's earlier Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and TORG, the player chooses from archetypal templates rather than create a custom character. The player can also create an altered or new template, but like most template games, it is very hard to alter or build them with the rules as they are. The advantage to template characters is speed of play. Players who are unfamiliar with Shatterzone or want to play a pickup game can jump into play without struggling with generating a character first. Meanwhile, more experienced players can easily replace a deceased character in an ongoing adventure or campaign.
If the player wants to build a template using a point-based system, they get the same 65 Attribute Points and 20 Skill points as the basic templates. For those who want to take their chances, they can roll 2d10 on a table and get a random number of beginning Attribute and Skill points.

Attributes

The eight Shatterzone character Attributes are like the six Ability Scores used in Dungeons & Dragons. Some are divided into two similar Attributes. Attribute values range from 5 to 13. The average value of an attribute is about 7 or 8, a value of 13 is considered exceptional, and a value of 14 or higher is considered supernormal.
The four Physical Attributes are Agility, Dexterity, Strength, and Endurance. Agility and Dexterity are like D&D's Dexterity, except Agility controls reflexes and fine motor control tasks and Dexterity is used for coordination and gross motor control tasks. Endurance helps the character resist pain and shock. Strength helps determine how much you can lift and carry or how much damage you can do in unarmed or armed melee combat.
The four Mental Attributes are Intellect, Mind, Charisma, and Confidence. Intellect is about problem-solving and comprehension while Mind is about using what you learned through experience. Charisma and Confidence are like D&D's Charisma; both have similarly themed skills except they have different methods. Charisma is based on personality and human engineering. Confidence is based on cunning and willpower.
Toughness, the character's innate resistance to damage, is Shatterzone's equivalent to Hit Points. It is a derived attribute calculated from adding double the character's Endurance level to their Strength level and dividing the result by three.
Backgrounds are crunchy bits of character flavor. "Advantages" give the character an edge of some kind. "Compensations" hold back the character in some way. They usually balance out and are geared towards the character template and its concept. For example, the "Old Scout" template, an experienced and salty Fleet veteran, has Increased Skill Adds: +4 , which adds +4 Skill points for the cost of 4 Attribute points. This is paired with and opposed by Skill Limitation: Charm , which blocks the character from putting points in the Charm skill or any of its Specializations, but frees up 4 Attribute Points.

Skills

There are two classes of skills and three types of skills.
Untrained skills are ones that the average person is at least familiar with, and can be used at a default. They cost 1 Skill Point for the first level and cost a multiple of the next level in skill points. Perception, an Untrained skill, would cost 1 Skill point at first level, 2 at second level, and 3 at third level for a total cost of 5 skill points.
Trained skills require that the person has to study or practice for a long time to familiarize themselves. They have to be bought for the character to use them. They cost 10 Skill Points for the first level and cost double the number of the next level. Science, a Trained skill, would cost 10 points at first level, 4 points at 2nd level, and 6 points at third level for a total cost of 20 skill points.
Macro skills and Specializations are like lenses.
Macro skills are wide focus. They are a skill group with related sub-skills attached to them. This makes it easier for a character to do things with a catchall skill without paying for an expensive collection of individual skills the character may rarely use. For example, a person with Beast Riding would know how to tame and break a wild animal to allow it to be ridden, to ride the animal and attempt stunt riding tricks, use melee or ranged weapons while mounted, and calm or control it if it became spooked or aggressive.

Specializations are narrow focus. They could be a sub-set of a skill's focus like a mechanic who specializes in just repairing internal-combustion-engine vehicles or a character with Heavy Energy Weapons who specializes in using Plasma Flamers. Or they could be a "facet" of a Macro skill, like a person with Science skill taking a Specialization in Biology, Marine Biology or Cetology. Because they have restrictions, they cost half as much as regular skills during character template design but are the same price afterwards during play.
A beginning character's skill levels range from a minimum of "0" to a maximum of "3". This cap prevents a character from being too specialized to be playable. The rating of a skill is equal to the corresponding Attribute level plus the skill's level; this combined result is the skill rating number. For example, a character with an Untrained or Trained skill at level 0 based on an Agility of 9 would have a rating of "9". A character with an Untrained or Trained skill at level 3 based on an Agility of 9 would have a rating of "12". Players can buy skill levels higher than "3" after their characters earn experience through gameplay.
Studying with a tutor or master for training during play reduces Skill Point cost by half. This can also happen if another character in the party has the Scholar: Teaching macro skill facet and a higher level in the desired skill.