Shatterzone

Like WEG's earlier Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and TORG, the player chooses from archetypal templates (like "Megacorp Freelancer" or "Old Scout") rather than create a custom character. The player can also create an altered or new template, but like most template games (like FASA's Shadowrun or White Wolf's World of Darkness), 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 (which roughly converts to 28 Life Points[note 2]) 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.

The eight Shatterzone character Attributes[note 3] are like the six Ability Scores used in Dungeons & Dragons.[note 4] Some are divided into two similar Attributes (perhaps to balance the Skill List). 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 (the ceiling for unenhanced characters), 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 (much like they are in Pinnacle Entertainment's Classic Deadlands). Endurance (like D&D's Constitution) helps the character resist pain and shock. Strength (like D&D's 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 (taking the place of D&D's Intelligence) is about problem-solving and comprehension while Mind (taking the place of D&D's Wisdom) 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 (getting others to believe you and manipulating or convincing them into doing what you want). Confidence is based on cunning and willpower (believing in yourself and making people do what you want).

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.[note 5]

Backgrounds are crunchy bits of character flavor. "Advantages" (which are self-explanatory) give the character an edge of some kind. "Compensations" (the term for disadvantages in Shatterzone) hold back the character in some way. They usually balance out (a -1 for every +1) and are geared towards the character template and its concept. For instance the "Old Scout" template, an experienced and salty Fleet veteran, has Increased Skill Adds: +4 [4], which adds +4 Skill points for the cost of 4 Attribute points. This is paired with and opposed by Skill Limitation: Charm [-4], which blocks the character from putting points in the Charm skill or any of its Specializations, but frees up 4 Attribute Points.

There are two classes of skills (Untrained & Trained) and three types of skills (Skills, Macro skills and Specializations).

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,[note 6] 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 (like Language[note 7] or Navigation[note 8]) with related sub-skills (called "Facets") attached to them. This makes it easier for a character to do things with a catchall skill (like Beast Riding or Vehicle Piloting ) without paying for an expensive collection of individual skills the character may rarely use. For instance, 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,[note 9] 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" (sub-skill) 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" (no experience or training in the skill) to a maximum of "3" (advanced training). 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 instance, a character with an Untrained or Trained skill at level 0 based on an Agility of 9 would have a rating of "9" (and would be considered a default Skill 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" (and it would be written down under Agility as Skill: 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.

The player has to add a sum of the character's Attribute level plus Skill Adds and Specialization Adds bonuses and subtract the Difficulty Modifier (DM) number. The harder the task, the higher the DM number. A DM 3 is a very easy task, a DM 9 is an average task, and a DM 22 would be an almost impossible task. Trying to perform a task or action that requires a rating in a Trained skill that the character does not have does so at an additional DM +8 (more if it requires a Facet or Specialty). Then 2d10 are rolled and the results checked on a modifier table,[note 10] with the result being added or subtracted from the base sum. The larger the success margin, the greater the result; this is converted into Result Points, which are read on another table to determine the result.

Another modifier is drawn from the Value System, which is similar to the Mayfair Exponential Game System found in Mayfair's DC Heroes and Underground. A Value number is assigned to a geometrically-increasing amount of time, distance, or mass (for instance, a Value of 15 is equal to 1000 units, which could be seconds, meters, or kilograms). The big trip-up is that minutes and hours are figured in blocks of 60 rather than 100, days are figured in blocks of 24 hours (and are more or less hours than that on other planets), and so on. The conversion rules to figure out time values in Shatterzone are complex and still don't work.[note 11]

There are also modifiers derived from the General Push Table, which is when you want to drive faster, keep moving while fatigued or wounded, or exert more effort in lifting a heavy object. The character gets an increase in Result Points at the cost of a penalty (like a damaged engine, a septic wound, or thrown-out back-muscles respectively).

Life Points are experience points and can be spent to increase Attributes or buy Advantages. You begin play with 5 Life Points and earn more after completing adventures. Skill Points are spent to improve skills. They are created by converting them from Life Points; 1 Life Point converts to 3 Skill Points.

You can spend a point to affect a die-roll, like Fate Points in FATE Core or Fate Chips in Classic Deadlands. They have different results depending on what type of point you use.

• You can spend a Life Point before you make a die roll to grant a +1d10 bonus to the result. Each roll of a natural "10" on this bonus die allows the player to roll again and add to the result. A Life Point can also be spent to cancel out up to 3 levels of damage or shift a die roll result on one of the dozens of charts.
• You can spend a Skill Point to re-roll after you make a bad roll.