In many ways, Shatterzone is a unique setting but on the surface it’s hard to see. Some see it as just another Traveller or Star Frontiers rehash. Others see it as a Star Wars knock-off, I am sure. However, there is something about it that makes it different to me, and I am trying to nail that down in order to make it a unique Savage Worlds setting.
At its core, the SZ RPG has mystery. The ‘Zone is a barrier and no one knows what’s beyond it. While adventure in the setting does not have to center around it, it’s always there. You can be from any world in the known worlds or from beyond it. This takes full advantage of the alien creation system in core Savage World rules.
- Convert any Advantages or Disadvantages from SZ to Edges/Hindrances
- Convert key aliens
Shatterzone is dark and gritty. It is a perfect setting for shows like Dark Matter and Killjoys. It has ancient alien elements as well as dark Bladerunner type elements. Rules will need to be created to represent that.
- Hard Choices (SWADE page 139)?
- Setting rules to take it beyond Gritty Damage – use Battle for Oz where each raise increases the die type of damage.
- Think of other new Setting Rules to make it even more deadly.
The cards. They were a big part of it. I have play-tested a version of the cards in Savage Worlds. Those will definitely be a part of it.
Convert the aliens weapons, armor and tech.
ADDENDUM 1.0
I am reworking some of the races. Some of them are just not inspiring to me. That includes the Glahn, the Ishantran, the Yithra and the Vizzben.
- Added Glahn clans. I find a stoic (Vulcan-like) race with clan politics fascinating. They would be so subtle and emotionless that no human would survive. So I made some clans, rough inspired by other factional-settings I have played or read about.
- Added a caste system to the Ishantran. This race was just a mess and made no sense to me. Even with genetic mutations and modification, there had to be a rhyme or reason for it. I developed a caste-like system focused around centers of energy like the chakra.
- Change the Yithra to make a little more sense. I made their race more like a Groot from Marvel. I added a little more history to their arrival from the Shatterzone. Ia lso made them a long-lived but dying race. They yearn to return home, their sun, and their world’s energies because their homeworld is the only place they can live peacefully (which explains their bad attitudes).
- Expanding on the Vizzben, hinting at a more organized reason for their actions – perhaps a secret alien network or syndicate.