Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gaius" data-source="post: 406649" data-attributes="member: 3589">ShatterzoneBack in the heyday of West End Games, they managed to crank out a great little space-opera RPG called Shatterzone that most likely got covered up by their other little space-opera RPG called Star Wars.  In any case, Shatterzone was a departrure from their d6 system and didn't gain quite the popularity that they probably hoped it would.  Or that I hoped it would, for that matter.Shatterzone was a great game (still is).  It's set in a fairly generic sci-fi universe; an interstellar government known as the Consortium rules, made up of the Big Three alien races (Human, Glahn, Ishantra).  It's a rather zenophobic government, allowing secondary status to a few other races, while the rest are the dregs of society.  The Consortium is supported by Fleet, a galactic Navy that is rife with corruption and inefficiency.  In addition, there are the megacorps that everyone knows and loves from a dozen other games.  They're the true power behind the Consortium and money crimes often merit more attention than persons crimes.At the edge of the universe is the Shatterzone, a cosmic array of dark matter and dangerous gravitational phenoms.  It is a source of rich resources, awe, and wonder.  From the other side of the Shatterzone, which no one really knows about, has come a flood of various alien races, collectively known as Bolters, who have braved the dangers of the Zone in their flight from an alien menace known as the Armagons.  Little is known about the Armagons and worlds far from the Shatterzone dismiss them as little more than a myth.  While the Armagons themselves are a mystery, their shocktroops the Reavers are not.  These fearsome foes are just what a good GM needs to scare the snot out of his players.Shatterzone manages to be archaic while still be futuristic.  Travel is not instantaneous and moving from the Core Worlds to the Zone can take months, if not years.  Travelers are placed in a cryogenic sleep while they traverse the space lanes.  Communication is equally slow, often relying on unmanned messenger craft to deliver communique.  This adds to the troubles facing a beleaguered Fleet.  It also is what lets people fall through the cracks.  Weaponry is wide and diverse, ranging from gas-blowback firearms to the advance Ripper guns of the Reavers.  Shatterzone is kind of grim and gritty, but was a great setting.  More than just the brief synopsis I gave, it had a little bit of everything for everyone.  The rules, in retrospect, are a bit clunky, but the flavor is just right.  If you can find it kicking around in the corner of your game store, it's definately worth picking up.  Gaius</blockquote>

Verification