- Shatterzone
"Shatterzone" is a
space opera role-playing game byWest End Games . The game went out of print in 1997 after the company went bankrupt.The "Shatterzone" universe shares much in common with the "
Star Wars Roleplaying Game " produced by the same company and was a repository for original ideas produced for "Star Wars " but which were turned down by the legal department ofLucasfilm .Fact|date=August 2007 As such, the universe of "Shatterzone" shares some structural similarities to the "Star Wars" Expanded Universe including an intergalactic government called theConsortium (like theRepublic from "Star Wars") run from a central region of space known as theCore Worlds , large megacorps that run galactic affairs (a theme common in thecyberpunk genre of storytelling), and a super-industrialized capital world, calledCentaurus but similar to "Star Wars"'Coruscant . Likewise, there is a sentiment ofxenophobia 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.The namesake feature of the setting is the "Shatterzone", an unchartable 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, bipedal aliens 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 violent race whose bodies emanate chill rather than warmth
*Kestarians - primitive four-armed matriarchical humanoids
*Rednas - reptilian humanoids whose pre-spacefaring civilization is prized for its metalwork.
*Veronians - shapeshifters from an unidentified homeworld
*Reavers- aggressive humanoids allied with the Armagons as shock troopsPlanets and Regions
*
Xenos Sector - a little explored region near the Shatterzone
*Planet - torn apart in a civil war, now a staging ground for pirates and mercenaries
*PlanetBartonrealm - corporate owned world, home of BartonCorp
*PlanetRal Sikkim - desert frontier world claimed by an alliance of pirate organizations
*PlanetCentaurus - superpopulated capital world, Core World and center of civilization
*PlanetDelera - home to race oftechnophobes
*PlanetMandamus - mining planet that producesterraforming compounds
*PlanetVantage Point - old corporate world overthrown by colonists
*PlanetAureus - arid world populated by mystics who disbelieve in space travelTimeline
Current era is the 25th Century.
The development of coldsleep technology and mastery of
nuclear fusion engines enable easy travel within our 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 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 (or Q-Drive) functions is beyond to 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.
References
Shatterzone: 1993, West End Games. ISBN-10: 0874312272
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.