From BestWithStuff

Introduction

On a planet called Wiskedak (Wis-ke-dak), human civilization reached a fast paced technological enlightenment period. Much knowledge and many devices came from this period of that are still not yet understood and almost seem like fanciful magic to the inhabitants now. But, to quote Frank Poole: "A wise man once said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Some of the greatest achievements came forth during this age, but also darker and less-glorious achievements too. The the further technological advancement rose, the greater the divides, the greater the strain on relations between nations, and the greater the imbalances the world had to deal with. It wasn't a utopia or a model of perfection, but no worse than anything else.

Then, the Event. The Event happened 250 years ago, and no one really is the wiser to the why, what, how, or exactly when of the Event. Something happened, and it was certainly a significant Event. Scholars and those that have time to speculate are still trying to piece together some kind of understanding of what transpired. From the sketchy details gathered, the Event was something so strange and encompassing that not one being on the planet was allowed ignorance of it. Most of what is know are things that happened AFTER the Event during the time of the Fall.

The Event marked the apex of human development and the Fall was the sharp descent afterwards. The Fall was a composite apocalypse: So many ways for the world to end; why not choose as many as you can? Fueled by every reason they could muster, humanity fought and destroyed. The chaos hid things from humanity. Some of their own creations were hidden away, but this chaos camouflaged a "new" presence on Wiskedak that would be discovered many years later.

So, humanity almost sent itself back into the stone age, but thankfully ran out of the will or means to do so. Unfortunately, they got very close. Humanity now had to rebuild... but they weren't alone. Humanity had unknowingly lost the monopoly they had on Wiskedak and from their own crafty work, too. The new species that humanity had genetically engineered for their own purposes awoke from the safety of various hidden labs and bases free to strike it out one their own. The many abandoned military bases, data centers, and research centers served as the means for a sentient artificial intelligence called Alpha One to emerge, followed by its Mech'tic children. The various mutants and rejects of humanity banded together to form their own groups. And the strangest of all is the indirect and intertwining presence of Exraneous Vita (E.V.) that shapes and changes the rules for the world.

It is 250 Post Fall (P.F.). Welcome to the Post-Post-Apocalypse. While there's more ruin than not, Wiskedak is home to many civilizations once again... All trying to survive...

What to do?

There is much to do in the world. Between the ruins of the past, the strange nature of E.V., and classic conflicts between different groups, there's plenty to get involved in. In Shattered Earth, is about going into the world and making your way in it. There's plenty to explore ranging from the many unique city-states trying to live life their own way to the warped, twisted ruins of the past hiding secrets yet to be found. There's many wrongs to right in this world as justice and righteousness doesn't come to many in the wrong place at the wrong time. And there's plenty of opportunities (and people) to take advantage of to fuel quests of conquest and personal gain.

Quick Start

This section cover a straight forward guide to show players how to get a character ready for a Shattered Earth game.

The Concept

The Form

The Form is the player's character in the Shattered Earth Universe.

Base Stats

The Base Stats are the utmost basic representation of what your avatar can and can't do. Many things are derived from these base stats. You start with an avatar that is average in all aspects. This means, temporarily, there's a 5 in each base stat. You are initially given five more points to allocate. Shift point around to your choosing until all points are allocated. No base stat score should be higher than 10 and less than 1.

Species

A principle definer of your Avatar. Each species offers a different flavor, culture, and history to pull from. They also provide assets and/or traits to give extra some tangible change in your avatar.

Skills and Professions

You don't need a profession. If you choose a profession, you gain access to restricted skills at the cost of initial skill points. Otherwise, you gain a 100 skill points to spend on your skill tree. Refer to the Shattered Earth Skill Tree for more information about available skills.

Keeping TABs

Each avatar gains some Asset associated with their species and a trait. The is the option to choose a number of either general and/or species specific traits. Refer to the Shattered Earth TABs for more information about available TABs. (Traits, Assets, and Burdens)