Back from the Dead?
Hey everyone, quick update from the trenches of Syseria! Yes, Shattered World, my fantasy heartbreaker TTRPG, is still kicking and evolving. Remember when it started as just a setting for that other game? Well, it's grown up and decided to forge its own path! Let me see if I can be a little bit more explicit this time. I printed out the entire book and redlined a bunch of stuff.
The book was nice and thick all printed out, I was very proud of it. There was a lot of editing going on. I went wild with the red pen. Think battlefield surgeon, but for game design. Pages were marked, scribbled on, and updated, and reimagined. This round of changes have been made digitally, all that paper has been recycled, and I am probably going to do a few more rounds of this. What I'm wanting to do is eventually put the information into this website, because the information on Syseria is woefully out of date, but I would like the information to be more complete by that time.
I'm reformatting all species and field roles to encapsulate the new fantasy heartbreaker system that I am writing now. I'm still working on skills as well. There have been quite a few changes in what is under trainable skills and what is a field role feature, and that will continue to evolve. I knew I wanted one of the things I wanted out of this was a more granular skill system. And that has pretty much been achieved, at least skeletally.
Core Engine
I think the core engine has pretty much gelled into what I want to playtest. This is an escalating roll-over system starting at d4 with the possibility of going as high as d100. This creates a much wider spectrum of possibilities for your heroes, with foes like dragons and titans being about as far away from approachable as west is to east, and later, goblins and chumplings far away in the rearview mirror. From the beginning I wanted something that retains the fun of TTRPG combat in a style that I like while also providing an equally fun and rewarding system for non combat roleplay, including but not limited to social, downtime, professional, and exploratory activities. I don’t yet know what to expect of its viability out of the gates, but I’ve accomplished a sketch of what I set out for. All these documents including the core engine are and will remain for the foreseeable future a work in progress, living, breathing, changing documents. They will be informed by feedback and playtesting, soon.
Ability Scores
Your six ability scores will be Physical Fitness (PF), Mental Acuity (MA), Endurance (EN), Perception (PE), Empathy (EM), and Spirit (SP). Character inception is a two phase process: a gamble of circumstance followed by a design and build phase. Your randomly generated inborn abilities will have an effect on which Species you can choose, but you can always be any Field Role and train into it.
A lot of thought has gone into how each stat affects gameplay. From your character's carrying capacity to their ability to resist mind control, every stat has a significant impact on their abilities and roleplaying opportunities. Physical Fitness is, loosely, Strength, Dexterity, and some aspects of constitution. Mental Acuity is, loosely, Wisdom and Intelligence. Perception facilitates Initiative, stealth, and detection. Empathy affects social interaction and does what you would expect to, but it also can and will be weaponized during gameplay. Spirit is a sort of “chutzpah,” especially when it comes to spellcasting and connection to bloodstones. Your character will be proficient in two ability scores, one coming from species and one coming from Field Role. These proficiencies make you a more effective expert in these two abilities and their related skills and actions.
Also, 24 is the new 18.
Alignment
I'm still agonizing over alignment—consideration is being given to existing systems as well as original approaches that I’ve never seen before. The eternal struggle! Nine alignments? Something totally wild? Or just ditch the whole concept? I'm still debating. If we keep it, it's gonna have teeth. Achievements, buy-ins, something that actually matters. What do you think? I still have no idea what direction I'll end up taking. Maybe I'll go with the completely traditional nine alignments. Maybe I'll try something different. Maybe I'll nix alignment all together. One thing I've decided, I would like alignment to have a mechanical game effect if I'm going to use it. If implemented, alignment will have a list of achievements and buy-ins, and maybe other mechanics, that go along with it.
Equipment
Equipment is getting a partial reimagining to reflect a more sci-fantasy setting. There is most or all of the traditional faux fantasy adventuring gear, but sci-fantasy techy stuff is starting to creep in as the Engineer role continues to expand. There will be vehicles and spaceships soon.
Pantheon
The pantheon section (and all lore) has undergone very little—but some—revision. The pantheon is being rewritten to reflect the Shattered World fantasy heartbreaker system. Lyren and Lynona are now one, streamlining the sea and travel goddesses. I'm on the lookout for any other deities that need a bit of a polish.
Lore
While we’re on the subject, I have officially shattered the planet (hence the title). The divine lightning bolt that in RPG’s past had shattered the continents and moved them to their current positions has been retconned to fully shatter the planet. There is also an element of [demi/semi]human tragedy: excessive mining of bloodstones and crystals had gone rampant through the planet core for millenia, at least leaving it weakened so it shattered, or at worst actually being the cause of the full shattering. I haven’t worked out the exacts yet or drawn up a new map—but it’s all coming, hopefully soon.
Species
Goodbye half elves and half orcs, hello crossbreeds. Syserian species are largely unchanged, but rather reinterpreted for the Shattered World fantasy heartbreaker RPG. Crossbreeds are more along the lines of what I always wanted, with no compunction toward any particular combination of parents (with one side inevitably being human). All species are either crossbreedable or not, so Human-Elf and Human-Orc crossbreeds are certainly possible, as well as many other exciting possibilities!
Field Roles
Progress continues apace on Field Roles—I am hoping (but not guaranteeing) to have 8 subroles defined for each main role. I don’t know if that’s where I’ll end but it’s where I’m at now. I’m working on getting them all defined and unified, or pared down as the case may be.
One of the areas that’s been getting a lot of attention, because “The World’s most popular roleplaying game” doesn’t do anything like this, is engineers. Currently with 3 defined subs: Energy, Physics, and Bio. Energy engineers create inventions that manipulate powerful natural and psuedosupernatural forces. The physics sub focuses on mechanical and (appropriately) physical creations such as automatons and turrets. The bio engineer has the ability to create our famous hybrids and implement (sometimes risky) body modifications, on themselves and others.
The other field roles are Elite Warrior (field combat leaders), Warrior (fighters), Rogue (thieves, spies, etc.), Mage (spontaneous casters), Wizard (academic casters), Priest (divine casters), and Psions (psychic’s/psionicists). These are founded on what you would expect them to be with a bit of this or that flavor sprinkled in.
Wrap Up
This got pretty long winded so I’mma call it good! Please feel free to join us on Discord, Youtube, and our Facebook group. The links are over there on the right!
