Gameplay

At it's most basic, all gameplay in Shatterpoint can be boiled down to a simple percentage chance. All characters have a series of statistics that determine how good they are at an action, and this is used to find if that character has succeeded at an action. Of course, all these actions also have modifiers that make certain actions easier or more difficult.

Character Creation
The most important part of Shatterpoint is the character you play, therefore, creating them is far more detailed than most of the game, which I have attempted to keep as simple as possible. The steps of character creation are; It is important to note that a character's equipment and clothing are not determined at character creation, instead being given to them shortly after their character is made.
 * 1) Choose a Faction. Every character belongs to a Faction, and will gain that Faction's Advantage and Disadvantage, as well as 50% Reputation with their own Faction. Characters also get 100% with their Faction's language (which is English for all Factions in The Broken Kingdom)
 * 2) Choose an Origin . Every Faction has three different Origins to choose from, which give an extra 5% to two different skills, as well as a 5% penalty to another.
 * 3) Choose a Skill Bonus. After choosing an Origin, every player can give an extra 5% to any skill of their choosing (to a maximum of 25% at this stage).
 * 4) Choose Traits. The player gets 3 Trait Points to spent on Tier 1 Traits.
 * 5) Choose Advantages and Disadvantages. The player can buy extra Advantages and Disadvantages to go with the two they got for their Faction. The character can have a maximum of 1 Advantage for every Disadvantage taken, and may have more Disadvantages than Advantages, but excess Advantages cannot be brought after Character Creation.
 * 6) Choose Morality. The player can choose which Morality their character will follow, which affects how their actions will modify their Morale rating.
 * 7) Choose Look. The player chooses how their character will look, with options modified by any Physical Advantages and Disadvantages taken.

Actions
As already mentioned, almost every action that has a chance of failure is resolved using skills, from killing wild bears to making clothes. The main actions are;
 * Combat. Everyone ends up killing things at some point (or at least flailing about with a sword and making a fool of yourself). Combat uses either Melee Combat or Ranged Combat Skill to attack.
 * Crafting. While characters can find items in their searches, most will carry around clothing, weapons and armour created by either themselves or a dedicated craftsman. Crafting uses the Crafting Skill, and requires a Set of Tools and components to create. It also has an optional quick-time event that can be used to slightly improve the quality of the item.
 * Attaching Equipment Mods. Sometimes, a basic handgun just isn't enough, and you need a stabilized pistol that can fire incendiary bullets from an extended clip. Attaching Equipment Mods uses the Crafting Skill and requires a Set of Tools and a working Equipment Mod.
 * Patching Up. Often hand-in-hand with Combat, Patching Up is the act of healing either your own or other's wounds, and is a favourite of the Maintenance Crew. Patching Up uses the First Aid Skill and requires a Medikit. It also has a minigame involving rotating the thumbsticks to wrap bandages faster.
 * Reviving. The ancient art of making sure people don't die horribly, Reviving is popular amongst people who don't have a deathwish. Reviving uses the Surgery Skill and requires a Medikit. It also has a minigame involving trying to hit a target on a moving bar to restart the heart.
 * Attaching Body Mods. To combat lost limbs, people can turn to either Cybernetics or Bionetics, and both require a Medic to do it for you. Attaching Body Mods requires the Surgery Skill and requires a Medikit and a working Cybernetic or Bionetic. It also has a minigame involving matching wires to attach the nerve endings quickly and cleanly.
 * Hacking. Hacking is the art of penetrating CortexNet to change how it affects nearby users, mainly other humans. Hacking involves a minigame, specifically a quicktime event, with a target number of successes in order to hack. The higher the character's Hacking Skill, the longer the character has to hit the right button. More difficult Hacking programs require more successes. Hacking requires a Hacking Kit.
 * Software Writing. Software Writing involves creating new applications for the CortexNet system and writing pages for the clan.net browser. It functions like normal crafting, but requires Programming instead of Crafting.
 * Scavenging. Scavenging is what 90% of the inhabitants of the Clean Zones spend their life doing, finding new objects and scrap among the remnants of civilization. Scavenging requires the Ruin Scavenging or Clean Zone Scavenging Skill (depending on location) and can only be performed at certain "Scavenging Nodes".

The Tier System
The entire game is split into three tiers;
 * Tier 1 - The Newbie Tier. Everyone starts at this tier, and it lasts from character creation until your character gets their first skill to 25 (you must also spend all Trait Points before you improve). At this stage, only the most basic Traits are available to a character, but skills are improved faster.
 * Tier 2 - The Survivor Tier. Tier 2 lasts from when the character gets their first skill to 25 until they get their first skill to 50 and obtain several achievements (you must also spend all Trait Points before you improve). At this stage, most of the Traits are unlocked, with only the most powerful abilities still locked for Tier 3 players. It is concievable that some players will stay at this Tier for the rest of the game - it contains the majority of the Player Vs Environment (PvE) Traits.
 * Tier 3 - The Hero Tier. Tier 3 lasts from when the character ascends from Tier 2 to the end of the game. At this stage, all of the traits are unlocked and the character becomes eligable to unlock one of the Transhuman paths. Tier 3 contains most of the Player Vs Player (PvP) Traits.
 * Tier 3.5 - The Transhuman Tier. More of a side path than a main Tier, once a character has completed several achievements andperformed certain tasks, they may become a Transhuman, unlocking powers that give them special powers at the cost of regular Traits.

Clans
The Clans are the most important part of most survivor's lives. While the Factions give stability and defence to a large number of humans, yet more strike out on their own, either as a punishment, a quest, or sometimes even because they are bored of Faction life, and most of these end up settling in the Clean Zones. While safer than a solitary existance, a Clanner's life is still not an easy one - resources and space are scarce, and most of what a Clan has is scavenged from crumbling ruins, found in perilous scrap mines or taken from it's previous owner by force. Still, Clans grant the following benefits;
 * Social aid. A Clan works like Guilds, Supergroups and Corporations from other games, giving a base of players who know each other and their playstyle, and who are willing to help each other.
 * A home town. While space is limited, fast, lucky or powerful Clans can gain access to a Scrap Node, from which they can start to mine Scrap and build a town that anyone can use to trade or rest in.
 * Allied NPCs. The bigger and more successful a Clan's town is, the more NPCs will seek them out and request to join them, giving access to a constant stream of new merchants, labourers and guards.
 * Special Faction benefits. A Clan can side with a single Faction, raising that Faction's influence in the local area at the cost of making them a bigger target to Clans aligned with rival Factions.
 * Homes. Clanners gain access to their own homes. Although they are little more than a small room underground with a bed and a waste disposal unit, they can be improved, made larger and be decorated with trophies taken from foes and various locations.
 * Clan events. Special events happen around Clans, from wandering trader caravans to all-out assaults from Radzombies on the town's walls. These are always far bigger and more rewarding to participate in than individual events.