Shatter comes in many shapes and forms. This is one of them.

Description

Shatter strain XIX is a compound half way between Bass and UV. As well as increasing the users STR it also makes them faster and able to ignore damage. Highly addictive, as a street version of UV it is popular amongst Props and Enforcers from DownTown gangs. Unfortunately, it is only now that its extreme side effects are starting to be realised. As a strain of Shatter it is of course illegal for any Operatives or Employees to be caught in possession of this drug.

Bonuses

Shatter boosts the body to damaging levels allowing the user to become devastating in combat. As well as boosting their STR by +2, it also reduces all damage by half and stops the user feeling any pain (no PHYS rolls). Additional benefits include +1 attack per Round and no COOL rolls for the six hour duration that one dose lasts for. After six hours the user's STR and DEX are temporarily reduced by 2 for an hour.

Addiction

Strain XIX is highly addictive. A PHYS test must be made every time a dose wears off at -1 for each dose the user has had in the last month. If the user fails this test then he is addicted to Strain XIX and requires two doses per day or he starts suffering from withdrawal. At this stage it is unlikely that user will ever be back to normal again, such is the damage that this version of Shatter can cause.

Side Effects

The side effects of Strain XIX are severe and almost always mean the death of the user. It seems that the drug was designed to modify the DNA so that it could provide a natural armour for the user, however as the skin thickens the rest of the body starts to break down. Each week that the user continues to use Strain XIX he must make a PHYS test with a modifier of equal to 5 + the current stage that he is at. Failure on this roll means that he degrades to the next stage. If the user can not maintain his requirement of 2 doses per day (either voluntarily or involuntarily) than after 24 hours without the drug he is immediately affected by withdrawal.

Side Effect Stages

Stage One

As the first sign of addiction hits, the characters appearance becomes slightly grey (-1 Good Look or +1 Bad Look) and the skin becomes slightly tougher (PV 1). Any existing Psychosis are increased by two when the user is not using the drug and the downtime effects of -2 to STR and DEX are present all of the time the user is not using the drug.

Stage Two

Again skin becomes slightly armoured (PV 2) and more pale looking (another +1 to Bad Looks). As the drugs start taking hold of the user he starts becoming paranoid about his appearance (+1 to Psychosis:Paranoia). The drug has now reached the stage that people will notice that something is wrong, rather than just thinking the person looks a bit ill.

Stage Three

Skin now becomes PV3 and Looks:Bad increases by another point. Any wounds that the character now takes heal into a dark grey patch of rough skin. The eyes are also continuously blood shot when high. The skin also suffers from slight cracks as the newer tougher skin forces its way through the original skin.

Stage Four

Character is now at PV 5 and Look:Bad 4. Any slight bruising causes the skin to turn a darker colour and any patches of dark rough skin are slowly starting to expand all over the body. The characters sense of feeling on these parts of the skin is practically nonexistent.

Stage Five

Character is now at PV 7 and Look:Bad 5. As the skin thickens it starts to slow the character down. They are now at -1 to DEX and PHYS at all times. A further two points are added to any Psychosis the character has. The character starts to hunch over slightly and will have problems fitting into any tight clothing or armour.

Stage Six

Character is now at PV 9 and Look:Bad 6. Any untouched skin is now grey and hard and all of their hair falls out during the week. The character no longer gains the + 1 attack per Round and also finds there general movements are restricted as well (-1 to DEX). The character's fingers have doubled in size, causing them difficulty in grabbing objects or using guns. Additionally because of the lack of feeling in their skin they now easily break common objects like glasses without realising.

Stage Seven

Character is now at PV 12 and Look:Bad 7. The character's appearance starts to transform dramatically. Their skin forms a thick layer of fat beneath the surface, causing their weight to balloon by 25%. This also causes movement to be reduced by half and for them to be less agile (-1 to DEX). However, this increase in size does increase their STR by +2. Any Psychosis are increased by a further point. The layer of fat tries to push it self out of any wounds, causing wounds to re-open twelve hours later unless they are properly bound.

Stage Eight

Character is now at PV 15 and Look:Bad 8. The bone structure of the user starts to change to accommodate their size and weight. Their height increases by 25% and their weight increases in proportion. Their STR is increased by a further two points and movement restricted (-1 to DEX). These changes start reducing circulation in the body, reducing PHYS by three points. Any wounds that the character now suffers will ooze puss for about twelve hours after healing.

Stage Nine

Character is now at PV 18 and Look:Bad 9. The character now looks nothing like they did originally, with thick grey skin, bulging muscles and hard bone ridges protecting their vulnerable parts. It now hurts for them to move, causing -2 on all actions. However in combat they can easily ignore this pain. The character gains a further +2 to his STR.

Stage Ten

Character is now at PV 21 and Look:Bad 10. At the final stages of the drug, the character is a walking monstrosity. Their skin has become a hardened mass and their normal movement is a fraction of what it used to be. However, their strength further increase by two points as do any Psychosis. At this stage it is just a matter of time before their body gives up and they die. If the Character reaches this stage and fails their weekly roll they immediately suffer from withdrawal symptoms.

Withdrawal

If the character suffers from withdrawal he must make a PHYS roll with a modifier equal the stage of effects he reached. This roll is checked three times a day with failure meaning that the character ruptures something inside, causing three wounds. These wounds require proper medical attention and can not be healed by Kick Start or any Ebb ability under Rank 10. All these abilities will do are replace any lost hit points. Any Psychosis are also increased by 5 points during withdrawal.

If the character survives for at least one day per each Stage that he reached, then they only have to make the Withdrawal roll once per week for the next four weeks. After this they are cured of their addiction. Any effects of the drug remain however, and if the character uses the drug again he is automatically addicted and the effects continue from where he stopped.

Handling Armoured Skin

The easiest approach is to just state that any attacks that penetrate the character do normal damage and cause a wound. Any attacks that don't penetrate don't do any damage (not even Armour Damage). Problems with this approach is that the character becomes quite hard to beat and can't be worn down over time by damging his armour.

A second approach involves giving the character ID points equal to his Locational Hit Points. Then the characters armour is treated as normal, with any attacks that penetrate his armour going to his hit points and causing wounds. Any attacks not penetrating instead inflict their AD against the characters ID for that location. These attacks would also not cause any wounds. When the character is healing they will be able to recover 1 ID point for every 2 Hit Points they recover.