8/7/2026 Update
about 1 month ago
– Fri, Aug 07, 2026 at 12:10:42 PM
Hi everyone, just a few things to discuss.
First off, I've uploaded a preview of the Malmart Catalog through the armor chapter. We added some elements to the book such as rules for Strain, optional armor degradation rules, and an assortment of individual armor piece characters can buy "ala carte".
You can check out the preview Here
Armor Degradation
As I mentioned, the Armor Degradation rules are optional, and have no impact on your game if you don't wish to use them. I mainly wrote them to answer some questions I've always had about what happens to body armor when characters take so much damage that they become incapacitated. Maybe there are rules about it in Savage Worlds, but I haven't found any.
Transhumanism
IZ has always had transhuman elements, but those elements have always primarily been during character transformation, and augmentations (biotech and genetech). At first, that seemed fine, but since IZ heavily adopts transhumanism, I wanted to provide a way for characters to (if they wished) change their ancestry during the course of a campaign. The problem was, I didn't quiet know how to do it in such a way where it wouldn't heavily impact the game. Then Pinnacle released the Science Fiction Companion.
The rules for transhumanism were so elegant, that I asked Pinnacle Entertainment if I could reprint them in The Malmart Catalog, and they said yes! So I've decided to use those rules in order to create "Services" characters can purchase any time they wish.
For a price, characters can change their Ancestries to other hybrids (including new ones we're creating), become a cyborg using the Cyborg Edge, become a Bioroid, and we're even bringing back "dubbing." Some of you know we introduced dubbing in IZ 2.0, but we never really fleshed it out. Now you can do it.
All of these "services" are going to be in the Augments chapter. I'm hoping to have a preview of that in a week or so.
Ok, that's all for now. Thanks for your time.
July 2026 Update
2 months ago
– Wed, Jul 15, 2026 at 10:02:41 AM
Hi everyone, I hope this update finds you well.
I’m sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve just been trying to keep my head down and work on the Malmart Catalog.
After my last update (In January), it became clear that I needed to simplify the layout. That’s been my primary focus. That said, there is nothing simple about this book. The text document alone is over 200 pages, not counting tables, and any new content we need to write to fill space as the project moves forward. Now that I have a design/layout structure I’m happy with, I’m able to move forward at a much faster pace.
Right now, I’m comfortable enough to say I plan on having the book done (in both PDF and Print on Demand formats) in November, barring any major issues.
I’m also working on rebuilding the Game Master’s Guide, and while I can’t speculate on the date, it should be done before the end of the year.
I’m also working on the Action Deck, but don’t have an estimated date for that.
If you wish to check it out, here’s a small preview of what the Malmart Catalog is looking like right now. Thanks for your time.
https://gunmetalgamespub.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/malmart-sample.pdf
01/8/2026 Update
8 months ago
– Thu, Jan 08, 2026 at 10:01:49 AM
Hi everyone, and Happy New Years!
I hope this update finds you and your loved ones happy, healthy and safe. It’s been a while since my last update, and I wanted to hop on and let you know what’s been going on in my world.
The Malmart Catalog
I’m plugging away at the Malmart Catalog, but I confess, this book presents some unique challenges, primarily with formatting and artwork.
Art:
The advent of AI generated art has had a substantial impact on the industry, at least for the people I’ve worked with in the past. This means rising costs to offset loss of work. My financial situation is such that, for the time being, I can’t afford to order as much art as I used to, so I’ve been learning various techniques to create my own art.
Obviously, this is time consuming. I block out a few hours each day to focus on art and then I work on Adobe Illustrator courses which help me create logos.
The Malmart Catalog has a large number of Corporations, and we take the time at the beginning of each chapter to highlight the most important corporation in that particular section. So, there are going to be a ton of corporate logos that need to be created, and I need to make them myself.
Formatting
As you’ve seen in an earlier preview, this book has a specific format. Instead of a standard two-column layout, I’m putting each item into it’s own frame. I’m doing this for a number of reasons.
Putting item after item into a standard layout tends to make walls of stats and text that (at least in my experience) can be a real pain to read. This isn’t a small book, and since there won’t be much artwork, it’s important to find ways to break up the text.
Plus, the items come with other graphic elements and commentary that make a standard layout a real challenge. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it’s not something I want to do.
So, the layout is tedious and requires a lot of focus to make sure every frame is arranged correctly and makes the most use of page space. Sometimes, I’ll get into situations where more items are needed to fill blank space. That means more writing. I think it’s definitely worth it, but it’s taking longer than I would like to do it right.
Anyhow. That’s it for now. Thanks so much for your time.
9/15/2025 update: Graphic Design adjustments
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Sep 15, 2025 at 08:37:11 AM
Hi everyone, just hopping in to let you know that I've been receiving feedback on the play test document about the graphic design/readability of the pdf. This has prompted some changes, which I'll share with you now.
The link below gives you a look at the Malmart Omega Chapter. I tried to clean things up and make it more organized in terms of the content and how it's presented.
You can grab it here:
Malmart Omega
Thanks for your time.
08/05/25 Update: Play test available
about 1 year ago
– Tue, Aug 05, 2025 at 07:49:36 AM
Hi everyone. I've decided to start the Play Test with everything through the end of the armor section. The Augments chapter is going to take a little bit of time to complete. I have to create more logos, and some artwork.
I'm sending the pdfs to you now. There is also a link to a google form, should you wish to give feedback.
