06/23/2020 update: Various Issues
about 6 years ago – Thu, Jun 25, 2020 at 01:58:17 PM

Thanks for your patience, 

I’m hopping in because I want to discuss a few things and get your feedback.

I’ve been working on finalizing the last few elements of the GM’s Guide, and I have to be honest; this month has been rough, both mentally, and emotionally. The unrest in this country over police brutality and the murder of George Floyd has given me…I don’t want to say a new perspective on the horrors that have been visited on black communities for hundreds of years, but rather a new sense of clarity about my place as a white man in this nation.

Yes, I have white privilege, and I have never been more aware of it than I have this past month. What happened to George Floyd and many, many people of color likely never would have happened to me or any white person I know. It’s really tough to reconcile that fact with many things in my life, especially the fact that I have, for many years, been “woke” to the fact that racism in the ranks of law enforcement agencies across this nation is systemic, and yet I’ve largely been quiet. I abhor racism in all it’s forms. I believe the justice system in the United States is in dire need of change, which brings me to the subject of Interface Zero.

I’m cutting the Sector Cop Campaign Theme from both the Player’s Guide and the GM’s Guide. I can’t in good conscience provide a platform for police to be “heroes.” I’ll also be donating a portion of the proceeds from the Game Master’s Guide to 2095 to Black Lives Matter and encourage all of you to do so as well.

For more information on Black Lives Matter, you can check out their webpage here:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

Now, on to a couple other things.

I’ve been receiving a lot of feedback (largely negative) on starting cryptodollars, specifically that it’s just too much, so I’m also thinking of dropping starting funds to half the original amount, so 10k cryptodollars rather than 20k.

I’m also considering just cutting Origins Equipment altogether, as having BOTH starting money and starting equipment apparently doesn’t sit well with some people.

I’m also considering adding basic rules for VR into the Player’s Guide rather than the GM’s Guide, as it makes more sense to give players basic rules to create avatars and play in VR worlds.

Finally, I want to take a look at adding a few more things to the equipment chapter, mainly toolkits and possibly some more electronics and other things.

Anyhow, I need to get back to work,

Thanks for your patience, and please, I want to hear from you, so let me know what your thoughts are on everything I’ve discussed!

Edit: After Initial Feedback, I'll consider keeping it in, though I object to it.

5/22/2020 Progress Update.
over 6 years ago – Sat, May 23, 2020 at 02:30:23 AM

Hi everyone, I hope all is well with you during these crazy times.

Much has happened since my last update, and I wanted to share it all with you.

I’ve hired two new writers to help me with various elements of the book, and thus far their drafts have been great, which leads me to editing. I have some people working on the final passes of various savage tales (more on that in a minute) and the plot point campaigns and am just about ready to send the remaining chapters for editing.

So, what’s actually going in this book? Much has changed since I gave an outline of the chapters in the book, but that is sometimes what happens when writing begins. Some things get cut, and other things get added. This time around, nothing has been cut insofar as the broad categories are concerned, but we have added a bunch of stuff. So, let’s go through it blow by blow.

Chapter One: Building your world.

This chapter has always been about giving you the tools you need to create the world YOU want to run/play in. We cover a lot here, but the bulk of is it trappings.

First, you’ll find City Trappings. They’ve been modified slightly from what’s in the Player’s Guide (which I’ll also revise) and expanded on. These also come with example areas, all of which are set in Chicago. These trappings have situational modifiers, resources you can find in the area and, where appropriate, encounter generators.

Next, we go deep into corporate trappings. There are around fourteen different types of corporations you can create. The rules are really simple; each has an effective influence rating, a size, and a dirty secrets entry. The biggest aspect of this category is all of the corporations we’ve listed for examples; over 30(I got tired of counting)! They’re fully fleshed out, and we’ve also received permission from Pinnacle Entertainment to a write up of the corporation as it exists in 2095. That one is going to be pretty fun to read.

Next, we deal with organizational trappings, which includes sample activist groups, crime syndicates, extremist groups, and gangs.

After the Trappings section, we start discussing the Global DataNet and ways it can be used for Networking. We address Hyper Reality, and deal with things like hacking hyper objects and how to use them as hazards!

Next comes virtual reality. We talk about how it’s used in Interface Zero, how you can use it in your game, simple ways to create “avatars,” guidelines for hacking VR, a setting rule(sort of) I call “Heroes don’t Die; They Respawn” and then we list a bunch of virtual worlds your characters can enter. Again, Pinnacle Entertainment has given me permission to do write-ups for many of their settings, including the Deadlands Universe, ETU, Rippers, and a few more. There are also new worlds, and some that I’ve hinted at in previous IZ books. You might even see those worlds in future GMG products.

Next comes Law Enforcement. The main thing here is a brief discussion about making all police officers Wild Cards. Police officers spend months and even years training to properly enforce the law. Any encounter with them (especially violent ones) should be dangerous. I don’t go into any detail on actual laws; it seems like a waste of time writing a bunch of minutia about what is considered a crime, how long your sentence is, etc. GM’s should just use the real world criminal system for that. Besides, if characters have been arrested, something has gone seriously wrong.

After that, I talk about life for the unplugged, and what it means to live life without a TAP.

I wrap chapter one with a brief section on life outside the sprawl, discussing what has happened to rural (insert your nation here), adapting to a changing world, xenophobic societies, travel and add an encounter table.

Chapter 2: Plot Point Campaigns

In chapter two we introduce the three PPCs and add new Campaign Themes for you to consider, including one dealing with Fantasypunk. I’m considering adding fantasy races you can choose for this Theme, though I have to check the Fantasy Companion first. I’m also changing the name of the Cleaning Crew Campaign Theme to Bio Hunters. It just makes more sense. The name will be revised in the Player’s Guide as well.

Chapter 3: Toolkits

Chapter three adds a bunch of tools GM’s can use to build adventures and rules to help them deal with a variety of elements. You’ll find three adventure generators (One designed for each of the core campaign themes), an NPC generator, a bio-horror generator, rules for surveillance (Big brother is always watching, everyone has a video recorder, Black spots in surveillance and how to find them), rules to create security systems, safe houses, rules for adventures in space, and rules to handle corporate warfare. These are Protracted Battles based on SWADE’s mass combat system and can be really fun to deal with as part of a long-term campaign involving megacorporations.

Finally, we deal with lifestyles and general costs of living. We base these rules on the Wealth system; I seriously doubt anyone wants to create a spreadsheet to keep track of every single bill their characters have to pay, or how much a carton of milk costs.

Chapter 4: Savage Tales

Chapter four is all about savage tales. We have a bunch of them, some are designed for campaign themes, while others can be used in any game.

Chapter 5: Threats

As you guessed, this one’s about NPCs. We run the gamut here, and also provide suggestions for modifying npcs to fit your game.

Chapter 6: 2090 revisited

This tends to break with other savage worlds book formats, but I wanted to put the world section in the back so players can check it out without having to flip through the entire book.

So, that’s the book in a nutshell. There’s a lot to love, and a lot of love has gone into it. I wanted to get it out this month, but life has made a liar of me. I will provide a proof version once all of the text is in place in hopes of getting errata while I wait for new art. Hopefully any catches can be fixed before the release of the pdf.

Anyhow, long read. Here’s a few new images for you to check out. As always, thanks so much for your patience.

5/4/2020 Update: Clearing up a few misconceptions
over 6 years ago – Mon, May 04, 2020 at 11:38:39 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

4/19/2020 update: Getting Closer
over 6 years ago – Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 12:05:45 AM

Hi everyone,

There's been a ton of progress, but still more to write. This past week, I had to switch back to the revised hacking rules so I can deal with a section on Hacking and Hyper Reality, which I think is going to be cool once I have it finished.

So, here's the pdf of the revised hacking rules. The length is about the same, but things have been revised for clarity, much of the fluff has been cut, and I've finalized my rules for using programs. They work similar to powers; You have to take a "new Programs" edge each time you want them, and all have a rank/skill requirement.

As always, I welcome feedback on the rules. You can check them out here:

Hacking rewrite

I've also been taking a look at some of the rules in the Player's Guide, specifically with regards to Cybertech and what happens when a person disables them.

Now, If someone shuts down a cyberlimb with, say a strength boost, you don't get the strength boost, but you can still punch the hacker in the face. If someone hacks your eyes and  disables an infra-vision component, your character can still see normally.

Also, I've written a_rough_ framework for a process I call Hardwiring"

Hardwired

The beauty of the TAP is that it makes cybertech plug and play. Eyes can be swapped out so long as they fit the orbital socket synced with the TAP. The same applies to other cyber limbs, skill chips and smart weapon systems. This is how the TAP is able to monitor and maintain those connections, but the downside is that hackers can take advantage of this convenience and ease of use to disable the very components that are supposed to make you better.

But there's another option: Hardwiring.

When choosing to install Cybertech, you have the option to go the "hardwired" route. Hardwiring your Cybertech to your body is a decidedly low-tech option which fuses the cybertech directly into your body and bypasses the Tendril Access Processor.  This prevents hackers from shutting down your implants, but it's also much more invasive, and expensive.

Each hardwired implant requires special surgery to ensure the implant works correctly. nano-cables have to be grafted to skin, bone, and nerves in order to connect more complex cybernetic systems with the body such as smart weapon systems. Smart chips, ocular implants and other head-ware need to directly interface with the brain rather than simply wirelessly linking with the TAP.

The installation process is both expensive and irreversible. Hardwiring cybertech costs double the listed amount for an augment in cryptodollars and adds a single point of Strain to the overall strain total. Seems expensive, but what's a few cryptos compared to the security you get from knowing a hacker can't shut you down?

Notes on the Unplugged  Hindrance

Even with the Hardwiring option, Unplugged is still a Major Hindrance. Too many aspects of life in 2095 are affected by the TAP.

3/11/2020: GM's Guide status, print on demand books, and other stuff
over 6 years ago – Thu, Mar 12, 2020 at 01:29:08 AM

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I'm still plugging away at the GM's Guide. Things are getting close now, but it's not yet ready for layout.

I've recently discovered that the Print on demand format (Graphic Novel Size) doesn't print in hard cover, at least not at the page count, which is depressing.  What I may do is revise the layout to be a larger sizefor POD versions (8.5 x11) because I really want the POD version to have a hard cover option.

I won't have this issue for the offset versions, though.

Also; revised hacking.  One of the supporters did a revised version and submitted it to me, and there are some interesting elements to it, and I might adopt the entire rules. Once I make that decision and get more feedback from from my dev team, I'll make the rules available for you to check out.

OK. Back to writing. Thanks for your time.