09/14/2019: Clearing up confusion
over 4 years ago – Sun, Sep 15, 2019 at 12:54:23 AM

Hi everyone,

As many of you have noticed,  I put a pre-order on sale through DriveThruRPG yesterday (September 13th, 2019).  Since then, I've fielded a ton of questions about it, as people have been confused as to whether or not they need to buy it. So let me be clear.

NO, don't purchase it. It is the SAME pdf that ALL OF YOU are getting when it's finished. You'll ALL get vouchers to get it in Print on Demand as well, so please, don't waste your money buying something you've already backed for.

09/12/2019: JumpStart is now live
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 12:06:29 AM

Hi everyone, 

I'm pleased to announce that I've begun mailing the JumpStarts through backerkit! You should be able to get your copy very soon.

If you are having troubles downloading the file, you can get it on DTRPG  HERE

I hope you like it. If you want to send direct feedback, my email is:  [email protected]

09/06/2019: We're getting there.
over 4 years ago – Sat, Sep 07, 2019 at 02:36:41 AM

Hi everyone. Time for another update.

We've been working pretty hard over the summer tweaking, revising, and continuing to write other stuff for the book, and at this point, here is where we stand.

Writing

Here's what has been finished:

• Origins
• Campaign Themes
• Races
• Skill Specializations
• Hacking Revisions
• Augment Revisions
• Weapons
• Armor
• Golemmechs
• Basic Vehicles
• Life in 2095
• Full Timeline
• Full World Chapters for both the Players and GM’s Guide
• Street Cred rules
• Drone rules
• Bio-horror creation Rules
• All Three Plot Point Campaigns
• One sheet adventures

What still needs to be written

• GM’s Guide Advice on various subjects
• NPCs (Named and various types of Extras)
• Adventure generators for each individual campaign theme
• Some more biohorrors for the bestiary

...And I believe that's it. I'll check with my team though to see if I'm missing anything.

What Comes Next

I'm just about finished with the JumpStart, which I plan on releasing on Monday (knock on wood). After that, I'll begin full layout of the Player's Guide, and I expect I might have that finished and ready for you (in PDF), by the beginning of October. THAT book will go into Print on demand, and as promised, everyone will get a print voucher to get it at cost.

By that time, I believe I'll have everything ready for the final layout of the Introductory Adventure, and the GM's Guide. Once those are done, they'll get made POD-Ready and I'll start to prep everything for Offset printing.  During this process, I'll want to get as much errata from you as possible, so I can fix it before I send the print files overseas.

I really hate errata.

After the print files go overseas and are approved by our printer, it'll take approximately 8 to 12 weeks for them to be printed and shipped, at which point they'll be sent out.

Stretch Goals

The Malmart Catalog is being revised, but we'll probably want to add more cool stuff to it. Once I get the manuscripts back that shouldn't take long to deal with.

Need to find a writer for the solar system and the Europe-China-Russia Book, but I have some ideas on that.

Dark Pathways hasn't been a mental priority  because I want everything else to be perfect, and I've been struggling to find good ways to do this without people saying it's Shadowrun with the serial numbers filed off. I've had a few ideas, though, but none worth sharing right now. That book will be expanded though. I've decided to turn it into a sourcebook I call Interface Zero: Divergence.

Interface Zero: Divergence is going to look at a number of possible ways you can play cyberpunk (similar to the Campaign Themes you'll find in the Players Guide actually). They take the cyberpunk world and explore some genre mashups, like Interface Zero 200 years after the world has blown itself to hell, or even cyberpunk in a  fantasy-horror world; Think Interface Zero meets Evil Dead.

Anyhow, I need to get back to work if I'm going to get this JumpStart Finished.

I'll leave you with some eye candy, though.

Have a great weekend!

08/9/2019 Update: Questions for the group/Adventure cover
over 4 years ago – Sat, Aug 10, 2019 at 03:21:30 AM

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to stop in and give ya'll an update.  

The wild dice have been ordered. I expect to recieve them in about 2 months Chessex is handling them. They've done all of my wild dies and also did the Fate dice I had made a while back.

I'm getting ready to get the bennies done, but I really want to get your feedback on the existing designs. In the first IZ kickstarter, not many people seems to like the designs, but I didn't find that out until AFTER I'd made them. I don't want to make that mistake this time.

So, what do you want to see?

Here's the image of the existing design from the front page.

I can use those, or go with something like this. I certainly have enough art to go that route, but I need to know now, before I make the order. I'll be doing a back design, but that's not complete yet. I'll show you when it's finished.

Lastly, I have the cover art for the Adventure, which is written by John Dunn. I hope you like it!

07/31/2019 Update: Things are coming together
almost 5 years ago – Thu, Aug 01, 2019 at 02:37:14 AM

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to hop in and give an update on everything and get some feedback on some decisions I need to make about the organization of the book, and a few other issues.

Plot Point Campaigns: I have all three plot point campaigns in and editing/proofing has begun. 

Races: We have the races finalized. 

Edges and Hindrances: These still need more work. 

Hacking Rules: The hacking rules are being revised. Nothing huge, but I’m trying to balance out the need for simplicity and the desire to be comprehensive. Many of you want something quick and easy to pick up and run. But there are also quite a few of you who want some meat.  To be honest, I want both. 

The Hacking rules in SWADE are perfect for a modern-day game, but when developing for a cyberpunk game, you have to take a lot of things into account, not to mention writing specifically for the setting, so it’s been hard to find the proper balance. I have a lot of ideas, but the document I shared with you in the last update is about as far as I wish to go in terms of crunch in the main rules. 

I’m going to take other ideas I have and put them in an advanced hacking PDF/POD document so those of you who wish can use them, and those of you who want to stick with what’s in the Player’s Guide can ignore them completely.

Firearms creation rules and Armor rules: These are going through their 3rd draft. I’ve been getting good, critical feedback that is going to make them much better, but people have lives, and I can’t rush these things.

Vehicle creation rules: I’m on the fence about vehicle creation rules for the main books, simply because there’s a time element involved, so I might just put them in the Malmart Catalog. 

 World Material: Both world sections are completed; one chapter for the Player’s Guide, and a slightly larger Chapter for the GM’s Guide.

Savage Tales: I think I have something like 12 right now, but I might get more done. These still need edits.

The Introductory Adventure: I have the manuscript, but it needs to be edited.

Art: I haven’t ordered a ton of art yet. It’s crazy to do it right now, when I don’t even have a decent idea of how many pages will require it.

Graphic Design: To be honest, I’m on the fence about the current design. It’s interesting, but I almost want to do something stripped down; something that pushes the focus more to the actual content. Theme is important, too, because IZ is a cyberpunk game, and right now the design feels more sci-fi.

OK.  Now I need some feedback.

Basic Gear: Our focus has been on the meat of the equipment chapter, but I also want to have a nice array of basic gear as well. I don’t want to override what’s in SWADE, but I do want to add a good list of cyberpunk-specific material. So, what do YOU want to see?

Organization: I’ll be honest. Every one of the writers and proofers who have seen the weapons/armor and augmentation creation rules have flat out told me that these really need to be in the GM’s Guide to 2095, so I’m probably going to do that. The same thing applies to savage tales, and Threats like biohorrors and your average npcs.  I tend to agree with them.

What that means though, is that the Page count for the Player’s Guide will drop dramatically, and the GM’s guide will increase in page count. Because I advertised the opposite, I’ll find some way to make it up to you with more content. But I really want to know what you think, as some of you only ordered the Player’s Guide.

Content: Lastly, I’m wondering about commentary for the world chapter and other places in the book. 2.0 had a lot of this, primary in the world section. I got mixed reviews, and a few people even said I ripped off Shadowrun *sigh*, so I’m wondering if this is something you want to see?

OK. That’s it for now.  Take care.