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INTERFACE ZERO 3.0

Created by David Jarvis/Gun Metal Games

The third edition of Interface Zero for the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

05/31/2022 update
almost 2 years ago – Tue, May 31, 2022 at 10:08:22 PM

Hi everyone, I hope this update finds you all safe and healthy.

I’ve been making some headway on the Game Master’s Guide, but within the past week I’ve been made aware of a major issue with the Player’s Guide. Apparently, it’s missing the Golemmech Table, so I’ve put that back in. As with any change like that, it displaces text, so I’ve had to go in and re-arrange things.

While I was in the InDesign document, I’ve been looking for more criticisms, and more than one person has complained that the body font is incredibly hard to read, so I looked in the Savage Worlds licensee folder and found the body font Pinnacle uses for their books. It seems they made it available to us (and the SWAG licensees), so I’ve gone ahead and replaced the body font with that (Palatino Linotype, in case anyone is wondering). I also adjusted table body fonts for clarity. I used Flexo for that.

I’ve also been wracking my brain to figure out why some people can’t load the PDF in their favorite readers. I talked with the layout person for Pinnacle, and he was able to share the pdf export preset he uses for all savage worlds products me. I’m hopeful that this will fix the issue but I’m not sure it will.

I apologize for the delay in getting you the playtest of the Malmart Catalog. Things have been crazy lately, but I can at least show you the cover. Check the bottom of the update to see it.

Finally, I’m happy to announce that I’ve created the official Discord server for Gun Metal Games! If you are so inclined, head on over and check us out.

GMG

Thanks so much for your time.

5/02/2022 update: Where Wolves Walk
almost 2 years ago – Mon, May 02, 2022 at 10:39:43 PM

Hi everyone,

I've begun sending out complimentary copies of our next Cyber Sheet: Where wolves walk. You should be getting the link for your copy soon.

In the relatively rural community of Kenosha Wisconsin, just outside the Chicago wall, (If the adventurers are not in the Chicago area, choose a rural area near where the team lives) citizens are reporting strange creatures roaming in the night. Several animals have been found brutally torn apart which has prompted some calls to the local sheriff, but now the body of one of the residents was found mauled. 

The first reports from the residents of the town came in in the first days of February but then there was a relative quiet until now, February 30th. The number of reports have dramatically increased ranging from terrifying howls in the night to sightings of large bipedal creatures with canine features killing cattle in the fields and even slaughtering dogs on leashes.

Can the characters stop these creatures before they kill again?

Where Wolves Walk is a Cyber Sheet for Interface Zero 3.0

April 25 update
almost 2 years ago – Mon, Apr 25, 2022 at 11:47:21 PM

Hi everyone, time for an update. This one is going to cover my personal life changes over the past month. I also want to get some feedback from you on the Malmart Catalog.

I haven’t wanted to talk about this very much, because some of you will say I’m just making excuses or giving you a sob story, but I feel like I have a professional responsibility to keep you appropriately notified of my health, as it can drastically affect what I’m able to do.

Back in early January, I did a pre-colonoscopy test. About a week later the results came back indicating that I had a critical-high amount of blood in my fecal matter, so my doctor ordered a colonoscopy. It took a long time to actually get the appointment, but I was finally able to get it done at the end of March. The doctor removed ten polyps, one of which was abnormally large and pre-cancerous. Last Monday I had another one done, and it came back clear.

In mid-March, I also had other tests done, one of which was a full body PET scan, and those are extremely worrisome. Doctors found a variety of issues in my lymph nodes, dark spots on my lungs, and other gastro-intestinal issues. Last Wednesday I had a Hight/low contrast MRI on my chest, and on Friday I’m going to have an endoscopy done on my upper gi-tract. I also have to get a biopsy on my lungs, though nobody has contacted me for an appointment yet. Long story short, it’s been a pretty grim past couple of months, and I still have a lot of tests to do. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t freaked out about this. It’s put me in a really dark place, and as a consequence I’ve not gotten much work done on the GM’s Guide revisions, though I am starting to get back into it.

I have been sending copies of the Player’s Guide to 2095 to backers, though, and continue to do so. It’s been tedious and I can’t give a full timeline on the completion of delivery. Once I order your copy, I’ll contact you via email to let you know. When to book ships, I’ll contact you again with a Tracking Number. Just an FYI, as of this morning, DTRPG is saying that Hardcover books are taking 2-3 weeks to print.

OK, let’s talk about the malmart catalog.

The writers are doing a fantastic job, but these kinds of books are tough, mainly because of the sheer amount of stuff we need to put into it. Right now, drones, golemmechs, vehicles and weapons are complete and ready for editing/play testing. Each category also has special creation rules. Work on augments has begun, and I’m trying to dial in on other sections of the book that deal with daily life, entertainment, home security, electronics, and things of that nature, but the team needs your help.

We want to ensure this book has stuff you want. It would be very helpful if you could take a little bit of time to respond with idea for things you want to see in the book aside from vehicles, weapons, and other stuff.

Thanks for your time.

03/23/2022 update: Regarding Printing and Shipping
about 2 years ago – Fri, Mar 25, 2022 at 08:10:15 PM

Hi everyone,

I want to take a few minutes of your time to try and clear up some misconceptions regarding how printing and shipping is going to happen. As you know, I’m going to be printing and shipping the books via print on demand, as it’s too expensive for me any other way. Now, some people seem to be confused as to how this works.

I order the printed books AND ship them to you via DTRPG. IF you pledged for a physical copy of the Player’s Guide and/or the Game Master’s Guide, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR ANYTHING ELSE. Your pledge and the shipping fees you paid via Backerkit covered that expense.

The reason I send out vouchers, is so that people who pledged for just the PDFs have a chance to get the printed books at a discounted price. If you pledged for a physical copy of the books, you are under NO OBLIGATION to use those vouchers.

I send the vouchers to everyone simply because it’s easier than trying to sort out everything and create new spread sheets. I’m sorry, but I’m getting older and am prone to make mistakes when dealing with large lists. I don’t want to accidentally leave anyone out.

So let me state this one more time.

IF you pledged for a physical copy of the Player’s Guide and/or the Game Master’s Guide, you do not have to pay for anything else. Your pledge and the shipping fees you paid via Backerkit covered that expense.

I hope this clears things up.

Thanks for your time.

03/21/2022 Update: Printing and other news
about 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 05:41:27 PM

Hi everyone,

So sorry for the lateness of the update; I’ve had a bunch of personal issues come up lately. This is going to be a somewhat lengthy update. I’ll discuss things like printing and shipping of the books, touch on some elements of the game master’s guide I’m adding to address augmentation acquisition and hacking during combat.

TLDR Version

I’m not going to be printing the books through traditional means. I’ll be sending POD copies to those of you who pledged for physical copies.

I’ve developed an easy-to use, optional “Augment Advances” system that essentially lets a player get one augment every three Advances. This means characters can expect to have gained 5 augments by the time they reach Legendary rank.

I’m addressing issues with the action economy as it pertains to hacking in combat. Pinging a system is now a Free Action, and I’m writing a “macro” Edge that reduces the Multi-Action Penalties a character incurs by 1. This Edge may be taken twice; once at seasoned, and again at Heroic.

Now for the longer version.

Printing via POD

I never wanted to have to do it this way, but the only feasible option I have right now is to send Print on Demand books to those of you who pledged for physical copies. It’s just too expensive to do it any other way. I’d be spending upwards of thirty thousand dollars just to get both books printed, and I haven’t even begun to wrap my head around shipping costs. The time it would take to print and ship is also a factor. It would take at least two months to print the books, and I honestly have no idea how long it would take for them to get to my warehouse here in the United States. I hear the global shipping crisis is getting better, but it’s still not good. By printing and shipping via DriveThruRPG and can take care of the entire process in one go.

I plan to start printing/shipping books in late April/Early May.

Augment Advances

I’ve been seeing a lot of discussion/discontent over the loose way I handle cybernetics and other augments in the Player’s Guide. Essentially, people have been complaining that it’s too easy for characters to become cyber-gods in the game, especially at low Ranks. I agree with that assessment, but IZ has always been a bit excessive/overblown when it comes to these things. Still, I understand how hard it can be on game masters who have to deal with this in their campaigns, so I’ve written Augment Advances. Here’s the text:
___________
Augment Advances work similar to regular Advances as outlined in the Savage Worlds rules. Every three Advances, characters may purchase an augment. The Augment Advance is in addition to the regular Advance characters normally get but does not count towards the number a character needs to rise in Rank. Characters must still purchase the augment normally and apply Strain normally as per the rules for Strain in the Players Guide to 2095. Characters can expect to get five augments before they reach Legendary Rank.

___________

It’s an easy way for GMs to regulate augments in game, and it also makes things easier to plan for in terms of relative power level.

I’m also writing about other cinematic elements of augment acquisition that deal with finding an augment, getting it installed, recovery times, and especially all of the potential costs involved.

Combat Hacking

Interface Zero has always treated hacking as something that happens in real-time, with hackers being able to act in combat in a support capacity. Combat hackers are able to manipulate the environment, hack into security systems, vehicles, guns, cybernetic systems, and things like that. The reason for this is that we wanted to give hacker characters a reason to stay with the group. This is why hacking is action-based.

Currently the process for Hacking is as follows:

Step 1: Ping the area for active signals

Step 2:  Identify the signal the character wishes to hack

Step 3: Hack into the System

Step 4: Manipulate the system

So, that’s four regular actions, not counting logging out.

The problem is, because it’s action-based, hacking needs to follow Savage Worlds rules on Actions.

Characters can perform free actions, they can run, and generally do a single regular action. Performing more than 1 action subjects the character to a Multi-action Penalty (-2 to all actions). Using the rules in the player’s guide, this generally means that if a hacker wants to hack into a system without incurring MAP (Multi-action Penalty), it’ll take at least four rounds to even gain access to the system!

Even if the character does take the penalty, they’ll be rolling at -2, plus and penalties related to the target’s Intrusion Defense System. And they can only perform up to 3 actions per turn. This makes it incredibly difficult to do anything, and since Savage Worlds combat is fast, it’s highly likely that combat will be over with before the hacker gains access to the system.

So, in an effort to speed things up for the hacker, I’ve decided that Pinging a system is a free action. If a character can run as a free action it certainly stands to reason that a hacker should be able to press a button (digital or otherwise). I’m on the fence about Step 2, because this requires concentrating on the character’s part. Steps Three and Four are always regular actions, so we’re down to three actions. To do this in one round, characters will be taking a +4 penalty on all actions, which is really steep! It CAN be done, though, and as long as the character doesn’t log out, they won’t be subject to those penalties until they try and hack a new system.

I think a decent tradeoff is an Edge I call “Macro.” It’s rough and hasn’t been play tested, but here’s what I have thus far.

Macro

Prerequisite: Hacker, Smarts d8, Hacking (Programming) d8

You are able to program macros; short scripts that collate hacking commands and allow you to use them all at once. At Seasoned Rank, a macro reduces Multi-Action Penalties by 1 for up to two actions. At Heroic rank, a macro reduces multi-action penalties by 2 for up to three actions.

______

In other news, in April I’ll be creating a play test document for elements of the Malmart Catalog, which I’ll put up on DTRPG for free. You’ll all get downloads for it as soon as it goes up.

Anyhow, this has been a long read.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!