IZ2.0: Ashes of Phoenix

Game Master Aloha-Shirt-Samurai

Background:

The year is 2090, and Phoenix, Arizona is burning. The whole net of America's fifth largest city has gone down, and nobody knows why. The Badlands, and by extension, North America losing almost a fifth of its processing power and a huge chunk of its population being cut off didn't exactly make for a clean break. You and your friends in Denver are moving in while the getting's good, making up the hole in manpower that's leaving some of the megacorps and streetgangs struggling to make up their sudden deficit.

Everybody wants to know what happened in the valley. But for the first time in your life, the answer isn't waiting for you on the other side of the net through a search query. If you want to know what happened to Phoenix, you'll have to go there and root through the ashes yourself. Getting the answer and figuring out who's at the top of the scrapheap in the ruins of Phoenix might be the most profitable decision you ever make in your life. But if getting into Phoenix and getting back out was easy, somebody would have done it already. A few people have gotten in--nobody's gotten out.

Are you going to be the first?

Notes:

I'll be using the rules from Savage Worlds Interface Zero 2.0. Having the book isn't required, but there's enough going on that I'd highly recommend it. I'll do my best to support if you don't have a copy of the book. The setting is pretty standard Cyberpunk fare--most countries have exploded or imploded and are run, either overtly or covertly by gigantic conglomerate megacorporations. This will be a street-level campaign, at least to start with.

Supplements: Empire of the Rising Sun characters are acceptable, but do not take any edges or hindrances from Phoenix: the Terrible Valley of Static at character creation. A lot of the campaign is going to be based around firsthand finding out and experiencing just what's going on in Phoenix.

Character Creation:

You'll be making a novice character at 10 XP (two advances). Background wise, you are either taking advantage of or are benefiting from the power vacuum left from the destruction of Phoenix. You have likely done street-level jobs for either one of the Megacorps or one of the prominent south-western gangs. In theory, you should have a few missions under your belt, so you'll be starting with 6,000 credits instead of 5,000 and you have your choice of either +1 street cred or +1 contact. No bonus credits for Augments unless you take the Chromed edge.

If you don't have the book, please PM me with an idea for a character concept and we can see how to get you the rules you need to build. For more details, check under the expandable:

Aside from those things listed, go nuts. I'm hoping to start around the beginning of June. If we get 4-6 good apps before then it could be sooner.

Would having a vehicle be helpful, or a bad idea?

Not a bad idea at all. :)

Always up for running around in a cyberpunk setting. And never played in Interface Zero before. Think I'll buck my usual trend of skill focused or charismatic folk and just play a reliable, beefy bodyguard/bounty hunter.

I will play a Quick Hybrid Jump Bike Racer who is trying to find the other prisoner camps to free his fellow freaks.

Cybermonk sounds fun. I'm on a business trip, and don't have my hardcover with me. I'll have to search and see if I can find the pdf... or re-download it. Today might be tough, but tomorrow or Monday concept up for sure.

I'm loving these character concepts so far. The more I read the cooler this setting gets to me. :)

Alright, got the major crunch sorted out. Went with a Tiger Hybrid Bounty Hunter. Tony Ripley, Manhunter for Hire. He gets a kick out of it, playing into his primal instincts to hunt prey, and get paid for it. On top of that, he's also looking for someone specific; The person that made him into a Hybrid in the first place. Let's just say he didn't sign up to undergo an everything-lift.

Interested!

I also went ahead and chose an occupation...hopefully that is ok.

I'll need to do some reading to make a background and contacts. I appreciate any feedback.

Tyeal: Looks good, although I'd recommend taking some sort of fighting concentration (at least a d4), otherwise your parry with no weaponry will be a 2. I love that backstory hook, that's actually perfect for my campaign. You'll need contacts as well (if you want, you can leave them vague, like "a fixer" and I can fill in where appropriate), and feel free to take the Bounty Hunter or Bodyguard occupation (along with the additional credits they provide).

Niles: Taking an occupation is fine, and good catch, I forgot about the bonus credits for your two starting character advances. Backstory wise come up with something for that bad street cred--but I love that you're playing a human 2.0 Peek, it seems like a great fit (and this way we're already leaning on a complete racial spread). =)

I've read through the pdf a little...and with what the internet is telling me about Pheonix I have the basics of a background.

(I don't have a name picked out yet. So I'm substituting PEEK for the name. )

PEEK was born to very wealthy parents who chose the very best for him, genes that is. He lived a very coddled life (I'm thinking in the Republic of Cascadia.) Dad was a midlevel government bureaucrat who was quite amenable to the occasional bribe to keep his lifestyle up. Mom was a socialite. Everything was hunky dory until PEEK hit puberty and starting exhibiting "strange" behavior. This became a bit of a problem for PEEK's parent's who had NAC sympathies (and alot of their money). By the age 17 PEEK's parents were seriously considering shipping him off to the Republic military so he could be brainwashed and used as a Zeek shocktrooper, PEEK wasn't having any of that so he stole his dad's car and took off...South. He ended up in Vegas and blew through the creds he stole. He took a job as a Reader for the Valentini Family in their casino, reading minds and pointing out cheats. This worked well for PEEK, right up until he read the wrong mind, turns out this one gal was an Agent for the Combine and well, let's say the aftermath had PEEK on the run again. This time he heard about how Pheonix went dark and he figured he could hide there for a while.

Ideas for contacts
1) Local Zeek hangout
2) Guy who makes fake ids (hacker?)

Tyeal: Looks good, although I'd recommend taking some sort of fighting concentration (at least a d4), otherwise your parry with no weaponry will be a 2. I love that backstory hook, that's actually perfect for my campaign. You'll need contacts as well (if you want, you can leave them vague, like "a fixer" and I can fill in where appropriate), and feel free to take the Bounty Hunter or Bodyguard occupation (along with the additional credits they provide).

Derp, completely forgot about Contacts. Got them added now in the 'Contacts/Friends' field on the 2nd page. Spend my extra 12000 credits and took up Krav Maga

Niles: That looks great (and has great hook potential for me as the GM). The first bit of the game at least will be taking place in the NAC capital of Denver though. As a slight adjustment, can you be interested in going to Phoenix, but haven't made it happen yet?

Contacts are good as well. :)

Tyeal: Great, looks good now! :D

Sure, that last line would read

This time he figured the Combine wouldn't be looking for him in NAC land so he figured he could hide there for a while. Best to keep a low profile though, Denver not known for its friendly nature to Zeeks.

I'm up for it! Just got to give the book a read before I submit a character. I'll try to have it by the weekend

@Niles: Awesome! Yeah, that works out. It gives off a vibe of going where they absolutely least expect.

@Winter Phoenix: Aw yisss :D

Sounds interesting. ....count me in...need to get the book, then read it ☺

I will get my Cybermonk up this weekend...

I'll probably cut off submissions after I receive five complete sheets, so if you want in make sure to finish up. :)

Also, once you have a completed character, let me know when you've made an alias. I was going to send some specific information out to certain players before the gameplay thread opens up.

Alright then. Here's Tony's profile, loaded and ready to be given messages.

Here is Ludwig the Forth. I've got a lot of reading to do to determine contacts etc... unless the GM would like to give some hints.

I see him as an elite agent trained and enhanced either by a religious sect, a mega-corporation, or both. He constantly struggles with his humanity.

Ludwig the Forth

Officer Houston reporting for duty!

Been reading the rule book and assimilating all that stuff....whooo, lots to digest...

hope to have something up tonite.

Tony: Rad. Shot you your pre-game message. :) Just noticed on your sheet that you don't have hindrances, when I thought you did before. No rush and no worries, just try and get them up in the next couple days.

Scranford: That looks awesome so far! :)

A couple of things with regards to your skills: I'm counting and I've only got you marked for 14 skill points spent, when you start with 15. As well, don't forget about skill specialization. For Cybermonks that also means you'll pick one power to specialize in, and you'll need to buy specialization for the others or suffer a -2 when you try to use them. Don't forget that you have an extra two advances on top of your starting character creation. That includes extra money through your occupation (though it's reduced by 500 per advance due to your debt hindrance).

You'll also need to take some augmentations in order to be a cybermonk. I'm assuming that's the source of your debt hindrance. You can go full custom and buy the exact augmentations you want, or you can take an Augmentation Package listed on page 55 in the PHB. Either way, pick which powers are associated with which augment and decide how they work.

With regards to your employer, it's up to you whether you want to be working for a religious sect or a megacorp, but it's probably not both. If you want to work for a religious sect, I'd recommend adding in some sort of Vow Hindrance, and your day job is protecting a Cybermonk religious figurehead. If you're working for a megacorp, no vow, and they'll put you to work on whoever they need protected at any given time--you're likely a little more free to take on freelance work as well. I can give you more details once you make the choice between the two. :)

Finally, contacts: Since you're a cybermonk, I would highly recommend having one of your contacts be a surgeon of some sort who can help you fix/install cyberware. A hacker or a fixer always makes for a good secondary contact as well (especially since the party is shaping up to have no one who can hack *steeples GM fingers*) Let me know if you have any other questions.

Emily: Awesome! I have a couple of questions with regards to backstory stuff mostly just details on what Valerie looks like, and if you had further plans for Raven. On a related note, do you have anybody in mind in particular for your Enemy: Minor, or is it a "surprise me"?

Spazmodeus: Sounds good! :)

K, could I have some guidance in character creation?

From the rulebook I gather you can:
1. choose a race then an occupation...
2. Or choose an archetype. And change the race if you wish.
3. Or choose an archetype and change its occupation as well?

Those are all fairly independent things. The archetypes are there if you want a fast character you can make it in a couple minutes by picking a pre-built template, throwing the hindrances on it that you like if you either don't want to or don't feel like building a character from scratch.

I don't have my book in front of me at the moment, but most of the archetypes are built to support their occupation. You can start with an archetype and then rework it to have a different occupation as long as you meet all the requisites for the occupation

Occupations have requisites...like the Reader Occupation has

• Requisites: Peek, Notice d8+

So, I had to take the PEEK edge and put notice at d8+ to get the occupation. Most occupations can be taken at creation...but I saw a few that have tougher requisites and there was no way I could take them at creation.

@Aloha: I left some things open ended in case you wanted to use some of it in the story. If not, no big deal. I imagined Valerie to be the scientist type (not as athletic, glasses, etc.), red hair. Raven could be a wild card/extra, but I didn't have plans. It's there if you want to use it :)

As for the enemy, I didn't have anything too particular. I was thinking that the commissioner (if still alive) could still hold a grudge. Or if you have a more fitting idea, I'm open to a surprise

@Spaz: I guess I didn't think about what you were asking. You can do any one of the things you listed or you can build a character from scratch. Let me know if you need any help doing that or if you need help hammering out what kind of concept you're playing. :)

@Niles: You're pretty much correct, although I don't see any occupations you couldn't build as a novice. Granted, you'd have to specialize hard to make a novice-level character into, say, a Corporate Executive, it's still technically possible. (You'd also need to play a human, for that sweet, sweet free starting edge.)

@Emily: Sounds good! I've sent out your pre-game message. ;)

Here is GM Niles' character.

Ghiv: Awesome, I'll be getting you a PM tomorrow, had a bit of a long day at work today.

Still here, just got busy with kids and work. Will try to get something together tonite....

Dotting for interest. I've run a couple of characters in SW this past year, so I'm familiar with the system. I'd love to run a character in a cyberpunk world, so interest is high if I have time to look at the rules and work up a character. If the roster already looks full, let me know early so I don't spend a lot of time jumping in late.

Faith Sierra is a character I ran in a present day black ops paranormal investigation game. I might consider modifying this character for the future world.

Spaz: No worries, still trying to get a last couple things worked out before I kick off the campaign anyway.

Faith: I was shooting for 4-5 and I have 3 right now. If you can take a look at the book and start converting your character over in the next couple days or making a new one, you should be fine. :)

Life has gone crazy this week. Tried to use Hero Lab to create my character, but it's too confusing for all the custom stuff. I should have time this weekend to make my character the old fashion way.

Hi there!

Quick question. I'm literally reading the rules right now, and on page 16 it says that if you are using skill specialization rules, you get 20 skill points (and each spec costs 1).

Is that the rule we are using?

Thank you!! =)

P.S. Are we also using the alternative rule of Athletics?

I have the source book and am looking it over. I'm thinking of sticking with the general outline of Faith as a LEO or an Ex-LEO with appropriate changes for the way the world has evolved. I'm assuming if we are outside Phoenix going into a power vacuum, a cop won't be actually working as a cop, so I imagine some edges and occupations won't be relevant. I'll have more pointed questions after I've fleshed out a concept a bit. If you can suggest anything for such a character, I'm open.

If you're looking for more players, you might try PMing some of the players in the game Faith was in: WR Patriot Inc. I know ZenFox42 is unavailable due to poor health. Now that I look, I notice two of those have already posted here (Scranford and Nohwear).

Just noticed mention that there was not yet a hacker type character. I think I'll try to fill that gap, starting with the Hacker Archetype and filling in details. I'll try to get savvy on the game mechanics of hacking after that. If you have any suggestions beyond what the Hacker archetype lists, let me know. Thanks.

I was looking at the Rich edge, but it says I should consult with the GM first? What are your thoughts on that?

I'm thinking of an Adam Jensen-esque kinda thing. Except different. =)

I'm thinking of running an Android. Do androids start off looking similar to humans unless they take a hindrance that makes them obviously an android? Or do they start as obviously an Android unless they take an edge that gives them a look similar to human? Or is it up to the players with no edge/hindrance required.

Also, it says they need damage repaired using the repair skill. Since we're using the specialization rules, which of the repair specializations would be used: Armor, Cybernetics, Electronics, Mechanical, Structures, Weapons? Could an android character repair itself if it has this skill, or would it require someone else to have the skill? I realize some of these could be dependent on the situation, but if you have any general advice, let me know.

This is all I'll have time to work on for now, but I thought I'd put her forward to show progress (See profile for what I have so far).

I have selected all her important elements except equipment, cyber enhancements, and detailed background. See Background spoiler for rough draft. She's only got enough fighting skills to keep from being at a severe disadvantage if she's attacked. But she has a number of useful skills that will help with dealing with computers and the like.

She will benefit from having someone in the group with appropriate repair skills so if she is damaged she can be fixed up. If no one has that, she'll use one contact slot for getting repaired.

Although she is an Android, she has a connection to Native American gangs that exist in the old Southwest. I haven't read up on this angle, but that will have to wait for the weekend.

Let me know if anything looks askew and feel free to make suggestions.

Edit: I would be willing to take the Enemy hindrance (major or minor) if it seems appropriate, assuming the corporation that created her wants her back and might recognize her on the street or in the net.

@Scranford: No worries. There are definitely a bunch of extra rules in Interface Zero. I usually use Wild Card Creator but for some reason I can't get it to recognize the book, even though it says it should be able to. :c

Hi there!

Quick question. I'm literally reading the rules right now, and on page 16 it says that if you are using skill specialization rules, you get 20 skill points (and each spec costs 1).

Is that the rule we are using?

Thank you!! =)

P.S. Are we also using the alternative rule of Athletics?

Oh man, I can't believe they don't mention that under the Skill Specialization rules themselves, I completely missed it. I've been explaining it to people using the standard Skill Specialization rules in Savage Worlds so far. Let me ruminate on that for a minute, because it'll give people who already made characters an extra 5 skill points. For now: yeah, probably. I see now that certain archetypes (hackers especially) would have a really rough time without those extra specialization rules.

(and yes, let's go ahead and use the athletics specialization rules)

With regards to Rich: the main reason you need to consult with me is that you need some sort of overarching responsibility tied into your richness. It basically means that in exchange for more money, the GM can throw plot hooks and constraints at you left and right. ;) I didn't play DX:HR, but Adam Jensen was a heavily augmented (former) head of security for a megacorp, right? Is that the sort of Rich background you're going for?

@Faith: Planning on starting the game in Denver. Don't wanna give too much away, but almost all occupations may be questionably relevant inside Phoenix. The first couple beats of the game (equivalent to about 2-4 sessions of a face-to-face game, depending on individual player choices) will be taking place outside of it. If you'd like to be an LEO it's possible (Emily Houston is doing it). That said, taking a hacker is a great idea from a party support perspective. It means I can't just push you guys around with one well-placed nerd. ;)

I'm inclined to think that Androids are fairly obvious given that they innately have the "Outsider" hindrance. That said, you could be a less obvious Android, but you'd still receive the Outsider penalties due to being kind of uncanny valley.

The specialization would be Repair: Cybernetics. You can repair yourself under most circumstances (I might give you an additional penalty if, say, you're injured on your back).

Excellent!

Character alias from Atlas2112. (Crunch is still in progress, so don't check it yet. :p)

It looks like the backstory may play a key role, so I'm just gonna put this here. (Character kept rattling around until I got this down. I still don't know that much about the setting, so I just filled the holes with Shadowrun. =)

plz read in order. ^_^.

I'm not clear how the point cost for Knowledge skills works.

Would Knowledge (Programming) cost 1 point for d4 but without any penalties for non-specialization, since there are none?

Can you explain how you'd like to work the Common Knowledge aspect for knowledge? I've always been a little perplexed by that.

The rules state: If a character’s background suggests he should know something about a subject and he must make a roll, add +2 if most in his area or profession would know the answer. If the subject is foreign to a character, subtract 2 or more from the roll. Everyone else breaks even and gets no modifier.

So if I wanted my Android to know science I could specify that as part of her background? How many such areas could be included before it got excessive? I know there's no general answer since there are so many possible areas, but some such as science and engineering seem to be particularly useful, as might others such as economics, history, etc. As a player, I've always felt skill poor when creating SW characters so I want to make the most of what I can get. Thanks.

Officially closing recruitment now. :)

@Alanna: I like your backstory but I might need some clarification on the finer points--I'll be PMing you once I get back up tomorrow. :)

@1dromeda: Knowledge in regular Savage Worlds runs as an individual skill for each area, even if you're not using skill specialization. I haven't been able to pull up an official ruling, but I would say that knowledge specializations are considered a specialization, and you can add two of them per advance (or 1 per skill point at character creation) under Interface Zero rules. General knowledge or common knowledge refers to things you should know if you have a certain background--you roll straight smarts. It's mostly up to GM decision, but it allows me to assume you should know certain things about your country/city/job.

To be honest, I'm a pretty flexible GM, and I wouldn't suggest more than a couple of broad specializations and one or two specific ones. The knowledge: hacking spec is obviously going to be important for you. I'd tentatively suggest Knowledge: Hacking and Knowledge: Engineering as general areas, plus one or two more. You could also take the Jack of All Trades edge and have a courtesy d4 in any smarts-based specialization you cared to roll.

Ah..shoot.
Can I still get a submission in?

@Aloha I'd agree with you about Knowledge being already a specialized skill.

I'm close to setting my gear, but I wanted to check on how you want to determine programs and such that can be created with the Knowledge (Programming) skill.

On page 275 is a list of Engrams (a kind of mental program) and in the text is a description of how they can be created instead of purchased:

Engrams are created with the Knowledge (Programming) skill.
To create them, the character makes a skill roll at a difficulty modifier equal to the number of Active Memory Sectors
(AMS) the engram uses. When an engram is created, it must
be coded to a specific TAP. The engram will not function on
any other TAP than the one it was originally programmed for.
If the character’s Knowledge (Programming) roll fails, the
character must start over losing any invested time. On a Critical
Failure, he must spend 24 hours clearing the corrupted engram
from this TAP and then start the programming process over.

So, for example, if 1dromeda wanted to create her own Stealth Module (2), she could roll as follows:

Penalty: -2
Knowledge(Programming): 1d8 ⇒ 6
Wild: 1d6 ⇒ 5
Result = 6 - 2 = 4, success.

So does she now have a program she can load into her TAP to make her harder to detect?

Since failure doesn't prevent another attempt, is there any reason to roll for low level programs? She only has a capacity for 5 AMS at present, so that would rule out the outrageously powerful programs, but with enough tries, she could succeed eventually on just about any program requiring 5 or fewer AMS slots.

Similar questions surround the creation of one's own Avatar program. Can I make rolls to build that? Is that going to be necessary right from the start?

Another gear question: The programmer occupation grants an advanced firewall giving +1 to the character's firewall. Does this stack with other bonuses to the firewall, such as Firewall 4th Dimension Security (p. 78: Grants +3 to a character’s Firewall! Does not stack with other T-APP Firewall products.)

I've been reading some in the sections on history and culture of Denver and the NAC. Please clarify what an android would face living in this region. Would she just suffer prejudice and potential abuse or would she face arrest and imprisonment? Either way, I'm assuming she could try to pass for human using the Stealth (Disguise) skill specialization. If doing so will greatly facilitate her ability to remain unharrassed and/or unarrested, let me know and I'll rearrange my skills to be able to cover that.

I was looking at p. 276 under Skill Specialization Bonus Engrams: "This is a one-time bonus to a single skill specialization. Each time a character obtains this engram quality, she must apply it to a different specialization."

I'm not clear what is meant by "one-time bonus". Does that mean it only works as a bonus to a skill specialization once? Or does that mean it only works for one skill specialization at a time?

I found a link with an example of how hacking works and how it is connected to hyper-reality events.

It answers one of my questions. The skill bonus engrams do not seem to be usable only once.

I also found a clarification of a rule regarding the length of time it takes to make a trace to locate an intruder in a network.