| David Jarvis 182 |
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hi everyone, this is David Jarvis, owner of Gun Metal Games. As some of you know, we're getting ready to run a kickstarter to fund the final development costs for the book.
I’m sure many of you are wondering why we’re translating Interface Zero to the Pathfinder RPG. Unsurprisingly, I’ve always considered Interface Zero (IZ for short) to be an innovative cyberpunk setting; something special that deserves a wider audience than any_one_system can provide. It was never my intention to marry Interface Zero to any one game system; there are just too many really killer games out there to decide on one. Indeed, IZ was originally written for the True20 system, then was ported over to RPGOBJECTS’ Modern20 game system, which was written by Charles Rice, one of the best D20 system writers out there. So IZ’s roots are firmly in the d20 system, at least it’s variants. At the time, there was a massive glut of d20 Modern third party supplements, and, not wanting to see Interface Zero get lost in a sea of products, I chose to avoid that game system.
When Pinnacle Entertainment Group made the wildly popular Savage Worlds game available for licensees, the choice to apply for a license and develop Interface Zero for Savage Worlds was a no brainer. Savage Worlds is an Award-winning, sleek “Fast Furious and Fun” game system, and it was pure joy to see how Interface Zero played in that format. So, six years down the road and a bunch of supplements later (with more coming!) Interface Zero has grown to the point where I’m confortable releasing the game in other formats.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Actually, I was already thinking of expanding the game to other systems in 2014. That’s really the genesis point for the Pathfinder version. I contacted Andreas Rönnqvist, Jeff Lee, Robert Hudson, and Mike Welham with the idea, and after they read the material, we excitedly moved forward. Two years later, after many revisions, playtests, and heavy editing by Savannah Broadway, we finally have a game faithful to both the setting and the Pathfinder game system, especially with the release of the very cool Technology Guide! Even more exciting is the recent news about Starfinder.
When the news broke that Paizo was developing Starfinder, I couldn’t help but think the stars had finally aligned. An already epic game was moving into the far-flung future, and I realized that I had a chance to make an impression on potential cyberpunk and science fiction enthusiasts with the Pathfinder edition of Interface Zero. Of course, the release of Starfinder won’t happen until next year, and that has informed my decisions about how Interface Zero will be released.
This book is going to be a living book, which will be updated each time Paizo releases content for Starfinder or any other science fiction/modern supplement. Getting the updated PDFs is easy enough, but some of you may be wondering how this will affect printed books. Thanks to Print on Demand, we can easily update existing print files and make them avaible to backers via print vouchers. Each time we update the printed book, I’ll send all print backers a voucher to get the newest version of the book at cost. You’ll also get the opportunity to back at a level which gets you the updated books for free!
I look forward to discussing this more with all of you as we move forward! Keep watching this thread for more information about the setting, and designer notes!
Thanks for your time.
| Mum-Rob the Ever-Living |
Speaking for myself, I'm really excited to get this out into the hands of players and hear what they do with their characters!
| David Jarvis 182 |
What is Interface Zero?
Interface Zero 2.0 (Tagline Full Metal Cyberpunk) is a cyberpunk setting…Sort of. Interface Zero owes its existence to a plethora of sources including novels such as Neuromancer, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Burning Chrome, Count Zero, Altered Carbon, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Snow Crash. Anime such as Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Psycho Pass, Ghost in the Shell, Battle Angel Alita and Appleseed help to round out a vision of our world, incorporating eastern and western influences on the genre.
The result is a setting that echoes other popular cyberpunk games, but focuses more on geopolitical intrigue and action rather than the familiar roles of megacorporations as the major antagonists. That doesn’t mean that corporations aren’t powers unto themselves, with their own agendas, both altruistic and nefarious.
Characters
Characters in Interface Zero take on a variety of roles; hackers, drone jockeys, government agents, bounty hunters (just to name a few) generally act as private operators; people with the skills, ability and will to do jobs nobody else can.
Alternately, characters might work exclusively for a corporate entity, a world government, or even as special operations teams similar to Ghost in the Shell’s Section 9, working to protect the citizens of the sprawl, or even corporate assets. For the military-minded player, characters might become mercenaries working in war zones with occupying armies or resistance movements.
Setting
Set in the year 2090, Interface Zero 2.0 peers into a dark future, imagining a world changed by Eco-terrorism, unimpeded global warming, and nuclear war. Chinese imperialism has erased national boundaries from Eastern Russia all the way down to Vietnam and Thailand. The world has seen the rise and fall of global super powers. China, Brazil and the Central African Union have risen to global prominence, while the United States has disintegrated, splitting into five new nations; Atlantica, the Great Lakes Union, the North American Coalition, the Republic of Cascadia, and the Republic of Texas.
The Solar System
In this grim reality, we have colonized the solar system and sold it to the highest bidder. Colonies and orbital habitats on other planets, while claimed by nations on earth, are in truth the property of massive, multi-planet corporations. Commonly known as “zeroes,” many people living in the reaches of space have seen their adventurous spirit, their hopes for an exciting life beyond the confines of Earth, crushed under the weight of indentured servitude after signing on with these corporations.
The corps promise to pay relocation expenses and living expenses, and then use technicalities and clauses in the contracts to recoup those expenses. The corporation owns everything; even the air zeroes breathe comes at a cost, deducted from their weekly paychecks. There are those, however, who have found ways to survive, and even thrive in the outer-reaches of space, living on the fringes of law and civilization.
Technology
Science has hacked the genome, unlocking the secrets of DNA to facilitate the creation of new breeds of human; genetic hybrids, human 2.0, and even simulacrum—a slave race grown in amniotic vats and sold on the open market. Cybernetic technology has reached the point where those with the credits and the will to do so, can become living machines. Computer science has grown rapidly as well.
Dubbed Interface Zero by those who created it, the Tendril Access Processor—or TAP—downloads the Global DataNet and Hyper Reality directly into the minds of billions of users across the solar system, bringing the world an unparalleled level of inter connectivity, and danger. Malware plagues the Deep, and black hat hackers manipulate the Tendril Access Processor to upload malicious Virii, steal secrets, and even the identities of the unwary.
| David Jarvis 182 |
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hi everyone, I just want to update ya on the development of this kickstarter project. here are the pledge levels we're offering.
We’re keeping this project very simple. To start, we’ll have four pledge levels you can choose from, but as the kickstarter progresses and we unlock more stretch goals, I’ll add special pledges which allow you to back for extra stuff and become a part of the setting!
Digital Gutter Punk (15.00): At this pledge level, you get the pdf! This is a great value, as we’ll be selling the digital version for 20.00. Additionally, you’ll get all digital stretch goals we unlock for free!
Digital Bounty Hunter (20.00): At this level, you get the PDF and the Introductory Adventure: Extraction with Extreme Prejudice. The adventure will retail for 7.00, which means you’re saving another two dollars. Coupled with the savings on the core book, that’s seven dollars in savings!
Hacker 40.00): At this level, you get the Pathfinder edition of Interface Zero 2.0 in print, plus the PDFs of the book and the adventure! The printed book will retail for 49.99, which means you’re getting the book at 10.00 off the regular price for a total of 17.00 in savings!
Ronin: (45.00): This pledge level will get you the PDFS, the printed book and the printed adventure. The print version of Extraction with Extreme Prejudice will retail for 9.99, which means your total savings is 22.00!
| David Jarvis 182 |
| David Jarvis 182 |
| David Jarvis 182 |
Just 2,500 away from hitting our funding goal! Help push us over the top!
Interface Zero: Cyberpunk action for the Pathfinder role playing game
| David Jarvis 182 |
| David Jarvis 182 |
Stretch Goals V2
Based on backer feedback, we've decided to restructure the Stretch goals. In this version, we focus more on on stretch goals dedicated to adding more content. You’ll see more Hot Spots, the Bestiary (Threats of 2090), Source Books, rules expansions, like archetypes, and rules for Golemmech combat, and even one or two more character classes.
12,000: Hot Spot: Andreas Rönnqvist brings you an insider look at the Walled city of Copenhagen!
14,000: Hot Spot: David Jarvis will flesh out Moscow!
18,000: Malmart catalog!: We’ll bring you more gear and equipment, including a detailed look at organized crime across the world and a new character class: The Weapon Specialist!
22,000: Archetypes!: We’ll design custom archetypes for the character classes!
28,000: Threats!: RPG superstar Mike Welham will write the Threats of 2090, bringing you new villians, bio-horrors, and NPCs to use in your game!
30,000: Hot Spot: Mr. Phillip Reed will write an orbital habitat for you to use in your game!
34,000: Golemmech Rules!: Robert Hudson will develop rules for mechanized combat in 2090. This book will also come with a new character class: The Gollemmech pilot.
40,000: Iconic Art! Ia Llanas will create artwork for each character class!
44,000: The Solar System!: We’ll adapt the Solar System source book for Pathfinder!
46,000: Hot Spot: David Jarvis will write Hong Kong!
52,000: Custom Dice!
72,000: Print Upgrade!: We'll improve the binding, the quality of the paper, add a UV spot gloss to the logos, and add a silk ribbon bookmark!
We're almost at the first Stretch goal, help us push through and then on to Moscow!
| David Jarvis 182 |
Hi everyone! With just 7 bucks to go on our first stretch goal, I see no need to prolong the wait. I'm unlocking the Copenhagen Hot Spot, which will be written by Andreas Rönnqvist!
Oh, and here are a few of his thoughts on the development of the Psionics you'll find in this book!
Wow, talk about a difficult subject - psionics has always been a little on the side when it comes to D&D and this carried into Pathfinder when we first started writing the psionic rules for it. Yet in Interface Zero, psionics and zeeks are an integrated part of the setting, one that has pretty much always been there.
Now, moving the psionics rules from Pathfinder into Interface Zero takes a different view - IZ handles different "disciplines" of psionic power differently than Pathfinder does and at the same time, some of the world-altering powers of psionics (and magic for that matter), doesn't quite fit into a cyberpunk setting. So, we had to trim down the psionic powers available to the Telepath, but since there is no magic and very little psionics, it still interestingly means that the Telepath can do things that almost no-one else can. Psionics is a little bit like hacking, in that it adds a new dimension to the game - yet where tech is present everywhere, psionic powers aren't. I love this duality, this balance between a rare power, yet not being able to rewrite reality based on your will.
As Interface Zero expands, we might get a chance to do more with psionics, which is a journey that I'm looking forward to, because of the challenges. It is like painting a familiar painting, with different colors, or on a different medium. The same, yet still so very different.
- Andreas Rönnqvist, co-owner of Dreamscarred Press, co-author of Psionics Unleashed: Core Psionics Rules for Pathfinder
That's it for now. Thanks everyone for your support! Let's continue unlocking more goals! Up next: Moscow!
| David Jarvis 182 |
| David Jarvis 182 |
| Oceanshieldwolf |
Nicely written, felt and formed Update, and good to see the genre expanding and mutating with relevance AND homage in equal parts. Kudos.
| David Jarvis 182 |
| David Jarvis 182 |
| David Jarvis 182 |
| David Jarvis 182 |
| David Jarvis 182 |
| David Jarvis 182 |
Hi everyone. Our kickstarter is very nearly finished, and I just want to take a moment of your time, and say thank you for your patience over the past thirty days. I know I've been posting a lot about the kickstarter, and you haven't complained once.
That was really cool of all of you. And for those of you who chose to back the project, thanks so much for trust and support! I look forward to giving you a great book!
Thanks again for your time.