Tommy's Take on Interface Zero 2.0 Japan: Empire of the Setting Sun

I haven't taken a look at any Interface Zero stuff in a while...so today, we're going to Japan in the Interface Zero 2.0 sourcebook for Japan: Empire of the Setting Sun.

Sunday Night News - Interface Zero, Heaven's Shadow, Accursed, Warage and Werewolf!

Just a few items to toss out there for your Sunday night news reading:

1. The Birthday Blog Giveaway Ends January 15th! - On January 1st, I unveiled my Top Six of 2013, and gave ya'll a chance to win five of the six products listed on the Top Six. You have just over two days left in which to get your entries in and win some great games. Don't miss out!
2. Interface Zero 2.0 now available! - The second edition of Interface Zero 2.0 has hit in PDF format, and it's bigger and badder. Unfortunately, a review won't be coming...but that's because I worked on this one, pitching in on the editing! I've been a supporter of Gun Metal Games in the past, and I was all too happy to help out in the process of getting this book finished. Pretty much the final word in Savage Worlds Cyberpunk as far as I'm concerned.
3. Heaven's Shadow is on sale! - Heaven's Shadow is on sale for 50% off as part of the New Year's, New Game sale in PDF format, but Bedroom Wall Press has also discounted the print version by 25% until the end of the month in honor of being named one of Tommy's Top Six! Obviously, I would recommend that you not pass on this.
4. Accursed is available in print! - Accursed is a game I've spoken of pretty highly as well, a Savage Setting in which you play a monster fighting in a world overwhelmed by monsters. At the time of my review, the print version was not available...now it's available in softcover, hardcover standard and hardcover premium formats.
5. Warage on Kickstarter - The folks at District Games got ahold of me earlier this month about their game Warage, which is a deckbuilding game that professes to have some RPG elements, and is playable for up to four players out of the box. The publisher says it's already been released in the European Union, and the Kickstarter is to get it printed and released in the US. You "create" your character by combining Race and Class cards for different combinations. Sounds pretty promising, especially as my son and I have been playing more and more card games. The Kickstarter still has a day left to go, and you can get the game for $40 (expected retail is going to be $49). They do have the full rules available on the website, which is always promising for a game Kickstarter. Currently, Elves, Humans, Angels and Orcs are available in the base set, with Warriors, Paladins and Mages available as Classes (no Rogues or Clerics? Interesting). Add ons and Stretch Goals add other options, including Dwarves and Goblins.
6. Ultimate Werewolf Deluxe Edition on Kickstarter - I got to play a version of Werewolf at GlitchCon last year, and had a blast. For those who don't know, everyone has a "role" in the "village", but there's a werewolf (or werewolves) roaming around, killing people. (A version called Mafia is pretty popular on message boards, or so I'm told). The villagers have to figure out who the werewolf is before he eliminates the town, helping sow seeds of dissent as the game goes on. It was a very, very fun party game. Bezier Games launched a Kickstarter for Ultimate Werewolf Deluxe Edition, attempting to make their version of the game bigger and badder. They blew past their initial goal and are blowing past their stretch goals like crazy, already at $30,000+, of a $5,000 goal. Don't like the art on the card sets? That's okay, they have craptons of artist variants for you to choose from. Want to shake it up even more? There's cards for Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, Nostradamus, Sorcerers, Ghosts, it goes on and on. There's a loooooooot of variations available, and buy in for one art set only costs you $25...it's a great looking set to be used for a great looking game...my only problem is I'm lucky to have four people at my table...I can't imagine ever having enough players to play a proper game of this...but if you have lots of friends who are into this sort of thing, this is looking like a Holy Grail kinda deal.

I'm trying to stay on a "twice a week" schedule of reviews, full reviews on Tuesdays and a trifecta of small reviews on Fridays. Is that working out for ya'll? Is the extra focus on board and card games helpful? Or do I have anyone reading this that even cares about that sorta thing? Inquiring minds want to know!

Keep the dice dizzy, and the proof is in the fun!
T.

Some Crowdfunding You Should Know About

Interface Zero 2.0: Full Metal Cyberpunk

I've reviewed a lot of Interface Zero stuff over the last few years, and the original Interface Zero was part of my first Top Six, even though I'm not a big fan of Cyberpunk. There is some fun stuff in this setting, and IZ2.0 is overhauling a lot of the stuff from the first edition to make it run smoother.

This one is already funded (by, like, a LOT), and has 18 days to go, with the sweet spots being the $20 pledge (which gets you digital copies of basically everything IZ related thus far), $30 for the above and the Explorer's Edition of the book and $50 for the full hardcover. Fabled Environments, sponsors of my Birthday Blog Giveaway, are also working up stuff for IZ2.0, which just sweetens the deal.

Storm Battalion

A self described mix of Hellboy, Davey Crockett and Tesla Punk, is the brainchild of Brennan Bishop, who is a frequent contributor to Third Eye Games titles like their Apocalypse Prevention Inc. line. The gist is that during the American Revolution, these storms broke out around the land and began twisting everything in it's wake. Now the year is 1935 and the Canadians and Americans are using cool powers and crazy technology to wage war against the twisted monsters brought about by the storms.

Last I heard, the book is using the Dynamic Gaming System that powers Apocalypse Prevention Inc., Wu Xing and Part-Time Gods, and is already written, they are just trying to cover the printing costs, art and stuff. They have 50 days left and still need to raise most of their $3000 budget. The sweet spots are $15 for the PDF, $35 for PDF and Print and $60 for PDF, Print and T-Shirt.

Tommy's Take on Hacking 2.0, IZ GM Screen and Oktobermen

INTERFACE ZERO: HACKING 2.0

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: This mini PDF requires Savage Worlds and Interface Zero for maximum use, as it is an overhaul of the hacking rules from Interface Zero. The PDF has a short intro from Gun Metal Games' David Jarvis, explaining why this document was released (folks having issues with the hacking/virtual world/etc)...IZ 2.0 is coming later this year and will provide both Basic and Advanced Hacking rules. This document is presenting the Basic rules in advance of IZ 2.0's release. Some of the changes on the character creation end is that Hacking gets its own skill, some Edges have been removed (like Programming 101 and Advanced Programming) and new Edges are introduced (Cool Under Pressure lets you ignore penalties when a system goes on Active Alert and Interference makes you harder to hack, for example). There are also three Hacker specific Hindrances, with advice warning the GM to not allow them if a character who isn't REALLY a Hacker is trying to take a Hindrance that won't affect him. Hyper Gloves are also introduced (the first example that comes to mind to me is the FBI Agent from Heavy Rain, but you have seen them in various other media). The system for Hyper Gloves is pretty simple, a basic stat set that can be upgraded. The Gloves determine everything for the Hacker: Armor, Damage, Hacking Bonus and Range and can be set into three modes: Control (in case you need to manipulate a gun turret or an elevator), Edit (for heavy changes to things) and Destruction (when you need to inflict damage). Additionally, Hyper Gloves have additional MODS that can be used to provide extra bonuses. The hacking itself takes up the final few pages: Essentially, it's a normal skill roll in Savage Worlds, with the level of security providing a penalty to the roll and the Hyper Glove and/or Edges providing a bonus. Unlike most skill rolls, however, Hacking is NEVER without risk: Any Hacking roll failure will have consequences (determined on a die roll against the table appropriate to the type of security firewall).

WHAT WORKS: That cover art is awesome. I'm not sure what it has to do with Hacking, but that is probably the single most compelling piece of artwork I have seen on an Interface Zero product. I like the Hyper Gloves a lot. It's a clean, easy to modify system that fits the Savage Worlds vein.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: Well, if you're planning on buying IZ 2.0, you might not want to pay for content that's going to be in the eventual release.

CONClUSION: Though designed for Interface Zero, there's not much here that you can't use without it, and it's both inexpensively priced and not a huge document, so if you are running any kind of game in which futuristic hacking would be helpful, it's worth a pick-up. Interface Zero got kicked around (a tad unfairly) for changing "too much" about Savage Worlds, but this is a step back to the feel of SW without sacrificing the unique flavor of IZ.

INTERFACE ZERO GM'S SCREEN

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: GM Screen's as we know them are fading fast. There was a Savage Worlds GM screen a while back that was clear plastic panels that you could slip cardboard panels for the game you were running in. The Interface Zero GM screen is along those lines...a "do it yourself" GM screen. The three art panels consist of some gorgeously thematic art, running a decent range of IZ material, including an android, cyborgs and mercenaries...(and a cyberpunk street samurai looking figure). The three rules panels include the Gritty damage rules, Zeek fatigue and the Hacking 2.0 rules.

WHAT WORKS: Great art, all the relevant IZ setting rules...about what you would want from a GM screen.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: It feels a TAD cluttered...but there's just a metric crap ton of tables on this thing.

CONCLUSION: Unless you hate GM screens, this is a very good pick-up for $3 if you have access to a good printer. Much better deal than the $20 GM screen standard we've seen in the past, especially if you have one of the clear Savage Worlds screens to slide the panels into.

DUE VIGILANCE: OKTOBERMEN

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: Oktobermen is "issue 1" in the Due Vigilance line, fitting in the same universe as the Smoke & Mirrors supplement I reviewed back in January. This is the ICONS version of said product, $5.99 for a 19 page PDF filled with a team of supernatural killers and assassins. Oktobermen is more than just a villain book. I mean, it IS a villain book, but it includes a relationship map for the six members of the Oktobermen, complete with a paragraph on each of the six explaining their viewpoints. The book also includes four common sets of tactics employed by the Oktobermen. The bulk of the book is taken up by the character bios and stats for the six members:

Bookbinder - An escapee from a mysterious organization called The Library, Bookbinder is the most reluctant of the Oktobermen, having joined up when Springheel Jack saved her from The Library. The can use magic in some powerful and freaky ways, like trapping people in stories or summoning literary characters to do her bidding.

The Floating Skull - He is not unlike a D&D Demilich, the floating skull of a powerful sorcerer. He can never use the same spell on a given target more than once. Luckily, he knows 666 of them.

Hexenwulf - Hexenwulf is a werewolf, but not of the common type. No, he's a werewolf of the "wearing wolf skins" type. Heavily resistant to magic, so he's usually the lead man in taking out sorcerers.

L'Enfant Terrible - The prototypical Creepy Kid, born with a soul of evil. Often used to take people by surprised...has a "bodyguard" named Mr. Bear who has a VERY disturbing secret.

Sister Sanguine - A creepy (ex)nun who answers to evil fae and gains powers from drinking blood.

Springheel Jack - A half-demon in charge of The Oktobermen, Springheel Jack is on a quest to consume take a number of souls and become a Lord of Hell. There is even a sidebar explaining how to alter his stats if he succeeds.

Also included are four plot seeds (including two related NPCs) and a set of standees fot the Oktobermen.

WHAT WORKS: Some GREAT character concepts here, as well as some nice tidbits hinting at the larger world (like The Library). I also love the amount of detail as to how the villains operate and treat each other, making this more than just a set of stats.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: My only real complaint is the dramatic art shift from the cover to the interior. I don't think either one is inherently better than the other, though the cover seems to fit the source material better, while the latter fits the ICONS feel better.

CONCLUSION: Another fantastic product by Vigilance Press, providing a slew of baddies that are just downright frightening (in power level as well as concept). At one point, this product wasn't going to be released for ICONS, but I'm glad it ultimately was.

Tommy's Take on San Francisco: The Ruins by The Bay

We haven't revisited Interface Zero here on the blog in a while, and they just released San Francisco: The Ruins by the Bay, so it seems to be as good a time as any to go back to it.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: In order to get the most out of this book, you will need the Savage Worlds rulebook (Explorer's or Deluxe should work fine) and the Interface Zero main book. The rest, such as Zeeks and Boston, are entirely optional. San Francisco is only 67 pages and $8.99, which at first seems like an uncomfortable disparity in price versus content, but there is a LOT of text on these pages, both in crunch and in fluff.

This one follows the format of Boston, complete with a running "commentary" by users on the Deep that is both funny and occasionally informative...like learning that folks read even less in the future than they do now. While the sideline commentary isn't the main attraction, it does have some helpful insights about the city.

San Francisco has been brutalized by a massive earthquake which has dropped the population to about 12,000...and people from around California ready to move in and get at the remaining natural resources (which are comparatively abundant in SanFran versus other areas). We get a breakdown of each area of the city here, with helpful tidbits like how The Deep isn't accessible all over the city, for instance, and your credits are no good: It's cash and trade only. The neighborhoods are Castro (a counter-culture wilderness full of non-humans), Chinatown (yeah, THE Chinatown, now in the grip of the Ascended Dragon Tong), Daly City (which is where Hybrids tend to congregate), Mission (which is almost a theological stronghold, not surprisingly), Pacific Heights (which includes Alcatraz), Portrero Island (home of toxic water and brutal scavengers), Presidio (the military base, now ran by the Cascadia Expeditionary Force), Richmond (another hotbed of gang activity), Sunset and the Western Addition.

All of the factions in SanFran are also covered, like the Angels of Mercy (who are anything but), the Daly City Hybrids and The Flood (who are information brokers).

New character creation options include some new Edges (like using a Sword-Whip or being a feral throwback) and a Hindrance (basically a nanite infection), as well as a pair of new Hybrid options (rat-men and bull-men). A couple of new occupations round out the character creation options. Not nearly as robust of a selection as we usually see from IZ books, but you gotta let off the gas at some point.

More equipment is added, catalog style, wiith my personal favorites being the Sword-Whip (or Swhip) and the Wasteland Chopper, which is a motorcycle with a front-mounted machine gun.

City Trappings, which were introduced in Boston, are expanded further here, with trappings like Brown Outs, Humans/Hybrids Only and Kingpin (where there is a powerful force at the top of the food chain in the area), which allow you to mechanically differentiate the neighborhoods. It was a nice touch in Boston and a nice touch here.

There is also an extensive set of Salvaging rules and tables, with the potential for catastrophe (like setting off a booby trap or finding a wild animal).

There are no Savage Tales, but there are several plot seeds which have a "Offer/Complication" set-up to them. They include a brutal fight club at the Cow Palace, a war over water, and a communications outage (with notes on just how the PCs can get involved, and how things can flip on them).

Lastly, the book includes a slew of NPCs, mostly generic stats for each gang followed by stat blocks for their leaders. Again, pay special attention to the sideline commentary for extra insight into the gangs and their leaders.

WHAT WORKS: Once again, Gun Metal Games packs a lot of info into a small book, with some nice crunch (I like both Hybrid options, as well as the expanded City Trappings and the Salvaging rules). The art is lovely, probably my favorite art yet in the IZ line, and there's always something cool in their equipment sections. A couple of relevant sidebars are reprinted from earlier books, not taking up too much space and ensuring that this is usable with just the Savage Worlds rules and IZ setting book.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: I like the layout, other than it seemed to be too bright and clean. I also would have preferred the Hybrid packages with the other character creation stuff. Just would have been handier. For some reason, San Francisco just didn't grip me, but I think it's more of a "I'm a middle of the country guy"...I'm kind of intrigued with what we might see when IZ covers a section closer to home for me.

CONCLUSION: A worthy product for the crunch alone, and some of the best art I've seen in the IZ line yet. I doubt I'd ever intentionally set a game in San Francisco, but I'm just not a California guy (I tend to avoid the same region in Deadlands as well). Even if you're like me, however, you'll find stuff that you can use elsewhere in your IZ games without having to try too hard. Also, pay attention to the sidebar conversations: They're not just filler. Not my favorite book in the Interface Zero line, but still a great product.

Hurricane Irene Flood Relief Bundle

Hey folks...

I'll try to get back to regular reviews and such in the coming week, but I wanted to toss a shout-out regarding this Hurricane Irene Flood Relief bundle, meant to help out the Schoharie County Community Action Program in New York.

There's some great stuff in here from several companies, but I'll say that Killer Thriller, Little Fears Nightmare Edition, Savage Suzerain and Zeeks alone make it WELL worth your $25.

Tommy's Take on Arcane Kingdoms, IZ: The Package and Weird West

ARCANE KINGDOMS

Arcane Kingdoms: Seven Realms Beyond The Horizon is a budget-priced, system neutral fantasy supplement by Sword's Edge Publishing with seven kingdoms that are meant to be placed as far away lands in your fantasy game. Each kingdom lists the capital, population, form of government, imports, exports, general description, life and society, important sites, regional history and "FX Campaign", which amounts to suggestions for nonhuman races that can be used to populate the kingdoms (thematically).

The Free City of Argopolis is an incredibly civilized nation that not only utilizes a three branch system of government, but is gaining some notoriety as the inventors of the wordpress, leading - of course - to the mass production of books. The FX notes do point out that it is likely that nonhumans in Argopolis would still wind up in ghettos and the like, casting a darker note on the enlightened society.

On the surface (no pun intended), you read "The Underneath" and you think "Oh, it's The Underdark...again". Not so...think something closer to the Morlocks from the X-Men comics. This is a forgotten society of vagrants, criminals and nonhumans who live just below the surface. It could make for a very interesting juxtaposition in any civilized city that lacks the necessary police force to enforce order below. The FX section is really interesting as it suggests that kobolds could be the driving force in The Underneath, which would be pretty shocking in most fantasy games.

The Commune of Katar Val only consists of about 1,200 people, and are constructed as a true democracy. In a "history is written by the winners" kinda thing, they managed to defeat rampaging bandits and marauders, and turned them into slave labor for their assaults. Elves are recommended as the primary race, with a few suggestions for the marauders, my favorite being trolls. Imagine being a mostly human group finding an Elven commune using Troll slave labor.

The Zeharis Protectorate is the most powerful and militarized realm presented thus far. A very structured, class based society. Again, the FX Campaign notes really takes this entry to the next level, suggesting dwarves as the primary race in the Protectorate, with the smaller realms under their protection being gnomes, halflings or even humans.

The Virikar Domains are a thinly veiled collection of viking nations with a few additional political trappings. Probably my least favorite thus far, but that has more to do with how much I like the other entries than anything else.

The Thanag Tribes of the Sahelli Steppes is a tribal formation of hunter-gatherers ruled by the Tribal Elders (who are usually the more useful, not necessarily the oldest). They have harsh punishments for those who cross the tribes.

The Lordok Nation is a loosely organized alliance of bandit tribes. The author, who had remained race neutral as well as system neutral throughout this book so far, gives his intentions away here by referring to them as goblins (which he notes is the original concept). In and of themselves, the concept isn't anything special...it's the backstory, where The Lordok Nation is said to have been a dominant empire ran by a powerful king that no other society now acknowledges even existed is the real interesting hook here.

I caught a couple of minor editing issues, which is really impressive as there is no editor listed. For $2, this is a really good idea mine, as long as you don't mind that there is no art in the book (which means that the PDF is ALL text, so it's not just padded out), and a few of these entries are easily adapted into even a published campaign (like The Underneath). Probably the one that works the least, conceptually, is the Zeharis Protectorate, if only because it came into power because of being a major spice exporter, so for no one to know about them seems a little...odd.

Great value for the price.

THE PACKAGE

The Package is a six page adventure (two pages are NPC stats, but there is little art, so it is almost all text) for Interface Zero that was released by Gun Metal Games late last year. As the name implies, it's pretty much an errand job for a group of PCs, easy cash for the delivery of a basic package. Not surprisingly, a mix-up between the PCs and another courier complicates matters...with the PCs winding up in possession of some very sensitive material, and thus targeted by some Very Bad Guys.

On one hand, ensuring that the PCs fall prey to the hook may require a bit of GM fiat, the adventure definitely makes up for it by leaving the resolution entirely in the hands of the PCs, giving them multiple options in which to resolve the situation. A good adventure (with an odd editing issue, such as one line towards the end that disappears into abrupt punctuation) that sets up the situation and lets the PCs do what they will. Great stuff, especially for the price.

WEIRD WEST

So I bought the Weird West RPG out of morbid curiosity, because it seemed awfully familiar. Before I had a chance to crack into it, I heard some good word of mouth and such, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

I like the Weird West genre...obviously, being a huge Deadlands fan and all. Weird West is pretty rules-light (the PDF is 8 pages, and since one page is a big chart and another is the cover, it's really only 6), and only running $1. You have four Attributes (Fighting, Grit, Magic and Skill) and 4 points to divide among them), with a minimum of 1 in Grit (and no other restrictions). Level advancement is decided whenever the group decides, with PCs getting 1 point of Grit per level, and the rest of Attribute advancement decided by Path (Adventure, Gifted, Fighter and Magician).

They can get special abilities for each point of Magic, such as Shaolin Monk or Fastest Gun in the West. The book covers a number of basic weapons, damage for which is capped based on Path. There are no monsters or generic statblocks included, and the game manages to make use of everything from a d2 to a d10 as well as d20 (no d12 love).

There's a decent skeleton of a very lite system here, and the promise of more to come, and I won't compare it to Deadlands (despite the genre), but I will say that I think it falls short next to Resolute in both content and presentation, which is pretty much the standard bearer for the "Budget Priced" RPGs.

Tommy's Take on Boston: The Broken Cradle of Liberty

First off, I don't normally comment on the covers as such, but the cover to Boston: The Broken Cradle of Liberty invokes a great mish-mash of westerns with cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic coolness that it has to be given a thumbs up...and, aesthetically speaking, the book only gets better from there.

Gun Metal Games has made it a point to release some of the most functional PDFs on the market, and Boston not only maintains that tradition, but steps up the production values by several notches, complete with a gorgeous new layout scheme.

While the Interface Zero corebook focused its light on Chicago the most, this sourcebook is devoted to giving you everything you need in order to play in Boston in a $9.99 PDF from RPGnow, or in a preorder bundle from Cubicle 7.

Another great touch that must be mentioned is the side column on most of the pages: It's the transcript of a Wikileaks-like site called Declassified, in which in-universe users are commenting on the main text of the book...and the writers have NAILED messageboard banter and comments with disturbing accuracy. Given that the text is presented in a narrative fashion, this is pretty cool as it gives "two sides" on many of the situations.

BOSTON IN A NUTSHELL

Pretty much what it sounds like. In addition to a detailed discussion of just how crapsack Boston is, with the corrupt police, "hostile sectors", and so on, you get the Declassified truth about just how crappy it is. If the oppressive martial law state doesn't get you, the terrorist dissidents just might...(well, unless you're a Wild Card, of course).

Worth noting: Game stats show up in Declassified, including Cabbies...why Cabbies? Well, they ARE heavily armed.

The various neighborhoods are broken down, with an overview of each (such as the affluent Beacon Hill and the affordable, and liveable, South Boston) as well as the specific locations in each that are most likely to be of use to PCs and GMS. They tend to strike the right balance between giving you plenty of information set the stage and bring Boston to life, without over detailing the setting. Again, the sidebar provides relevant NPC stats, from specific people (A South Boston mob boss) to relevant generic types.

Next we are treated to the major organizations (as well as the underground's relevant thoughts on them), such as the Atlantica Federal Government, the Atlantica Police Force, "freedom fighters" (or terrorists, depending on where you stand) The Scions of Liberty, and so on.

CHARACTERS IN BOSTON

A few new Edges and Hindrances are given, my favorite being Off The Grid, which means you don't exist in the system. However, you can still have alternate IDs that DO. A pair of new occupations (Fisherman and Pharmacy Tech) round out the section.

MALMART UPDATES

The Interface Zero equipment catalog gets an update complete with a humorous Malmart Spambot in the Declassified sidebar.

Amy's Surplus has armor and outfits, while What The Dickens has Victorian themed clothing for those needing some "theme" with their cyberpunk.

New weapons (I like the exploding satchel, myself) are also included, and some vehicles ranging from armored taxis to LAV-Loaders (for the more industrial types). Also, there are hilariously overpriced hair implants, which prompts a great exchange in Declassified by one user who is opting to stick with their stylist, while another tries to convince them that it's totally worth it if the company continues to provide proper support for the implants.

CITY TRAPPINGS

Originally, Trappings were mostly just flavor text in Savage Worlds, but at the complaints of even some diehard players, they began to take on a life of their own, adding small, relevant modifiers to a situation. Boston takes it a step further by adding Trappings to the Boston neighborhoods, while establishing a system that can be used with any city setting.

For instance, someone entering a shop on Beacon Hill (which has the Fat Cats trapping) will wind up paying more for their goods if they don't look like they already have money. (Yeah, it sounds like a silly contradiction, but it happens).

Ten trappings are given in this book, pretty much covering most of the neighborhood types you're liable to find in Boston. A simple, but cool, system that I'd like to see more of (and not just in a cyberpunk setting).

THE GANGS OF BOSTON

The sidebar has some premade gangs and relevant NPCs (like the Chinese gang The Crazy 88s and the Hybrid pack called Full Moon) but ALSO has some charts and guidelines for generating your own gangs (including a gang name generator). There are five different types of gangs (Punk, Hoodlum, Thug, Racketeer, Guardian and Degenerate) with a list of common activities they are likely to be involved in. There's even a location chart for generating bounties that replaces the Chicago specific chart from the Interface Zero book.

ADVENTURES AND PLOT HOOKS

Boston includes two adventures, the first being a freelance job for the Boston Museum of American Literature, attempting to secure some documents important to American history from a very exclusive location on Beacon Hill. As is common for IZ adventures, if the team takes the job, they are given free reign to scout out the situation and decide how to proceed, but of course, it can't go COMPLETELY painless...there just wouldn't be any tension in that.

The second one involves the group being hired to investigate a blackmail situation in which the victim is having an affair behind his wife's back...with a member of a rival company. It doesn't feel quite as developed as the first one, but has a very interesting hook to it.

The book ends with half a dozen short plot hooks, from tracking a serial killer to a race track offering big payouts to a seeming stalker situation that is much more to a tagalong reporter to a contract involving taking out a new gang to preventing the destruction of the Boston Sea Wall.

THOUGHTS

Page for page, this may actually be the strongest entry in the Interface Zero line thus far, and at the least it is a very promising template for future city books. While some may balk at $10 for 60 pages, none of it feels wasted, with the Declassified stuff being a hilarious diversion when it's not shedding light on the information presented in the main text.

While there isn't a ton of mechanical stuff present, which may be a downer for some, the mechancs that are present are well placed, and I especially love the City Trappings. This is also the "prettiest" IZ book to date, with the new layout looking amazing. The content impressed me enough that I didn't mind the full-page art pieces (there weren't many, but they were there and they did do a good job of setting the tone).

That said, for those wanting tons of mechanical support (say new Edges and Hindrances), there aren't enough here to buy the book for those alone and, as noted, the second adventure definitely feels like it requires a bit more development for the GM than most of the adventures do, but these are minor gripes. Boston: The Broken Cradle of Liberty, does a great job of bringing the city to life for Interface Zero GMs and players.

Tommy's Take on Zeeks: Psionics in 2088

Last year, I reviewed Interface Zero and I liked it well enough that I named it one of the Top Six books I read last year, and I stand by that. It was an incredibly comprehensive setting book, it just lacked one thing: Psionics.

Now, we get Zeeks, a 48 page supplement covering psionics in 2088. This bad boy is full color and the PDF is layered, fully searchable and generally has all the bells and whistles. The cover is a nice piece of work, with a Zeek tossing some armed thugs around...though if I had to change one thing, I would have made the Zeek a bit more prominent.

INTRODUCTION

The book begins with a piece of short fiction and an intro to psionics and zeeks: How common people hate and fear them, and how governments and corporations tend to love them, since they make nice weapons.

CHAPTER ONE: 2088 THROUGH THE EYES OF A ZEEK

This is written in first person perspective through the eyes of a zeek about their experiences in the world. For instance, the North American Coalition kinda doesn't trust zeeks exactly. The Middle East is fairly hands off, since they have enough problems without starting a war with Zeeks.

Zeeks also believe in a place called Shangri La, which is kinda like Avalon for mutants (X-Men reference)...a safe haven for zeeks. They just can't agree on where or what it is (like most groups of people). This section also mentions stuff that zeeks REALLY don't like, such as psiders: Giant, thought-eating spiders.

Zeeks generally come in three varieties: Peeks, tweeks and freeks. Peeks focus on ESP and stuff. Tweeks get into the telekinesis. Freeks can't be categorized as easily. These aren't hard character classes, merely descriptive guidelines...and they don't take wild talents and latent talents into account. Wild talents tend to have a power or so that they can use...latent talents tend to have a ton of potential bubbling under the surface.

The chapter ends with an in-character discussion of groups, from the psi-divisions that hunt (and recruit) zeeks, the cults that often worship Zeeks whether they like it or not, and the hate groups that kill, oppress or otherwise do bad things to zeeks.

It's not a bad set-up, but hopefully it is just a teaser and we get a little more concrete info a bit later on in the book.

CHAPTER TWO: BUILDING A BETTER PSYCHIC

Ah, game mechanics.

First off, Interface Zero ditches Power Points in favor of a fatigue system, a move I wholly approve of. Failed rolls can now inflict Fatigue, so they provide an optional rule for adding another level of Fatigue, to make Zeeks a little more durable in that regard. Zeeks have to have the Arcane Background (Psionics) Edge, as well as an additional Minor Hindrance.

Five new Hindrances are presented: Debt, Shakes, Stress Trigger (which can cause psychic powers to go off at the wrong time), Weak Zeek (weaker starting power) and Latent Talent (which requires two advances to buy off and lets the GM select your powers).

The New Edges section not only provides eight new Edges, but points out the ones that do not fit Interface Zero, and overhauls the other Powers Edges to fit the system. Freek, Peek and Tweek give you bonuses when using related powers, while Wild Talent gives you a single minor power. Psychic Leech is particularly nasty, causing other people within range to suffer the fatigue when the Zeek uses their powers.

As you may recall, Interface Zero also introduced Occupations...and Zeeks expands that a bit. It also introduces the concept of Occupations requiring a certain skill set, and those that do also having a bonus perk. I'm not opposed to the idea...I think it's kinda cool, personally...but I would like to see the Occupations from the main book revisited, then, with suggested requisites and perks. After all, if Waiter is important enough for suggested Requisites and Perks, then Bounty Hunter surely is.

While you are not limited in the types of powers you can take, the powers are all divided into three categories (Peeks, Tweeks and Freeks), with the caveat that any power from any other SW book can be used at the GM's discretion. Using powers under the new system is simple: Roll vs Target Number 4 as normal, if you fail, you take fatigue. If you succeed but roll equal to or less than a certain number, then the power works and you STILL take fatigue. This is calculated by cross referencing your Power vs the Power Point cost of the ability you are using. If you have a Power of 4, for instance, you can safely sling powers of a cost up to 5 without worrying about gaining fatigue on successful rolls.

Powers can be maintained for free for a number of rounds equal to the Power's duration multiplied by the character's power. If they try to hold on past that, the possibility of adding fatigue kicks in. I really dig this system, especially with the handy chart there for cross referencing.

An optional rule for failures and critical failures is also presented, to use in place of Brainburn from the core rules if you like, which can leave a psychic Shaken or even Wounded in bad situations.

Eight new powers are also provided, from old psychic standbys such as Astral Projection to Illusions and even Night Terrors to torment sleeping adversaries with. They do a nice job filling in the missing blanks from common psychic powers.

CHAPTER THREE: MALLMART 2088 FALL UPDATE

I loved the equipment section in the IZ book because of the catalog format, which continues here. We get cool stuff like Memory Clothes (programmed to remember your favorite outfits!), to external Deep interfaces for those without the implants. We also get psychic dampeners, as well as drugs that provided an extra boost for psychic powers.

A nice little update.

CHAPTER FOUR: SAVAGE TALES...ZEEK STYLE

A Friend In Need is a Savage Tale that is pretty flexible for most groups, in which an old friend (a bounty hunter) shows up on the doorstep of the PCs in dire need of assistance, and being hunted by a corporation that happens to have a deep interest in Zeeks.

Deal With The Devil is written as a follow up to A Friend In Need, in which the PCs get approached by the very people they crossed swords with in the previous Savage Tale, in which a potential common enemy emerges.

Both are good tales, certainly flexible enough to fit most groups...in fact, the second tale offers an alternate "hook", in case you don't choose to run the first one.

Half a dozen plot hooks are also provided, each given a small intro, followed by The Offer (how the job can be presented to the crew) and the Complication. You can use these as a springboard to flest out into adventures, or just fly by the seat of your pants. Zeek terrorists, psiders and psychic vampires...oh my.

CHAPTER FIVE: FRIENDS AND FOES

And here we get some stat blocks. Two sample NPCs are provided, one being a Psi-Hunter and the other a corporate director. From there, we get into generic stat blocks, most of which are variations on zeeks, but also including the creepy psiders.

Lastly, included is a fully clickable index.

THOUGHTS

Honestly, I would have liked to have seen at least a sample cult or hate group fleshed out, from a neutral perspective rather than an in-character perspective. Truthfully, that's probably my biggest gripe. From a purely material standpoint, I wasn't just creatively inspired like I am with some books (including the original IZ book, lots of the Suzerain stuff, or pretty much anything by Third Eye Games)...but from a mechanical standpoint, this book delivers the goods. The powers system looks pretty great, in that it ditches power points (which I don't care for), but maintains compatibility with how every power thus far has been written up. The new Hindrances and Edges are great stuff, as are the new powers.

I prefer words to art in my RPG books, especially full page art pieces in 48 page books, no matter how nice they look, so I would call that a minor strike (speaking from personal preference, obviously)...but there is a of great stuff here, don't get me wrong. It just doesn't completely blow me away like the main Interface Zero book did.

Highly recommended if you enjoyed Interface Zero, or if you just want another take on the Savage Worlds powers system.

Tommy's Top Six and Birthday Blog Giveaway

I reviewed a LOT of games since I opened my blog last year, and I wanted to take a special moment to recognize the six that captured my attention the most, provided that they fit under the following criteria: 1) I had to have reviewed the title on my blog from January 1st through December 17th. Unlike some year end awards, I'm not concerned with actual release dates, but when the books actually made it into my hands. 2) Only one book per company was allowed. This rule came in because one draft of the list had four books by two companies. The Top Six itself is a purely arbitrary number...I like the number six, nothing more.

There were a lot of products that I really enjoyed, that didn't get tagged for a certain reason, and I plan on doing a follow-up with a couple of those, explaining why I didn't choose certain titles.

Without further ado, in alphabetical order:

BASH ULTIMATE EDITION (Basic Action Games)

Why You Should Buy It: I love superheroes. It's part of the reason I write comics...(even though I have yet to do a traditional superhero book, unfortunately). Marvel SAGA is my favorite RPG of all time, flawed though it is...I've read a lot of superhero games since then, but none have captured my imagination in the same way as BASH, and I am hard pressed to think of a superhero game that does as much, with as little work. It has an "equalizer" for characters of multiple power levels on the same team, it provides plenty of options for making characters without the same level of bean counting that you get with Mutants and Masterminds or Champions, and it scales up from gritty to cosmic, all in the main rulebook. It currently holds the distinction of being the only game that I have ever purchased twice, once in PDF format and once in softcover. In fact, if the new version being released through Cubicle 7 is full color, I may go so far as to buy it one more time (and donate my black and white copy to someone). Chris Rutkowsky has made what is, to my mind, one of the best RPGs I have ever read, as it hits pretty much all of my sweet spots without a ton of work. For me, certain other major superhero RPGs are either underwritten, or incredibly overdone to the point of being Too Much Work...but BASH never has that problem. With Vigilance Press and Daring Entertainment coming aboard as third party licensees, I hope that BASH gains the following that I feel it truly deserves.

Buy the PDF at RPGnow, and look for the print version in 2011 from Cubicle 7.

HIGH VALOR (Silverlion Studios/Better Mousetrap Games)

Why You Should Buy It: I love fantasy gaming, but I can't make myself do Dungeons & Dragons anymore. I want epic, high fantasy, not dungeon crawls...and, as you may have guessed, I don't want it to be Too Much Work. High Valor is pretty much rules light, but never goes too far away from being a game. Just because you have three stats (kinda like you do in BASH, actually), and monsters only have one, doesn't mean it's not still a game. I love the mechanic of borrowing back and forth between your pools when you REALLY need to accomplish something, and I really like the fairly freeform nature of Magic and Miracles. I think one thing I love the most is that your experience comes from your Triumphs and Dooms...even epic failures help to define you, as you and your legend grows over time. Be Epic. High Valor wants you to. Don't kill a monster and take its stuff, risk life and limb to destroy an elder troll terrorizing the region, and take its head as a warning to all other foul creatures...and if it happens to rip your eye out? Then your legend is even more epic. The setting is dark, but not TOO dark...providing a growing storm of evil, sure, but you're expected to fight it *and win*. To boot, Tim Kirk seems dead set on making books that stand alone, so if you buy this? All you need is this...plus, the system is incredibly easy to convert to, since the monsters are basically one stat plus flavor text. Now, this isn't a highly tactical combat game...but it is a pretty damn awesome fantasy epic.

Buy the PDF at RPGnow, or the print version at Lulu.

INTERFACE ZERO (Gun Metal Games)

Why You Should Buy It: This is precisely what Savage Worlds settings could (and, IMHO, should) be. I'm not saying that every Savage Setting needs to ape Interface Zero, I'm saying that publishers shouldn't be afraid to make their game. Gun Metal Games does not hesitate to provide you with new Hacking rules, Cyberspace, cybernetics and the single coolest equipment chapter I have read since, well, Pinnacle released a whole book for Deadlands (both the Interface Zero equipment chapter and the Deadlands book - Smith & Robards - are written as catalogs). I'm also a sucker for random tables, as anyone that reads my reviews should know, and so not only does Gun Metal Games provide an adventure generator, but they also provide a random Bounty generator! The crazy part is that as comprehensive as this book is (at 300 pages), there is still a TON of room for development! Psychics will be coming this year, and publisher David Jarvis has been hyping it pretty heavily over on the Savage Worlds forums at www.peginc.com, if you wanna check that out. Also, Gun Metal Games and Silver Gryphon Games have announced that we will be getting an "Interface Zero" version of the latter's Wellstone City...and given the people involved, combined with the Savage Worlds system, I can't feature it not being twelve shades of awesome. In the meantime, get IZ and get acquainted with a world where life is cheap, especially if you were born in a vat (or built from the ground up).

Buy the PDF at RPGNow.

Leverage (Margaret Weis Productions)

Why You Should Buy It: Oh, man, what a year these guys had, and all because of two releases: Smallville and Leverage. Smallville was a GREAT game...but I'm not a fan of the show. Leverage was a GREAT game, and I AM a fan of the show. However, making a faithful adaptation of the show wouldn't have been enough to make the list. And luckily, they did more than that: Sure, you can run the Leverage crew, no problem...and you can build your own crew from the ground up. However, the book walks you through basically every step necessary to set up your world and run your game, including (YES!) random generators for making Jobs for your Crew to take! When I read the quickstart, I was excited, but scared to death: I mean, seriously, how in the heck do you run LEVERAGE as an RPG? For me, it seemed awfully daunting...and then came one of the best GMing chapters I have ever read. At that point, I was mostly just sad not to have the opportunity to run it right now. Great concepts get mangled in translation all the time, but Margaret Weis Productions took this opportunity and knocked it out of the park. Just an amazingly well-written rulebook and a phenomenal translation of the TV show.

Buy the PDF at RPGnow, or order the hardcopy from Margaret Weis Productions.

War of the Dead Chapter One (Daring Entertainment)

Why You Should Buy It: One of the most ambitious projects ever released for Savage Worlds, War of the Dead is a four part, epic campaign beginning on a simple cruise ship and changing the world forever. This is the zombie apocalypse come to Savage Worlds in a way that Zombie Run could never have been. Chapter One is the first thirteen weeks of the campaign, taking your hapless, Novice characters from their life-changing cruise, back to land, including a conflict with a ruthless biker gang and relative safety in one of the remaining refuges left. The world is familiar and filled with inside references to famous zombie creators like George Romero and Robert Kirkman, but most importantly, Lee Szczepanik understands the strengths of the system he is writing for, filling adventures with massive battles against zombie hordes that would have GMs pulling their hair out under many systems. Also, I'm a big fan of how many of the episodes feature random encounter charts, using card draws, specialized for the location and situation. Plus, of the books on this list, the support for War of the Dead absolutely blows the other picks away, with freebie adventures that fill the gap between Chapter One and Chapter Two, as well as one of the coolest sets of paper miniatures I have seen in The Paper Dead, including a printable RV with "anti zombie" attachments! If you like The Walking Dead or Night of the Living Dead, and wanna play something like it, this is it, right here. Chapter Two is in the home stretch now, and has even eclipsed Chapter One in some ways, though it has never failed to live up to the promise of Chapter One, even at its low points, in my opinion. I admit, when this project was first announced, I threw up my shoulders with a resounding "eh"...but going on nearly twenty six installments now (not even counting the free adventures), and Daring Entertainment has produced a Savage Worlds campaign with some amazing promise, as well as a scope rarely seen in this genre (again, The Walking Dead is the closest thing that comes to mind).

Buy the PDF at RPGnow, or order the print version from Cubicle 7.

Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade (Third Eye Games)

Why You Should Buy It: I like superheroes, high fantasy, zombies, Leverage...I'm not BIG into cyberpunk, but I'll try anything in Savage Worlds. I kinda hate most anime, and I'm just not into oriental mysticism/mythology/history, etc. So why is Wu Xing here? Because I am not into those things and this book just stood out as one of the coolest books I have read in recent memory, perhaps ever. I had no real experience with Third Eye Games before this year, though I did get Apocalypse Prevention Inc. in the Haiti Bundle, but it kind of got lost in the shuffle when I was trying to download and read EVERYTHING. After Eloy Lasanta approached me about the game, I gave it an honest go, and really loved what I read there...so I checked out Wu Xing on the strength of API (which is right up my comfort zone, genre-wise)...what I found was a very cool, over the top, albeit westernized (to the annoyance of some, not me) martial arts fantasy epic.  The production is fairly light in this day and age, but that just means the book is filled with content. Plot hooks are all over the thing, and Third Eye Games doesn't truck in metaplots, meaning that if you want to expand something there and run with it, or answering one of the burning questions, there is no wrong answer and you are not likely to find something completely invalidated by a future book. All of the clans just come alive, and what could easily have been a rigid, "not much else to do" setting is instead loaded with intrigue and plot hooks. Any RPG that can take a genre I pretty much can't stand and make me go "oh, crap, I GOTTA play" is a big winner in my book. Wu Xing is just full of "cool".

Buy the PDF at RPGnow (where Wu Xing is also listed as Print on Demand option for those who have it available) or pick up the print version at Beautiful Brains Books & Games.

And now, the cool part:

These six publishers have pledged to give you, dear readers, a chance to win PDFs of these games, as part of the "Thank you" for reading the blog and the reviews of their fine games. Here are the prizes:

- Three (3) PDF copies of BASH Ultimate Edition (awarded separately) -OR- a Basic Action Games PDF of your choice, if you already own BASH.
- A PDF copy of High Valor.
- A PDF copy of Interface Zero plus a poster-sized PDF of the cover.
- Three (3) PDF copies of the Leverage RPG.
- A complete War of the Dead Chapter One PDF bundle, including the entire War of the Dead Chapter One, The Paper Dead and all of the Freebies released to date, everything you need (except for the Savage Worlds rules) in order to jump into Chapter Two.
- A PDF copy of Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade.

To enter, simply send me an e-mail to tommyb(a)sstelco(dot)com, with the subject (minus the quotes) "Happy Birthday Blog", listing your order of preference for the prize. Once I have closed entries by 11:59 PM Central Time on January 15th, I will use a randomizer to determine the winners...#1 gets their first choice, #2 gets their first available choice (their first choice if it wasn't taken, second if it was, and so on). If you are wanting a BASH PDF that isn't Ultimate Edition, specify it in the e-mail.

Thank you all so much for reading this blog, thanks to Michael Wolf at Stargazer's World, whose shoutout helped spike my blog traffic immensely over the summer, thank you to the Top Six publishers for the prize support for this giveaway, thank you to every publisher who gave me product to review over this last year, and thank you to Sean Patrick Fannon of RPGnow for allowing me in the affiliate program, which literally allowed me to make it to and from work when I started a new job last summer and otherwise had *nothing* to put in my gas tank.

Next up on the slate: A few products that were exceptional, but why I didn't pick them for the Top Six, reviews of the Squawk RPG as well as Dust Devils Revenged, an overall look back on 2010, some WWE thoughts for old times sake, probably a full on review of Smackdown vs Raw, the Legendary installment of Savage Worlds Characters Are All The Same, the new Supers version of it, and a look at RPGnow's new Print on Demand program (as I was apparently one of the last ones in the pilot program to get my book...despite ordering two hours after it launched).

Thank you, have a Happy New Year, and come back soon!

Tommy

Tommy's Black Friday/Cyber Monday RPG Buyer's Guide

I'm not telling you EVERYTHING for sale out there...I'm just telling you about the awesome stuff out there that I think you should take advantage of:

Arc Dream is running a big sale for another week, including Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick Manor and the Monsters and Other Childish Things Pocket Edition, which are collectively only $21 - in print. Dreadful Secrets is an AMAZING book, and if you've been curious about ORE (at least the Monsters version), then jump on this. Dreadful Secrets is high on my "wanna try" queue.

Third Eye Games is offered deep discounts on the PDFs of Wu Xing and Apocalypse Prevention Inc. These are two of the best RPG corebooks I saw this year, and $10 is a steal.

Gun Metal Games is offering a half-off sale, and I urge you to take advantage of this and get Interface Zero for Savage Worlds while this offer is in effect. A tremendous cyberpunk setting and only $8 this weekend.

Reality Blurs has two standout products that I must mention alongside their regular sales items, namely Iron Dynasty and Realms of Cthulhu. You can get their PDFs deeply discounted at RPGnow, through the links I have provided, or you can visit their website and find great print deals as well.

Daring Entertainment, makers of one of the best and most ambitious Savage Worlds products I have had the pleasure of reading, is unleashing a War of the Dead Holiday bundle, featuring Chapters One and Two, plus The Paper Dead. And if you already have one or more of those products, they are all being reduced by the bundle amount for your buying pleasure.

Adamant Entertainment is offering all of their PDFs for only $1, so if you've wanted to check out ICONS, now is the time (and take advantage of the great stuff by Misfit Studios, Radioactive Ape Designs and Vigilance Press as well), plus I DEFINITELY recommend getting Thrilling Tales for Savage Worlds.

Silver Gryphon Games is also running a sale, you should be able to get their Wellstone City setting, a Savage Worlds Sin City-ish set-up, for $1.50 and all of their Wellstone adventures (as well as non-Wellstone adventures like the Pine Ridge Horror) for only $1!

UPDATE: Divine Madness Press has Fight! The Fighting Game RPG on sale for $9 right now, and it is a great treatment of the fighting game genre. Well worth it if you've ever thought about mixing fighting games and RPGs.

Savage Mojo has slashed prices on their awesome Shanghai Vampocalypse, as well as their newest entry in their Suzerain setting, Caladon Falls. I haven't read Caladon Falls, but Vampocalypse is a GREAT high-stakes Savage Worlds setting.

Spectrum Games has also cut Slasher Flick and Cartoon Action Hour Season 2 to $9.99 each, both of which are highly recommended, as Cynthia Celeste Miller is a master of genre emulation.

Also, from now until January 5th, you can get 20% off of the following PDFs:

Weird War II Player's Guide [Pinnacle Entertainment]

Adventurer's Guide to Cthonia [Alea Publishing]

ArcheTech Special Report: An Assortment of Armor [Cracked Mirror Publishing]

Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade [Third Eye Games]

Martial Cultures: the Daikort Pack [Chaotic Shiney Productions]

Legend of the Five Rings (4th Edition) [AEG]

Dungeon Dwellers (Rev. 2nd Edition) [Empty Room Studios]

Fuzzy Heroes (2nd Edition) [Inner City Games]

Ave Molech (2nd Edition) [Morbidgames]

Book of Alignment (OGL/Pathfinder) [Emerald Press]

All you have to do is use the coupon code Holiday2010BPCX at checkout.

Enjoy!

Tommy's Take on Interface Zero: Savage Worlds Edition

Holy smokes.

Interface Zero: Savage Worlds Edition is my first experience with Gunmetal Games, and they know how to set up a PDF.

Full bookmarked, fully searchable, layered, with a table of contents AND extensive index, each of which are ALSO fully clickable. Even at 300 pages, there is no reason not to be able to navigate all around this PDF with ease...so, strong first impression right there. The book is black and white, with some nice, atmospheric pieces of art.

I'm not gonna lie...I don't have a ton of experience with cyberpunk role playing, but attaching it to Savage Worlds is a great way to get me hooked, as I would try pretty much anything at least once under Savage Worlds.

INTRODUCTION

The introduction starts with a three(!) page glossary of common lingo in the world of Interface Zero in 2088. Some of it is lingo being used now "n00b"...others, like TAP, are native to Interface Zero. (TAP is a microchip stuck inside everyone's head...or pretty much everyone, at least). I won't go into massive detail here, but yeah, three pages of lingo. For a casual game, might be a bit much...but it is aided by, again, some common terms that exist today, as well as common terms from cyberpunk fiction.

The opening fiction is nice, too...with an artificial life form waking up. Sets the stage very well and drew me right in.

HISTORY 101

This is the timeline of events, starting from 2010 and ending in 2088, to show where the world went to pot. It chronicles the rise of the corporations, which is hasted by the collapse of governments. We get the standard "oil bad" argument, though I did like how eco-terrorists only made it worse by unleashing an oil eating bacteria.

In May of 2028, the Middle East finally erupts into a nuclear war...which in turn causes India to unleash nuclear weapons on Pakistan...which led to near cataclysmic fallout that ultimately killed about 1/7th of the population.

Rising sea levels push population centers inward, and about ten years later, the world comes out of The Death (as the fallout was called) changed...but intact. In 2060, the US finally gets a President from Oklahoma, but of course he's a tyrant who wants to rule with an iron fist, sparking a new civil war.

Humans are replaced in the workforce by simulacrums...but economic conditions have not improved to where humans can afford NOT to work...thus people are scraping by, starving, and blaming simulacrum for it.

Through all of this, humanity is not only gradually expanding into space, but they are expanding into virtual reality and "hyper reality" as well.

This is just a VERY broad generalization of the world's history, which runs about 11 pages, in well-written, easily digestible "Timeline" format.

Once we hit 2088, the book goes into greater detail, through the voice of "Billy Black Eyes", who tells us about the world as it is today.

We learn that due to modern technology, the rich are functionally immortal, while the poor are pretty much screwed. The middle class has vanished, and you're either wealthy, or you're living on ugly, dirty streets.

Also, remember that part about how the rich are functionally immortal? It's because they are allowed to "dub" themselves...making back-up copies of themselves, essentially.

"Humanity" now encompasses humans, Humans 2.0, simulacrums, hybrids and androids, all of which we will get into later.

Genetic engineering is commonplace, from people who rewrite their DNA for the traits that they prefer (plastic surgery to the next level), to people who are spliced with animal DNA to become human-animal hybrids.

Parts of the world are also pushing for the Omega Protocols, which would help prevent the fear that an AI would evolve beyond human understanding, and essentially become a bigger threat to humanity than anything before it. Many nations are skeptical...I can see how that would be a problem.

The virtual world is accessed through the TAP, which virtually everyone has implanted in them, and which is also called "Interface Zero"...if that tells you how important the TAP is to the game.

Finally, in 2088 people with psychic powers have suddenly emerged...and no one is quite sure why they are how they are, with theories being that they were genetically engineered, or that they had latent abilities awoken by their TAP.

The history section is very atmospheric, and does a nice job setting the stage for the nihilistic dystopia of Interface Zero.

SYSTEMS OF CONTROL

These are some of the setting rules for Interface Zero, starting with the combat system, which uses the grittier rules of The Moscow Connection, meaning that no one can make soak rolls! As well, a character can become Incapacitated off of a single wound!

Next, we get to Cyberware, which comes in four "grades": Gutterware, Streetware, Hyperchrome and
Milware, inn ascending order of worth. If you need cyberware, you can get the cheap stuff...but there will almost certainly be consequences.

Rather than just having a list of items, IZ provides a list of effects...you can add effects onto each piece of cyberware, but over a certain point, you have to start adding defect points. And the cheapie stuff starts off with defects anyway.

The effects come in three levels, with level 1 providing such diminishing the chance of hitting an innocent or ally with firearms, redundant organs, night visions optics and +1 sub-dermal armor. Level 2 effects include emotion blockers (resisting Taunts and Tricks), personal airbags(!) and retractable claws. Level 3 effects include jump jets, a vehicle control interface and chameleon skin.

Defect points are penalties to cybertrauma rolls, which come up when your cyberparts get banged around. A handful of sample cybernetics are included as well.

From there, we get a list of the Edges and Hindrances that are removed from the setting (like anything arcane), as well as details on how some of the existing edges have been modified.

Connections, for example, are a much bigger deal in this setting than they are in a lot of others.

I won't go into heavy detail on the Hacking rules, but this is where we learn a lot about the TAP, Hyper Reality (the computer reality overlaid onto the real world) and Virtual Reality (the cyberworld). I have to admit that this took a couple of readings, due mostly to outside distractions combined with all of the specific terminology used. One thing that I thought was very cool, though, is that IZ uses Hyper Reality to explain "Hollywoood Hacking"...that is, a good hacker in Interface Zero can hack pretty much *anything*, including vehicles and weapons. In fact, reality is pretty maleable for a great hacker, due to the Hyper Reality overlay.

The Street Cred rules help govern how you can call on your connections and gain assistance from them, with every character getting two free favors per rank, plus one for every 10 Street Cred points they have. Characters can call in more than that, but their reputation starts taking a hit over that.

A handy chart is provided showing Street Cred modifiers.

Speaking of handy charts, the chapter ends with a handy cheat sheet of all the Hacking/Cyber Combat/Programming rules.

CHARACTER CREATION

IZ starts the character creation chapter off a little different than the normal Savage Worlds book. Rather than targeting character concepts, it encourages you to approach the group concept first, along with common themes for those groups, and THEN individual concepts. Some of the group concepts include gang members, military, troubleshooters and hackers.

Character creation is pretty standard stuff, beginning with race...and yes, there is more than just human.

Yes, you can play a Human, which follows the standard rules.

Androids are an option, and they have the Construct monstrous ability.

Humans2.0 are the genetically bred humans...and they may be a bit much. In their racial abilities, they have four "pros" to two "cons"...I could see the argument for dropping the free Edge for Humans2.0, with everything else they get.

Hybrids are pretty cool, being a mix of human and animal DNA. It is essentially the Fantasy Race creation rules, though you are meant to hew to a specific animal theme. Luckily, a series of packages for common animals are also provided. Although, Hybrids gain a free Edge on top of everything else and, again, I'm not sure I would allow that myself.

A simulacrum is a biological construct designed for work, recreation or combat.

Hacking is officially added as a Skill, and it makes sense given how prevalent it is in the setting.

One new step is Occupations...you are expected to name your character's job, which determines their starting credits, as well as the amount of credits gained with each Advance. Additionally, suggested contacts and Edges are listed for each profession.

Several new Edges are present, such as Emancipated, which frees an Android, Simulacrum or Hybrid from their owner. Gun-Fu Edges give you some neat tricks when using Guns in close combat, with Gun-Fu Legend allowing you to Aim while moving! Several IZ-specific professional Edges are present, as is a list of Hacking Edges.

Three Hindrances are included, and two of them are HUGE: Unplugged (you start without a TAP!) and Shell Shock (you start every combat Shaken!)

A handy summary table of all of the new Edges and ends the chapter.

I dig the races, although I would definitely cut out the Free Edge for everthing that isn't a baseline human or Simulucram. A free Edge is incredibly versatile, so to have that as well as other Kewl Stuff is a bit much.

GEAR

I love this chapter...not because I'm a die-hard gear junky, but because it is written as a "Malmart 2088 Spring Catalogue". Every item gets its stats...but in goofy, over the top, catalogue entry form.

My favorite armor is, by far, the Executive Decision Business Suit: A business suit that provides armor protection AND a potential bonus to the Exec's first attack while wearing it (if they are taking the opponent by surprise).

The Butterfly Sword, Chain Sword and Rockeet Hammer are all pretty impressive in the mail order weapons department.

The guns are absolutely frightening, ESPECIALLY with the lack of Soak Rolls. I mean we are talking some craziness, like pistols doing 2d8 damage to small burst templates.

Experimental energy weapons are also available, as is a large listing of vehicles from cars, to motorcycles to hovercraft.

A selection of Golemmechs is included, which is the IZ term for mecha. A list of standard features starts it off, and then five specific mechs are presented.

Malmart also "sells" cyberware from a variety of dealers, including Doc Pango, a street doc who is going global and sells "affordable" cyberwear...just, you know, good luck with that.

A handful of drugs follow, complete with addiction rules. To make it doubly bad, you can gain noticeable benefits from drugs...providing a compelling reason to use them in certain circumstances. Not a huge deal if you have a high enough Spirit, though, in some cases.

The Gear chapter veers into some nice "flavor" entries, like Dominator Pizza, which puts their delivery people through a rigorous, 13 week training camp under grueling conditions so that they can make sure you get your pizza in the urban sprawl in under 30 minutes.

It's also good to know that, in the future, Deadlands is an incredibly popular MMO...and I gotta say, this gave me the crazy idea of having...something...come through the MMO into reality for an IZ game. Stone, maybe? NAH...that would be far, far too much.

The Gear chapter is very extensive, with a lot of examples of each type of entry, yet written in an interesting manner (while still being easy to find the relevant game mechanics). I'm not one to out and out cheer for an equipment chapter, but this was very nicely done, providing some cool, over the top options in an entertaining manner.

WORLD OVERVIEW

The chapter begins with the Central African Union whose story is, honestly, kinda inspiring. After oil collapsed, Africa was left to fend for itself...and rather than die out due to AIDS and poverty, it got tore down and then rebuilt itself as a viable power in the world.

Simulacrum in South Africa are treated to the worst of the racism and slavery that blacks suffered under the South African rule...this opens up some interesting arguments for a game set in and around the Central African Union, though they are some touchy subjects.

The Chinese Mandarinate is the top superpower in the world, but rules entirely by economic power and not military power, having decommissioned their military and now propping up the states under their rule. They have also been working heavily on a solution for the population issue, by attempting to genetically engineer children that will lose all gender characteristics at puberty.

Techno-Shogunate Japan is home to the world's oldest living human population, with a workforce made up almost entirely from simulacrum, which outnumber the humans in Japan now. However, the simulacrum bred in Japan are also the most "human" Simulacra out there, as they are not raised ENTIRELY in tanks.

The Greater Eurasian Union doesn't sound too shabby...with boredom apparently being the biggest problem. Although human nature + boredom does tend to = bad news.

The India League became a series of city-states after the nuclear fallout hit and pretty much killed farming, and India has also become THE entertainment capital of the world over the last 20 years, especially when California finally completely collapsed.

The Middle East is more peaceful than it has ever been...mostly because it is a radioactive wasteland.

North America has gone from three countries to nine, as the US, Canada and Mexico have all broken apart into smaller countries in the wake of the changes over the last several years.

Oceania are the island countries of the Pacific, where many people fled to as the rest of the world was collapsing, including the man-made island MU - so named as a tribute to the mythical Atlantis.

Brazil has come to largely dominate South America in most ways...and outside forces seem to be bitter at just how little Brasilia seems to have suffered.

The Free City of Chicago is covered in detail, as an example of the Free Cities in what used to be the US right now. Chicago has grown in size, and is now divided into four major sectors.

Central Chicago is home to the business district, as well as the Gold Coast, designed for the affluent. It also houses the Eden Complex, which was meant to be an underground population center, but the criminal elements have begun to overrun it, and it is now "Coffin City".

The North Side is Neo Suburbia, a place you can go to escape the craziness of the inner city.

The South Side is also known as Urban Hell, and is actually outside of what used to be Chicago proper, as the former Gary, Indiana is smack in the middle of Urban Hell.

Last is the Wild, Wild West side...which is still a nicer place to be than the South Side. Chicago has a 48% unemployment rate, which also means there's a pretty big crime rate. Several street gangs are mentioned in this section, starting with the Chrome Reapers, who will jack your cyberwear...yeah, out of your body.

Of course, there is no police force any longer...just contracted security forces. Well, there is the Chicago Defense Force...but they are only deployed for ABSOLUTE emergencies.

The chapter also covers the major corporations and entertainment sections of Chicago, providing a lot of good information for launching a campaign set in Chicago, or using it as a template for your own Free Cities.

GAME MASTER SECTION

A lot of the information here is pretty standard stuff for a GMing section, although the "conflict" section is nice, as it gets into some of the broader conflicts available in a cyberpunk setting, like Reality vs Virtual Reality, Megacorps vs Megacorps and so on.

A large section is devoted to controlling cash flow in your game, which is a much bigger deal here than in a lot of games, as cash can rule EVERYTHING. In fact, a handy table is provided that not only breaks down the common jobs for each character rank, but the standard payouts for those jobs. A number of tips are also provided for keeping available money down, including guidelines for "Cost of Living" expenses to be deducted from the characters' cash balances.

While there is a LOT of great advice for capturing the bleak, cyberpunk "feel"...I absolutely love the Random Adventure Charts.

Seriously...very little fills me with joy like Random charts. Using d12s, you can generate a Contractor for the job, the Mission itself, Urban or non-Urban locations, the MacGuffin (if needed, this is an object that is at the center of some missions), Innocents (in some missions, someone may be endangered), the Antagonist, Twists and Complications, and Dramatic Conflict (optional, but awesome).

A Domain Generator is also present, for rolling up a network on the fly, when the PCs start hacking into something you hadn't prepared for, with a decent list of sample domains, just in case.

SAVAGE TALES

Savage Tales are short adventures, and IZ includes 11 of them, spread among Japan, the Eurasian Union, The India League, The Middle East and North America.

Among the eleven tales are WIDE range of missions and objectives, showing off both the quirks of the setting and the breadth of options available for adventures. My personal favorite starts off with a simple "seek and destroy", but actually involves a group of awakened Dubs...although the mission to keep Hollywood from rising again is pretty cool, too.

In addition, 21 adventure hooks are included, which can be used as inspiration or expanded into their own adventures.

Finally, a Bounty Generator is included, which starts with rolling for the target, their crime, the location, the target's true disposition (guilty/innocent/complicit) and notoriety (the amount of the bounty).

Did I mention I love random charts?

THREATS

These are the relevant game stats for the things your PCs are liable to have to fight (or team with).

Bio-Horrors are up first, and include Beetle Rats, Cyber Sharks, Toxic Roaches and - yes - random generators for making your own bio-horrors.

Also included are three sets of stock stats for Cyborgs (including one Wild Card), three types of Gang Members (with a Wild Card), three common Hackers, three Ismist Activists with a Wild Card terrorist leader, three stock Law Enforcement officers, three stock Simulacra, four military sets with two Wild Cards, standard criminal Mooks with two Wild Card underground types, and a number of catch-all stats like Bounty Hunters, Bloggers, Detectives and Media Icons.

Five AI programs are included as well, all Wild Cards, with Subsentient Programs that are almost always Extras.

The book ends with the fully clickable Index, a Campaign Tracker sheet, a printable sheet of Favor Counters, a page for Program and Domain cards, NPC stat cards and a two page character sheet.

THOUGHTS

Impressively comprehensive.

I do have three gripes: I really think the Free Edge is either given out too often OR, and this may be radical, I would recommend giving baseline humans two Free Edges. Why? Well, the setting is so lethal anyway, why not? And it does give humans a very compelling ability against everyone else. Just a thought. I would definitely give it a go as-written first before changing anything.

There is a ton of terminology to get used to, so I did have to do a bit of re-reading...but that's something I would get used to over time.

Finally, there is a bit devoted to talking about the emergence of the Psions...and they are not mentioned anywhere else in the book. My understanding is that the Psion splat it meant to be the first supplement for IZ, but SOMETHING in this book, even NPC guidelines (saving the PC option for the splatbook), would have been great.

On the flip side: Seriously, between searchability, clickable index and table of contents, plus bookmarks? There is no reason not to be able to find something in this 300 page tome. At ALL. Just an amazing bit of work there.

And, as I noted above, there is just a TON of material in here. Stats, Edges, information, fluff, rules, jeez...just an incredibly loaded book that's easy to navigate around to boot...and seriously, I LOVE random charts...the random adventure generator here may even be better than the one for Thrilling Tales. I don't know how to praise it any higher than that.

If you like Savage Worlds and cyberpunk, there is no reason not to buy this. There is plenty of information here that you can use to get a game going, and the setting is broad enough that you have a LOT of options to play around with for your campaigns. On top of it, there is plenty of room for expansion in future releases.