Surveys and PDFs are on the way!
about 5 years ago – Tue, Mar 05, 2019 at 07:32:05 PM

Hello friends! Happy update today: We'll be sending out Surveys very shortly where you can fill in your shipping information, make any additions, plus get your (current version) PDF download! 

Keep an eye out over the next day or so for the Backerkit surveys hitting your inbox, and be sure to reach out if there's any questions or issues! The Surveys should remain open through the end of April for any changes needed. 

Also for people who weren't able to back in time, we have our Late Backer store too. It will allow you to preorder the book and tokens as well, or for people who didn't discover our campaign to join in as well. https://zoneraiders.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

On the side too, the Facebook community has several folks showing off their Zone Raiders projects for playing the First Encounter Demo, or looking forward to full games with their local groups! Check out some of these inspiring works by our lovely supporters :)

You guys are knocking it out of the park already! Well, now until till next update. And once again, if there's any issues with Late Backing or the Survey, please message and we'll try to get back within a day. Thanks!

Next Steps: Survey and PDF Coming Soon
about 5 years ago – Fri, Feb 22, 2019 at 12:10:02 AM

Hi everyone!

Time for our first post-campaign update. We'll be aiming to stay in regular touch as said before, so this'll be our kickoff. We'll keep it focused for now, since I know you guys are looking forward to the game as are we!

So as a quick heads up, we'll be getting the Post-KS Fulfillment Survey sent out to you all once Kickstarter has finished their processing steps which they say may take up to another week and a half. I hope it wraps up sooner, but it's on them and we're readily waiting as well.

The survey will contain a way to ensure you have your most updated shipping and contact information available to us, as well as (for US currently, TBD on international) a way to add additional items or late pledges to your account. Also you'll be able to adjust details for a while until we have to lock things down closer to shipping in a few months. It will be sent to your email which is tied to your Kickstarter Account.

Also, the survey will include the link to access digital downloads for the PDF Rulebook as well, so you'll be able to start playing at that point onwards! 

This Kickstarter Campaign may be over, but may your campaigns in the world of Zone Raiders only just be beginning! 

That's a wrap! For now...
about 5 years ago – Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 11:30:20 AM

That's a Wrap...

Wow. This has been an incredible experience in speaking with you all, from the pre-Kickstarter fans, through the people we've met at conventions and then this last go through you all during the campaign. It's been wonderful seeing your enthusiasm and support for what we're trying to create for our greater tabletop community, and we've made a lot of friends on the way here.

In that, we have to thank you each and every one. With your outpouring of support, we've made not only this book and ruleset possible for publication, but also the follow-up expansion material and support for the future! It's often the dream of a gamer to contribute back to the greater community, and you have made this dream into a reality.

What's Next?

Of course, our work isn't done yet. We'll be wrapping up on the Survey and getting that sent to you all as soon as we can right after. The PDF Rules will be available for download shortly afterwards, and we'll get the wheels in motion to get your books and components to you! For you Posthuman Ascendant level backers, we'll get in contact separately as well and send you our early thanks!

In the meanwhile as the machinery kicks up to production, we'll remain in contact with periodic updates.

And once again...

Final Stretch! 16 hours left!
about 5 years ago – Mon, Feb 18, 2019 at 10:20:55 PM

Looking Back, but Staying on Target!

With less than 16 hours left to go, time for one last short update update. 

We're closing in steady on that final goal of making the fantasy supplement, tentatively titled Shattered Legends intoan open beta to be pursued later in the year. In the meanwhile, you've unlocked free silhouette tokens, artwork prints, additional Co-Op Missions, a Full Co-Op Campaign, and 4 New Factions with all the assorted rules and options they're sure to come with plus many pages of fiction still on our writing desk. That's a lot of things, stemming from the support from you all.

It's already impressive looking at what people are looking to do within the game with the enthusiasm and spirit that makes this our hobby, and we look forward to seeing more innovation ahead. Be sure to check out also the new Facebook Fan Group which was kindly sent to us for more as well!

We'll be answering questions as long as we can in the comments, so do feel free to keep posting more! And after that, we'll be seeing you, both in these last hours and as part of a new community afterwards. See you on the other side!

New Stretch Goal Met, 4 New Factions and the Doctrines System
about 5 years ago – Sun, Feb 17, 2019 at 11:45:47 PM

Hello fellow Zone Survivors, it's time for another update!

We've cleared the 17,500 mark for pledges, meaning we now have unlocked a new stretch goal! 4 New Factions for a future expansion, added to the additional co-op missions unlock from earlier. Next up is the level that opens up a whole new campaign, with narrative co-op and branching missions.

Although we don't have art yet, come take a peek into some potential teams in the last cut for these 4 new factions we'll introduce. After that, we'll do a brief foray into the Doctrines System of our campaign, where your teams can develop unique advancements to reflect their chosen styles of survival and institutional experience gained.

Expansion Factions

Moto-Runners - While most Raid Teams can potentially employ the power of a Mechanized Vector (a large single-pilot mecha unit), dedicated Moto-Runner Teams from industrialized societies take to the field with multiple, highly customized variants of these machines. Each can be equipped with unique systems, and even fight and operate with the operator aboard or dismounted.

Gameplay wise, this team can field multiple Mechanized Vectors, which count as two raiders! They feature three actions when piloted but can only move in straight line movements to represent reduced agility. The Moto-Runners Faction is perfect to represent a whole squad of powerful 40,50, 55mm or larger mecha-suits and their pilots, who can dismount to use special gear or fight along side their auto-pilot activated rides! The team gains access to unique systems and multiple types of chassis for their Vectors.

Biokriegers - Conceived as the ultimate bioweapon by reverse engineering ancient artifact technology, the biomechanical bodies called Biokriegers wield differing abilities and exotic power. Their exact nature varies from host-fused techno-organisms to a shell remotely controlled by a distant consciousness, but each is a deadly master of combat sent out by their leaders into the Zone to achieve agendas unknown.

In Gameplay, Biokriegers pick from very specialized classes and come pre-equipped with their bio-armors. They have potent mobility and unique powers, but lack numbers and must rely on striking hard and fast for success. Each class will have a notable weakness one must play around... though a sufficiently experienced Biokrieger may unlock hidden powers not otherwise available.

Rogue Immunocytes - Untold numbers of Immunocytes lurk within the darkened sectors of Matrioshka, each single-minded in their purpose of eliminating sentient life... and in those ranks, a tiny fraction have become something else. Some have malfunctioned and strayed from their original role to achieve true sentience, becoming as much the hunted as living beings. Others have outright evolved beyond their programming, taking on their own agendas or beliefs. In any case, they still bear bodies capable of brutal combat and are as much survivors of a hostile world as any other survivor.

During a game, Rogue Immunocytes (RIs for short) have many of the characteristics of normal Immunocytes: Great resistance to hazards and damage, and abilities that benefit them interacting with Zone Technology. However, their abhorrent nature makes them the preferred target of their non-rogue counterparts. They select new programming themes to reflect what each RI Unit thinks, which both restrict and enhance their abilities as to what their newfound independence lets them do and what it does not.

Outcasts - Not all who venture into the Zone are agents of their own societies or tribes with a greater purpose. Some are ad-hoc collections of survivors, exiles and undesirables cast into the Zone. A few are orphans of Raid Teams or civilizations wiped out by the horrors within Matrioshka. As the impetus for survival defeats all, they have few options but to band together with their own strange fellows to create bands of like-minded individuals that will do anything to avoid extinction.  

In Game, Outcasts are able to field a number of raiders representing different factions as well as unique survivors of their own. Their doctrines are based around their ramshackle nature, giving them distinct abilities centered around jury rigging a solution to whatever problem is at hand. 

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These are the current lead candidates in theme and rulemaking for our next 4 Factions. We'll give more info in the future for sure as development, playtesting and art all progress along towards their natural conclusion!

Doctrines in Zone Raiders

Developing your Raid Team across a campaign allows the whole team to grow, not just each member. This represents the group gaining experience and institutional knowledge, tactics and infrastructure that makes them greater than the sum of their parts. We call these advancements 'Doctrines', which can be unlocked as a team develops across missions.

A newly formed team has no Doctrines. But as the team gains TECH, BIO and TACTICS Resources, it's able to better use these to advance what it knows and how it operates. These differentiate how even two teams from the same faction play as time goes on, and allows teams to adapt to the changing situation they face in your campaign.

Let's take a look at an example: Doctrines available for the Technomads. There are 12 additional universal doctrines that any team may take as well, but we'll focus on these faction-specific options. A Team may swap out their doctrines for a small fee, and can have up to three active at once.

Strip for Parts - This represents a team willing to waste nothing in situations of limited resourcing. Any excess gear can be disassembled to raw resources, and repurposed for other uses

Refined Mag-Rails - Superconductors are easily found in the Zone if you know where to look. This represents technically crafty Technomad Tribes able to acquire such, and apply them to enhance the common Mag Driver family of weapons with superior range.

Engram Retention - Ancient and traditional technology this Technomad group employs allows them to recover the memories and personality of a deceased ancestor as an engram chip. Another Raider of the group can carry these memories into battle with them in their mind, granting them a skill or proficiency that was once the specialty of the fallen.

Predictive Mobility - Melding perfectly mind and machine, these Technomads are able to move with their gear as if it were extensions of their own well-trained bodies. The act of deploying a grappling hook is as second nature as running to such experienced raiders able to instinctively predict how to swing on their explosively launched hooklines.

Guerrilla Tactics -  The Zone is no place for a standup fight for this group of Raiders. Hard training and tactical lessons have taught them how best to keep their head down and reload at the same time, making their hit-and-fade tactics all the more effective

Battle Language - In the heat of a shoot-out, there's no time for complex instructions. For tight knit Technomad bands with a stout leader however, even a few barked code-words can convey an entire tactical situation, allowing a team mate to exploit the opportunity at a moment's notice.

Each of these abilities enhance some aspect of the team, granting them more character and differentiation from other teams of their factions. Each Faction has 6 unique Doctrines of their own, ensuring their playstyles reflect their chosen themes.

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Well, that's all for now. We have 72 hours left in the campaign, and aim to finish strong. As always, thank you and goodnight!