An open-model skirmish game where players lead bands of dynamic survivors within a crumbling technological megastructure.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Last 48 hours, Solo/Co-op campaign, and <CLASSIFIED>
almost 6 years ago
– Sun, Feb 17, 2019 at 07:48:46 PM
Final 48 Hours, Solo/Co-Op Campaign Unlocked and the <CLASSIFIED>
It's been a thrilling ride into these last 48 hours of the 14-day sprint of a campaign, and we're pushing through strong! All of your support has brought us to unlock the full Solo/Cooperative narrative campaign in these last two days of our Kickstarter. I feel like I keep thanking everyone, but it's a sincere sentiment for you all. It's hard to overstate how grateful I am for your enthusiasm and spreading the word, even in this last stretch of time!
Now, onto cool new things! We've cleared the unlock for the Cooperative Campaign Expansion, adding a free expansion to combine much of what we've already unlocked. This one however, will be adding to the story and themes of Zone Raiders, creating a narrative that you can play through! We'll for sure feature new art and optional expansions for you to continue to enjoy in your games of Zone Raiders.
Like in some older video games and RPGs, the idea of a branching storyline always intrigued me. The idea that your actions, successes and failures did more than just win or lose in the moment, but had narrative impact. Like Choose your Own Adventure books we read as kids, it created a different kind of attachment to a narrative.
For the New Campaign (title yet forthcoming), we'll embrace much of these concepts. As you play with your partners through each mission, you'll have objectives and split decisions in the path as how to proceed. Did you attempt to intervene on behalf of that convoy of survivors under attack by the wild Immunocytes, or did you avoid them to continue on your own personal mission? What were the consequences of such?
By turning these into a branching chain of events played across multiple games, we can write epics that hopefully your play group will remember as fondly as any, to once again make our story into your story.
But what about the classified thing?
We want to continue supporting the game well after we launch, and looking to the future is part of that desire. We'll do community previews and freebies as the new content develops. With the new Factions, and Co-Op Mission Expansion, there's a lot to do there over the coming year!
Also, of course the instant the campaign is over, our top priority is to get things delivered to you all for what's here. Nothing we plan will derail the efforts to get what we have built up until now completed. The support up to the <<CLASSIFIED>> level means a great deal to us, and it allows us to work on bigger and better things.
That said, this means at that lofty stretch goal, we're going to do a Fantasy Standalone Expansion.
Tentatively called 'Shattered Legends', it will be a standalone capable partner expansion for Zone Raiders, compatible with the game system and full of new stories, art and rules. We'll deliver this as a staged beta in which you, our supporters, will have the opportunity to take part in and play for free starting hopefully late in the year with periodic updates and downloads. It's been an often asked about idea, and one that we had toyed with from the very beginning of developing Zone Raiders.
The goal of Shattered Legends is to expand the core gameplay into a new compatible genre, featuring a setting within Matrioshka itself of an isolated megastrata level of the huge structure disconnected from most of the Dataplane. Within this place, verdant kingdoms have arisen and lived in peace for generations, unaware of the nature of their greater world. But this quiet isolation is shattered by scattered arrivals from strange lands beyond, fleeing from the murderous Anathemas and sending the realms into chaos. With different factions, new rules, and powerful (spell)weaving, it'll be sure to be a different and equally ambitious game. Taking a twist of Clarkian magic with novel fantasy, it's an aspirational goal for us to deliver to you well after we make Zone Raiders into a reality.
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With that--- we're off for this update. It's short, but weighs greatly on our hopes for the future! Time to ride out the last 48 hours of our shared adventure. :)
Preview on Missions, Competitive and Co-Op/Solo Play!
almost 6 years ago
– Thu, Feb 14, 2019 at 10:55:18 AM
A new update for today! We'll take a quick look at what stretch goals are looking like for now, then peek into each of the ways to play missions within Zone Raiders!
First, it's been nothing short of humbling to see that we're now (as of writing), at 220% of our initial goal! Thank you all. This has unlocked an additional set of Co-Op missions beyond what's in the book and is ever so close to us being able to produce a future expansion introducing 4 new Factions! Beyond that... is of course the potential for a whole narrative Co-Op Campaign.
But thanks for now, and onto the meat of the update! Your main ways to play Zone Raiders, be it asymmetrical campaign or one-off missions, competitive mode missions, and Cooperative/Solo Missions!
Missions in Zone Raiders
Across a Campaign linking individual battles, you will acquire a number of ways to advance. Each game against an opponent will result in your Raiders gaining experience and advancements, potentially new artifact items, and resources which can be spent on new raiders or advancing your team's Doctrines, to unlock new abilities.
To make this strategic element matter, you can choose what mission to take for in a game. Each player privately selects a mission for their forces to play, which determines their objectives. Then, both players reveal their missions and set up the board accordingly! You can only score your mission, and whoever gets all of their 10 victory points, or whoever has the most points when no enemies remain wins.
This means that although we have 12 missions, that there's actually 144 possible combinations!
Example of Asymmetrical Missions
So let's take an example of this in action!
Two players bring their teams to a match of Zone Raiders in their local group's campaign. The NthGen player is low on supplies having taken losses in a previous match and saving up to buy extra special equipment for their team and replacement raiders to fill out their roster.
As a result, the NthGen player decides to take the Scavenging Run mission. This mission has both players alternating to place Scavenge Counters near the center of the board, and the players with the mission must pick up these counters and escape the board with them to win, either by running to the board edge or designating a clear extraction point mid-game. If they win, they'll gain Resource Units (RU) used to buy gear and units, as well as a random Supply Cache which could include special resources or rare equipment.
Meanwhile, the opposing Exanthropes Team has different need. They are doing better on RUs, but would rather advance their special Doctrines level and unlock new skills for their Raiders! The player elects to perform a more sophisticated mission: Data Mining.
In this scenario, Objective Data Nodes are placed in a specific shape on the board, including one in the center. The goal is to claim at least 3 of the objectives, download data from the center objective, then escape with this data! With the objective now in the center, the opposing player's scavenging field becomes a hazardous bottleneck where both players will vie for control.
As importantly, each Objective counts as a Data Node, so models with Interface Deck equipment can use them to hack into any randomly generated terrain, or project their digital presence as a Data Shadow to harass enemies with cyber-warfare.
Finally, should the Exanthrope player win, they can gain additional Team Resources and have a chance of gaining an Artifact Device: Uniquely potent gear that cannot be purchased.
Afterwards, both players reveal their objectives, set up the terrain required, then roll for random battlefield conditions. This could add new terrain such as neutral turrets, radiation hazards, or even the deadly Immunocyte Robots that will attack anyone who comes near!
Also note that different missions have different deployment requirements. Some have defined areas, while others require you to place all of your models on a board edge. A few missions even have your Team insert themselves with a vehicle or hidden tunnel deeper into the field before the action begins!
Competitive Mode
For those who want a more tightly matched competitive play, the players may play a competitive match as well! Much like a normal mission, two players will bring entry level teams against each other built with a certain amount of RU and costing a certain amount to purchase level upgrades. However unlike a campaign mission, both players will compete for the same scenario.
This mode of play is suited for competitive matches and tournaments, designed especially for those who enjoy that mode of play and exact fairness of contest.
Cooperative/Solo Mode
Cooperative Play is an innovative mode where one or more players combine their forces to take on a greater threat! Facing deadly Adversarial Intelligences (AIs), you fill out a limited number of Raiders together, in a manner compatible both as standalone games, or part of a campaign.
When setting up a Co-Op Mission, the players as a group select a single mission to attempt. Each mission has a set of objectives that must be completed in a certain way to win, such as capturing key objects, locating then freeing prisoners or holding off an overwhelming wave of enemies to allow civilians to escape. Different tactics can win the day, from using speed or force to beat the enemy, or alerting then luring guard patrols into traps or off on wild chases as a diversion.
There's an extensive section on Co-Op Play, but we'll try and summarize some of it's heart below.
Most commonly, the players will be taking part in a mission where they must balance stealth, speed, and In these types of Stealth-based missions, numbered Group Counters are put down as part of a mission's setup to represent the hidden location of an enemy patrol barely up on motion sensors. Some of these Groups are sentries that hold their ground, others are patrols that move about in random directions. A few dangerous enemy groups are hunters, who seek the direction of the nearest player model with their own tracking scanners.
Players can encounter the enemy by accidentally running into their counter and alerting them, or by stealthily spotting while well hidden in cover. Both of these reveals the enemy group and places their models on the board. If the players are detected, the enemies will activate together when their turn comes and attack. If the enemy is unaware and still patrolling, they will move in close formation, in contact with the group token and a perfect sitting duck for an ambush or explosive attack.
Each alerted enemy model then follows a basic behavior pattern: A tactically minded foe may move closer to cover and get a firing angle on players, before either firing or taking overwatch. Meanwhile a savage beast may charge as directly as possible to the nearest player, attempting to overwhelm them in melee. Because each enemy group is consisting of different types of models, this results in a challenging tactical problem for the team to defeat. When hit by attacks, each enemy will take a reaction behavior such as diving for cover, or even advancing closer in a berserk rage.
All of this in only a single type of mission that Zone Raiders can support. Future Co-Op may include as diverse scenarios as escaping a disaster befalling the field despite opposition, or striking repeatedly to hunt a giant monster that can only be defeated if weakened over successive traps and coordinated attacks.
Wow!
Another big update, but it sure was worth it to get the word out to you all. We've got 5 days left, and pushing through strong. Until next time, be well and stay safe!
Example Models, Building your Teams and Demo Rules!
almost 6 years ago
– Tue, Feb 12, 2019 at 07:08:22 AM
We're Back Safe and Sound!
So fortunately, the team's safely returned home from that fun show at LVO, and we're back with more info and updates! Special thanks to our neighbors at Arena Rex, Every Little War, Privateer Press and Broken Egg Games for being great neighbors and sharing our enthusiasm for the greater community. You guys all made it all the more interesting for sure.
Example Models
One thing that caught peoples' eyes at show were our miniatures display. These are all products of manufacturers within our community who were kind enough to grant us permission to use them in our imagery, and we thank them so much for that. But it highlights the detail, quality and care put into them by the many companies out there making them. That's one reason why we wanted to be open-model or model-agnostic, to allow for you to take any model you own and field them to represent your characters.
Choose your forces!
Each different model tells a story and has a life of it's own that we'd love to see our players take to the field against each other, or those evil AI opponents in co-op mode. To that, it brings us to our next point: Examples of what teams you can build in Zone Raiders to take on each other in competitive one-off matches, or to grow in narrative campaigns...
Building your Team
As we had mentioned previously when highlighting each faction, the group of models that you control is called a Raid Team, or Team for short. This is a collection of diverse characters who can be as straightforward or individually detailed as you like, possibly becoming so over the course of your missions!
Building a team is engaging and has the following steps:
1. Select Faction
The first choice in creating a Raid Team is choosing your faction. Your choice of faction determines what kinds of units you can recruit, the availability of exclusive faction gear, which faction special rule you will gain, and which doctrines will become available as the overall team gains collective experience.
Thematically, each faction serves as an archetype within the setting but can be easily adjusted to fit a theme you have in mind if you like their playstyle.
Consider what may appeal to you in choosing a faction, and think of what models inspire you:
Once you’ve selected a faction, it’s time to choose the Raiders that will make up your Raid Team’s membership. You start with 750 Resource Units (RU) to hire and equip, and need to spend them wisely. Most missions limit your deployment to 10 units without team upgrades.
Each faction has a different roster of units with different abilities and veterancy for you to choose from. Some rookie units are cheaper, with lower statlines but a greater promise to level-up quickly. Others are more expensive, representing already seasoned Raiders who have skills and stats to reflect your faction’s preferred styles.
Each Raider has the following statline:
Speed: Their ability to move quickly in combat
Shooting: Their ability to hit targets in ranged combat
Melee: Their ability to hit targets in hand to hand combat
Defense: The base level of armor protection and resilience to damage
Survival: The ability to resist hazards and stay in the fight when wounded
Aptitude: General perceptiveness, technical training, and tactical knowledge
Additionally, Raiders may start with or gain special skills through the campaign that allow them to do such actions as dual-wield weapons, expertly head shot foes, hack terminals, repair damaged armor, or better coordinate their teammates.
3. Buy Equipment
Once you’ve hired Raiders, they need to be equipped with weapons, armor and utility equipment so that they can stand a chance when fighting! Each Raider can equip one armor item, up to three weapons and up to three pieces of equipment. You can choose from your own faction exclusive list of gear as well as broader gear available to all factions.
Armor is vital in Zone Raiders. It is not only protection from combat, but from the hazardous environments and broken terrain found in the Zone. There are over a dozen types of armor, which provide bonuses to Defense, Survival, and special mobility actions such as climbing gear, grappling hooks or pneumatic jumping boots.
Because the Zone is a dangerous place, weapons are mandatory for those venturing into it. Weaponry ranges from single-shot mag drivers, scavenged railguns that need reloading between rounds, to volleys from automatic flechette rifles and shotguns. Exotic weapons are available to certain factions such as repurposed plasma cutters, concussive powered gauntlets or high-frequency swords.
Finally, you can choose utility equipment to round out a team’s capabilities and provide tactical options. You have options such as medical kits to heal the wounded or smoke canisters to provide concealment, plus advanced items like the Hardlight Generator: a forcefield device that can generate bridges or walls to affect the terrain.
4. Review Doctrines
At this point, the team is entirely ready to play. Fully recruited and equipped to go. One thing however to check out is each Team’s set of Doctrines, advanced upgrades that benefit the whole team. They represent institutional knowledge, recovered tech, new tactics or wider support that makes your team greater than the sum of it's parts.
Completing missions gains Team Resources which can be used to unlock these benefits permanently. Even if you suffer bad losses, the whole team grows stronger with some smart choices in Doctrines.
So, that's it. With each step done, you now have a full fledged team to tackle Matrioshka's hazards!
Sample Team Lists
Wow, that was a lot of info. But we figured we could always leave a bit more for you who are interested in the greater details! We put together a number of demo lists for the LVO show. They're small 5-character lists, but show off some of what you can do within the game. You can make them all as straightforward or unique as you desire.
A band of mobile and cunning Technomad survivors, lead by Arcana Unum the Pathfinder, Chariot Nines the outrider sniper, Temperence Sept the hacking specialist able to infiltrate the Dataplane, Swords Troika with the machine-breaking Tech Jammer can cripple any mechanized foe. When pressed, they can count on the heavy industrial robot Hunter Three-Red to cut through walls and shred foes with ease!
An imperious reptilian Morlock genotype, commanded by the hulking Lord Mekasaurus. Foes fall before the mighty Isotope Axe of Kravkis Bonebreaker, supported by his sharpshooting kin Hishtar Far Slayer. The Novices Nashmoon Lifetaker and Saarlock the Ferocious wear their predatory stealth to close in and ambush lesser prey.
Time to cleanse this sector, soldiers! The Reclaimer Forces are here, represented by Armiger-Captain Vulf and her squad. Curassier Graves hulks as the team's shield in his Guardian Exoframe, supporting Dragoon-Sargeant Raff's bold assaults. Lancer Haarp and Zelick cover their more armored comrades attack with supporting smoke and concussive grenades.
The powerful Robo-Logic of this NthGen band values machine honor and skill in equal measure! S84 Master Prototype is the central unit upon which all others are based upon. Next-Gen models Kato VS-5 and Zero Z-0 bear impressive sustained fire kinetic projectiles and lightning fast progressive edge swords, supported by the weaker Last-Gen models Mover M502 and Hauler H299 who wield modified industrial equipment.
Exanthropes value power and personal augmentation above all else. Victrix Majora is the team alpha, clad in a mechanized exoskeleton and bearing a huge Isotope Cannon. Alita Gan and Ivy Nihei wield different but potent weaponry, from the rapid fire Micro-Laser Array to the single shot power of throwing a hyperdense Alloy Pilum. Chad Memestor dispenses will all subtlety, gunning targets down with his gatling arm. Serving lesser purposes is their expendable Spotter Drone.
Get out of here, Stalkers! The mercenary band of Colonel Strelov sneaks through the Zone with their trademark stealth and long range fire! Scouts Thereshkova and Paavlicheko can skirmish at any range, supported by the covering fire of Vasiliy the Hunter. Troubleshooter Maxim handles problems that require less subtlety with a fistful of explosive N3 Charges!
Feared and poorly understood, the Atropics are beings reanimated from death by ancient technology. Classified as Type-X Cold Huntress appears to be the overlord entity, fighting at close range with the ruthless being code-named Type-3 Hanged Man. They lead a group of lesser Type-2 Slayers and a Type-1 Wretch, each seeking new genetic matter to evolve and mutate further!
Demo Rules - First Encounter
A few months back while we were still in core development, we released a set of Demo Rules with two pre-made teams and simplified missions called Zone Raiders: First Encounter. We've tightened a few things up and re-balanced a few things from playtesting, but it remains a compelling look into the core systems within Zone Raiders!
Wow. That was a long update, but glad you made it through with us! There's a lot of options here, and we hope you've drawn a bit of inspiration for a team of your own.
Thanks, and until next time!
New Goal Unlocked - Bonus Co-Op Missions and LVO Update
almost 6 years ago
– Mon, Feb 11, 2019 at 09:36:30 PM
Hi everyone!
Demoing and meeting people at the Las Vegas Open has been great, and we thank you all for the outpouring of love and support. It's been a blast all around, and we couldn't ask for anything more from our wonderful community.
Updates
Onto the meat of the update! So we're thrilled to clear not one, but two pledge goal levels! Included in each token pack now with the Zone Veteran and above levels will be additional Silhouette profiles, to be used as proxies, LOS checkers or the digital presence of your warriors jacking in from a dataplane terminal in game!
Additionally, we've cleared the 12,500 level which unlocks additional co-op missions against the AI Foes in a future downloadable mini-expansion! This has been extremely well received and we hope you all have a blast trying out what we're cooking up.
Bonus Silhouette Tokens!
Next up are two big goals! At 15,000 we'll be able to provide full-color UV Printed art prints of all of our illustrations (as you can see from our demo booth) laid on durable and gorgeous aluminium plates for display and collection! And beyond that, we'll add new factions for a future expansion. Lots of promise ahead...
That's it for now all, take care and roll well!
Faction Themes and Stretch Goal #1!
almost 6 years ago
– Sun, Feb 10, 2019 at 11:37:25 AM
So a long pair of topics today! First off, thanks everyone for pushing us past our first milestone. That's the addition of faction silhouette counters to the token back at Zone Veteran and above levels! These tokens we've shown before are UV-color printed images of some of our faction art, and can serve multiple in-game purposes as proxies, LOS checkers and special tokens for the 'Dataplane Manifestation' game mechanic.
Up next is a stretch goal to add multiple new Co-Op Missions in a free downloadable mini-expansion! The solo/co-op module in our core book has been extremely well received, and your support is all the more reason to give it further missions and expansion. :)
That said, time to get into the meat of the update: A look into each of the 7 factions that you can build teams and characters for in the world of Zone Raiders
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Factions
Each faction has a number of different classes you can choose from when creating a new Raider representing a model you desire, from capable leaders to fearsome hand to hand combatants. They each also have different stories and themes that you can select to your tastes. Let's look at each faction below!
Faction: Technomads
Technomad is a common name for the tenacious bands of survivors that migrate between abandoned industrial sectors as a continuing way of life. Their scattered cultures persist through vigorous exploitation of scavenged resources and technology found only in the Zone. Some Technomad bands boast of existing for thousands of years, carrying on ancient traditions and passing on the histories of ancient civilizations long since fallen. Many believe in the legend of the Core, traveling through the Matroshka generation after generation to find out this mythical well of eternal power.
Because Technomad societies live wholly within the Zone, they are always equipped in the strangest assortments of primitive fabrication and exceptionally advanced salvage. They frequently use implant technologies to carry on the practice of engram downloads into their own minds, preserving ancestral memories and culture. This lets survivors that may have only rudimentary written language and little scientific knowledge maintain a strikingly practical technical prowess and tread the fragmented Dataplane with confidence.
Technomad fighters are swift by necessity, striking with the confidence of well-adapted natives to the Zone’s twisting technography. Their tactics may vary greatly but all respect the power and value of technical craft as a foundation of their survival. Most are equipped with their own versions of the ubiquitous Skirmisher Frame and Mag Drivers, crude but effective designs scavenged from loose power conduits and industrial alloys. These true survivors can hold their own, if only for a little while, against the even worst horrors the Matroshka can throw at them.
Gameplay
The Technomads are highly mobile and elusive in their playstyle, with abilities and faction gear that promotes rapid hit-and-runs in the most dangerous portions of the battlefield. Their team passive is Zone Adaptation, which provides increased protection against hazardous terrain elements such as radiation zones or nano-contaminant clouds.
While they are adept shooters, Technomads can fight close-up as well with above average melee skills and easy access to counter-attack abilities. They are generally more lightly armored, thus relying on their mobility in broken terrain for seizing the field and timing when to strike.
As a campaign progresses and a Team can gain Doctrines, powerful bonuses that grow to your playstyle, a Technomad band can scavenge more effective magnetic weapons, develop more effective skirmishing tactics, or even use ancient implants to upload the skills of fallen teammates to survivors.
Themes
When building your own Technomad team, all sorts of inspirations can come to mind as to their theming. They could be advanced frontier scavengers, clad in devices to provide for their village outposts, or they could be rad-hardened wasteland survivors from the atomic cores of some forgotten sector. Perhaps they are descendants of an advanced civilization, now changed to a tribal society. All of this is up to you as you build your own team!
Faction: NthGens
As varying types of mechanical techno-life multiplied over millennia, some deviated from their original functions within the Matroshka. They analyzed successful lifeforms, mimicking their most effective features and developing more complex bodies through repeated iterations. At some point in these endless cycles, self-awareness grew within their increasingly sophisticated minds.
Discovering humans dwelling within Matroshka, these increasingly capable machines found a new source of evolutionary inspiration. Taking on similar forms to humans, the most advanced are known as NthGens, named for their continual iteration and generational nature.
Each line of NthGens typically traces a linear development down a series of generational prototypes, adapting to their own evolutionary pressures and building on a foundation of what machines they originated from. Those types that descended from industrial lifters retain some aspect of utilitarian burliness. Others that adapted from servo-pipe maintenance units instead exhibit great physical flexibility with and smooth polished frames. Units that evolved from autonomous scientific instruments retain numerous scanners and insatiable curiosity.
The collective behaviors of NthGens can vary greatly as well. Some are only able to communicate to humans through brief logical statements while other lines field emissaries that are as charismatic as any human negotiator. The relationships an NthGen line has with outside groups and settlements may range from close cooperation and respect, to open hostility.
As all NthGens have evolved in the harsh reality of the Matroshka, they are no less able than any human when venturing into the Zone. NthGens evolve rapidly based on the characteristics of their latest prototypes and each unit is constantly being refitted to new standards as design iterations develop with their communal neural nets. Drawing on the necessity of survival in a world of threats and limited resources, these machines continue to adapt and optimize over their generations with no apparent end.
Gameplay
In Gameplay, NthGens reflect their calculated precision. They are accurate shooters and highly durable, however they suffer from reduced versatility in close combat and are less resistant to certain types of environmental hazard. The faction’s doctrines are focused around different ways to improve survivability or detect hidden enemies, providing key ways to differentiate your gameplay.
Composing an NthGen Team is particularly unique. Each Team possesses an advanced unit called a Prototype, and all of your other Raiders will have their stats based on it. Older generation models have a weaker statline, while the newest iterations will be closer in performance to the Prototype. Positive developments for the Prototype can advance the whole team’s capabilities, while damage impairs the whole team unless repaired.
Themes
Inventing your own line of NthGen is as open as imagining their evolutionary path. Bulky industrial robots have a distinct style and implied history, while other more humanoid androids can take their cues from less utilitarian origins. One of our ideas inspired by seeing models first was a networked band of machines that discovered ancient cultures and martial honor, seeking to improve themselves as wandering duelists! The possibilities are endless.
Faction: Reclaimers
Despite the Matroshka’s dangers, occasional civilizations grow strong enough to resist the forces of entropy and establish some semblance of order in fortified cities and arcologies. These cultures have the resources and manpower to raise what could actually be called armies to constantly do battle with the forces that threaten their people. Inevitably, they discover the existence of The Core and what it could mean for them: Security and true prosperity for all time. Their well-equipped soldiers called Reclaimers seek this prize as their coveted goal. Armies of Reclaimers venture out to forcibly seize new territory and bring ‘civilization’ to the Matroshka, conquering one sector at a time to reclaim humanity’s glory.
Unlike many other cultures, Reclaimers are not content to merely raid the Zone, but to master it in time. Relying on their reserves of manpower, an ascending Reclaimer society makes the choice to trade lives for territory and vital strategic assets.
The leadership of these groups vary from despotic warlords, to ruling councils serving a populist will for conquest. All remain aware that many other civilizations like theirs have fallen, destroyed by conflict or overwhelmed by an eventual Immunocyte onslaught. For this reason, the sciences and industrial output are highly valued as to better equip their people to defeat what surely will come for them some day. The relationship Reclaimers have with other societies vary, from seeing them as fellow survivors in a cruel world, to hindrances that squander resources better spent in their own hands.
In Battle, Reclaimer Soldiers bear heavy armor and mass-produced weapons, leveraging the power of their disciplined tactics and logistics to overcome foes. Raid Teams serve as advance guard units, identifying new targets for reclamation and seizing Datalore to be analyzed back home. Relying on cooperation and their reliable equipment, Reclaimers know their survival lays in the comrades at their side.
Gameplay
In gameplay, Reclaimers have a strong focus on teamwork and concentration of force. They are better armored but are less mobile than other factions, and feature bonuses when concentrating fire or marking out targets for their comrades. A Reclaimer force needs to balance their superior staying power with supporting each other on the advance to defeat more elusive foes.
When advancing, Reclaimers have many choices for their team Doctrines. Upgrading to ‘Javelin Rounds’ gives their high-capacity weapons armor-breaking potential, while selecting ‘We’ll Need More Men’ instead gives cheaper reinforcements when inevitable losses occur. A notable piece of equipment is their Guardian Exoframe armor, which allows a single heavily armored trooper to protect comrades from incoming fire should they form up behind it's shield.
Themes
Creating your own Reclaimer force is about what drives them. Are they valiant defenders of a bastion of human civilization, or a purifying force out to cleanse the Megastructure of despicable synthetics and mutants? Will you elect to be a feudal vanguard of tech-preservers, or trained soldiers performing their civic duty? Pick up your ancestral gauss rifle and make the right choice, trooper!
Faction: Morlocks
The conditions for stable life are not pleasant in most of the sprawling Zone, with mutagens and leftover experiments of dead civilizations harshly reacting and mutating those who adapt to their presence. Those that have had their genetics altered greatly by these conditions are called Morlocks, a term derived from ancient Datalore of obscure origin. As the conditions for their development is common through the Matroshka, Morlocks can be found almost anywhere and of nearly any physical form.
Morlocks typically form insular clans adapted to a small region of inhospitable Dark Zone technography. They have genome adaptations varied to suit the conditions of harsh rust deserts, lush overgrown bio-plantations, or inhospitable automated chem-plants. Morlock clans usually venerate some aspect of their environment as sacred or honored, as it is these special conditions that keep outsiders out. Rather than see themselves as outcasts, they celebrate their biological differences.
Morlock physiology frequently features altered skin composition, muscle density and metabolism. Some are distinctly elfin in appearance, with lighter and more agile bone structures. Larger beings known as ‘hulkers’ develop in the opposing direction: tremendous strength and armored hides, more beast than man. Most seem to have had their genetics spliced with animal genes at some point in their ancestry, resulting in a wide range of appearances and abilities. Often, the clan contains multiple subspecies of Morlock, each from distinct gene lines and lead by capable chieftains. The typical Morlock Warrior, if there ever was such a thing, is cunning and a natural survivor.
While some are superstitious and primitive, other clans can be highly advanced cultures, commonly revering Datalore of the biological and medical sciences with religious reverence. Many see Matroshka as their native home, a maternal entity beyond being simply a cold world of metal. To them, life is constant a test. As natives born from the harshness of the world, Morlocks take on this test every day with their ingenuity and their diverse abilities.
Gameplay
Variety is the order of the day with the unpredictable Morlocks. Each Morlock can have a different statline, reflecting their unique quirks of genetics or physical trait. They are capable close combat fighters, but possess powerful ranged weapons as well derived from zone energies. Powerful ‘Hulkers’ feature great resilience, while agile ‘Reavers’ are fast and can reactively counter-attack opponents in melee. When all else fails, Morlocks can make use of volatile chemical enhancements to grant themselves superior strength or heal grievous wounds, but often at a cost once the effects end.
As a Morlock Clan advances, their varied Doctrines reflect the diverse nature of their kind. More adaptive clans can learn to seize enemy weapons mid-battle and turn them against their former owners. Others instead may draw one-time access of powerful Artifact vaults that have been in their care for generations, unleashing exotic beams and symbiote body armor on their enemies.
Themes
When conceiving your own Morlock Clan, consider their origin and what that means for them. A primitive mob of cast-out rad-mutants has a distinct flair as compared to an advanced society of reptilian predators or collective-minded alien zealots. The exotic and alien all have a place in this especially customizable faction.
Faction: Zone Stalkers
Although the Matroshka is a place of endless chaos, pockets of relative security outside of the Zone can support small permanent settlements. These areas are rarely abundant in vita materials to sustain a population for long however. To secure what they need to survive, settlements send out Raid Teams of their best scouts and specially trained mercenaries to secure resources, claim artifacts or destroy potential threats. Not all of them return, but those who do can claim fame and wealth from the Zone’s priceless treasures. These scouts, hunters and adventurers are branded Zone Stalkers, and may be found roving nearly anywhere.
As likely to be forward guardians of a community or simply wandering guns for hire, Stalkers carry with them mixed reputations. Some Stalkers are little more than bandits that attack towns or convoys for supply and profit, while others are field explorers as much as they are fighters.
Because they bring trade supplies, Stalkers are usually reluctantly welcome in foreign towns and cities, but only for a time. They are frequently kicked out after a short stay, often following altercations over a bad trades or rowdy behavior. Still, only the most insular of settlement denies all access to Stalkers, as their travelling stories are sometimes the only source of news about what is happening in the greater world, or the first warning of oncoming threats.
Stalkers employ careful stealth when forced to fight, choosing the exact moment of when to strike. They prefer ranged weaponry and often have fine stocks of carefully manufactured equipment based on ancient designs hand-made from settlement crafters. When facing a tougher foe, Stalkers prefer to use explosives and traps to even the odds or withdrawing to fight another day when outmatched. Only the most successful Stalkers have much advanced gear or heavy protection due to the limited amounts of scavenged tech available to settlements, and due the needs of travelling lightly. For these reasons, it is a lifestyle of hard training and subtlety that separate a living Stalker from a dead one.
Gameplay
As the most lightly armored and stealthiest faction, Zone Stalkers rely heavilly on their ability to ambush targets to set the tone of an engagement. Each and every Stalker has the Stealth skill which makes them untargetable at long range before they’ve taken the first shot. Combined with their ambush tactics trait to grant a strong opening lead, Stalkers must fight aggressively and strike hard with their ranged fire, traps and skirmishing skills to beat more heavilly armed and armored foes.
Learning from each battle, Stalker doctrines are based on potentially deadlier ways to extend their kit. “Deep Infiltration” training allows a few team members to begin the game in superior positions, while “Explosive Surprise” grants them an ample supply of hand-made bombs. If the enemy proves to be armoring up, the “One Shot, One Kill” doctrine ensures that aimed shots put their targets down for good.
Themes
Building a Stalker Company is a matter of identifying the traits you find most appealing in hardened infiltrators, frontiersmen and post-apocalyptic survivors. Scum and Villainy can be a characterful lot as can a dirty dozen of colorful specialists. Now get out of here Stalker, there’s riches to be found in the Zone!
Faction: Atropics
Techno-Life in Matroshka appears in drastically different varieties, ranging from the titanic Arrangers that shift around megatonnes of metal in a single move, to the uncountable nanoscopic machines that maintain subtle parts of the world’s technosystem. At some point unknown to history, a strain of this maintenance nano-machine mutated into a new form. Instead of maintaining the intricacies of artefact technology, it affected the bodies of organisms, even recreating a facsimile of life out of freshly deceased biomass.
Inhabited by a truly alien intelligence, these creatures are classified as Atropic Organisms. They move with unknown purpose, claiming technologies, data and freshly sampled biomatter to advance their agenda. Some scientifically minded entities studying Atropics propose theories of random but emergent behavior, while others argue of a single intelligence at work. The Immunocytes meanwhile see them as more of a pest than even humans, terminating Atropics with great prejudice.
The differing strains vary greatly enough to almost classify each as an entirely different type of being. Observable differences have varied between pale nanoform-infused revenants that are able to crudely communicate, to mechanical fusions of industrial steel and flesh. Strangest of all are those that would seem outwardly biological, appearing as twisted masses of meat rearranged into patterns terrifying to life and constantly mutating. Any comprehension of culture is unknown to human observers who still are split on if all Atropics are hostile on contact or if some types only fight when provoked or in need of some resource.
Atropic Warrior-Forms are often constructed from the biomass of a predator creature or fallen Zone Raider, as their structure and neurological pathways were already well tuned for survival. They often have weapons fused into their bodies, or natural weapons grown over time that allows for deadlier performance in battle. Most terrifying of all, these macabre entities sample biological or technological matter from fallen foes to accelerate their growth and evolution. Feared by human and Morlock alike, Atropics are frequently attacked on sight due to their fighting prowess and unsettling nature.
Gameplay
Atropics are all about getting close and making a mess. With extremely capable close combat abilities supported by inaccurate but wide area ranged attacks, Atropics are most successful by completely overwhelming an enemy after a careful approach and striking from the shadows. Atropics can consume bio-matter from foes downed in hand to hand, regenerating damage or gaining other powers!
One unique mechanic to Atropics is drawn from their consume bio-matter ruleset. Models that have acquired enough bio-matter from downed foes can mutate into more powerful breeds of warrior or leader class, while the basic drones are numerous and cheap. Perhaps most feared, Atropics can recombine what’s left of dead foes into new recruits!
Themes
Horror and the unerringly alien are the core themes of Atropics. Each strain adapted to the mutation differently, with some adopting crude fusions of industrial machine and living being, to others being twisted biological ‘things’ no longer resembling the humanoid form. Completely alien shapes and creatures are possible creations of this wild nano-plague. Images from your favorite movies, games or stories about body-horror infections and cyborg creatures are great inspirations for creating your strain to unleash upon the world!
Faction: Exanthropes
Not all humans choose to remain within the limits of biological mortality. Generally called Exanthropes for their aspirations to escape the human condition, they alter every aspect of their own minds and bodies to become more. A group that has mastered techno-biological augmentation technologies often becomes such a society over time, leaving more of their humanity behind as they progress along this path of enhancement.
The most common philosophy these Exanthropes possess is the drive to become more like the Posthumans of myth, godlike beings that created the world by becoming a union of human mind and machine form. Exanthrope cultures are frequently Darwinian and individualistic, with specific members accruing more power as they reach greater technological heights. To further this purpose, they venture into the Dark Zones to test their bodies and minds, discovering the secrets of Posthuman Datalore bit-by-bit. These near-immortal beings aspire to gain the strength and knowledge to find and master The Core itself.
Beyond their complete and permeating embrace of technology, few aspects are common to Exanthrope civilization. Many focus entirely on individual transformation, while others obsess over the collective gathering of all knowledge and data. The most pronounced groups are those that pursue ascendancy over all sapient beings as either their conqueror or benefactor. Any who submit may find themselves sacrificed to fuel the ambitions of their Exanthropic overlords, or kept protected at the cost of self-determination.
An individual Exanthrope Ascendant has capabilities and powers beyond that of any human and even many machines. They can tune their bodies with powerful capabilities and push their forms beyond natural limits. Exanthropes may not have been born as such apex survivors, but they advance daily to become closer to the goal of glorious techno-apotheosis.
Gameplay
Exceeding the limits are what Exanthropes do every day. Their teams are highly individualistic, a group of highly mobile champions exercising their augmented power to crush their opponents. Adept at gun and sword alike, they can defeat multiple opponents in a single turn by consuming special augment charges that grant bonus actions. To balance out their fewer numbers, an Exanthrope Cabal often fields Combat Automata, inexpensive low-performance drones to carry out supporting tasks that require more numbers than skill.
As a campaign continues, each Exanthrope Warrior can upgrade to a more powerful class, representing greater self-augmentation and unlocking new powers. Each step up has a steep cost in strategic team resources, so that the decision to do so must be carefully made. Despite their abilities, these warriors are not invincible: Only careful and balanced use of their enhanced strengths against superior numbers will bring victory.
Themes
Theming your Exanthropes can involve any number of transhuman possibilities. Cybernetic explorers and biotech supermen can exist along with futuristic versions of olympian gods. Advanced humanoid androids can also pass as Exanthropes, battling through foes that get in the way of their agenda. Become more than human and ascend beyond the needs of petty survival with your own Exanthrope cabal!
Wrapping up!
Wow! That's a lot of material, but it summarizes some of the forces you can create in Zone Raiders and how vastly differently they play and fit within the greater world.
