10.21.2009

Make your own Pixel Signals



Make a signal for your gaming group!
Sean's Signal Generator - Big version with symmetry options
sfiera's Signal Generator - Save your signal with a code or view the existing signals.

10.14.2009

Basic Rules

Z-G BASIC RULES

1. SETUP: Z-G is for 2-4 players, each with their own InterAction Figure™ and matching cards. Play anywhere. Anything and everything is terrain — build it out of books and boxes.

2. START: Pick any 3 cards from your deck. Place them, face down, on the table. This is your hand. Shuffle the remaining cards, which compose your deck.

3. IMPULSE: Find the Impulse (blue) number on each of your 3 ACTION CARDS. Arrange these numbers from highest to lowest (e.g., 7-5-3) and call out the resulting 3-digit number. Do not reveal your cards. The player with the highest overall Impulse poses their figure any way they like, anywhere in the arena. Then the next-highest places their figure, and so on. No figure may start more than 7 cards from the nearest foe. If a tie occurs, each player draws a random card from their deck and compares the Impulse number; highest number goes first.

* The first player begins their turn.

4. MOVE: First player picks (but does not reveal) 1 action card, then moves their figure a distance, measured in card lengths, up to the number of that card’s Move score. To plot your move, lay out a row of cards on the table (connect the arrows) so that the first card touches both of your figure’s feet. Move your figure along this path, then place your figure on the last move card and pose it any way you like, so long as both feet touch it.

* Once you lay a card, you can’t start over. That’s your move.
* You may use Move to climb up and down any surface as normal, card by card. Just lay the cards out, up and over.


5. ATTACK: After you move, you may attack a foe, if you're in range to do so. If your action card has Ø Range, you must be able to touch your foe’s figure with your attacking weapon. Read the name of your card’s attack, but don’t show the card to your foe. Then secretly choose which end you want to attack with. Place your card face down, with your attacking end facing the foe. Your foe then draws the top card from their deck, keeping it face down. The foe may examine their card unless you’re making a sneak attack (see Tactics). This card is your TARGET CARD. Your foe then SPINS the card such that a random end is placed toward you (after the spin, you may request a half turn). Flip over your cards and compare the ends by aligning the 2 cards so each of your 3 colored dots faces each of your foe’s dots. Then count the number of dots that match up by color, if any. This action is called a TEST. Whenever one of the pairs of dots has the same color, it's called a MATCH.

* No matches: Your attack misses. Discard your action card back into your deck and take your next action, if any.
* 1 or more matches: Check for strikes.

6. DAMAGE: Once you’ve determined matches, compare the cards’ blazes. Blazes are the white symbols on the dots. Matches without blazes are always strikes. If a target card dot has an armor blaze, this blocks the strike unless the attacking card has a corresponding armor piercing blaze on its opposing dot. If any target card dot has a weak point blaze and you have a matching armor piercing blaze, the match counts as 2 strikes. If you have an explosive blaze and the opposing dot has a weak point, you ALWAYS score a strike (even if you don’t have a match or the weak point is covered by armor). Double armor blazes can be broken only by double armor piercing arrows.
Now compute how many strikes you get, then look at the chart below:

* 1 Strike: TARGETLOCK: No slag, but you may target this card again with your next attack (this turn only).
* 2 Strikes: SLAG TARGET CARD: Foe removes part from figure and card from play, discarding the card into their slag heap.
* 3 Strikes: SLAG & ATTACK AGAIN: Slag card, draw another target card from foe’s deck, attack again with the same card. (4 or more Strikes: Foe is also stunned; see Powerups.)
If you slag a card, remove it from play and place in your foe’s slag heap. Then take the corresponding part off the figure. Slagged cards may not be used for the remainder of the game.
* After you play an action card, immediately return it to your deck; its pulse is done.

7. NEXT PULSE: Now play either of your remaining 2 action cards as you did the first, taking its move and then making its attack. After that, play your third and final card.

8. NEXT PLAYER: Now the second player (second-highest Impulse) takes their time 4-7. After this player finishes their turn, the next player takes all their actions, and so on.

9. NEW TURN: Repeat from 2. START until the winning conditions are met.

10.VICTORY: You win by defeating all of your foes. To defeat a foe, slag their Ulster card or reduce them to fewer than 3 zGear cards.

EXCEPTIONS

These are the core exceptions to the Basic 10 card deck.

1. CHARACTER CARD: This card represents you. It is not zGear and is not part of your deck — keep it to the side, in your control panel (see MODE CARDS). Use its special powerup once per turn, or sacrifice it to save a zGear card. A character card is used in basic play; advanced games use a Mode deck instead.

2. RANGED ATTACKS: Weapons with a Range number, such as guns, may attack foes at a distance. Lay out a number of cards, in a straight line, up to your Range score. If you reach your foe, you can attack them. You can’t start over if they are out of range; you must target some foe along that line of cards. You measure range and zone attacks from the muzzle of the gun or the edge of the weapon. If a zGear card has a Range number of Ø, it is considered a hand-to-hand (HtH) weapon, and the weapon itself must touch the foe’s figure for an attack to occur. Tip: Ignore height when measuring range; lay the cards flat.

3. LINE OF SIGHT: To attack a foe, the foe must be within line of sight. If, from your figure’s vantage point (the head), you can’t see any part of your foe, the foe is considered to be out of your line of sight, and you can’t attack them. Line of sight is not an exact science; compromise and conventions of play are key to play. Tip: Put your eye behind the head of your figure and call out what you see. Facing is unimportant; you're an action hero!

4. COVER: If your foe is partially concealed by a barrier — for example, their figure is crouched behind a wall or lurking around a corner — whatever gear can’t be seen by your figure (from the head) can’t be targeted. If that zGear card is drawn as a target card, the attack fails. Your own zGear can’t provide cover for your own zGear. Tip: Agree on what zGear has cover before making a test. In general, if you can't see 2 colors on the zGear, it's covered.

5. TERRAIN: After you start play, no player can move, add, or remove terrain — however, you can blow it up!! Just measure its two longest dimensions in card lengths (its "Mass") and that’s how many strikes it takes to pull it off the arena. For the purpose of targeting terrain ONLY, draw a card from your own deck. If you play on a table, decide if the edge is a WALL (figures can’t be forced off table) or a FALL (fall off and you’re out of the game).

6. BOLSTER: Some situations allow defenders to bolster their defenses. When bolstering, a defender gains +1 armor blaze on one dot. Declare the bolster before the test, but after the test you get to decide which dot has an extra armor blaze on it.

7. AUGMENT: Some situations allow attackers to augment their attacks. When augmenting, an attacker gains +1 armor piercing blaze on a dot of their choice. Declare before the test. After the defender decides their bolsters, if any, the attacker decides which dot gains +1 armor piercing.
Tip: Either an augment or a bolster can be added to a dot that already has armor or armor piercing.

8. RETEST: After making a test, some cards and situations allow the attacker, the defender, or both to "do-over" the test, respinning the card and applying the new result. When retesting, choose a single target card or attack card to which the retest applies. Each player may retest only once per test. (This means you!)

9. COUNTDOWN: If a player is taking too long with their turn, start the countdown. The player has 1 minute to complete their turn. You may also start the countdown after you’ve picked your action cards, giving the rest of the players 1 minute to choose their cards.

TACTICS

Rules options you can use to change the odds.

1. HIGH GROUND: When making a ranged attack, if your entire figure is above your foe’s head, your attack is augmented (+1 armor piercing). When making a hand-to-hand attack, if your figure is over your foe’s knee, your attack is augmented. You can jump down on your foe from above to get the +1 armor piercing on HtH attacks. If you don't have Z-G and jump down more than 1 card onto your foe you suffer knockdown.

2. SNEAK ATTACK: Don’t announce the name of your card’s attack (and don't let your foe examine their target card) if any of the following apply:
o You are the player with the highest Impulse and this is your first attack.
o You’re attacking from cover.
o You were out of line of sight when you began your action.
Note: You can't sneak attack with a card that you used last turn.

3. JUMPS: If you have the powerup Z-G, you may jump from ledge to ledge. As long as you start and end on solid ground and use a single Z-G card (or multiple cards, each with Z-G), you can cross over chasms.

4. FALLING: If you drop down rather than use movement to climb down a drop of more than 1 card in height, and your don’t have a card with Z-G in your hand, you are knocked down (see below). If you land on a foe, make a free attack with your last action card, but only to determine knockback (see below).

5. KNOCKDOWN: You score a knockdown if you knock back your foe:
o Into another figure at least 1 card away
o Into a barrier over 1 card away
o Off a ledge at least 1 card length high (see Falling).
Place a knocked-down figure on its back. That figure must spend 3 Move to stand up again. Any attacker may make a free retest when making a hand-to-hand or Zone attack against that figure.

6. DASH: If your character is equipped with 2 footgear of the same color, add +3 to the Move rating of the second footgear card played in the same turn.

7. FLAMEOUT: At the start of any turn, before players have chosen their cards, you can announce "flameout." This turn you may play each of your hand cards twice, for a maximum of 6 actions. If none of your foes is defeated by the end of the turn, you flameout and forfeit the game.

8. STANCES: You can pose your character to gain an advantage. Entering a stance costs Move. For example, if you play a Maneuvering Footgear card (Move 4), you may choose to move 1 card, then enter the Kneel stance (Move 3).

o KNEEL: Cost: 3 Move. Cannot be knocked back unless foe gets 3 strikes. May not move.
o ATTACK: Cost 3 Move. All your hand-to-hand attacks are sneak attacks. Maximum Move is 1 per card. Counters defensive stance (may attack hand).
o DEFENSE: Cost 3 Move. Foe may not attack your hand. Maximum Move is 1 per card. Counters attack stance (all HtH attacks are not sneak attacks).
o PRONE: Cost 3 Move. All your foe’s ranged attacks are augmented, but all foes’ HtH attacks vs. you are also augmented. Maximum Move is 1 per card.
o STAND: Cost 3 Move. Stand up from any other stance. No penalties, no bonuses.

ERRATA

* Scan is an Extra, not a Replace, powerup. It may be played in addition to, not in place of, an attack.
* The Reaction Armor Frontgear card should have the Knockback powerup printed on it.

RULE OF PRIME: If you and a foe can’t agree on a rule, then call for a test — both of you choose a card and pick an end. Match? - You decide. No Match? - Foe decides. (Or find a zMarshal!!)
RULE OF NULL: Unless another rule or a card directly contradicts a Basic Rule, the Basic Rule always stands.

WORDKEY

Action Card: The card currently in play.

Blaze: The white symbol inside the dot; determines whether a match becomes a strike.

Character: The deck of cards and zGear parts that defines your unique character. "Give ‘em a name."

Control Panel: The active Mode cards that are face up in front of you.

Deck: All your zGear cards not in hand or the slag heap. If a foe has no cards in their deck, that foe must draw target cards from their hand.

End: The two shorter sides of a zGear card.

Mode Deck: All the Mode cards your character has that are not yet in the control panel.

Slag: To remove a card from play. Your slag heap holds all your slagged cards and zGear.

Target: To attack a particular card.

Target Card: A card from your foe’s deck (or hand) that you are trying to strike.

Targetlock: To score 1 strike and thereby gain the opportunity to target the same card with a new attack.

Test: To make an attack by matching up dot sets.

zGear: Your equipment, represented by both a plastic part and a matching card.

10.09.2009

Open Discussion

No Topic here, just keep it civil

10.06.2009

Character: Yowuya Matago® – Child of the Matago Corporation

Background, Private/OOC:
Female, born to the Matago Corporation, Orbital Jan 3. 2097, assigned to Beta Crèche, Matago Halo5, Earth-Sun Lagrange point 5. Accelerated education approved by nursing governance board. Subject exhibits excellent absorption and retention of standard materials. Subject exhibits leadership qualities and good communication, e.g. Class president through basic; numerous competitive speaking placements. Accelerated curriculum completed to College Level. Transported to Sino-Australia Arcology second semester, 2106 for Aeropagus prelims, Average scores. Exiled September 3, 2109 for extra-league ZGXL competition. Non-normative behavior, 3 standard deviations. Minor infractions totaling 16 demerits.

Exile week: Exact whereabouts unknown. At sea off Australian coast, all tracking implants disabled via unknown means.

Summary recommendation:
Permanent and irrevocable termination of MATAGO-EGS corporate officer track, transition to MATAGO-Grange administration, high standing.

Background, Public/IC:
She is cold, argumentative and selfish. Yow is 150cm (5ft), 35kg (75lb) soaking wet, but a stubborn fighter in the ring. A dyed-in-the-wool child of the Matago corporation she uses primarily the rugged mining gear that Matago is famous for producing. She keeps a small book detailing who owes her favors and why. She has good credentials with the Matago corporation; she's probably a junior officer or manager trainee.

Mode Deck:
Primary Design Card: Consortium
Secondary Design Card: Expert Leader
Tertiary Design Card: Ambition

Maneuvers:
Opportunist!!

Goals:(* current goal)
*Halt!!!
Expert Fighter
Force
Ares Lode
Grendel Lode
State of the Art Blue Gear (Feet, Front, Loader Claw, Shield, Ulster)

zGear:
Basic Red Helmet (found, virtual match)
Superior Green Frontgear (stolen, Monzon Ezut Issue)
Superior Blue Shield (c40 @ zGearGo)
Basic Blue Feet (c20 x 2 @ zGearGo)

Inventory:
c19 hard EGS currency
Diary / Book of grudges
Ego Lode - Basic Matago Corp. Artifex + Personal Librarian Artifex

10.01.2009

Dark Side Station

Never in human history has there been a more foul and distasteful collection of the dregs of humanity than Dark Side Station. Located in lagrange point two, the point to gravitational stability perpetually on the far side of the Moon, Dark Side Station has become a haven for those who wish to remain within the borders of the EGS, but free from its overt control and influence.

Lurking in its darkened corridors are Mavryks and hustlers, Cartel wiseguys and syndicate factors. No one rules Dark Side Station, its original founders having been scared off years ago. Periodically the Armada attempts to place a Viceroy and a garrison of troops on board, but somehow this never comes to pass. Most people speculate that those who control the illicit activities here must have friends in very high places.

The station itself is a huge mélange of ships, hubs, asteroids, and spare parts. Anyone and anything is allowed to attach onto any ship that gives its permission, and within certain clusters of ships it is said you can find nearly anything – perhaps even an old Gemini capsule or a hive of mummers. Always in danger of being torn apart by different gravitational forces, somehow the disparate individuals working toward their own ends manage to keep the amalgam of ships together. Despite Dark Side’s population of nearly 3 million, in the last ten years only 3 near-catastrophic events have occurred, and at such times only about 10% of the total mass of the station was lost due to tidal forces.

Dark Side Station is best known for one thing: the yearly Z-G tournament that takes place here, which in turn takes its name from the station. The final tournament of the ZGXL, the largest Z-G professional league, the Dark Side Tournament attracts over 8 billion viewers from all over the Solar System. The final game of the Dark Side Tournament typically demonstrates the cold, calculating treachery and violence that are such hallmarks of this remarkable place.

Luna

To humanity, the moon began as a goddess of the night, a loving sentinel of the sky, a haunting reflection of the brutal gaze of the sun. Later she became a siren, luring explorers, taunting them to leave gravity behind. Now, Luna has become a prison colony, a place where the resources for the ever-growing and always-ravenous orbital colonies can be found. And because few humans would agree to toil in the mines, even with the aid of Artifex, only prisoners and convicts, political or otherwise, will toil.

This latest history of Luna began during the Second Cold War, which started when China and the United States began a race to colonize this closest of all celestial bodies. The discovery of Z-G, anti-gravity technology, forever altered the fabric of society, as millions fled Earth for the Grange and many others plotted revolution on Earth. The only practical means of keeping the peace on Earth was to force the mass immigration of “malcontents” to the moon.

At first, Luna was advertised as a place of abundance, but quickly the facts become apparent on Earth. The moon was a dangerous and filthy world of tunnels and corridors. Food was bland and far from constant, death was forever at the door, and there were far, far more men than women. Fighting between convicts was the norm. It was here in the mines that the Cartel originated, and it was from the ranks of the trustees, the prisoners promoted to guards, that the first Corps of the Cestus Mercs arose. As the years went by, many of the convicts gained their freedom, but were not allowed back on Earth and were rejected admittance by the very selective Orbital colonies. Forced either to risk everything and venture to the Grange or to remain on the Moon, many chose the latter and began to create the unique Lunar culture so well known on Earth today.

They also became the first people to begin to view Z-G as a sport and to formalize duels into matches. Their pastime eventually become a system-wide obsession. Of course there are many discordant forces on this rocky orb, and while ostensibly a free and full member of the EGS, the complaints and resentment of the ’Loonies’ are legion. If revolution were to begin anywhere in the EGS, it would likely begin here.

Earth

Earth is the 3rd planet in the Sol System, the cradle of Humanity. Earth is the mother world, the locus of all culture and trade; still home of over half of humanity, and indeed the font of life itself. No other place in the Solar System has anything close to the panoramic diversity of natural wonders that Earth does. And that, indeed, is the problem. For thousands of years, human beings tore into Earth’s crust, cut down its forests, plowed over its jungles and plundered its oceans. Never since the great asteroid hit Earth and killed off the dinosaurs have so many species been extinguished.

Only after the close of the Second Cold War and the discovery of ZG technology did human beings begin to come to their senses and begin to restore Earth to her majesty. Since the formation of the EGS in 2090, things have come a long, long way. Two billion people have been relocated to orbit, and another billion have found their way to various parts of the Grange. Population growth has been reduced nearly to zero, and the rivers, forests, streams, and oceans have been slowly and painstakingly restored. The ugly scars of millions of miles of roads and highways have been removed, and whole swaths of countryside have been restored to their natural state.

It has taken some draconian laws to achieve these hard-fought environmental victories, and not all agree that protecting the source of life is as important as protecting the self-interest of humans. The Zero Tolerance Laws are an especially egregious and hated set of regulations. The slightest infraction of a population, environmental, or human welfare Zero Tolerance Law and you can be Exiled from Earth forever. In this manner a huge number of Earth denizens have had their citizenship revoked and been cast into the Grange. None of this, good or bad, would be possible without the EGS, the Earth Gravity Sphere Government. Formed in the wake of the first Grange War (during which Earth suffered a strike from a intentionally diverted asteroid), the EGS finally united Earth’s governments to found the Armada and protect Earth from Grange forces.

Terminus Station

Terminus is the largest Waystation in the solar system, and currently has a population of over 20 million people. It began as simply a series of military supply and support ships around the “T1 Space Gun”, and has grown into an enormous Orb and Wheel, the veritable center of system wide trade.

The true center of Terminus is the Space Gun, one of only two that currently exist. Capable of shooting ships at near light speeds to any moon size or larger mass in the system (which then use that objects gravitation force to slow down) it was designed by the Armada as the premier line of defense for earth. Consisting of 7 concentric rings that are nearly 1000 meters in diameter, it uses control of gravitational forces to sling nearly any object at high fractions of light speed in nearly any direction. This makes the Gun a very dangerous weapon, and accordingly, the Armada defends it with all its might.

The space forces always have two squadrons of Iconnu Fighters stationed at Terminus for immediate launch through the space gun. These elite Armada ships are trained to intercept and then drag with them using huge magnetron generators any unknown or undocumented ship that is approaching the EGS. The station itself is has 7 battleships and over 10,000 troops stationed on it, such a massive collection of military might that it is impossible to imagine it being captured. Despite being so militarized, or perhaps because of it, Terminus is also a major center of trade.

Most of the ships that come to and from the Grange (especially the Asteroid Belt, where Terminus’s sister Waystation, Halfway is located) are shot through or captured by the T1 Space Gun. Thousands of ships pass through Terminus every day, and many of them stop for a quick drink, a fast deal, or to pay the EGS’s onerous taxes and duties.

Paranoia about the infiltration of nanovirii, bioplagues and other toxins into the EGS biosphere runs rampant on Terminus. Every ship that comes in from the Grange, whether shot in by the Gun at Halfway or coasting in under its own jets, must pass through quarantine at Terminus. This process consists of a high spectrum gamma ray bombardment of the ship, special disinfectant washes of the outside and inside of the ship, and cavity searches of all its crew and passengers. Many Grangers consider this to be intentional harassment and object vehemently, including diatribes against the short duration of their visas, 5 days. None are allowed on Earth itself, it would be considered to be too unclean by the fastidious EGS Citizens.

In every other way but biosecurity matters, the people of Terminus are notable for their open-mindedness, especially in comparison to Terrans on Earth. While they maintain a very good relationship with the Armada and the Vanguard (“after all, we are a military town”) they also consider themselves translators and intermediaries between Earth and the Grange. No matter what fashion or what passion, no matter where it hails, it is bound to have fans somewhere on Terminus. As a city based on trade, Terminus has no other choice but to welcome all creeds.

Umbilical
Connected to the Earth in the middle of the African continent, the Umbilical is an enormous 500-mile long, 1 mile diameter cylinder that connects Terminus to the Earth and enables energy efficient Z-G movement into and out of the Earth’s gravity well.