The FeedBack System

Zone 17 uses our new FeedBack game system. This simple yet robust system is designed to emulate cinematic action, and powers both Agent-scale action and Battle-scale carnage.

FIELDS

Each character has seven fields — Covert, Fitness, Piloting, Science, Tactical, Tech, and Zen. A new character will have 2 or 3 dice in each field. A highly experienced character may have 7 or 8 dice in one or more field.

SKILLS

Under each Field (save for Zen) are six Skills, representing specialized areas of knowledge and training in that Field. A character can attempt Challenges with an untrained Skill, but doing so Caps any dice results applied at 4. Characters trained in a Skill apply dice as they read. Characters who Specialize in a skill Floor all dice results applied to that skill at 3.

THE BASIC MECHANIC

When a player wants her character to do something challenging, she rolls a number of dice equal to the relevant field. She then totals up dice results to ‘purchase’ effects. For example, let’s say Jade attempts to kick down a door. It’s a thick door, so the Challenge Value to do so is 8. Jade has a 4 in her Fitness field, so her player rolls 4 dice and gets a 5, a 3, a 6, and a 2. She can only combine up to two dice for a single Challenge Value, so she combines the 5 and the 3 for the 8 needed to break down the door. She comes face to face with the surprised thug behind the door, and has a chance to attack. She applies the 6 and the 2. Since Jade Specialized in Gong-Fu, the 2 result is increased to a 3, for a total of 9 against the thug’s 2 Evasion score. Ouch.

CHECKS, PROJECTS, AND PUZZLES

Challenges in FeedBack come in three different types. Checks are the most basic: a character needs to match or exceed a single Challenge Value by applying dice results. A low-Field character may struggle, but a trained one will breeze through.

Projects represent Challenges that require more significant time or effort. They are a series of Challenge Values that a character needs to match or exceed. For example, changing the oil in a car might be a 7-10-5 Project. A highly trained character may breeze through, but others will have to make several Field rolls to complete it…which will take time.

Puzzles are the most difficult type of Challenge. Like Projects, they are a series of Challenge Values which a character must pass. But unlike Projects, Puzzles need their challenge values exactly matched. A 7-10-5 Puzzle requires dice results of exactly 7-10-5. Puzzles represent particularly devious Challenges, like defusing a bomb, cracking a safe, or hacking a mainframe.

COMBAT

The FeedBack combat system is the heart of the game. It is designed to be quick to resolve and fun to play. All Characters roll their dice pool at the beginning of the combat turn, and then use the results to build their actions for the turn. This allows for a more tactical approach to combat. You know what dice results you have to work with, and can plan accordingly.