Zaibatsu handbook

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A Message to the Reader:
Thank you for considering running Zaibatsu, without your support and feedback this would have
gone nowhere. Shine on your wonderful human being.
-
Wolfpack Morbitzer
The Feel of Zaibatsu:
Zaibatsu is meant to make the brutal seem casual, like a 9 to 5 job. If players look back at a game
and remember only a blur of violence then you are achieving the goal. As for an objective they are
attempting to get to an office of a high ranking official (up to you how high they rank really), and copy
files off their computer (you get bonus points in my book for making the files they have to copy inane, like
pictures of a family vacation, or memos about sensitivity training), then get out.
Zaibatsu: The Rules.
The four non-negotiable laws of the game.
1. Players have few hit points.
2. Players have infinite lives, but limited ammo.
3. Players re-spawn at the entrance to the floor.
4. Whenever any player dies, all the enemies that they have personally killed respawn.
Zaibatsu: Base Mechanics
1. When ranged weapons are in question, a d4 is rolled for ammo expenditure in the case of semiautomatic weaponry, d10s are used for automatic weapons (the outcome number is subtracted
from the individual’s ammo pool)
1. The individual’s ammo pool resets to what it was when the floor was reached upon
death.
b. A space is equal to one meter.
Operations Manager: A GM by Any Other Name.
As the GM you take the roll of the operations manager, a voice that comes for a command center
and into the player’s ear via future radio science. It is your job to tell the players what is around them,
answer questions about their surroundings, and dictate what is happening.
Zaibatsu: Stating and SMEK
Players have 8 health by default
The stats in Zaibatsu are Swiftness Might Exploitation & Knowledge
If you have trouble remembering these, just remember S.M.E.K.
You can roll a d10 for stats, or start with every stat at 5, and distribute 10 points among them.
Your movement area in one turn, with no modifiers, is 10 meters.
 Swiftness = Stat*0.5 (rounded up) added to movement and dodge rolls.
 Might = Stat*0.5 (rounded up) added to melee and throwing rolls
 Exploitation = Stat*0.5 (rounded up) added to speech and teamwork rolls
 Knowledge = Stat*0.5 (rounded up) added to hacking and logic rolls
o Example: If you have a Swiftness score of 7, then you get a +4 (3.5 rounded up) added to
your base movement distance of 10 for a total of 14 meters.
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Weapons: and things to keep in mind
 In a roll to hit a d10 is used
o 1 Critical Miss
o 2-5: miss
o 6-9 hit
o 10 Critical Hit
 Submachine guns and handguns share an ammo type (6.5x25mm)
 Assault rifles and precision rifles share an ammo type (4.7x33mm)
 Shotguns have their own ammo type (18.5×76 mmR)
 Melee weapons have no ammo type with rare exceptions
 Experimental weapons do not share an ammo type with anything
 Explosions from severed cybernetics and grenades have the same radii
o 2 space radius: 8 damage
o 4 space radius: 4 damage
o 7 space radius temporary hearing loss (-10 knowledge 2 turns)
 Ranging weapons: (After every other mod and roll is accounted for, apply these mods)
o At half of the range multiply the roll by 2
o At the range state the weapon gets no extra hit mods
o At twice the range divide the roll by 2
 The players can either choose to Procure weapons on sight or enter the building with them.
Entering the building with weapons can lead to problems however.
Keep Rollin, Rollin, Rollin: Roll high.
An explanation of the rolls you may have to do that are not self-explanatory (IE that parts that are not
about moving or killing):
 Throwing: Roll a d10 and add the appropriate mods, the outcome number is how far you can
throw a given object.
 Dodging: When an enemy rolls to hits and succeeds, you can roll to dodge. If you roll a number
higher than their roll to hit, you dodge successfully.
 Speech: The ability to talk your way out of things, lie, cheat, etc.
 Teamwork: If an action requires more than one person, then every player involved must roll for
teamwork and pass for success.
 Hacking: Your ability to hack into computers.
o 1 is critical failure, you get locked out of the system
o 2-5 is failure, and you can try again
o 6-9 success, gain access to the system
o 10 critical success, get full access to files
 Logic: The ability to confound AI based enemies or obstacles, this roll can also be done for
determining enemy patrol patterns.
Weapons
There is little variation in the weapons you will find, as most corps have standardized their
weaponry. Each crop has a rule of thumb: three weapons in each category.
Weapon
Range (in
Meters)
Mag Cap
Fire modes
2
Damage
Price
Handguns
Handguns
Handguns
Handguns
Handguns
Handguns
Nambu cbj
10
14
semi
1d4
100
HK85
15
20
semi
1d6
200
S&W model 50
18
10
semi
1d8
600
Submachine
Guns
Submachine
Guns
Submachine
Guns
Submachine
Guns
Submachine Guns
Submachine
Guns
CBJ-MS
10
60
auto
1d12
800
Nambu type-25
12
45
auto
2d6
700
Jat-350
7
30
auto
3d4
900
Assault Rifles
Assault Rifles
Assault Rifles
Assault Rifles
Assault Rifles
Assault Rifles
Arisaka-L20
18
45
semi/auto
3d6
1250
FN-A50
20
30
semi/auto
2d8
1000
M25c
15
25
semi/auto
4d4
1500
Precision Rifles
Precision Rifles
Precision Rifles
Precision Rifles
Precision Rifles
Precision Rifles
Walther Wa2900
30
10
semi
1d20
2000
LA-500
25
20
semi/auto
4d6
1750
SVDc5
25
15
semi
3d8
1500
Shotguns
Shotguns
Shotguns
Shotguns
Shotguns
Shotguns
H&K CAWS
3
25
semi/auto
6d4
1000
KSA-18
4
15
semi
5d6
750
Saiga-850
5
20
semi
7d4
800
Experimental
Weapons
Experimental
Weapons
Experimental
Weapons
Experimental
Weapons
Experimental
Weapons
Experimental
Weapons
S-99
1
100
auto
4d4
N/A
3
T-gau
12
50
auto
6d4
N/A
Ks-23k
15
6
semi
5d6
N/A
MNAAR
30
1
N/A
2d20
N/A
P.B. Tonfa
2
0
N/A
2d10
N/A
Experimental Weapons: What Makes Them So Special.
 S-99: A sword that stabs people with bullets, it uses specialized ammunition to maximize close
range devastation. In testing due to a lack of a target audience.
 T-gau: The Terminator Mini-gun, the optimum in hand held rapid fire technologies. In testing due
to recalls involving a faulty feeding mechanism, nearly fixed.
 Ks-23k: A semi-automatic carbine chambered for 23mm slugs, capable of punching a hole in an
engine block. In testing to find ways of increasing penetration.
 MNAAR: Stands for Micro-Nuclear Anti-Armor Rifle, uses a small nuclear shaped charge to propel
1/10th of a gram of tungsten to 0.4% of the speed of light, punching through anything it finds in
its way with the force of around 15 kilograms of TNT. In testing so they can find a way to reload it
without giving people serious radiation poisoning, just throw it away once you are done with it.
 P.B. Tonfa: A combination pile-bunker and tonfa, it is the melee weapon of choice for pigskins.
The pneumatic spike is nothing to laugh at, and can deliver a devastating one-two punch. In
testing for ways to make it significantly lighter.
Mooks and Goons: The enemies you will face
Weapons
Base
Name
commonly
Health
carried
Suit Fodder
Rarity
Allowance Movement
Cost
Bases
S
M
E
K
4
Pistols and
melee
Appears on
light security
floors
1/2
5 Meters
4
3
3
2
8
Assault
rifles,
shotguns,
smgs
Appears on
both light and
heavy security
floors
1
8 Meters
6
4
4
4
Anything
Light and
they can get
heavy security
their hands
floors
on.
2
10 meters
7
6
5
5
Mercenaries
Counter Infiltration
Agents
10
4
Assassins
12
Melee,
pistols and
precision
rifles (roll a
Appears on
1d10, if it heavy security
lands on 10,
floors
they have
an MNAAR
as well)
2
12 Meters
7
8
5
7
Appears on
heavy security
floors
3
4 Meters
9
10
4
4
Heavy
security floors
4
10 Meters
7
3
5
5
Pig Skins
20 (plus Ks-23ks, Ta passive
Gaus,
1hp/turn MNAARs,
regen) P.B. Tonfas.
Shafters
40
T-Gau
Know your enemy: Info you might want to know about your foes
 Suit Fodder: While awaiting training to become Company Mercenaries, recruits undertake
internships as Suit Fodder. They are green and pathetic, they do not pose much of a threat by
themselves, but can be dangerous in overwhelming numbers. The corps does not usually trust
Suit Fodder with cybernetics.
 Mercenaries: Those who show great initiative as Suit Fodder Become Mercenaries, professional
soldiers loyal to their paycheck, and in turn their employers. Many mercenaries do have civilian
grade cybernetic enhancements.
 Counter Infiltration Agents: The highest hands on security position somebody not born into the
corp can obtain. They work in groups of four, and practice guerrilla warfare in the vast fields of
cubical farms. They hide in wait on floors, seemingly average Jill or Joe schmoes working
overtime, waiting for a infiltrator to come along and strike when they least expect it. They will
stab you with pens, strangle you with ties, and splash you with hot coffee, anything.
 Assassins: While Mercenaries and Suit fodder can are hired, assassins are born. Their set of skills
is hard to find in your average Jill or Joe, so they are cloned and receive special training from the
time they are born. They also receive military grade cybernetics, as a rite of passage.
 Pig Skins: Participants in the corps’ super soldier programs. Given their name due to a
combination of their athletic footballer physique, and a live swine in a back-mounted tank that is
hooked up to the soldier (called a Biological Assisted Circulatory Organ Normalizer, or BACON for
short). If any damage is done to the human, the life juices are sucked from the pig and distributed
to their respective areas in the soldier. The stock of volunteers for pig skins is usually plucked
from the pool of corporate assassins. If you destroy the BACON tank, you can negate the passive
healing that the swine provides.
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
Shafters: A specialized two-man armored vehicle designed for an office setting. A small tank
capable of using elevator shafts as transportation without the help of an elevator. They rarely
patrol, but are utilized as shock reinforcements often. They utilize smaller armaments than your
run of the mill tank, but the Terminator Mini gun is nothing to fool with, for that reason they
work alone.
Cybernetic Enhancements
The cybernetic enhancements of the future are varied and can do a myriad of
things. Each player is allowed up to three. The players are allowed to create their
enhancements, but only if the GM allows them and stats them.
Due to rampant theft of cybernetic parts, the corps have decided to implement
DRM for cybernetics software. On top of that, they all have proprietary ports,
they do not connect to Wi-Fi, and unauthorized grafting results in horrible
explosive dismemberment. Don’t steal, kids, it isn’t yours. In short, attempting to
steal cybernetic parts and put them on you will result in horrible trauma.
Leveling
You are paid depending on how fast you complete a floor. The base pay is $2000
per player, and after ten turns on one floor the pay starts to decrease by $100
every turn. This counter resets when all players die within a two turn span of one
another.
This cash is used for buying upgrades and items at machines placed on every fifth floor, every floor 10%
of total cash is deduced in bank fees.
Upgrades
Upgrades and other machine purchases can include, but are not limited to:
 Upgrades to cybernetics
 Additional cybernetics
 Replacement Cybernetics
 Body armor of various configurations
 Firearms or melee weapons
 Grenades
 Armor Repair Nano-paste (repairs half of armor damage soak)
 Value sized bags of snacks (+4 health)
Whatya buyin Stranger?
Item
Price
Upgrades to cybernetics
varies
Additional cybernetics
Varies
Replacement Cybernetics
Varies
Firearms or melee weapons
(see the weapons chart)
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Grenades
$500/pc (fragmentation) $250/pc (flashbang)
Armor repair nano-paste
$500/pc
Value sized bags of snacks
$100/pc
Body Armor: Staying Alive is Fun.
There are various armors that can save your life from things going at you fast. Body armor will protect you
from damage, but once it has had its fill of damage, it needs to be repaired with Nano-paste. (Body armor
does not reset on respawn)
Name
Damage Soak
Stat mods
Price
Kevlar
4
N/A
200
Ceramic Plate
6
-1 Swiftness
300
Non Newtonian Slosh
8
-1 Exploitation
400
Carbide Armor
10
+1 Swiftness
800
-1 Might






Silk Rose Garb
0 (10 explosive charges)
N/A
500
D.U. Plate
14
-3 Swiftness
1200
Kevlar: Tried and true, cheap and trustworthy, old faithful Kevlar.
Ceramic Plate: Will take a bit more of a licking than Kevlar, but slows movement
Non-Newtonian slosh: We are required by the corps' lawyers to tell you that the non-Newtonian
slosh mix is not cornstarch and water, and that the high expense of this armor is justified because
of the mystery mix. This armor hardens in response to physical trauma, and is lighter than armors
of comparable strength. (8 points of damage soak)
Carbide Armor: Lighter than Plate, and stronger too. Newfangled and nice, but expensive.
Silk Rose Garb: Cheap and decidedly unsafe, this won't protect you at all, but it will spite your
attacker. A vest laced with shaped charges, whenever damage is done, a shaped charge goes off
and deals half of the damage right back.
D.U. Plate: Expensive, heavy, and completely safe, Depleted Uranium plate is stronger than the
rest, better than the best.
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The Corps: Get That Disk.
There are many corps that you can be sent to infiltrate, here are five basic retrieval missions. In every
mission you will be tasked with retrieving data from a ranking official. It is up to the GM how high up that
official’s office is.
 10 floors to objective
 15 floors to objective
 25 floors to objective
 50 floors to objective
 75 floors to objective
 100 floors to objective
 Insufficient data collection/Iron man mode (roll d100 to determine the number of floors to
objective)
Stories to Tell: A guide to the levels you will encounter.
Your run of the mill megacorp will be varied and diverse due to its multinational nature.






Reception: usually the first floor of the building, light security, easy to clear
Offices: This is where the wage slaves toil, there is plenty of cover and security ranges from light
to heavy depending on the floor. These are the levels you will find most often.
Maintenance: Tight and constricted with narrow corridors, these levels are usually dark and have
heavy security due to their sensitive nature.
Executive: The execs value their privacy, expect wide open spaces and light security
Shrine: Foreign dignitaries come to visit the corps often, the corps make sure they feel at home
and tranquil on these levels. Due to the high profile guests expect heavy security coupled with
wide open gardens.
Designated Employee Freedom Zones: These are placed every five floors, they serve as cafeterias
and social areas for employees. Expect to find vending machines and no security here.
Name
Enemy Allowance Total
Environment roll (roll
1d6)
Size
Reception
6 points
N/A
30x30
Offices
1.
Employee fridge
2.
2d4 suit fodder
patrol
3.
2d4 mercenary
patrol
4.
Employees
working overtime
5.
Lights are off
6.
Cubical Labyrinth
(size increases to
10 points
8
30x30
50x50 and re-roll)
Maintenance
Executive
Shrine
8 points
6 points
15 points
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1.
Steam pipes
2.
1d4 mercenary
patrol
3.
Patrolling Shafter
(add a shafter)
4.
Employees
working overtime
5.
1d4 Pig Skin patrol
6.
assassin ambush
(add 1d4
assassins)
1.
Suit fodder
ambush (add 1d10
suit fodder)
2.
vending machine
3.
loose change
4.
Private fridge
5.
assassin ambush
(add 1d4
assassins)
6.
Booby traps
1.
Foreign dignitaries
present (add 1d6
enemies)
2.
assassin ambush
(add 1d4
assassins)
3.
Shafter patrol (add
a shafter)
4.
Pig skin detail (add
1d4 pigskins)
5.
Hostage (if the
hostage survives
the encounter the
party earns double
20x40
30x30
50x50
the money)
6.
DEFZ
N/A
Meditating
enemies (enemies
are not patrolling)
N/A
20x20
Fall of the Machines:
Turns out when you can’t get sued for damages, it is just cheaper to put the vending machine back up
right than pay compensation. The corps figured this out long ago, and they act on this. The vending
machines you will encounter in the buildings are designed to deter those who may try to cheat it.








Shaking a machine is not encouraged as it can lead to the machine falling on you very easily
Coins on strings have led to many a lost appendage and in serious cases electrocution on top of
that
Smashing the glass has been known to cause the machines to explode
Pressing the dispense change button too many times has been known to cause third degree
burns
Do not attempt to woo or seduce the machines, they are typically bashful and do not respond
well to being courted
Fornication with the machines is not advised, all we need to say is that the rescue may save you,
but not all of you.
Do not swear at the machines
Kicking the machines is usually responded to in kind
Movement and Actions
Every turn has two actions, you can use these two actions in a myriad of ways.
 One Action cost
o Aim (get bonus to hit equal to swiftness mod (on top of the already existing swiftness
mod bonus))
o Shoot/Attack (needs no explanation)
o Move (get from point A to Point B)
o Suppressing fire*(Fire when an enemy comes into sight, *(Will negate turn if used as the
first action, but can be used as a second action))
 Two Action cost
o Sprint (get from point A to point B faster(Sprint distance = (Movement distance +
Mods)*1.5 rounded up)
o Fire walk (Shoot while moving (mods do not factor into Fire walk rolls))
Don’t Start the Fifth Corporate War™: A Lesson on Stealing.
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Things that you can loot from dead bodies without ending the human race in the worst lawsuit of all time
(this does not apply to things purchased at vending machines):
 Weapons (As long as you deposit them in the designated infiltrator weapon drop off chute before
exfiltration)
 Bullets
 Keycards (See weapons)
 Radios (As long as they are deposited in the infiltrator radio chute before exfiltration)
 Snacks (As long as you do not take the empty bag with you on exfiltration)
Things that, if stolen/looted and taken beyond the bounds of the building, have and will start a Corporate
War™.
 Money
 Organs (Organs belong to their respective corps and are not to be stolen)
 Family pictures (Families belong to the corps)
 Novelty mugs (That is how the Second Corporate War™ started, incredibly taboo to even mention
taking a novelty mug)
 Any gift shop item (You get the idea)
 Pornography
 Toilet paper
 Those small bottles of shampoo
 Pens (They are on a chain for a reason)
 Product keys for office software
 Food in the office refrigerator
 Computers (Through a legal loop hole keyboards are fine to steal however, their proprietary jacks
make them near useless outside of the building)
 Any coffee/synthetic coffee
The Corporate Wars™.
A comprehensive list of the corporate mega conflicts that have shaped the world political landscape. The
Corporate Wars™ are a trademark of Xianzi pictures group, and they retain all rights for the distribution of
all media on the subject.
Causes.
 First Corporate War™: Property rights on Mars.
 Second Corporate War™: CEO of Dibura Heavy Industries had novelty mug with a picture of his
dog stolen by industrial infiltrators.
 Third Corporate War™: Game of golf turned violent after a Bradbury solutions executive
mentioned a possible hostile takeover of Woolsworth Enterprises as a joke, within ear shot of the
Woolsworth Enterprises CEO.
 Fourth Corporate War™: War Erupted after Jackson and Johnson LLC, won the right to the phrase
“Our food is edible™” over EuroCo in court. Also the first Corporate War™ to see the use of
thermonuclear weapons.
Death tolls (Total).
 First Corporate War™: ~100 Million – 250 Million.
 Second Corporate War™: ~570 Million – 600 Million.
 Third Corporate War™: ~ 675 Million – 700 Million.
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
Fourth Corporate War™: ~990 Million – 1 Billion.
Get to Know Your Overlords: The Corps of the world.
There are many different corps that are stationed around the world, this is a list of the major world
players. Note that these corps produce everything they need to be self-reliant, but the main
specializations are what they pride themselves on.
Name
Woolsworth
Enterprises
HQ Location
Main
Specialization(s)
CEO
Domain
Johannesburg,
William
Rare earth minerals
South Africa
Woolsworth III
All of sub Saharan Africa
Genetic
modification
Louis
Charmaine
All of continental Europe West
of the Elbe river
North America east of the
Colorado river
EuroCo
Paris, France
Jackson and
Johnson LLC
New York,
United States
Cloning/foods
Orwell Jackson
and Taylor
Johnson
Bradbury
Solutions
San Francisco ,
United States
Space exploration
Thomas
Bradbury
North America, west of the
Colorado river and north of the
Panama Canal
Daibura Heavy
Industries
Kyoto, Japan
Robotics and
industrial
machinery
Mayu Miyashiro
Japan, Oceania
The Krusov
Group
Moscow, Russia
Oil
Ilyushin Krusov
Eastern Europe.
Hashem
Corporation
Dubai, UAE
Luxury goods/Oil
Prince Muhib
Ansari
Middle East, Southern Europe,
Saharan Africa
Xianzi
Conglomerate
Shanghai, China
Entertainment
Sheng-Li Lang
Mainland Asia
Pharmaceuticals
Ricardo Stressel
America South of the Panama
Canal
Weapons
technologies and
terraforming
Rangana
Mathur
India, Pakistan, Mars.
Stressel Medical San Palo, Brazil
Brahmastra
Solutions
New Deli, India
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