I've starting working on a new RPG campaign for Friday Night group #1.  They are currently playing through Out of the Abyss fo D&D.  Once we complete that campaign, we'll be moving on to Interface Zero using the FATE Core system.

Interface Zero is a cyberpunk and psionics setting set in the year 2090.   It was originally published for Savage Worlds way back in 2010.  It was a bit clunky in design but had a wonderful vibe.  It is very much Shadowrun without metahumans and uses Psionics instead of Magic.  In fact, several Savage Worlds GMs that I know use it to play Shadowrun and import fantasy races and magic from other Savage Worlds settings into it.

When I was looking for a new campaign to run a few years back, IZ was near the top of the list.  However, version 2 was in the work and Shadowrun fifth edition was just released, so I went with Shadowrun instead.  Fast forward a few years and Gun Metal Games announced a new version of IZ for Fate Core.  As I have been looking for an oppertunity to get a FATE campaing going, I decided that it would be a good fit for my Friday Group #1 once we finish our current campaign.  As we are about a year from finishing, I'll have plenty of time to setup the new campaign.

Now, I don't want to run a typical Shadowrun/Cyberpunk 2020 campaign where the players are criminals for hire.  Been there, done that. I find it boring as a GM.   "Well crafted plots" quickly become a codeword for setting up situations whern the players can not use their biggest guns to kill everything in the way.  The result is that the players will look for ways to avoid the plot so that they can go FPS to their payday.  Even "twists" like being screwed over by the Johnson are so played out that players always expect it and take precautions.

One of my favorite campaigns (as a player) in recent years was Kingmaker for Pathfinder.   Having to build and run a kingdom was a fun framing device.  It gave the adventures an extra added dimenion and even caused the players to think more broadly and long term.  A great example is a drunken Hill Giant that the players came across.  In a typical Pathfinder/D&D game, the result would have been a combat.  However, we talked to and recruited the Hill Giant to serve our Kingdom instead.  He eventually became the General of our armies.

With that in mind, I started reading the Interface Zero campaign setting.  In IZ, in the 2080's, China invades and conquers Siberia.  Immediately, I saw my campaign: The players are part of the resistance to Free Siberia (Svobodnaya Sibir').

This will give the campaign a solid framework and generate a ton of missions will very little work on my part.  The players will form the core of their own resistance group.  They will have to form alliances with other resistance groups, seek allies from around the rest of the world, and even go on standard missions to raise money.

IZ also comes with a set of rules to run organization level conflicts.  I plan on modifying them slightly and use them as a framing device to show how the fight to Free Siberia is progressing.

For example:

The local PLA garrison has been conducting attacks against the Resource track of the local Svobodnaya Sibir' cell. They are running low on supplies and ammo. (Stress Track almost full and several consequences have been taken). 

The PCs are sent on an important mission to smuggle much needed supplies to the resistance cell. If they succeed, the Resource Stress will reset back to 0. If they partially succeed, the Stress could be reduced by 50%. If they fail in a rather epic fashion, the PLA garrison might have Advantage on their next roll.

This way the actions of the players will have a direct impact on the Organization Level conflicts.  By having the Organization Level conflicts running constantly, it will also place the players under time-pressure to resolve conflicts.  Usually, time is the cheapest resource in RPGs.

The campaign will also be free-form enough that the players can decide if they want to free Siberia and re-join Russia or carve out their own kingdom.  With the wealth present in Siberia combined with its remoteness, it is very possible to form a new nation there.  Of course, other resistance groups will have their own ideas for what the future of Siberia should look like....