GLOBAL OPERATOR: ZERO SUM

GDD v0.21 · Internal · High-Lethality Extraction TTRPG

High concept: Co-op extraction TTRPG. Gear fear at the table. Risk everything. Keep what you exfil.

Gear is life. Intel is leverage. Hesitation kills.

*For every crate you exfil, someone else lost their kit trying.*

Setting — Economic Exclusion Zones (EEZs)

The 2000s created them. Governments leased 200–1,500 km² tracts as Special Economic Zones — tax-free, law-free, corporate-run. Ports, lithium pits, refineries, railyards.

Then the money ran out. Corps defaulted, pulled out, or got sanctioned. Host nations couldn't afford to reclaim them. They built a fence, declared them excluded from national jurisdiction, and posted Perimeter Guards.

They're still full.

The UN calls them Economic Exclusion Zones. Contractors call them Zeroes — places where ownership sums to zero, so whoever holds the ground keeps what they pull out.

No anomalies. No radiation magic. Just concrete, rust, and a lot of unguarded inventory.

Operators don't "go on a mission." They go into the Zero.

Playtest EEZ 01: Kreslia Port (Baltic)

28 km × 10 km coastal strip. Former Soviet port privatized 2004, bankrupt 2011. Pine forest, concrete yards, rail. Cold, wet, close. Scrapper crews stripping copper; Perimeter Guards working for whoever pays this month. This is Scenario 01.

Future EEZs

All use the same rules. Only the kit changes.

Contents

1. Design Pillars
2. Core Loop & Economy
3. Operator
4. Combat Resolution
5. Ballistics & Armor
6. Safehouse & Progression
7. Session Structure
8. Scope Locks

1. Design Pillars

01 — Gear Fear Is a Feature

Every item brought into the Zero can be lost. Players should feel weight before they deploy. The Keep Case is the only guarantee. All other gear is a bet.

02 — Lethality Is Non-Negotiable

Combat is fast, brutal, and decisive. No bullet sponges. Armor buys seconds, not minutes. One good angle ends an engagement. Medical play is triage, not healing. Target: 2–3 round average fights.

03 — Knowledge > Level

A veteran with map knowledge, ammo data, and exfil timing beats a geared novice. No vertical damage scaling. Progression unlocks options, intel, and safety nets — never raw HP or damage dice.

Design lock: No level gives damage. No level gives HP. Abilities modify approach, not lethality. Correct ammo + angle drops any threat — veteran kit or green.

2. Core Loop & Economy

Core Loop

1. PREP — Loadout, intel buy, route plan
2. DEPLOY — Insertion, comms check
3. SEARCH — Loot, intel, handler tasks
4. CONTACT — Hostile contact, decisive
5. EXFIL — Timed extraction, risk spike
6. KEEP / LOSE — Only exfil = keep

Golden Rule

If you don't exfil, you don't keep.

Exception: Keep Case (3–6 slots).

Outside gameplay is downtime management, not a second game. 2 actions between ops. Speed matters.

Economy

Handlers (Not Traders)

Handlers are relationship gates, not vending machines. Rep 1–4 unlocks tiers. Tasks give +1 Rep, Credits, and unique mods. Fail = −1 Rep. Tasks are optional in-op objectives (retrieve, mark, eliminate).

3. Operator

Abilities — 6 Stats

Point buy / 27 pts · +2 / +3 mod max

Checks & Proficiency

No skill list. The six stats are the skills. Any non-combat task: d20 + stat mod vs DC — Easy 10 · Standard 12 · Hard 15 · Extreme 18. The stat table above tells you which stat governs what.

Weapon proficiency is the only trained bonus:

Families: Pistols · Carbines/Rifles · Shotguns · DMRs · Heavy. Proficiency applies to to-hit only — never damage.

Hit Zones

Bleed & Fracture

On blacked limb: roll Bleed 1–3 / Fracture.

Bleed = CON save each round or −5 HP thorax.

Combat bleeds (from penetration / spall) are separate — see §4.

Death States — 4-Tier System

4. Combat Resolution

PEN check is the core mechanic. No math at the table — only printed card values.

Step 1 — To-Hit

d20 + DEX mod + PROF (if proficient) + situational vs DC

• Proficiency = +2 to +4 (see Checks & Proficiency, §3)
• No stacking damage bonuses
• Recoil Control (RC): offsets shooting penalties from burst fire and shots at sprinting targets, to a floor of 0 — RC never becomes a bonus to hit. Sources: Foregrip mod (+1), Range station (+1/+2).
• Advantage = angle, surprise, braced
• Nat 1 = jam / failure
• Nat 20 = if a spall check occurs, roll at FRAG × 2

Step 2 — Hit Location

Roll d12:

Coverage: Vest = thorax + stomach. Helmet = head. Limbs never armored.

Step 3 — Penetration Check

Compare ammo PEN vs armor CLASS on covered zones.

• No flesh-frag on pen — the round punched through.
• Spall is plate spray on failed pens only.
• Head ×3 multiplier if no helmet (after pen/stop resolution).

Spall, in plain words: the plate stopped the bullet, but fragments can spray into the target. Only on STOPPED hits. Roll d100 — at or under the ammo's FRAG% the target takes a Light bleed (Heavy if head/thorax). Spall is a bleed, not damage — it stacks on the BLUNT already dealt. On a Nat 20 to-hit, the spall check rolls at FRAG × 2.

*Example: AKM ball (FRAG 24%) stopped by a Class 4 vest, thorax. Target takes 15 BLUNT, armor takes −2 DUR. d100 = 19 → ≤ 24, so the target also gains a Heavy bleed.*

Bleeds (Combat)

Stacking: max one Light + one Heavy per operator. Extra procs refresh or escalate Light → Heavy.

Movement & Turn Economy

Each turn: 1 move + 1 action. Round ≈ 6 seconds.

Blacked leg = −10% move each. Range bands (≤5 m / ~25 m / ~100 m) mirror the to-hit DCs.

Doors & Breaching

Force and breach charges are loud — the first per encounter ticks the exfil clock. Picking is quiet (1 action). A failed force attempt makes the noise anyway and the door holds. Breach charge: auto-opens anything, 1 action to set, always loud.

Cover & Situational

Example — 45m Engagement

• Attacker hits with 5.56 Ball (PEN 3) vs target in Class 4 vest (AC 4)
• Location: Thorax
• PEN 3 vs AC 4 → Stopped → BLUNT damage + spall roll
• Armor takes A-DMG; target may bleed from spall

5. Ballistics & Armor

No dice for damage. Fixed values from reference. Math done once at authoring.

Ammo Card Stats

A-DMG map: LOW −1 · MED −2 · HIGH −4 DUR

Ballistics Reference — Generic (Sample)

*All entries original & generic. No licensed trademarks. Values are example — balance via playtest. Expansion: +P, AP, Subsonic, Tracer variants per caliber with ±1 PEN.*

Armor Classes 1–6

\*Class 1 still uses PEN check; soft armor is mostly a DUR sponge.

Break: DUR hits 0 → Class −1, reset DUR to half of new class max. Repair in Safehouse Workshop. Plate replacement costs Credits.

Offline Ammo Generator *(authoring only — never at table)*

SD     = grains / (7000 × diam_in²)
KE     = 0.5 × mass_kg × v²
Mom    = mass_kg × v

PEN    = MIN(6, ROUND(SD × v × tip_pen / 40))
DMG    = ROUND(KE × tip_exp / 250)     // pistols: allow exp 2.5–4
BLUNT  = MAX(1, ROUND(DMG / 3))
FRAG%  = MIN(25, ROUND((v / 30) × tip_frag))
A-DMG  = band(Mom); +1 step if AP/steel-core
         Mom <4 LOW · 4–7 MED · 7–10 HIGH · 10+ → HIGH

Hand-tune final integers onto the card.

6. Safehouse & Progression

Stations

Downtime — 2 Actions

Between ops, each player gets 2 downtime actions:

• Triage / Repair
• Craft / Mod
• Barter / Sell
• Upgrade Safehouse
• Prep next loadout

No action = rest → +1 CON save next op.

7. Session Structure

Phases

Exfil Clock (GM)

Run exfil as a 3-segment clock. Each loud action, failed stealth, or extra loot tick adds 1. At 3: exfil is hot and timer halves. Knowledge reduces ticks.

Player Tip

Your first 3 ops, you are poor. That is intentional. Keep Case discipline wins. Learn one map fully before chasing Class 5 gear.

8. Scope Locks

Non-Negotiable

• NO tetris in-op. Inventory is slots, not puzzle.
• NO calculator on player sheet. Math done once in Ballistics Reference.
• NO HP/AC bloat. Head 20 / Thorax 50 forever.
• NO levels give damage. Gear + ammo + angle = lethality.
• NO secure container creep. Keep Case max 6. That is it.
• NO flea market in-op. Barter only in Safehouse.

Positioning

A grounded, lethal, knowledge-first extraction TTRPG for players who want gear fear at the table.

Not power fantasy. Not heroic. Professional contractors doing high-risk retrieval in the Zero. Every decision is risk calculus: *Is this worth my kit? Is this worth my team?*

Changelog

v0.21

v0.1 → v0.2

*GLOBAL OPERATOR: ZERO SUM © Cold Wire Studios · GDD v0.21 · All rights reserved.*

*RISK EVERYTHING. KEEP WHAT YOU EXFIL.*