(SWADE) Interface Zero 3 - Strain Derived Stat not Displaying any Value

[kronovan]

I just bought Interface Zero 3.0 in the last sale and launched a campaign with it for the 1st time. I noticed with my 1st PC build that the Strain derived stat box is blank and isn't displaying the value of the Vigor dice as it should be. Meanwhile if I load the Science Fiction Companion extension instead of the SW - Interface 3.0 extension, the Strain derived stat does display correctly. So I know it can work correctly with the SWADE ruleset. I recently created a custom extension that added the Weird Wars Sanity derived stat in a similar manner, so I'm confident I could make the necessary edits to get Strain working. Unfortunately the SW - Interface 3.0 extension is locked down in the vault.

I'm running Core RPG v2021-07-06
SWADE v5.4.2

and no extensions except Interface Zero 3.0.

[srbongo]

I had thought the Strain derived stat was intended to only show the Strain total from your equipped cyberware - and then you'd compare it manually to the Vigor die type and when it goes over, roll Vigor. This seems to me like how the Strain & Strain Limit section of IZ3.0 rulebook reads (I'm no expert at SW), perhaps the rules are different in the SFC for Strain?

[kronovan]

The consequences are different, but the base Strain threshold is very similar, with the 1 small difference that the Science Fiction Companion calculates it from either the Spirit or Vigor dice, whichever is less. Whereas IZ3 only ever bases it upon the Vigor dice. A bit of a moot point as far as my SFC based homebrews go, because I've always houseruled Strain as solely based on Vigor. Late last night I added some Cyberware to a PC and did notice that the IZ3 extension displayed the total strain from equipped Cyberware in the Strain stat box. It works differently than the Strain stat box for the SFC extension, which displays a value equal to the current Vigor or Spirit dice.

The consequences to exceeding the Strain threshold are different in the 2 rules. IZ3 is a bit gentler, allowing for a Vigor roll to be made with a penalty equal to Total accumulated strain from equipped cyberware minus Vigor; success everything's cool, fail you gain 1 level of Fatigue. Whereas for the SFC rules, a character arbitrarily gains levels of Fatigue equal to the difference between total accumulated strain from equipped cyberware minus Vigor.

My 2 homebrews that feature cyberware are Military SciFi campaigns. So the more gritty/consequential nature of SFC strain better suits a setting where combat encounters are more frequent and the consequences of wounds and fatigue are more prevalent. For my homebrews, I have my players with chromed PCs manually create a negative modifier for the Strain stat box, which equals the total strain from equipped cyberware. That way the Fatigue level is displayed on the Traits tab too by means of the Strain stat box. Doing something similar for IZ3 Strain stat box wouldn't be possible - at least I can't think of a way. I'd like to create a custom extension that places another derived stat on the traits tab, which equals Vigor minus the current Strain stat. With the IZ3 extension being vaulted though, I have no way of determining the name of the strain variable which would have to be referenced in my template XML file?