Mutant Year Zero
Mutant: Year Zero takes you to the world after the great Apocalypse. Humanity’s proud civilization has fallen. The cities are dead wastelands, winds sweeping along empty streets turned into graveyards. But life remains. Among the ruins, the People live. You are the heirs of humanity – but not quite human anymore. Your bodies and minds are capable of superhuman feats. You are mutants.
Originally created by Tomas Härenstam
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Mutant: Year Zero Reviews (3)
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Mutant: Year Zero thrusts players into a post-apocalyptic world where humanity's remnants—mutated humans, animals, and robots—struggle for survival amidst the ruins of civilization. Developed by Free League Publishing, this tabletop role-playing game emphasizes exploration, resource management, and community building in a setting where every decision can mean life or death. Pros: ✔ Engaging Survival Mechanics: The game masterfully integrates survival elements, requiring players to scavenge for resources, manage supplies, and contend with environmental hazards, thereby enhancing immersion. ✔ Community Building: Beyond individual survival, players invest in the development of their home base, known as the Ark, fostering a sense of collective responsibility and long-term strategy. ✔ Expansive Lore Through Expansions: The game's universe is enriched by several expansions: Mutant: Genlab Alpha: Introduces intelligent, mutated animals as playable characters, each with unique abilities and narratives. Mutant: Mechatron: Focuses on robots gaining consciousness, exploring themes of identity and free will. Mutant: Elysium: Centers on non-mutated humans residing in an underground enclave, delving into societal structures and moral dilemmas. Mutant: Ad Astra: Takes the adventure into space, offering new frontiers and challenges beyond Earth. Cons: ✘ Steep Learning Curve: The game's intricate mechanics and survival aspects may overwhelm newcomers or those preferring more straightforward gameplay. ✘ Resource Management Emphasis: Players seeking constant action might find the focus on scavenging and resource allocation less appealing. ✘ Potential for Group Tension: The survival setting can lead to in-game conflicts among players, which, if not managed well, could affect group dynamics. Final Verdict: Mutant: Year Zero offers a rich, immersive experience for players who appreciate depth, strategy, and a touch of existential challenge in their role-playing games. The expansions further enhance the universe, providing diverse perspectives and narratives that keep the gameplay fresh and engaging. However, its complexity and focus on survival may not suit everyone's taste. Rating: 8.5/10 – Surviving the Apocalypse, One Mutation at a Time.
Free League don't miss, and Mutant Year Zero is a beautifully put together piece of work that really starts to come into its own when you can engage in a campaign view and integrate the follow-on content from Genlab Alpha, Elysium and Mechatron. It integrates some old school ideas with map exploration and random event tables, but can also be customised to create a more targetted narrative at the GMs discretion. I'm being super strict with a 4* review - it should really be 5, but Mutant Year Zero has a few 'teething problems' as the birthplace of the Year Zero Engine (most of which are resolved in more recent releases and updates!)
I really wanted to like this system more than I did. I most enjoyed how unique character creation was and how all our strange mutant powers would materialize as part of the narrative. I found that the risk for pushing rolls never really seemed worth it? As well, it seemed like there could have been more advice for game masters.
How to play Mutant: Year Zero
Mutant: Year Zero utilizes a fast and effective character generation system, using archetypal roles such as the Crusher, the Gearhead, the Fixer, the Dog Handler, and the Chronicler. The main mechanic within the game is a skill and conflict system that makes you push yourself to the limit, and beyond. The rules system highlights two main themes: mutation and resource management. Every bullet counts!
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Explore Mutant: Year Zero Roles
Enforcer
As long as you can remember, you have been fighting. You have learned the fighter’s secret: It’s not about who is the strongest. It’s about who will never quit.
Gearhead
For other people, the Zone is an empty wasteland, littered with useless scrap and garbage. For you, it’s a gold mine that is never depleted. There are remains from the Old Age everywhere, broken technical wonders.
Stalker
Only you know the way through the Zone, the safe paths crossing the gravelands of the Old Age. You know where the artifacts are hidden, you know where the monsters roam. You are a Stalker.
Fixer
Bullets? Grub? Water? Artifacts? Whatever people want, you can get it. Somehow. Seeing the needs of others and fulfilling them, that has been your strategy for survival as long as you can remember.
Dog Handler
You can’t even remember how your sorry excuse for a dog became yours, but now it’s worth more to you than any mutant. You live in a symbiotic mutual dependency.
Chronicler
Everything must be recorded. All the People do must be taken note of, nothing forgotten. The most gifted among you are made Chroniclers.
Boss
Human civilization may have collapsed, but the world hasn’t ended equally for all. Some lead and others follow - now as in the Old Age. You lead.
Grunt
It feels good to work hard. To toil with your bare hands, to have a purpose. To build something new among the ruins, among your fellow mutants.