Mutant: Year Zero
4th PrintingBest For
Post-apocalyptic campaigns where mutant survivors explore a deadly Zone, build up their home settlement, and search for the mythical Eden: with the Year Zero Engine that spawned a family of games.
Core Mechanic
Roll a pool of d6s (attribute + skill + gear). Each 6 is a success; one success is enough. You can push your roll to reroll failures, but 1s on attribute dice cause trauma and 1s on gear dice cause damage to equipment. Mutations cost Mutation Points and can misfire with unpredictable side effects.
The d6 pool is simple: roll attribute, skill, and gear, and count 6s. Its signature is pushing a roll, which rerolls failures but inflicts trauma and damages gear. Mutations, the Ark, and advancement add the rest.
- Free to tryQuickstartA free starter you can actually play
- Get it nowSold newIn print or as a legal PDF
- ✓IndexFind any rule by page number
- ✓GM guidanceA chapter on how to run the game
- ✓Examples of playRules shown in action at the table
- ✓Quick referenceCheat sheet or summary tables
- ✓Cross-referencesRules point to each other by page
5 of 5 book tools found in the core book
Highlights
Push mechanic creates tough choices, Ark development gives players a shared home to build, Zone exploration is tense and rewarding, eight distinctive roles with built-in relationships and dreams, launched the Year Zero Engine family
Considerations
Mutation randomness can frustrate planners, metaplot requires significant GM commitment, Ark development bookkeeping adds between-session overhead, Zone travel can feel repetitive without varied encounters
Rules license Proprietary
Similar systems
- Apocalypse World — Survivors fight for a future amid scarcity and a psychic maelstromCompare Mutant: Year Zero vs Apocalypse World
- Ironsworn: Starforged — Sworn quests among the stars: solo, co-op, or guided sci-fi adventureCompare Mutant: Year Zero vs Ironsworn: Starforged
- Salvage Union — Scrap-built mechs sustaining a wandering wasteland communityCompare Mutant: Year Zero vs Salvage Union
- Forbidden Lands — Raiders and rogues exploring a cursed land where the Blood Mist has finally liftedCompare Mutant: Year Zero vs Forbidden Lands
- Outrunners — Outrun the death you've foreseen before the Harbinger collectsCompare Mutant: Year Zero vs Outrunners
- Ashes Without Number — Post-apocalyptic survival in a world that's already ended: from the creator of Stars Without NumberCompare Mutant: Year Zero vs Ashes Without Number
- The Wildsea — Chainsaw-sailing across a treetop ocean in a world swallowed by wild growthCompare Mutant: Year Zero vs The Wildsea