In 2014, working with Modiphius as co-publisher, Tomas Härenstam led the design for Mutant: Year Zero RPG (MY0) (review) in English by Free League (Fria Liga in Swedish and (overview). His story begins and continues beyond MY0 as he explained in this interview.
Free League was founded in 2011, but the founders were a group of freelancers working together even before that. In 2012 a fantasy game called Svavelvinter (Brimstone Sleep), only published in Swedish, was published. Another fantasy game in Swedish followed in 2013. Mutant: Year Zero was published in 2014, first in Swedish and then in English.
Filled with evocative art, the rulebook for MY0 contains a tight, well constructed RPG of mutants rebuilding after the end of the world even as they slowly rot away. My campaign radiated danger and challenge because of the underlying rules that Tomas guided to completion. The elegance of that design has led me to follow the ongoing RPG releases from Free League.
Starting with MY0 going forward, many Free League RPGs have also been published in English. Tomas helps with the development and has taken a direct hand in writing several of Free League’s RPGs. Their latest kickstarter is for Symbaroum, based on a recent merger.
Free League merged with Järnringen, creators of Symbaroum but also earlier versions of Mutant and Coriolis (review) Mattias Johnsson Haake from the old Järnringen is still the game director for Symbaroum so there are no drastic changes. The recent Kickstarter for the Mother of Darkness campaign book is the first Symbaroum kickstarter since the merger.
Free League has released a fantasy RPG called Forbidden Lands (overview/review). Tomas explained why D&D players might try Forbidden Lands. It is a tribute to classic fantasy roleplaying including rules for stronghold building, but it also incorporates modern game design like unified mechanics. If offers a change of pace with a grimmer, deadlier, and faster game that encourages PC driven exploration of the world.
Free League RPGs include GM tools like adventures as well as optional tools like custom dice, cards, maps, and counters. Tomas explained that Free League wants RPGs to be games, not just pretty books. It's central to Free League’s design philosophy that their RPGs should be easily accessible and immediately playable. Great art and graphic design create a draw to try an RPG, while engaging and useful rules power gameplay.
Free League not only has a great in house design team but also partners with freelancers like Simon Stålenhag on Tales from the Loop[/B (he's now a full partner) and fantasy author Erik Granström for Forbidden Lands. While a recent license video game is out for MY0 and a streaming show is planned for Tales from the Loop, these projects do not currently directly impact RPG design for Free League. Hopefully, they will draw in more players.
Call of Cthulhu the short story with art by Francois Baranger was recently kickstarted. A stretch goal led to a Lovecraft RPG. Tomas said PCs will be able to truly go mad and die. Free League will focus on one-shot scenarios with pregenerated characters rather than campaign play. The RPG will have a global scope, so the focus won't be Arkham but rather expeditions to remote locations. Finally, amazing art by Baranger will feature in the game.
Tomas wrapped up with two things. One, Free League will have a major announcement in April about a new game they have been working on. Two, Tomas says thanks for reading this and reading and playing Free League games! It's only been five years since the first international release and the response has been amazing, so again, thank you so much!
This article was contributed by Charles Dunwoody as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. Please note that Charles is a participant in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to DriveThruRPG. If you enjoy the daily news and articles from EN World, please consider contributing to our Patreon!
Free League was founded in 2011, but the founders were a group of freelancers working together even before that. In 2012 a fantasy game called Svavelvinter (Brimstone Sleep), only published in Swedish, was published. Another fantasy game in Swedish followed in 2013. Mutant: Year Zero was published in 2014, first in Swedish and then in English.
Filled with evocative art, the rulebook for MY0 contains a tight, well constructed RPG of mutants rebuilding after the end of the world even as they slowly rot away. My campaign radiated danger and challenge because of the underlying rules that Tomas guided to completion. The elegance of that design has led me to follow the ongoing RPG releases from Free League.
Starting with MY0 going forward, many Free League RPGs have also been published in English. Tomas helps with the development and has taken a direct hand in writing several of Free League’s RPGs. Their latest kickstarter is for Symbaroum, based on a recent merger.
Free League merged with Järnringen, creators of Symbaroum but also earlier versions of Mutant and Coriolis (review) Mattias Johnsson Haake from the old Järnringen is still the game director for Symbaroum so there are no drastic changes. The recent Kickstarter for the Mother of Darkness campaign book is the first Symbaroum kickstarter since the merger.
Free League has released a fantasy RPG called Forbidden Lands (overview/review). Tomas explained why D&D players might try Forbidden Lands. It is a tribute to classic fantasy roleplaying including rules for stronghold building, but it also incorporates modern game design like unified mechanics. If offers a change of pace with a grimmer, deadlier, and faster game that encourages PC driven exploration of the world.
Free League RPGs include GM tools like adventures as well as optional tools like custom dice, cards, maps, and counters. Tomas explained that Free League wants RPGs to be games, not just pretty books. It's central to Free League’s design philosophy that their RPGs should be easily accessible and immediately playable. Great art and graphic design create a draw to try an RPG, while engaging and useful rules power gameplay.
Free League not only has a great in house design team but also partners with freelancers like Simon Stålenhag on Tales from the Loop[/B (he's now a full partner) and fantasy author Erik Granström for Forbidden Lands. While a recent license video game is out for MY0 and a streaming show is planned for Tales from the Loop, these projects do not currently directly impact RPG design for Free League. Hopefully, they will draw in more players.
Call of Cthulhu the short story with art by Francois Baranger was recently kickstarted. A stretch goal led to a Lovecraft RPG. Tomas said PCs will be able to truly go mad and die. Free League will focus on one-shot scenarios with pregenerated characters rather than campaign play. The RPG will have a global scope, so the focus won't be Arkham but rather expeditions to remote locations. Finally, amazing art by Baranger will feature in the game.
Tomas wrapped up with two things. One, Free League will have a major announcement in April about a new game they have been working on. Two, Tomas says thanks for reading this and reading and playing Free League games! It's only been five years since the first international release and the response has been amazing, so again, thank you so much!
This article was contributed by Charles Dunwoody as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. Please note that Charles is a participant in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to DriveThruRPG. If you enjoy the daily news and articles from EN World, please consider contributing to our Patreon!
