Free League Year Zero Engine

[aramis erak]

Its simple enough, but for a game based on combat (T2k4e), it is mind-numbingly unoriginal, inflexible, and clumsy. I ripped it out and replaced it before we started.

In other words, you never gave it a shot.

 

[Piperken]

What do people think about the the Free League Year Zero engine? We are fixing to play Twilight 2000, and I'm looking at The Walking Dead, too. Any thoughts?

I've run Vaesen; YZE works well for investigative/horror genre, just the usual caveats for play to avoid locking clues behind high Investigative or Learning checks.

Based on the iteration used in your game, it's possible to grab systems from other YZE games to use in yours. For example, people liked the Stress mechanics in Alien.

Depending on the length of your campaign, you may want to consider adjusting the XP one receives for meeting play goals.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

I've run it with Vaesen, Alien and Mutant year Zero...I like it, and its very efficient at the style of game it supports. I plan to run it eventually for The Electric State (but must convince my players to NOT watch that movie, just appreciate the art book its based on), and also Forbidden Lands.

Pros: die mechanic complexity will vary with which version of the game you are playing; Alien and Vaesen are very simple; Forbidden Lands is rather complex. The system is skill based, but keeps it to a very tight range of skills. It strongly focuses on story with quick pacing (ime) and can handle investigative scenarios (Vaesen) really well. Resource management is a big deal in some versions (Mutant Year Zero, Forbidden Lands).

Worth noting to the OP that not all Free League games are Year Zero Engine powered. Specifically Twilight 2000 is its own thing, as is Dagonbane, although both borrow design elements from other Free League books. They also publish Mork Borg (and tie in) books which are unrelated to YZE.

 

[schneeland]

Worth noting to the OP that not all Free League games are Year Zero Engine powered. Specifically Twilight 2000 is its own thing

First statement is true - Dragonbane and Symbaroum do have their own engine (d20 roll under), as has The One Ring. The second statement, however, is IMO only kind of true. It's correct that T2K has its own system which (mainly) uses two dice which go from d6 to d12, however, Free League has decided to also call this Year Zero engine. So now there is Year Zero - Pool Version (directly derived from Mutant Year Zero) and Year Zero - Step Dice Version (derived from the T2K system). While I found this a bit odd in the beginning, except for the dice types, they are similar enough that I can see why Free League decided to do this. Besides T2K, the Blade Runner game also uses step dice. I like both, but I think they fit some genres better than others - personally I think that the pool version fits survival-oriented scenarios better and step dice work or would work better for games with a different focus (e.g. I think step dice are a good fit for Bladerunner and I feel Tales from the Loop might work better with step dice).

Generally, Year Zero games have the right amount of crunch for me, though T2K is a bit above my preferences. My personal favourites are Forbidden Lands and Alien (the Evolved Edition even a bit more than the original); Vaesen and Tales from the Loop are fine, though I'd prefer characters to be a bit more competent (which is something that a few players strongly dislike) and I feel both would be better served with step dice (though Vaesen would require more tweaking for this). I have yet to play Bladerunner, so no final verdict on this one (reading impression is good, though).
The trickiest one is Coriolis. First, Coriolis The Third Horizon has a great setting, but a terrible (IMO) campaign, and the game system also feels like the least polished version of Year Zero to me. There's also the new/upcoming Coriolis The Great Dark, but that's less of a second edition and more of a new game in the new universe.

 

[Jd Smith1]

In other words, you never gave it a shot.

Its the same as countless other systems. Whether you call it a fast & slow action, or a complex & simple action, or Movement/Action/bonus Action/reaction, etc, its all the same. Every combat round is the same for everyone, forver. Tedious in the extreme.

There's zero room for player input; its just a unimaginative rote to a dull conclusion.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I haven't played it but reading it i was a little disappointed. That said its way better than the even more abstract The Walking Dead combat.

They do try, but their presentation is rough, and the combat structure is uninspired.

 

[GothmogIV]

I'm going to play T2k, and I got the rules, so I'll give them a read and see what I think. As I have played more and more games, and learned/encountered more and more systems, I find I prefer simpler mechanics vs. crunchier games. Just a personal preference. Less rolling, more role-playing. Thanks all!

 

[Jaeger]

I am currently running a Vaesen campaign; I am 34 sessions in, with each session being about 4 hours. And still ongoing.

I have opinions.

The Vaesen iteration of the YZE was clearly not intended to run campaigns this long. I had to double the XP requirements for both PC's and the Castle for advancements. And I should have done it after the first 5-6 sessions.

The d6 system is harsh for chances of success in pools below 7-8 dice, and it can be swingy. PC's need to roleplay out as much as they can, and take advantage of all the equipment bonuses that they can. The dice are not the PC's friend.

Hiding clues in published adventures behind multiple successes is nonsensical.

Combat can be swingy/keystone cops when it happens due to the low success rate. PC's can be reluctant to push, because you immediately give yourself penalties to all future rolls until you can heal. No first aid rules. The Critical hit charts have times for mental and physical consequences to take effect that are completely irrelevant during actual play.

I have done a slight mod to the die system, and introduced a timing system similar to the blade runner rpg for investigations, adjusted the critical hit charts, and am now satisfied on how they address the issues that I had.

 

[Piperken]

...The Vaesen iteration of the YZE was clearly not intended to run campaigns this long. I had to double the XP requirements for both PC's and the Castle for advancements. And I should have done it after the first 5-6 sessions...

That many sessions is great!

I've heard this come up as a quick fix from others for longer-style campaigns. It's one I'm def. thinking of implementing.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

I think it's a well designed engine. It's very simple to explain, it has an interesting twist with pushing your rolls and Free League have proven that its adaptable to different genres.

My two hiccups are:

• It's dice pools, which I like, but dice pools are often a bit more tedious to roll. These games tend to have less frequent more meaningful rolls (even though YZE is nowhere near as bad as some other dice pool games where building your pool takes minutes). It's not a bad thing per say, but it's just something you have to keep in mind. In a game like Tales from the Loop it wasn't an issue. But other genres kind of felt like they required us to roll more often, but I didn't want to slow down things too much with too many rolls.
• The second one is the pushing mechanic. A lot of their games have this mechanic with a metacurrency attached. I don't dislike it, but it has a huge impact on the flow of the game. In D&D, if I make you roll a skill check every 2 minutes, or every hour it doesn't change much. It games like Forbidden Lands it does because it interacts with the currency Willpower and you can starve or flood your players of it. It's a little bit like games where skills improve as you make rolls, how often you make the player rolls can affect the flow of the game. Once again, not a bad thing, but it makes the system a bit more rigid to me than something like D20.

I do think that Free League make the best looking and high quality books in the industry by a long margin (that I've seen). I think that they nail a very nice balance between games with lots of content and design space, while still breathing and not being overwhelming. And finally I think their engine, without being spectacular or incredibly innovative gets the job done; which is perfect, mechanics by themselves are worthless, what people enjoy are the dynamics they create.