Tag Archives: year zero engine

Free League Officially Releases Two New Open Game Licenses

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Year Zero Engine

Free League Publishing has officially released its two new open game licenses for community creators: a Free Tabletop License (FTL) for the Year Zero Engine and a third-party license for their upcoming fantasy RPG Dragonbane. The Year Zero Engine FTL comes with an updated Standard Reference Document (SRD). All three documents are now available for creators to use.

Both new community content licenses are royalty-free and irrevocable, meaning that they can be updated but creators will always be able to use any published version.

The work on these new licenses was initiated in 2022, but was intensified during the debates in early 2023 around Wizards of the Coasts’ OGL v1.0, on which the previous Year Zero Engine (YZE) license was based. The two new licenses are completely independent, developed by Free League and the US law firm Nolan Heimann.

The new Year Zero Engine FTL is designed to be fair and easy to understand and use for community creators. It gives all creators an irrevocable, worldwide, and royalty-free right to use the Year Zero Engine Standard Reference Document (YZE SRD) and freely publish their own roleplaying material based on it. The YZE FTL can be found here.

Alongside the new YZE FTL, the YZE SRD itself has been given a massive overhaul and update, based on the developments of the Year Zero Engine in recent years. The new SRD adds rules for chases, vehicles, travel, and magic, and introduces the new “step dice” version of YZE found in Twilight: 2000 and the Blade Runner RPG. The new YZE SRD (version 1.0) can be accessed here.

The Year Zero Engine (YZE) in various iterations has been used in most Free League RPGs in recent years, including Mutant: Year Zero, Coriolis, Tales From the Loop, Forbidden Lands, ALIEN, Vaesen, Blade Runner RPG, and the upcoming The Walking Dead Universe RPG. The YZE is an accessible, fast and adaptable rules framework that encourages story-focused and player-driven playstyles.

Free League Launches New Licenses For Year Zero Engine and Dragonbane

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Year Zero Engine

Free League Publishing has released two new open game licenses for community creators – a Free Tabletop License (FTL) for the Year Zero Engine and a third-party license for the upcoming Dragonbane fantasy RPG. The Year Zero Engine FTL comes with a massively updated Standard Reference Document (SRD). Free League is inviting feedback on all three documents before they are finalized and officially lau nched.

The work on these new community content licenses was initiated last year but was intensified during the debates last month around Wizards of the Coasts’ OGL v1.0, on which the previous Year Zero Engine (YZE) license was based. The two new licenses are completely independent, developed by Free League and the US law firm Nolan Heimann.

The new Year Zero Engine FTL is designed to be fair and easy to understand and use for creators. It gives creators an irrevocable, worldwide, and royalty-free right to use the Year Zero Engine Standard Reference Document (YZE SRD) and freely publish their own roleplaying material based on it. A draft of the YZE FTL can be found here.

Alongside the new YZE FTL, the YZE SRD itself has been given a massive overhaul and update, based on the developments of the Year Zero Engine in recent years. The new SRD adds rules for chases, vehicles, travel, and magic, and introduces the new “step dice” version of YZE found in Twilight: 2000 and the Blade Runner RPG. The new YZE SRD v0.9 draft can be accessed here.

Free League invites the community to feedback on both the Year Zero Engine FTL and the SRD on its forums. They will both be finalized and officially launched in a few weeks.

The Year Zero Engine (YZE) in various iterations has been used in most Free League RPGs in recent years, including Mutant: Year Zero, Coriolis, Tales From the Loop, Forbidden Lands, ALIEN, Vaesen, Blade Runner RPG, and the upcoming The Walking Dead Universe RPG. The YZE is an accessible, fast and adaptable rules framework that encourages story-focused and player-driven playstyles.

A Module for Dragonbane

Beside the YZE FTL, Free League has also presented a third-party license for the upcoming Dragonbane RPG, which was successfully Kickstarted last year. This license allows creators to freely publish RPG supplements explicitly compatible with Dragonbane, and to place the A Module for Dragonbane logo on the front cover.

A draft of the Dragonbane third-party license can be found here. Once finalized, it will also be translated for use in other languages – primarily Swedish, as Dragonbane is a translation of Free League’s new edition of Scandinavia’s first and biggest tabletop RPG Drakar och Demoner. Free League invites the community to feedback on the Dragonbane third-party license on its forums.

The Dragonbane license is intended for third-party supplements for the game, not new standalone games, and thus does not have an SRD. This license is similar to the Free League Workshop community content program on DrivethruRPG, but allows creators to freely choose where to share or sell Dragonbane modules without paying any royalties to anyone.

Dragonbane

Release: Q3 2023
A legend is reborn. Dragonbane is the new and reimagined edition of Sweden’s first and biggest tabletop roleplaying game Drakar och Demoner. A new take on the classic fantasy RPG full of magic, mystery, and adventure. The new edition is designed from the ground up to facilitate fast-paced fantasy adventures, with very little prep time and adventures that are a breeze to run.

Dragonbane

Free League Develops Two New Open Game Licenses

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Free League Publishing

Free League Publishing has announced the development of two new Open Game Licenses (OGL). One is a rework of the Year Zero Engine OGL, and the other is a new license specifically designed for third-party modules for the upcoming Dragonbane fantasy RPG.

The work on these new licenses was initiated last year but was intensified after the news regarding the update of Wizards of the Coasts’ OGL v1.0, on which the Year Zero Engine (YZE) license was based.

The Year Zero Engine in various iterations has been used in most Free League RPGs in recent years, including Mutant: Year Zero, Coriolis, Tales From the Loop, Forbidden Lands, ALIEN, Vaesen, Blade Runner RPG, and the upcoming The Walking Dead Universe RPG. The YZE is an accessible, fast, and adaptable rules framework that encourages story-focused and player-driven playstyles.

The new Year Zero Engine OGL is designed to be easy to understand and use for creators. It will give creators an irrevocable, worldwide, and royalty-free right to use Year Zero Engine Standard Reference Document (YZE SRD) and freely publish their own roleplaying material based on it.

Alongside the new YZE OGL, the YZE SRD itself is being given a major overhaul and update, based on the developments of the Year Zero Engine in recent years. The new SRD will include more rules variants and add rules for chases, vehicles, travel, and magic.

Beside the YZE OGL, Free League will also release a third-party license for the upcoming Dragonbane RPG, which was successfully Kickstarted last year. This license allows creators to freely publish RPG supplements explicitly compatible with Dragonbane, and to place the special A Module for Dragonbane logo on the front cover.

A Module for Dragonbane

The Dragonbane license is intended for third-party supplements for the game, not new standalone games, and thus does not have an SRD. This license is similar to the Free League Workshop community content program on DrivethruRPG, but allows creators to freely choose where to share or sell Dragonbane modules and without paying any royalties to anyone.

Both new Free League OGLs will be released in the next few weeks.

Unrelated to the two new OGLs, Free League currently publishes two product lines for 5E using WotC’s v1.0 OGL: The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying (based on the original game The One Ring) and Ruins of Symbaroum (based on Symbaroum). Based on the latest announcement from WotC, it seems like these two game lines can continue largely unaffected even after their updated OGL, but Free League continues to monitor the situation as more information becomes available.

Blade Runner The Roleplaying Game is Out Now

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Blade Runner The Roleplaying Game

Walk the mean streets of Los Angeles 2037 in the new tabletop roleplaying game Blade Runner The Roleplaying Game. Published by Free League Publishing, it’s from the award-winning team behind the hit Alien RPG and was voted Most Anticipated RPG of 2022 by EN World.

Set in the year 2037, your adventure begin shortly after the Wallace Corporation debuts the new Nexus-9 Replicants on Earth. The game propels you into the streets of Los Angeles as Blade Runners with unique specialties, personalities – and memories. The game pushes the boundaries of investigative gameplay in tabletop RPGs, giving you a range of tools to solve an array of cases far beyond retiring Replicants.

Beyond the core casework, the game showcases the key themes of Blade Runner – sci-fi action, corporate intrigue, existential character drama, and moral conflict. It challenges you to question your friends, empathize with your enemies, and explore the poisons and perseverance of hope and humanity during inhumane times.

Blade Runner The Roleplaying Game is now available in the Free League webshop and at retailers worldwide, in PDF format at DriveThruRPG and as a VTT module on Foundry and Roll20.

BLADE RUNNER RPG Starter Set

BLADE RUNNER RPG Starter Set
The boxed BLADE RUNNER RPG Starter Set contains everything needed to start playing:

  • A 80-page condensed rulebook.
  • The 56-page booklet Electric Dreams – the first full-length Case File for Blade Runners to crack.
  • Four pre-generated characters to play.
  • A huge full-color map of Los Angeles in 2037.
  • 26 full-color evidence handouts for the players, including crime scene photos, data files, documents, maps, and more.
  • A custom manila envelope for the players to keep their evidence in.
  • A Time Tracker Sheet.
  • 70 high quality custom cards for non-player characters, chase maneuvers and obstacles, and initiative in combat.
  • Eight engraved, transparent custom dice – two each of D6, D8, D10 and D12.

Purchase
GameNerdz – Core Rulebook – Starter Set
Miniature Market – Core Rulebook – Starter Set
CoolStuff Inc. – Core Rulebook – Starter Set
Amazon – Core Rulebook – Starter Set

Blade Runner The Roleplaying Game Coming December 13

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Blade Runner the Roleplaying Game boxed set contents

Walk the mean streets of Los Angeles 2037 in the new tabletop roleplaying game, Blade Runner The Roleplaying Game. Free League has announced that the game will be officially released on December 13. The game is now available for pre-order in the Free League webshop, which gives access to the PDF ahead of the physical release.

The game invites you into an evocative world of conflicts and contrasts that dares to ask hard questions and investigate the powers of empathy, the poisons of fear, and the burdens of being human during inhumane times.

The boxed Blade Runner RPG Starter Set contains everything needed to start playing:

  • A 80-page condensed rulebook.
  • The 56-page booklet Electric Dreams – the first full-length Case File for Blade Runners to crack.
  • Four pre-generated characters to play.
  • A huge full color map of Los Angeles in 2037.
  • 26 full-color evidence handouts for the players, including crime scene photos, data files, documents, maps, and more.
  • A custom manila envelope for the players to keep their evidence in.
  • A Time Tracker Sheet.
  • 70 high quality custom cards for non-player characters, chase maneuvers and obstacles, and initiative in combat.
  • Eight engraved, transparent custom dice – two each of D6, D8, D10 and D12.

Set in the year 2037, your adventure begin shortly after the Wallace Corporation debuts the new Nexus-9 Replicants on Earth. You are a Blade Runner of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rep-Detect Unit. It’s your job to delve down the darkest alleys, strut through City Hall, and see enough stains on every soul and scumbag to spot one from meters away. 

It doesn’t matter if inside you is a soul or synthetics. Because when you pull that blaster, you’re nothing but a Blade Runner. The closest thing this city’s got to a fighting chance. And you’ve got a job to do.

Other than that, it’s just a normal day on the force, so get to work and grab some noodles on the way. That stack of cases won’t crack itself. It’s a shame you won’t live long enough to solve them all. But then again, who does?

Beyond the core casework, the game showcases the key themes of Blade Runner – sci-fi action, corporate intrigue, existential character drama, and moral conflict.

The rules of the game are based on the Year Zero Engine, used in award-winning games such as the official ALIEN RPG, Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying, Tales From the Loop and Forbidden Lands, but further developed and uniquely tailored for the world of Blade Runner.

Tomas Härenstam, Free League co-founder and lead game designer of the ALIEN RPG, fills the same role for the Blade Runner RPG. Original artwork comes from lead ALIEN RPG artist Martin Grip, with Joe LeFavi of Genuine Entertainment serving as the lead setting writer, brand manager, and producer on the game series.

The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game launching Fall of 2023

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The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game

As the groundbreaking TV series The Walking Dead comes to its climactic conclusion, AMC Networks has announced a long-term alliance with Free League Publishing and Genuine Entertainment to continue expanding The Walking Dead Universe with The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game, an official tabletop roleplaying game. The Walking Dead Universe Roleplaying Game will debut on Kickstarter in Spring 2023, offering early access to the Core Rulebook, a Starter Set, and other premium accessories and limited-run exclusives long before its Fall 2023 retail release.

A co-production between AMC Networks and the award-winning tabletop publisher, which is working closely with key forces behind the franchise, including Chief Content Officer of The Walking Dead Universe, Scott M. Gimple, and Head of AMC Networks Publishing Mike Zagari, the ongoing RPG series will introduce new story elements while drawing inspiration from the current series and upcoming spin-offs.

The game is directed by Free League co-founders Tomas Härenstam and Nils Karlén, with Nils Hintze as lead writer, Gustaf Ekelund and Martin Grip as lead artists, and Genuine Entertainment’s Joe LeFavi as producer and brand manager on the game series.

To immerse fans in this new extension of The Walking Dead Universe, AMC Networks, Free League, and Genuine Entertainment will also produce a limited Liveplay series, where real players will roll the dice at the game table and play an actual TWDU RPG campaign filmed in real-time. Featuring original events pulled from the series’ writers’ room, the Liveplay series will follow new characters who intersect with core story elements and cross paths with a familiar face or two. Kevin Dreyfuss, SVP of AMC Networks’ Digital Content & Gaming Studio, and Genuine Entertainment’s Joe LeFavi will serve as executive producers on the limited Liveplay series.

In TWDU RPG, players are challenged to enter the unforgiving, post-apocalyptic sandbox and learn how to survive and thrive in this new world order. No matter what, expect the stress and stakes to be high. Boasting a new spin on Free League’s award-winning Year Zero engine, players must not only hone their physical skills, but deeply explore what makes them tick – confronting how the hardships of this world naturally impact what they’re capable of, in the best and worst of times.