Year Zero MINI Playtesting Info
First of all, thank you so much for taking a look
Version 0.4d -- ©2019 Matt Kay Games
You can support this game and the
creation of settings and supplements
at the author’s Patreon campaign.
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GAME DESIGN, WRITING, LAYOUT
Matt Kay ( @9littlebees)
GRAPHIC ASSETS
OnlyGFX.com
FONTS
Dominican & Crimson Text
Resources
Character sheets, settings, and other resources
can all be found at 9littlebees.com/yzm.
Inspiration
Year Zero Mini (YZM) is inspired by:
• Tales From the Loop (most of the rules),
• Mouse Guard RPG (Conviction, Impulse,
& Advancement), and
• Alas for the Awful Sea (Wealth).
The Open Licence
YZM is using the base “engine” from Tales From
the Loop by Fria Ligan, who are currently
working on an Open Gaming Licence (OGL)
for their Year Zero games. Once this is released,
the details of it will be added to YZM.
at YZM! This is still a playtest version, which
means it’s unfinished and subject to change.
As such, it’s vital that I get your feedback if you
get a chance to try it out, so the game can reach
its full potential.
If this book gets expanded and goes to print (it
would be POD on DriveThruRPG), I’ll provide an
at-cost POD voucher for everyone who provides
full feedback during the playtesting phase.
In order to make this easy on you, I’ve created a
survey over at Google Forms (link). It should
only take about 10 minutes, and you will need
to provide an email address - this is so that I can
contact you regarding the POD voucher.
If YZM never goes to print, you will still have
my gratitude at helping make this game better!
What You Need to Play
Players: In my experience, roleplaying games
are best played with a smaller number of players
(1-4). YZM is also best experienced in such a
way, but can also easily handle bigger groups.
Imagination: YZM is best played when the
players tell a story together, rather than the
Gamemaster (GM) telling the players a story
that they get to take part in. Thus the GM
shouldn’t need much prep, because the story
will largely be in the hands of the players.
Dice: YZM uses standard, six-sided dice (D6s).
You will need a lot of them for the game -
ideally a dozen per player. I recommend 14mm
dice with rounded corners, as these seem to roll
the best, and can be bought in a wide variety of
colours on eBay for very little money.
Tokens: Luck Points work best with tokens or
poker chips. Only update the Luck section of the
character sheet at the end of the session, so you
know how many you need for the next.
i

The first thing to point out is that unlike many other rules-light
frameworks, YZM is designed to play gritty games. This means
failure has consequences (just as it does in real life) and things
can go badly for you quite quickly if you try to play it like an
action video game.
Why am I saying that here? Because it’s important when
visualising your player character (PC). By all means make a
capable character that fits within the setting and game pitch, but
also try to keep them relatable, as playing to their personality will
ultimately help keep them alive.
Step 0: Your Group
Before creating your own character in a vacuum, discuss a group
concept with the other players. Many settings will already have
this baked in. Here are some examples:
• Private Investigators secretly working for the “Man”.
• Explorers trying to find a new home, artefacts, etc.
• Anarchists trying to undermine the authorities.
• Colonists trying to tame a new & inhospitable land.
• Entertainers trying to bring joy to a joyless land.
• Aides trying to keep the Galactic President out of trouble.
Step 1: Concept
Your Concept describes who you are. If some element of your
Concept can help you, gain a bonus to your roll.
To create your Concept, simply think of a Quality, Background,
and Career.
• Quality is a one-word descriptor of your personality or a
mannerism (e.g. plucky, aloof, diplomatic, rational);
• Background describes where you are from, and will
heavily depend on the setting (ask your GM if unsure).
• Career describes what you do for a living (e.g. rat catcher,
detective, driver, xenologist).
Here are some examples:
• Grumpy Dwarf Miner;
• Jaded Cockney Private Investigator;
• Confident Aristocratic Actress;
• Flamboyant Lowborn Duellist;
• Cocky British Pilot;
• Poetic Vogon Slicer.
Step 2: Attributes
Your GM will tell you how many points to distribute between
the four Attributes (between 10-16, depending on the setting). The
rank of each Attribute must be between 2 and 6. They are:
• Strength - physical power & stamina;
• Agility - physical finesse & nimbleness;
• Wits - cunning & perception;
• Empathy - charisma & manipulation.
The maximum rank for all Attributes is 8, though your GM may
increase this cap to fit your game’s theme & tone.
Step 3: Conviction
Your Conviction represents a strong belief that shapes how you
view the world around you. Use a punchy phrase which really
gets to the heart of what you believe. Here are some examples:
• All problems can be solved with swift violence.
• It is the duty of the strong to protect the weak.
• Nothing is more important than my reputation.
• Only evil things wander about in darkness.
• A good soldier follows orders without question.
• Bravery is never letting others see your fear.
If you act on your Conviction and it adds to the story, gain 1
Luck Point (see page 2).
You can change your Conviction to something more narratively
suitable during a period of downtime in the story.
Step 4: Impulse
Your Impulse is a knee-jerk reaction - something you do without
even thinking when trouble reaches out and slaps you in the face.
Use trigger words like “always”, “never”, or “if / then” when
creating yours. Here are some examples:
• Never touch another person’s blood.
• Always draw steel at the slightest insult.
• Never turn your back on an enemy.
• If in doubt, always start a fire.
• Never attack an unarmed opponent.
• Always recite own poetry at the worst moments.
If you act on your Impulse and it complicates things for you or
your party, gain 1 Luck Point (see page 2).
Like your Conviction, you can also change your Impulse to
something more narratively suitable during a period of
downtime in the story.
Step 5: Friend
Write a short statement about the relationship with your Friend,
the PC you feel closest to (they don’t have to feel the same about
you). Here are some examples:
• “[Friend] once saved my life, now I am in her debt.”
• “[Friend] is naïve and needs my guidance.”
• “[Friend] is far too reckless; I must stay close.”
• “[Friend] is a true leader, worth fighting & dying for.”
• “[Friend] doesn’t trust me, but I will prove myself.”
• “[Friend] is alright, despite having the manners of a goat!”
If you sacrifice something or put yourself in harm's way for
them, gain 1 Luck Point (see page 2).
Relationships are fluid, and it is quite likely that your Friendships
evolve with the story. During a period of downtime in the story,
you can either change the wording of your existing Friendship,
or change Friends to a different PC altogether.
Step 6: Asset
You start the game with one Asset, a piece of equipment which
says something about who you are. Try to make this something
iconic, rather than something useful. Here are some examples:
• A small but savage dog named Fritz.
• A battered but reliable mountain bike.
• A sturdy shepherd’s crook.
• Your grandfather’s revolver (and a conceal & carry permit).
• Cybernetic hacking tools concealed in your wrist.
• A luxurious bath towel embroidered with a large “42”.
If it can help you when you roll, your Asset grants 2 bonus dice.
Step 7: Wealth
The last step in character creation is Wealth. You won’t be
tracking individual coins, dollars, or credits in YZM; instead,
your Wealth Level determines if you have enough money to
afford something. There are 4 levels, worded as follows:
• Poor - you can’t afford much at all.
• Average - you can afford to buy most necessities.
• Well-Off - you can afford to splurge every now and again.
• Rich - you rarely have to think about money (you can't be
Rich at character creation, sorry!).
1
Come up with a Wealth level which aligns with your
Concept, and agree it with the GM before marking
the box on your character sheet.

Rolling Dice
YZM uses up to a dozen six-sided dice (D6s) when you roll. The
number of dice is referred to as a “pool” of dice.
You roll your pool of dice anytime you attempt a dramatic action,
but only when failing the roll would be interesting.
The bit in italics above is especially important in YZM, since
rolling dice is tied to advancement. The GM will tell you when to
roll, as well as what is at stake if you fail.
Players are in control of their own destinies, and make all rolls in
the game. The GM might have a couple of dice to roll for
random tables (to help flesh out a location or NPC, etc), but they
do not roll to see what happens.
Building the Pool
When it is time to roll, the GM will tell you which Attribute to
use. The number of dice in your pool is simply the rank of the
Attribute you have been asked to use, plus Modifiers.
+/-1D simply means add or remove one die from your pool.
If your Concept can help you with a roll (i.e. a Socialite haggling
with a market stall owner), gain +1D. If you are expertly-trained
(i.e. a Socialite charming a crowd), gain +2D.
If your Asset can be used for a roll, gain +2D.
Finally, if anything else could grant an advantage, gain +1D. Any
type of disadvantage causes -1D.
6 Means Success
To determine success, look at the dice in the pool. The value of
the highest die tells you if you succeed or fail your roll:
• multiple 6s: critical success;
• 6: full success;
• 1-5: failure with a Complication.
If you score a critical success on your roll, it goes well in the
best way possible, and can even have bonus side effects.
A Complication is a bad side effect of your roll. This shouldn’t
increase the magnitude of the failure, but rather cause some
other negative thing to happen, appropriate to the situation. If
there is a threat of danger, you might suffer Trauma.
A Complication’s magnitude is determined by the value of the
highest die. On a 5, the Complication is minor, while a 1 is
extremely serious. This might sound harsh, but the idea is that
failure should be meaningful and drive the story forward.
Your Thief rolls a dice pool with 4 dice, but rolls terribly - the
highest die is a 3. Not only does she fail to pick the locked door, she
also makes a loud noise in the attempt which attracts a guard...
Luck Points
You start the first (& only the first) session with 1 Luck Point.
While unused Luck Points carry over between sessions, you
never start with a free one if you spent them all last session.
You gain more by acting on your Conviction, allowing your
Impulse to get you into trouble, or sacrificing something for
your Friend.
You can spend a Luck Point to reroll (holding as many dice as
you wish), though this can only be done once per roll.
Advancement
In YZM, your Attributes increase as you use them. Each time you
roll the dice, put a tally in the success or failure box next to the
Attribute you just used. When both your success AND failure
tallies equal two times that Attribute’s current rank, you can
increase that Attribute.
For example, if your current Attribute rank is 3, once you have
accumulated 6 successes AND 6 failures for that Attribute, you can
raise its rank from 3 to 4 and reset the success / failure tallies.
Trauma
Each time you take physical or mental trauma, mark the
appropriate number of Trauma boxes on your character sheet.
The grey negative numbers indicate the penalty you suffer to all
rolls until you recover (these aren’t cumulative).
Recovery: two Trauma boxes during each period of downtime
in the story, assuming you are not stressed and have time to rest.
Broken: when all 4 Trauma boxes are ticked and you take a 5th
Trauma, you become Broken. You are out of action until you can
recover one Trauma.
Scars: Each time you become Broken, you gain a permanent
Scar. Mark it on your sheet and roll 2 dice, discarding the lowest
die. If the remaining die is under or equal to the number of Scars
you now have, you are dead.
You cannot spend Luck Points to retry your Scar roll.
Conflict
Conflict is central to a good story, and while many traditional
roleplaying games have complex rules for how to handle this,
conflict in YZM is treated like any other roll: the GM simply
passes the spotlight amongst you, giving each of you a scene
where appropriate.
If someone attacks you in a conflict, you roll to defend yourself. If
an adversary is suffering Trauma, you gain +1D to your roll.
Complications in conflict always result in one or more Trauma,
though additional effects may also be appropriate. If you roll a
critical success during conflict, you inflict 2 Trauma.
Climatic Scenes
Some climatic moments in the story might call for more
structure, where a single roll of the dice just won’t be enough. In
this case, each PC gets an opportunity to do their part, and the
following structure is used to enact these Climatic Scenes:
1. Stakes: The GM explains what is at stake if you fail. This
should be a story development, but could include Trauma.
2. Magnitude: The GM declares the Magnitude - the number
of successes needed to overcome the challenge.
3. Plan: The players come up with a plan. The GM can
disallow anything unreasonable.
4. Roll: The players enact their plan, acting out their scenes in
turn. Each success rolled counts towards the Magnitude.
5. Outcome: Compare the total number of successes against
the Magnitude. The PCs can “buy” additional successes by
taking Trauma, until the Magnitude is reached, otherwise
they fail completely and the stakes are inflicted.
Knowledge
Don’t roll a normal dice pool to determine if you know
something. This is important because recalling something
shouldn’t increase your general knowledge or intellect.
Instead, the GM will either give you the information or ask you
to make a knowledge roll to find out if you know:
• If something in your Concept could help provide that
knowledge, roll 2 dice;
• If there is a very strong argument to be made for your
Concept, roll 4 dice;
• If your Concept can’t help, roll 2 dice and use the lower
2
die rolled.
You need a 6 to succeessfully recall the knowledge,
and Luck Points can be spent on this knowledge roll.

To Roll, Or Not to Roll
It’s up to you to ensure that players don’t roll for trivial things
(opening unlocked doors, doing simple tasks when there is no
pressure involved, etc).
If failure wouldn’t be interesting, simply say “yes” and move on.
The Stakes
Players sometimes need to know the stakes before they roll the
dice. While this is usually obvious, always tell them how much
Trauma will be inflicted before they roll, if any.
In most instances, you should only inflict 1 Trauma for failing a
roll. However, this can be increased in the case of the PCs being
hit with a powerful mental or physical blow.
If you are throwing powerful attacks at the PCs, do so rarely, as
doing this too often will frustrate players.
Concept Abuse & Clichés
Concepts are central to YZM. They replace skills and can be used
in every roll. As a result, it’s important to steer players away from
Concepts which are too generically useful.
A Concept should give you and the player a clear idea of the skills
that go with it. If it is vague or open to interpretation, encourage
the player to try to be more specific.
Clichés should be embraced. Without skills, assumptions have to
be made about what the PCs are capable of. HOWEVER, be
mindful that stereotypes of a racial, sexual, and religious nature
can easily offend, so try to steer players away from adding them
to their Concept.
Creative Complications
When players fail a roll, something goes wrong and the players
are at your mercy. The only thing you can’t say is “nothing
happens”. Failure should always have consequences.
Encourage all the players to come up with a good Complication
together. It might be that one of them suffers Trauma, loses
something valuable, has to make a detour, or faces a new threat.
Sound harsh? Remember, they have a potential lifeline if they
really want to avoid failing - Luck Points.
Handling Knowledge
Knowledge is not handled by a normal roll in YZM. You are
encouraged to give players knowledge for free if it is clear from
their Concept that a character would likely know the answer, and
it does not sabotage the story. For example, a player asks if their
“Elusive Ranger” recognises the scratch marks on a tree in the
forest (made by a normal bear). Don’t ask for a roll, just tell them.
If it is important to your setting (a contemporary mystery game,
for example) or there is any uncertainty surrounding whether a
character would know something, ask for a knowledge roll,
though you get final say on whether a Concept element applies.
Intra-Party Conflict
If the players ever come into conflict with each other, you can
ask them to describe what they want to do and then roll dice at
the same time. The one with the most successes wins and can say
what happens. They can also use Luck Points to reroll.
If they get equal numbers of successes, they may buy extra
successes by taking Trauma - one success for each Trauma taken.
They can even become Broken to win if they want! If there still
isn’t a winner, something interrupts the situation.
Magnitude in Climatic Scenes
Use the following simple formula to set Magnitude:
• Normal dificulty: 2x the number of PCs;
• Hard difficulty: 3x the number of PCs;
• Nearly Impossible difficulty: 4x the number of PCs.
Quick NPCs
Creating NPCs spontaneously isn’t hard. The key is focused prep.
All you need to do is create a list of names, mannerisms, and
appearances. When you need an NPC during the game, simply
look at the list and select one of each.
Example Mannerisms Example Appearances
Frequently says “you know?” Heavily tattooed
Constantly digressing Dark rings under eyes
Refers to self in 3rd person Crookedly broken nose
Those character elements should give you enough meat to help
you get into character.
The final step is to indicate how many Trauma boxes the NPC
has, and whether they get any Special Traits.
Special Traits
Some challenges and NPCs are significantly harder to beat. They
will have one or more Special Traits, with a score of 2 or 3. To
overcome that challenge or NPC, players need to roll a number
of successes equal to the Special Trait score.
A Special Trait only comes into play if it is applicable to the roll
at hand, which depends on the approach taken by the characters.
If the players find a way around this Special Trait, only a single
success is needed. Here are some examples of Special Traits:
• Fierce Beast 3 - a dinosaur;
• Inhuman Strength 2 - a burly NPC;
•
•
Metal Frame 2 - a robot;
Wild Currents 2 - a swift river.
Realistic Adversaries
Try to play NPCs as if they are real people who actually value
their lives. If there is a fight and things aren’t going their way,
have the NPCs flee for their lives or beg for mercy.
Quick Gear
Most of the objects that players encounter are Props - everyday
things that are described to give atmosphere but don’t affect rolls.
This could be a notepad or a mug, for example.
Items are more useful than Props & give a +1D bonus. To get
the bonus, it must be used according to what it is made to do
(though player creativity shouldn’t be discouraged, of course).
Players should write a +1 after the Item on their character sheet
(e.g. “10m nylon rope +1”) to show it’s an Item and not a Prop.
Abstracting Wealth
Assume that characters have enough money to afford things at
their level of Wealth, rather than tracking currency. This means
that you will need to make rulings when asked if they can buy
something - my advice is to be generous. Remember, Items only
give a max bonus of +1D, which won’t really break the game.
When players come across money in the setting, it is assumed
that they’ll spend the majority of it during downtime. Increasing
Wealth Levels is a significant achievement and shouldn’t be
accomplished without serious long-term investment.
Finally, only one starting character should be Well-Off (though
3
it’s better if none are, as the pursuit of Wealth is a
great motivator & plot hook generator).

Theme & Tone
When adapting YZM to a setting, the first things to consider are
theme and tone. Identifying these will help determine how many
starting points to grant at character creation and which character
elements (if any) need tweaking.
Let’s use a high fantasy setting as an example. Your themes might
be War & Discovery and your tone might be Action & Humour. In
this case, you might want to grant more Attribute points at
character creation and you change the Attributes to mirror D&D
or an OSR game (e.g. Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma).
Starting Attributes
There are two considerations to make before deciding how many
starting Attributes to grant at character creation. The first is
whether you want a more heroic or gritty game. The second is
how many sessions you are planning to run.
For a gritty campaign, grant 10 Attribute points at character
creation. For a more heroic campaign, grant 14. Increase this
number by 2 for a one-shot.
By design, YZM is a gritty game intended for short campaigns.
Tweaking
If the default YZM rules don’t fit your setting, feel free to tweak
any element as needed. Here are some common elements that
could be changed:
•
•
Attributes (e.g. Fitness, Dexterity, Cunning, Resolve);
Concepts (e.g. Quality + Superpower + Career);
• Traits (e.g. Conviction > Pride; Impulse > Problem);
• Trauma (e.g. 6 boxes; the first box gives no penalty).
AFPUB and PSD files are available at tinyurl.com/yzm-resources
to tweak both the rules (in Affinity Publisher) and the character
sheet (in Photoshop CS6+) as needed.
Making a Low-Prep Sandbox
As a Gamemaster of many years, I have found that the most fun
is had when I do less prep and give more narrative control to the
players. They’re going to do their own thing anyway!!
This is a huge topic and rather than provide heaps of advice on
how to run a low-prep game here, I’ll instead point you to some
excellent resources that cover this in much more depth.
The first is Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master by Michael E.
Shea, a great book for GMs all about effectively doing less prep.
The second (shameless plug!) is the sandbox episode from my
own podcast which you can find at mbcast.co/6. The final one is
the Gamemastery 101 series of blogposts at The Alexandrian.
That said, here are some high-level pointers for creating a low-
prep, sandbox-style game.
1. Create or find a decent world/region/city/galaxy map;
2. Populate that map with interesting locations;
3. Populate each location with interesting NPCs;
4. Come up with a handful of factions to create tension;
5. Create 2 or 3 conflicts to run in the background.
The key thing to note here is that each location, NPC, faction,
and conflict should be written so that everything would fit on a
single index card. Avoid long sentences, and instead use bullets,
tags, and keywords to help you quickly grab the info at the table.
Organic Nemeses
One thing that every good game needs is a Nemesis (or 2 or 3).
After you’ve created a sandbox, one of the NPCs might jump out
at you as a worthy Nemesis. A better way to handle this, though,
is to simply allow your players to interact with the game world,
which should include competing factions.
As play progresses, a Nemesis should organically appear. Once
they do, flesh them out as per the Quick NPC guidelines, giving
them the same number of Trauma boxes as the PCs and 2 Special
Traits (one at 3, one at 2). In addition, give them one or two
ambitions which they are actively working towards in the
background.
Magical Powers
YZM is designed to play gritty games, where magic is usually
absent or only in the hands of an elite few. However, there is
nothing stopping you from adding magic to your setting. If you
do so, here are the recommended guidelines for keeping it gritty:
• Make the power a Concept element;
• Avoid spelling out what can and can’t be done and
encourage player imagination & creativity;
• To actively use a power, require Trauma to be inflicted -
the number required scaling with how powerful the “cast”;
• The power should always succeed without needing a roll;
• Allow Luck Points to be spent to offset Trauma, either at a
1:1 cost, or 2 Luck Points per Trauma (recommended);
• Optional: allow very minor active use of powers at no cost;
• Optional: allow light passive use of powers at no cost and
a small +1D bonus to related rolls.
If you come up with an alternate (and lightweight) Magic or
Superpower system, I’d love to hear about it - please get in touch!
Setting Examples
Depending on demand, there are plans to eventually release 1-
page setting sheets, usable for both one-shots and campaigns. In
addition to providing ready settings to run, they can be used as
templates for creating / tweaking your own settings.
Current setting ideas are:
• Alternate, alchemical Victorian era (no magic);
• Anglo-Scottish border in the 5th Century;
• Modern era with the advent of unsteady superpowers;
• Post-apocalypse where gnomes have inherited the earth;
• Dystopian near-future where skinning is the norm;
• Far future human colony on a hostile planet.
Settings will be uploaded to the game’s website as they are
completed. Visit 9littlebees.com/yzm to see some third-party
examples which are already done and ready to play!
Simplifying for Kids
YZM came to life originally as an idea for making a game that I
could play with my 3 year old son. While it has grown to become
a full-blown game in its own right, here are some things to
consider changing in order to make it more kid-friendly:
• Rename Attributes (e.g. Strong, Fast, Smart, Friendly);
• Change Advancement to be only failure = current rank;
• Remove all traits other than Concept and Asset;
• Start each session with 3 Luck Points;
•
•
Completely ignore equipment & Wealth;
Add drawing boxes for the Character and the Asset;
• Remove the entire Scar & Death mechanic.
A child-friendly spin-off of YZM is planned and will basically
include all of the above changes, plus adapted GM advice.
A Bit More Crunch, Please!
YZM is deliberately focused on light rules and short campaigns
or one-shots, but what if you want a little more complexity?
Well, I’ve started developing Year Zero Lite, the big brother to
4
YZM, to scratch this itch. Most of the rules will
mirror what you see here, but the biggest changes will
be the addition of Skills and narrative Trauma.