Mutant Year Zero probably isn’t the first title that pops into people’s heads when they think ‘tabletop’. They’ll more likely think of Dungeons & Dragons, which has been around for decades. It spawned multiple adaptations and an entire subcultural movement since the 1980s. But D&D is far from the only stalwart tabletop RPG to endure through the ages. One of the often-overlooked members of the pen-and-paper canon is Mutant, a wide-ranging adventure series. Currently published in the United States by Free League as Mutant Year Zero.
A Very Brief History of TTRPGs
Tabletop RPGs (TTRPGs) have been around for decades. Inspired by role-playing wargames like Braunstein and Chainmail, Dungeons and Dragons was published in 1974 by TSR, Inc. In the same year, M.A.R. Barker self-published Empire of the Petal Throne, set in the Tékumel universe. Marc Miller’s 1977 Traveller established the use of canonical metaplots in role-playing games. Chaosium, founded in 1975 by Greg Stafford, would go on to publish RuneQuest, which would eventually give birth to Basic Role-Playing, a generic set of rules for creating and executing any TTRPG scenario. Chaosium would also publish Call of Cthulu in 1981, another classic in the genre. Other notable TTRPGs include Tales From the Loop, Shadowrun, GURPS, Pathfinder, and Vampire: The Masquerade.
The Mutant Legacy
Founded in 1980, Swedish company Target Games would remain active until the late 90s, publishing titles such as Dragonbane, and Warzone, as well as Swedish language translations of Middle Earth Role-Playing and WEG’s Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. In 1984 they published the original property Mutant, based on the Basic Role-Playing system. This first iteration of the franchise was set in a dystopic, post-apocalyptic Scandinavia, with humans, robots, and mutated humans and animals for players to control. This version of the game saw an expansion with Mutant 2, and continued publication until the late 80s.
In 1989 the franchise was rebooted with a cyberpunk setting in which Earth is ruled by a handful of megacorporations. Some expanded rules and a new Android character class were also included. 1992 saw a short-lived re-imagining of the series released as Mutant RYMD (translating as Mutant SPACE). This version took the megacorp concept and applied it to global efforts at conquering the solar system. The discovery of a tenth planet and the subsequent release of an ancient evil force defined the campaigns available.
By 1993 the series had been rebooted again as Mutant Chronicles. What would prove to be one of its most multiplicitous versions, spawning a variety of spin-offs and cross-media interpretations. Chronicles took much of the campaign foundations from Mutant RYMD and expanded the historical context. The warring megacorps, planetary exploration, and release of an evil force upon the solar system all feature. The malevolent Dark Legion, released from Nero, the solar system’s hitherto undiscovered tenth planet, is the galactic antagonist, with competing megacorps and the fanatical Brotherhood cult adding additional strife.
Mutant Chronicles produced collectible miniatures games, multiple collectible card games, comic books, video games, the 2008 feature film Mutant Chronicles starring Thomas Jane, and more. It was also one of the first of Target Games’ publications to be translated into English. Three editions of the game have been published, in 1993, 1997, and 2013.
Mutant Year Zero
After acquiring publication rights, Free League released a new installment in the franchise in 2014 titled Mutant År Noll. The English version, Mutant Year Zero was released later that year. The new game featured a customized set of rules, and a setting similar to the original edition, with various character classes emerging into a post-apocalyptic landscape and struggling to survive. Numerous core rule sets and expansions have been published by Free League, including Genlab Alpha, Zone Wars, The Gray Death, and Ad Astra. Mutant Year Zero seems to be going strong, with no signs of stopping.
With the enduring popularity of Mutant Year Zero and the revitalization of TTRPG interest by properties such as Stranger Things and 2023’s Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, subsequent attempts at adapting the Mutant universe to film and streaming platforms seem well within reach.
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