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Just received an email - Free League Launches New Licenses For Year Zero Engine & Dragonbane

Free League Launches New Licenses For Year Zero Engine & Dragonbane

New Licenses & System Reference Document Presented For Feedback Before Official Launch

Hello!

Today, we have released two new 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). You are welcome to give your feedback on all three documents before they are finalized and officially launched.


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. It gives you an irrevocable, worldwide, and royalty-free right to use the Year Zero Engine Standard Reference Document (YZE SRD) and freely publish your 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.

We invite you to feedback on both the Year Zero Engine FTL and the SRD on our forums. The documents 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.

Beside the YZE FTL, we today also released a third-party license for the upcoming Dragonbane RPG, which was successfully Kickstarted last year. This license allows you to freely publish RPG supplements explicitly compatible with Dragonbane, and to place the A Module for Dragonbane logo (above and here, Swedish version here) 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 our new edition of Scandinavia's first and biggest tabletop RPG Drakar och Demoner. We invite you to feedback on the Dragonbane third-party license on our 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 you to freely choose where to share or sell Dragonbane modules and without paying any royalties to anyone.
 
The license seems ok to me (I am not a lawyer). The updated SRD is nicely done, fairly comprehensive and includes rules variations found in the more recent Twilight 2000 and Blade Runner implementations of the Year Zero Engine.
 
How much use is the SRD in most cases. I mean, you end up writing it all out anyway? And if you write it out in your own words, copyright is satisfied anyway.

The advantage I guess is the recognition?
 
How much use is the SRD in most cases. I mean, you end up writing it all out anyway? And if you write it out in your own words, copyright is satisfied anyway.

The advantage I guess is the recognition?
A lot of people don't write it out- they refer to the SRD. They might also copy & paste instead of spending writing budget on rewriting something.
 
A lot of people don't write it out- they refer to the SRD. They might also copy & paste instead of spending writing budget on rewriting something.
Yeh, *most* SRDs I've seen you'd end up having to go through it with a fine tooth comb anyway to remove references to page XX or [insert product name here].
Still, it's nice to see their stepped dice version being included. It's definitely my favourite version of the YZE.
 
Yeh, *most* SRDs I've seen you'd end up having to go through it with a fine tooth comb anyway to remove references to page XX or [insert product name here].
Still, it's nice to see their stepped dice version being included. It's definitely my favourite version of the YZE.
My first impression of skimming through a fair bit is that it's written as an intentional toolkit for building YZE variations.
 
Yeh, *most* SRDs I've seen you'd end up having to go through it with a fine tooth comb anyway to remove references to page XX or [insert product name here].
I don't think I've ever seen an SRD with page references? And certainly not product names as preventing mention of product names is what the OGL was all about. They are usually heavily edited versions of the games they're based on to remove any material the publisher doesn't want to release as open content.
 
I don't think I've ever seen an SRD with page references? And certainly not product names as preventing mention of product names is what the OGL was all about. They are usually heavily edited versions of the games they're based on to remove any material the publisher doesn't want to release as open content.

Well, this current version of the YZE SRD has them. Here's the link: Free League Year Zero SRD.

Here's a quote I just read from the skills section:

"HEALING (EMPATHY)
In many YZE games, your PC risks getting hurt. This is when the Healing skill is useful. It can be used to get a broken char- acter back on their feet, or even save their life if they suffered a critical injury. Read more on page 22."​
I think I've seen others with page references too.

I probably wouldn't buy a game or publish a game for "big" money (say over $5 for a PDF) that just cut and paste the full SRD (absent really great other production values or some content I really want to own). But, for small indie (like itch.io PWYW or like $3 games), I'd totally accept a cut and paste from an SRD powering a game.
 
Most SRDs that are online would be best served by links in the text, IMO. Though I like page numbers.
 
I get the feeling FL see this Standard Reference Document more as something for publishers of supplements or new games to refer to, rather than to copy text from. It makes sense in a way, if you remember the original goal of the OGL was to encourage support of the D&D game rather than having people kitbash the SRDs into their own games.
 
I get the feeling FL see this Standard Reference Document more as something for publishers of supplements or new games to refer to, rather than to copy text from. It makes sense in a way, if you remember the original goal of the OGL was to encourage support of the D&D game rather than having people kitbash the SRDs into their own games.
Some people made new games with the original SRD, so I suspect people will do the same with this one.
 
Some people made new games with the original SRD, so I suspect people will do the same with this one.
I expect so, too, but I don't think FL will particularly aim for that as opposed to facilitating supplements. In other words, it seems to me that the SRD is worded the way it is intentionally, not because FL overlooked the inconvenience for 3PPs of having to edit out page references.
 
Anything being published for money should have proof-reading for correct page numbers, so copy and pasting from the SRD shouldn't be a cause of incorrect references.
"Should".
 
How much use is the SRD in most cases. I mean, you end up writing it all out anyway? And if you write it out in your own words, copyright is satisfied anyway.

The advantage I guess is the recognition?
IANAL, but if I recall correctly an SRD allows you to use copies or close paraphrases of specific parts of the text. Usually this excludes "Product Identity" and the issuer of the license decides what is Product Identity and what isn't. It's why it's acceptable to us a "Bag of Holding" in an OGL product but not an "Ilithid."
 
IANAL, but if I recall correctly an SRD allows you to use copies or close paraphrases of specific parts of the text. Usually this excludes "Product Identity" and the issuer of the license decides what is Product Identity and what isn't. It's why it's acceptable to us a "Bag of Holding" in an OGL product but not an "Ilithid."
More or less what it does is make it easier. Like you don't need the SRD, but you need to interpret the text of the license. For the most part, the entire content of the SRD is open content (minus what is declared product identity in the case of the OGL). So if WotC doesn't want to have the Dispalcer Beast as open content, the easiest way for them to do it is to not include it in the SRD. That's easier than publishing the MM, saying most of it is open content, minus these pages that are closed.
 
I get the feeling FL see this Standard Reference Document more as something for publishers of supplements or new games to refer to, rather than to copy text from. It makes sense in a way, if you remember the original goal of the OGL was to encourage support of the D&D game rather than having people kitbash the SRDs into their own games.

Yeah, it seems like the OGL and 3E SRD initially assumed you were buying the 3E or other d20 core books and building on from there, not writing stand alone games. Then you started getting stuff like Mongoose Conan which was a fully independent game and things moved on from there with more and more recreating the wheel with their own take.

In this case you want to build off of the basic system, start with the core of the line you want to write for and go. If you want to create your own unique take, you re-write the whole deal.
 
OK, I just folded and bought Forbidden Lands and a fan-made supplement/variant Slavic Mythology setting for the YZE. What can I say? The flesh ain't weak, but the simulationist gamer* is strong in me:shade:!


*I.e. "I've been thinking lately that many games don't pay enough attention to equipment".
 
I brought up Free League games and the new SRD at a (somewhat drunked) social gathering last week, and was immediately savaged by people who'd had bad experiences with the system. Beaten by wet cotton wool might be a better description, but it was not popular!
 
I brought up Free League games and the new SRD at a (somewhat drunked) social gathering last week, and was immediately savaged by people who'd had bad experiences with the system. Beaten by wet cotton wool might be a better description, but it was not popular!
What kind of bad experiences were those?
 
What kind of bad experiences were those?
Aw man, we were seven or eight beers deep, but something about only 6s counting, and then 1s doing damage, and no one being any good at anything no matter the rating. I kinda regretted bringing it up to be honest.
 
Aw man, we were seven or eight beers deep, but something about only 6s counting, and then 1s doing damage, and no one being any good at anything no matter the rating. I kinda regretted bringing it up to be honest.
...that's simply how the system works, not sure what's the big deal:shade:.
 
I don't think there were many fans at our table. I wouldn't know, cos i've never read it/played it/run it.
From what I'm reading: only 6s count as successes, but 1) you only need one 6, 2) you can have attribute, skill and inventory dice and 3) you can re-roll them, raising your odds even further (but if you do, all 1s you got on any of the two rolls, actually count as "trouble").
 
From what I'm reading: only 6s count as successes, but 1) you only need one 6, 2) you can have attribute, skill and inventory dice and 3) you can re-roll them, raising your odds even further (but if you do, all 1s you got on any of the two rolls, actually count as "trouble").
I dunno man, all I know is I ain't pulling any players from the usual pool if I want to run FL stuff?
 
I mean, most gamers I've met don't like anything new, so I'm not surprised everyone turned on it.

That said, like others have mentioned, the rules actually work pretty good. Even the original version, Mutant Year Zero, was super fun to run, and the players enjoyed the re-roll with consequences system, and really dug into the community creation rules. The Ark they built became really important to them, such that when I had another faction attack it, they tracked those suckers down and unleashed some frontier justice!
 
I dunno man, all I know is I ain't pulling any players from the usual pool if I want to run FL stuff?
Sure, I got that. That was just an abbreviation that might help you understand what they were talking about:smile:!

I admit that the TN 6 on d6 dicepool thing gave me a pause as well, initially...:wink:

OTOH, you know what sold me on this? I've been picking a SF system and setting to run. And while I have my doubts on the Coriolis setting, the system already deals with social stuff the way I do it in other systems...including Sunday, when running a wuxia game.
"If you get a simple/limited success, they must attack you on sight, or agree - but they can ask for something in return. You must agree then, or back off."

And there is a list of modifiers that make total sense as well, including "how many people have you got on your side".

Suddenly, those flunkies that some important characters surround themselves with (including the BBEG:tongue:)...are making a lot more sense, aren't they?

I mean, most gamers I've met don't like anything new, so I'm not surprised everyone turned on it.

That said, like others have mentioned, the rules actually work pretty good. Even the original version, Mutant Year Zero, was super fun to run, and the players enjoyed the re-roll with consequences system, and really dug into the community creation rules. The Ark they built became really important to them, such that when I had another faction attack it, they tracked those suckers down and unleashed some frontier justice!
My character in an Atomic Highway game used pre-war chemical weapons to prevent a large group from overrunning his native "city"...so I'm not surprised. Admittedly, he didn't have an inkling what that thing does, other than "kill everyone and make Geiger counters tick":grin:!

(Yeah, when I've been saying that my PCs have long lists of crimes against humanity, to the point where I can start ticking off boxes, I wasn't kidding:shade:).
 
Sure, I got that. That was just an abbreviation that might help you understand what they were talking about:smile:!

I admit that the TN 6 on d6 dicepool thing gave me a pause as well, initially...:wink:

OTOH, you know what sold me on this? I've been picking a SF system and setting to run. And while I have my doubts on the Coriolis setting, the system already deals with social stuff the way I do it in other systems...including Sunday, when running a wuxia game.
"If you get a simple/limited success, they must attack you on sight, or agree - but they can ask for something in return. You must agree then, or back off."

And there is a list of modifiers that make total sense as well, including "how many people have you got on your side".

Suddenly, those flunkies that some important characters surround themselves with (including the BBEG:tongue:)...are making a lot more sense, aren't they?


My character in an Atomic Highway game used pre-war chemical weapons to prevent a large group from overrunning his native "city"...so I'm not surprised. Admittedly, he didn't have an inkling what that thing does, other than "kill everyone and make Geiger counters tick":grin:!

(Yeah, when I've been saying that my PCs have long lists of crimes against humanity, to the point where I can start ticking off boxes, I wasn't kidding:shade:).

In my MYZ game, one of the factions had a working nuclear missile. Didn't quite know how to use it yet, but it was like a countdown until they figured it out. Before the game ended, the players were *this close* to getting access to that missile. Don't know what, if anything, they would have done with it, but like you said, crimes against humanity ::honkhonk:
 
Aw man, we were seven or eight beers deep, but something about only 6s counting, and then 1s doing damage, and no one being any good at anything no matter the rating. I kinda regretted bringing it up to be honest.
Well how can you roll a natural 20 when you’ve only got d6.

I think it probably boils down to them not understanding the probabilities.
 
In my MYZ game, one of the factions had a working nuclear missile. Didn't quite know how to use it yet, but it was like a countdown until they figured it out. Before the game ended, the players were *this close* to getting access to that missile. Don't know what, if anything, they would have done with it, but like you said, crimes against humanity ::honkhonk:
Let's give them some credit...they might have been too afraid of the fallout and might have decided to just keep it safe from crazier characters:grin:!
 
Well how can you roll a natural 20 when you’ve only got d6.

I think it probably boils down to them not understanding the probabilities.
I can think of at least one game where a natural 20 is usually a miss, BTW...











ROLEMASTER
 
I can think of at least one game where a natural 20 is usually a miss, BTW...
ROLEMASTER

Most roll under systems (using d20s) would also count, but you knew what I meant.
 
Most roll under systems (using d20s) would also count, but you knew what I meant.
That you can't roll 20 on a d6, right?

And no in Pendragon 20 is actually likely to be a critical for a competent PC (Flashing Blades and Dragon Warriors, not so much).
 
That you can't roll 20 on a d6, right?
And no in Pendragon 20 is actually likely to be a critical for a competent PC (Flashing Blades and Dragon Warriors, not so much).

That I was specifically referring to a subspecies of human that actually cares about a natural 20
 
That I was specifically referring to a subspecies of human that actually cares about a natural 20
Yes, and for those people that care, Rolemaster might also seem a tad disappointing. That was my point as well, by the Swo!

Because a 20 by itself is neither auspicious nor a harbinger of doom, it's just a score, but at times, humans invest particular numbers with meanings.
 
I can think of at least one game where a natural 20 is usually a miss, BTW...











ROLEMASTER
I wouldn't even say usually after a certain level. Mediocre for sure, but not usually a miss.
 
That you can't roll 20 on a d6, right?

And no in Pendragon 20 is actually likely to be a critical for a competent PC (Flashing Blades and Dragon Warriors, not so much).

Well, I mean technically you can with Savage Worlds... :hehe:
 
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