THE EMPTY REACH - RULES INTRODUCTION

Welcome to The Empty Reach. This document contains the modified core Year Zero Engine mechanics for tabletop roleplaying, used in several Free League games. They have been edited to better match the themes and tropes of planetary adventure. Feel free to port in any other compatible ideas for your personal use.

THE BASICS

This section introduces some key concepts in roleplaying, and how they are used The Empty Reach.

THE PLAYERS

Each player except one controls a player character (PC). You decide what your PC thinks and feels, what they say and do – but not what happens to them. It is your job as a player to immerse yourself in your PC. They may be an adventurer on a distant and isolated planet – but they are still, at heart, a person with feelings and dreams, just like you. Try to imagine – how would you react if you were in their shoes? What would you do? The player characters are always the protagonists of the story. The game is about you. Your decisions, your adventures.

THE GAMEMASTER

The final player is the Gamemaster, the GM. They describe the game world to you, they portray the people you meet, and they control the enemies you fight. The game is a conversation between the players and the GM, back and forth, until a critical situation arises where the outcome is uncertain. Then it’s time to break out the dice – read more about this in Chapter 3. It is the GM’s job to put obstacles in your path and challenge your PCs, forcing them to show what they’re really made of. But it is not up to the GM to decide everything that happens in the game – and above all, not how your story is supposed to end. That is decided in the game. That is why you are playing the game – to find out how your story ends.

ABBREVIATIONS
PC = Player Character
NPC = Non-Player Character
GM = Gamemaster
YZE = Year Zero Engine
SRD = Standard Reference Document

YOU AND OTHERS
Most of the rules in this document are written in the second person – i.e., speaking to “you.” Rules that apply to you also apply to others in the game, both PCs and NPCs, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

KEY FEATURES

The Empty Reach is based on the Year Zero Engine was originally developed as the ruleset for Mutant: Year Zero, but has been further modified and adapted to suit the play objectives of this game. Yet, six core features of the game remain. These are listed and explained below.

ACCESSIBLE

The basics of the game are very easy to learn. It is easy to teach to new players, making the barrier to play very low. Complexity and depth are added piece by piece, offering more choices to the player as they gain more insight into the system.

FAST AND DECISIVE

The Empty Reach is fast, quickly producing meaningful results by removing any dice rolling, bookkeeping and calculations that don’t move the action forward. The Empty Reach combat system is often deadly, pushing conflicts to decisive moments. The risks are high, and PCs are rarely safe from danger no matter how experienced they are.

RISKS & REWARDS

In The Empty Reach, you can increase your chances significantly by pushing your roll – i.e. re-rolling the dice – but pushing always comes with a cost. This dynamic constantly pushes you to weigh risks and rewards, and suited for harsh, survival-focused games.

PLAYER-CENTRIC

In The Empty Reach, the players and their characters are at the heart of the story. The PCs are the protagonists of the story, never the NPCs. The rules focus on the PCs and their actions, while NPCs are handled quickly and effectively by the Gamemaster. The system is designed to always present the players with meaningful choices.

STORY DRIVEN

Roleplaying is about creating stories, memorable moments at the gaming table that you’ll remember for years to come. The Empty Reach is designed to produce dramatic effects that will push your story forward and make it take unexpected turns.

TOOLS OF THE GAME

Year Zero Engine games typically give you plenty of room for improvisation and creativity. Yet they also provide a number of tools to help you create your own story.

CHARACTER SHEETS

To document your character, you use a character sheet. The Empty Reach Character Sheet will be available here. How you create your character will be described in the next chapter.

DICE

As a character in The Empty Reach, you will have to take risks. Sooner or later, you will end up in situations where the outcome is uncertain, no matter how skilled you are. It’s time to break out the dice. The Empty Reach is based on the step dice version of YZE and uses polyhedral dice, including D8, D10 and D12.

ROLLING DICE
The rules will sometimes ask you to roll D3, 2D6, D66, and D100. D3 means you roll a D6 and divide the result by two, rounding up. 2D6 means you roll two six-sided dice and add the results. D66 means you roll two D6. The first die represents the tens digit and the second die represents the ones digit. That generates a result between 11 and 66. D100 means you roll two D10. The first represents the tens digit and the second the ones digit. A double zero counts as 100. You can even roll D666, by rolling three six-sided dice. The first die then counts as the hundreds digit, the second as the tens digit and the third as the ones digit.

CARDS

Standard playing cards are used to randomize initiative in combat – read more about this in Chapter 4. Card may also be used to randomize encounters, but this will be published in the GM and setting documents.

MEASURING TIME
Three units are used to measure time in The Empty Reach, depend¬ing on the situation at hand. See the adjacent table. The exact duration of a round, stretch and shift can vary depending on the situation. It’s the GM’s job to track time and determine when another round, stretch or shift has passed. There are typically four shifts in a day: morning, day, evening, and night.**

PLAYING SAFELY

In YZE games, you are largely in control of the story, and with this comes responsibility. The player characters will face great danger and difficult challenges, but no player should find the situations they experience unpleasant or offensive. It is import¬ant that everyone around the gaming table is having fun and feeling safe. Before starting the game, talk things through and see if someone wants certain subjects to be kept out of the game. Al¬ways respect a player who wants to pause and discuss what is happening in the game, or even leave the table if the player so chooses. And you may also want to talk about what happened after the game session.