New SRDs And Licenses For Apocalypse World And Year Zero Engine
More open RPG news: Apocalypse World will get an SRD, and Free League launches the Year Zero Engine open license.
Showing that you never know just how far the ripples in the pond will go when you cast that stone, even more publishers announced new open licenses, and in one notable case, a new “unthinkable” SRD in the wake of the OGL “update.”
Two popular RPG frameworks, Free League’s Year Zero Engine, which powers the Alien RPG and Tales from the Loop, as well as Apocalypse World, which was the foundation of everything Powered by the Apocalypse, from Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, to Masks, and more.
And both of these tabletop heavy hitters will soon expand the playing field. Here’s a look at their respective announcements.
Apocalypse World Does The ‘Unthinkable’ – Announces SRD
The Apocalypse World announcement came from the AW Discord server:
“After 12 years’ worth plus a spate of requests this past weekend, I’m doing the unthinkable and/or unconscionable and writing up an Apocalypse World SRD.
It’s going incredibly well. I can’t even tell you. It’s a mean, stripped down version of my PbtA articles [which explain PbtA mechanics], laser focused on making a cinematic ensemble action-drama-thriller game like AW.
I don’t know how many games it’ll inspire, of course, when it comes to it, but it’s a tight piece of practical RPG theory anyway. I’m excited to share it.”
This is going to be a huge repository of what makes Powered by the Apocalypse mechanics work. If you don’t understand why this is exciting, just tell your friend who’s into indie RPGs and they’ll explain it. In a nutshell, this isn’t just an SRD, but a guideline for focusing the mechanics narratively as well.
Notable games in the PbtA lineage include the new Avatar Legends RPG, as well as Monster Hearts, and later evolutions like Ironsworn or Blades in the Dark (an Apocalypse World hack that became its own system).
Free League Announces New Licenses
Free League, on the other hand, announced the development of two new licenses. The first, a rework of the Year Zero Engine OGL, helping to move it away from the OGL v 1.0a, upon which it was originally based.
Per their announcement:
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.
Notable games in the YZE lineage include Tales from the Loop, the Alien RPG, and the recent Blade Runner RPG.
But alongside the new YZE OGL, Free League announced a third-party license for their upcoming new fantasy RPG, Dragonbane. This license will allow creators to create supplements and modules for Dragonbane as well.
Both new licenses will be released in the next few weeks.
Happy adventuring
