What is Year Zero Engine?
Year Zero Engine is a family of roleplaying mechanics, not a single setting or one rulebook shared unchanged by every game. Its relatives range from wasteland expeditions to fantasy and horror. This page gives two basic starting points from the SRD: a pool of d6 and a pair of step dice. The distinction matters because the same printed six is not the only possible success result in the second approach.
How to use the presets
The d6-pool preset counts sixes. The step-dice preset counts a result of 6-9 as one success and 10 or higher as two. An added number is not generally equivalent to adding a pool die or improving a die type. The current reading is shown explicitly, and arithmetic modifiers are not silently applied to either count. Individual game adaptations can have additional conditions and different exceptions.
The step result 8 and 10 gives three successes in this mode. The same values added as ordinary dice would produce 18, which is not the reading used here.
Practical table tips
- Choose the relevant family before building the tray. Six d6 and a d8 plus d10 are not interchangeable ways of reaching the same total.
- Rename groups by what they represent: attribute, skill or equipment. Keeping those identities helps when the game attaches risk to only some dice.
- Consult the particular game before pushing. Repeating Roll here is a new full roll, not an automatic implementation of every legal push rule.
Year Zero Engine dice FAQ
Is this an ALIEN roller?
There is a separate ALIEN page with Base and Stress groups. This general SRD page does not add Panic handling.
Why does a 10 count twice in Step dice?
That is the step-dice counting convention used by this SRD preset. Do not transfer it automatically to every Year Zero title.
Can I copy the pool for another player?
Yes. The link stores labels, counts, die types and reading mode. It does not store character resources or enforce the receiving player's sheet.
This page is a general dice aid. Game-specific pushing, attributes, conditions, ammunition and gear rules are not a universal automated subsystem.
Independent, unofficial dice aid. Game names identify the intended use; their publishers do not endorse this page. These original explanations are not a replacement for the rules.