RPG Encyclopedia: X-Z
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Xandoria Core Fuzion
1st ed by J. Parker (2005) Dilly Green Bean Games
A science fantasy RPG set on a planet that once was the greatest prison in the universe. After a mysterious cataclysm, it was thrown into an ice age, and recovered centuries later with the the construction of Atmosphere Controllers. The planet is now lush with life, but plagued by hidden horrors still lurking there. It uses a variant of the Fuzion system, originaly from R. Talsorian games.
Xenoforce
1st ed by Simon Parkinson (1997) Dragon Games
An alien invasion conspiracy RPG, based around a secret government organization dedicated to defending the Earth against an alliance of aliens planning to infiltrate and conquer Earth. In 1947, a number of aliens were left behind from a crashed spaceship, who allied to prepare for a slower-than-light invasion centuries in the future. There are five types of aliens on Earth: Controller, Infiltrater, Observer, Morpher, Grunt. The system uses five attributes (Strength, Perception, Constitution, Agility, Influence) and various percentile skills. Character creation includes random-roll attributes (2d4 x 10 + 1d10, for a range from 21 to 90) and point-bought skills.
Xro Dinn Chronicles
1st ed by Matthew Webster, Eric Wujcik, Aaron Rosenberg, Dan Ryan, Jamie Jarvis, Matthew Webster, Darrell Hardy (2001) Ionian Game Studios
A hard science fiction RPG, set in a lawless sector of the galaxy known as the Frontier. Five races are plagued by the shapeshifting Sharr'Dann, who are more powerful physically and technologically than any other race. It uses a skill-based system using d20 rolls.
Year of the Phoenix
1st ed by Martin Wixted (1986) FGU
A sci-fi RPG set in 2197 where Russians occupy most of North America. Astronauts of the U.S. Space Command crash-land after an unusual "temporal displacement", and emerge to oppose them. It uses a percentile skill-based system. Character creation is limited point-bought.
Yellow Dawn: The Age of Hastur
1st ed by David J. Rodger (2005) Lulu
1st ed by David J. Rodger (2008)
A post-apocalyptic horror RPG set in a future where the Earth's population has been devastated by disease some time in the 2030s. The orbital colonies and deep-space habitats cut off contact to protect themselves from infection and did nothing to help. After over 70% of the population died, further horrors emerged including zombies and orcs (the results of infection) as well as more supernatural phenomena. It uses a percentile skill-based system similar to Call of Cthulhu, adding Ranks to professions that represent conviction and faith in your own abilities, that function similar to a character level system.
Ysgarth
1st ed by David Nalle (1979) Ragnarok Press
2nd ed (1980)
3rd ed (1982)
4th ed (1982)
5th ed (1985)
7th ed (1998)
A fantasy-genre RPG, which has changed significantly over 7 editions. In general, it uses a percentile skill system, with limited point-bought character creation. It has an action-point-based combat system.
Yurl'h
1st ed by Patrick Durand-Peyrolles (1995) Tamise Productions
A French-language medieval fantasy RPG. It uses a d6 and d100 based sytem.
Yuuyake Koyake
1st ed by Ryo Kamiya (2006) Sunset Games
A modern-day fantasy RPG where the player characters are henge - magical animals with able take on human form. Adventures focus on helping ordinary people in a town in rural Japan. Character creation starts with picking one of six character types, each with their own special abilities: fox, raccoon dog, cat, dog, rabbit, or bird. Resolution uses a diceless system based on point spending. Each character has a Connection stats (from 1 to 5) to the town and to each other PC. At the start of each scene, a character gets points of Wonder equal to total connections to them, and points of Feelings equal to total connections from others. Wonder is spent on special powers, Feelings to boost attributes, and both can be spent on transforming.
Zero
1st ed by Steve Stone, Lester Smith (1997) Archangel
2nd ed (1999) Dynasty
A bizarre sci-fi game where PC's are biomech hive members cut off from the collective consciousness (the god-queen "Zero"). The characters learn to become individuals and find that their lives were not as nice as they thought. Worse, they are now considered enemies of the hive. It uses a simple skill system: Choose a number of skills that you want to concentrate on ("Focus skills"). The number you chose is your Focus rating. On focus skills you want to roll over the Focus rating; on other skills you want to roll under the Focus rating. Thus, the more Focus skills you have, the worse you are at them. The roll is 1d6 times 1d6 (i.e. 1 to 36).
Zły Cien: Kruki Urojenia
1st ed by Jacek J. Greczyszyn (1995) Szaman
A Polish-language fantasy RPG based on Slavic history and mythology. The title translates as "The Evil Shadow: Ravens of Delusion". It was the first original Polish-language RPG. It uses a complex rules system.
Zombeja! Ovella! / Zombie Cinema
1st ed by Eero Tuovinen (2007) Arkenstone Publishing
1st English ed (2008) Arkenstone Publishing
A horror genre storytelling game about a zombie apocalypse, that mixes board game and role-playing elements. Players take turns directing scenes, and by conflicts with other players their character token may move closer to the zombie token. If the zombie token is in the same scene, the player describes how their character is killed. The game comes in a boxed set that includes a game board, tokens, rules sheet, and 27 Cinema Cards. Players choose from three types of character cards for creating their characters.
Zombi: The Earth won't hold the Dead...
1st ed by Matt Johnston, Colin Johnston, Paul Keenan (1999) Crucible
A modern-day zombie horror RPG, based primarily on the George Romero movies. It is published as a 68-page 5"x8" booklet that includes the brief rules and more detailed background. It is set in a world where in 1999 the dead begin to rise and rapidly cause a breakdown of society. It uses a minimalist system. There are 10 traits (combining attributes and skills). Actions are resolved by rolling 2d6 under trait + modifiers.
Zombieroolipeli Kalmo
1st ed by Risto J. Hieta, Hans Zenjuga (1999) Artic Ranger Production
2nd ed (1999) Artic Ranger Production
A small-press Finnish-language tongue-in-cheeck horror RPG, whose title translates to "Zombie Roleplaying Game: the Dead". A thin and small A6-sized booklet, printed by Tehokopiointi KY. The PC's are zombies, generated by various random-roll methods including previous profession (lumberjack, celebrity, hobo, mafia boss,...) and how the character died (i.e. the burglar shot back or bondage game gone too far). Action resolution uses d6 and d8. There is a live-action version of this game entitled "Elokalmo" (roughly "Life-Dead").
Zone
1st ed by Nicolas Thery, Franck Bouchaud (1986) Siroz
A French-language modern-day suburban-violence / teen rebellion RPG.
Zontana Epi (Ζωντανα Επι)
1st ed by Thomas Mastakouris (2000) Aiolos
"Living Epics" -- A Greek-language RPG set in the mythic Greece of Homer's epics. It uses a skill-based system.
The Zorcerer of Zo
1st ed by Chad Underkoffler (2006) Atomic Sock Monkey Press
A fairy tale fantasy RPG using a variant of the Prose Descriptive Qualities (PDQ) system from in Truth & Justice. It includes description of the genre and many notes from campaign play, but only a few details on a sample setting. Resolution is based on 2d6 + stat versus difficulty or opposed roll, possibly modified by spending Hero Point(s). Character creation is limited point-bought, distributing 6 Ranks of Qualities among player-defined traits and defining one Flaw that grants Hero Points when invoked.
John H. Kim <jhkim@darkshire.net>
Last modified: Mon Jul 2 09:15:53 2018