Mutant: Year Zero: Dice & Strategy Guide

Mutant: Year Zero, published by Free League, is the game that first defined the Year Zero Engine and its distinctive push mechanic. You play mutants scavenging a poisoned, post-apocalyptic world from the safety of the Ark, and nearly every roll is a gamble about how much you are willing to break yourself to succeed.

The dice and the core mechanic

Rolls use a pool of six-sided dice built from up to three sources, traditionally shown in three colours:

• Base dice — equal to the relevant attribute (such as Strength or Wits).
• Skill dice — equal to the skill you are using.
• Gear dice — equal to the bonus from the weapon or equipment in hand.

You gather all of these into one handful, roll them together, and look for sixes. Each 6 is one success, and a single success is normally enough to accomplish the task — extra sixes give a better or more damaging result. It is a count-the-successes system: the dice are never totalled, only the 6s matter, and a fatter pool simply means more chances to land one.

Pushing, and what it costs

If you fail, or want more successes, you can push the roll — re-roll every die that is not already a 6 (and not a 1 you wish to keep clear of), for a second shot at the same task. Pushing is powerful, but in Mutant: Year Zero it bites back through the ones. After a pushed roll, each 1 on a base die damages the matching attribute, and each 1 on a gear die harms your equipment, degrading or breaking it. So the more you push, the more you risk grinding down your own body and gear.

Attribute damage is not trivial: as an attribute drops, you roll fewer base dice and edge towards being broken, which triggers serious consequences. Pushing therefore turns each roll into a genuine decision — a second chance bought with lasting wear on the things that keep you alive.

Mutations and the point economy

Mutants have powerful mutations, and firing them off is fuelled by Mutation Points. A key way to earn those points is precisely by pushing rolls — the strain of overexertion feeds your mutant power. Spending points powers dramatic, often unpredictable abilities, but mutations can misfire, so like everything in the Zone they carry a cost. This loop — push, take damage, gain points, unleash a mutation — is the beating heart of the game’s risk economy.

How a roll resolves

To make a roll: total your base (attribute), skill and gear dice, pick up that many six-siders, and throw them. Count the sixes as successes; one is usually enough, more is better. If it is not enough, decide whether to push: re-roll the non-sixes, then read the fresh ones — base-die 1s wound your attributes, gear-die 1s damage your equipment — and collect a Mutation Point for having pushed. You can only push a given roll once, so weigh it carefully.

Effective strategy

• Push for the rolls that matter. Pushing is your main lever, but it wears down attributes and gear. Spend it on pivotal moments, not every routine check.
• Stack gear where you can. Good equipment adds gear dice for free and only risks the gear itself when you push — a comparatively cheap way to fatten the pool.
• Mind which attribute you are risking. Different tasks lean on different attributes; pushing a Strength roll wears Strength. Avoid grinding down the attribute you will need most next.
• Treat Mutation Points as fuel, not clutter. Since pushing generates them, aggressive play and mutation use reinforce each other — but keep a reserve for emergencies.
• Divide labour across the group. Because pools come from attribute plus skill plus gear, a specialist brings far more dice to their speciality. Let the right character take the right roll.

Beginner tips and common mistakes

• Only sixes count. Don’t add the dice up — count the 6s. Ones only matter on a pushed roll.
• Pushing isn’t free. New players push reflexively and then bleed attributes and break gear. Decide whether the task is worth the damage first.
• You can only push once. A given roll gets a single re-roll, so make it count rather than expecting endless retries.
• Watch your attributes. Letting an attribute drop to broken has real consequences. Recover and protect them between hard rolls.
• Manage the Ark, not just your character. Mutant: Year Zero pairs personal survival with running your settlement — the wider Zone campaign rewards planning as much as any single roll.

Want the calmer, kid-friendly side of the same engine? Read our Tales from the Loop dice & strategy guide, or roll a colour-coded pool in Dice Drop.