In the Sci-Fi TTRPG for the Year Zero Engine, Starbreaker Zero players take on the roles of mercenaries and outlaws trying to get ahead in a galaxy ruled by corporations, crime syndicates, and corrupt governments. 

After the galaxy-wide invasion known as the Armageddon War, civilization fell into turmoil. Galactic governments retreated to their core systems. The Rim Worlds were left to fend for themselves. Powerful criminal organizations are the power behind politicians of these forsaken worlds, forcing those who live there to submit or suffer. 

Most choose submission. A few choose to join the Syndicates, becoming Synners themselves in pursuit of freedom and profit. Some just want to break a system that's gone wrong and maybe even do some good along the way. 

As Synners, players roam the galaxy as Bounty Hunters, Grifters, PsyCommandos, Smugglers, and more. Hounded by the law, rival criminals, corporate security, and the horrors of space itself, these unlikely heroes seek adventure and their next big score.

Starbreaker Zero is a complete science fiction roleplaying game using the award-winning Year Zero Engine.(Step Dice variant See BELOW)

Here's a look at what you'll find within its 200+ pages:

The Starbreaker Setting: Explore a detailed galaxy full of danger and intrigue! Travel to the Core Worlds of the Star Systems Alliance, raid the shining towers of the Corporate Worlds, and hide out from Syndicate assassins on the Rim. Face down ruthless factions, corporate spies, alien death-hives, star marines, and more!

 

Character Options: When creating your character, choose from 12 different species, including the batlike Nakhyra, the serpentine Zaka, or the artificial lifeforms known as Synths! Then pick a profession such Bounty Hunter, Psy Commando, or Smuggler.

 

 

Crew Options: Decide whether your crew will work with the Syndicates or against them. Choose your crew's specialty, such as heist jobs, infiltration, or assault, each with its own in-game benefits. Claim your crew's starship and set out to seek your fortune!

Gear and Vehicles: Protect yourself with high-tech armor and dozens of weapons, unleash a swarm of drones on your enemies, and traverse the galaxy with starships, land crawlers, and hover-bikes!

Rules and Tools: Earn Favor with your Syndicate bosses, use the HyperNet to gain crucial information and take control of remote computers, and unleash the adventure generator to keep the game rolling.

 

NPCs and Bestiary: The galaxy is a dangerous place. Your crew might face down Syndicate hitmen, corporate psychics, overzealous star marines, or any number of alien beasts! The book details all these threats, as well as the NPC movers and shakers of the Starbreaker setting.

 For Starbreaker Zero we are using DTRPG for our printing and delivery of all physical rewards. This allows us, as a smaller, publisher to deliver books without needing warehousing or expensive print runs.

 Once the books and other items are completed, we will send all backers a code they can use to print these items at cost. As an example, the book will cost around 23 dollars to print at the standard quality option.

 You are not obligated to print the items and may do so at any time you choose once the files are ready.

 

 

 

 

Brandon Verhalen (publisher and art director): Brandon Verhalen has been an RPG enthusiast for over 30 years. A lifelong fan of all things sci-fi and fantasy, Originally inspired by the Alternity RPG to create his first foray into the gaming world with SAINTs & Synners, a gritty sci-fi setting.  Creating SAINTs & Synners led Brandon to the foundation of Star Anvil Studios in 2017. Brandon is a patron of gaming artwork and has done the art direction for Star Anvil Studios since the beginning. His expertise with art direction led to Star Anvil Studios and its artists contributing several pieces in the Palladium Rifter. A professional nurse, Brandon lives and works in Missouri with his beloved family. Brandon is the Chief Executive Officer for Star Anvil Studios.

THE AMAZING TEAM
Many other amazing people work and contribute to the growing list of settings that make up Star Anvil Studios products. Darrell Hardy (Writing) Sara Martinez (Writing), Ron Root (Art), James Denton (Art), Ani Ghosh (Art), Alberto Bontempi (Art), Ben Worrell (Art) Jessica Medberry (Editing), Alida Saxon (Layout).  All of these people have contributed a significant amount of work on projects and continue to do so. We are proud of our creative team and cant wait to see what else we they can help bring to life.

We have had several questions regarding the nature of the system being used. We are using the Step Dice variant of the Year Zero Engine. Version of this are used in Blade Runner and Twilight 2000 by Free League, the creators of  the system. 

You can read the full SRD here
https://freeleaguepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/YZE-Standard-Reference-Document.pdf

The SRD is NOT a players book and is not meant for general reading to learn, rather it is a creators source for making their own games based on the rules. Not every system you will find in there is one we are using.

Below are some examples from the SRD text that we are using for our rules. While we will vary to some degree, this will give you a short concept of how the system works.  

STEP DICE SKILL ROLLS
To roll for a skill in the step dice version, grab two dice – one for your skill level and another for the base attribute that is connected to the skill. These two dice are called your base dice. The type of base dice to roll depends on your levels in the skill and attribute (page 5). Then roll your two base dice together.

SUCCESS: To succeed with your action, you must roll 6 or higher on at least one base die used in the roll. A roll of 6 or higher is called a success, and is marked in the rules with the eye symbol. A roll of 10 or higher on a single die (only possible with a D10 or D12) counts as two successes.

NO SKILL? If you don’t have the skill required for the particular action you want to perform, you can roll anyway – simply roll the base die for your attribute alone.

GEAR: Gear can give positive modifiers (page 11) or even additional dice to roll.

MULTIPLE SUCCESSES
If you roll two or more successes, you reach your stated goal, but also gain some additional bonus effect, depending on the situation and the skill used. In combat, extra successes can increase the damage done. For other skills, you can suggest a bonus effect yourself. The GM has final say. Some suggestions:
✦ You act quickly.
✦ You act quietly.
✦ You help another character.
✦ You impress someone.
✦ You discover something unexpected.

MORE SUCCESSES: Rolling three or even more successes generally only matters in combat, where each additional will increase the damage done by one point.

FAILURE? YOU CAN "PUSH" YOUR ROLL
Your initial skill roll reflects a safe and controlled action. If you fail your initial roll, or if you want additional successes, you can lean into the action, giving it everything you’ve got, pushing yourself to the limit. This is called pushing the roll, and lets you re-roll any dice that don’t show the result of 1. A base die showing a 1 is called a bane and can never be re-rolled when pushing. After a push, you cannot change back to the previous result. All dice count after the push, even any dice you didn’t re-roll.

DAMAGE & STRESS: After a pushed roll, you immediately suffer one point of damage (if you rolled for Strength or Agility) or one point of stress (if you rolled for Wits or Empathy) for each bane (1) rolled on your base dice. If this damage or stress breaks you, this happens after the action is resolved.
  As an option, when using a weapon or a tool of some sort, the tool suffers damage (or reduced durability) instead of you. Note that this pushing version works best in the step dice version of YZE, as having more dice to roll in a dice pool will increase the risk of suffering damage or stress when pushing.

STEP DICE MODIFIERS
 A +1 modifier means upgrading a base die one step, a +2 modifier means upgrading two steps, and so on. A −1 modifier means downgrading a base die one step, −2 means two steps down, and so on. Several modifiers can apply to the same roll, and they are cumulative. 
 When stepping up and down, always try to balance your dice as much as possible – i.e. step up a lower base die first, and downstep a higher base die. You can never go above two D12s, no matter what modifiers you have. To downstep past two D6s, remove one die. You can never go below one D6. If you lack a skill level and start with just a single base die, step up by adding a D6 (as one step up) and step it up further as needed.