The fourth edition of Twilight 2k has recently been released; it is an updated version of a game from the last century, using the Year Zero Engine. While I never played the old version, I always kind of liked the idea of playing in an alternative universe where PCs are trying to survive in a late 20th century Europe torn apart by WW3. Weird, I know. The basic premise is covered with that; the game comes with initial situations to choose from in either Sweden or Poland; the name of the game is for PCs to band together and choose their own goals. Are they soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, trying to make their way home? Do they want to establish their own safe harbor instead? Maybe they are actually locals? And so on, and so forth... Note as far as I can tell that the basic assumption is for a more military-based campaign, but not the theatre of war-type. Overall, I think this makes the game a retro-futurist, post-apocalypse sandbox survival game.
As far as I know, the new edition is far less crunchy than the old ones, which for me is excellent. Then again it is supposedly the most crunchy version of the MYZ engine to date. Notable I also haven't played any MYZ games so far.
The game offers generation based on archetypes or using a lifepath. I choose the latter. Next, I decide my nationality and go with Polish, and name the character Milena Sawicka. She is 18 when we set out on her life path. The game has four attributes, ranked A to D, and she starts with a C in all of them. Then I roll 2D3 to see how many increases Milena gets. A 5, not bad! That means I will have Milena start out with Strength B, Agility B, Intelligence A, and Empathy B. Finally she has a Coolness Under Fire (CUF) of D, which can't be increased this way.
Then I roll on a table to see what kind of childhood Milena had. A 1 means that she was a street kid. From the skills available I choose Recon, which she then has at D instead of F. So, if I have to make a roll for Recon, I would grab a D12 (for her Intelligence) and a D6 (for Recon), and roll, with 6+ indicating success. Another roll (of 4) on the life path tables indicates she has gained a specialty of Infiltrator. This will add a +1 to a roll when appropriate. Milena seems to be pretty good at stealthy recon. Now I choose which kind of job Milena learned. Most jobs are limited by attribute requirements, but Milena is an ace I see none that would be blocked for her. Some are limited by needing previous experience or ranks in other lines of work, though. I kind of think that as a street kid she would most likely either have become a criminal or joined the military. Maybe, just maybe, later a career in intelligence. Let's say she joined the Military and went for basic training in the Combat Arms category, the Wojska Lądowe. She has a rank of Szeregowy (Private). I have to take the skill Ranged Combat and in addition choose Close Combat (for some reason named Melee on the sheet) for her second skill, both at D. Then I have to make a skill roll for one of them to see if I get promoted. Let's roll for Ranged Combat. One d10 for Dexterity B, and d6 for the skill, and I get a 10. She becomes a Starszy szeregowy (Private 1st Class), and her CUF increases to C. I also get to roll for another Specialty - Machinegunner. Then I roll a d6 to see how many years that career step took. One year! Wow! Then a d8 to see if an attribute decreases. Which happens if I roll lower than the number of terms spent, which is not yet possible. Same to see if this is when the war breaks out - d8, and if the number is lower than the number of turns spent this was the year sh*t hit the fan. Since neither happens I get sent back to choose the next career term.
In term 2 she gains Heavy Weapons D and Ranged Combat C, and another advancement. She is now a Kapral (Corporal), gains a Speciality in Launcher Crew (with a 4), and her CUF increases to B. This term took 3 years, and a 4 for attribute decrease and an 8 for war breaking out means she is still doing OK on both fronts.
For term 3 I look at intelligence service careers. She has no background in Education, meaning she can only join as a Paramilitary. That makes a lot of sense, but also looks boring. I decide she will go for Special Forces down the line and remain in the military for now. Ranged Combat B, Recon C, another promotion (Starszy kapral / Plutonowy, Sergeant) resulting in a specialty of Machinegunner, which since I have that already means free choice instead. I go with Combat Engineer. CUF maxes out at A. She ages six more years, attributes stay the same, and peace lasts.
In term 4 Milena fulfills the requirements for Wojska Specjalne (Special Operations) and joins up. Close Combat C, Survival D, promotion to Sierżant (Staff Sergeant), specialty Ranger, another 2 years of aging, no attribute loss (7) but war breaks out (1)! This means her career came to a rather violent end. For the character generation, this means I get to increase any two skills by one step. I go with raising both Mobility and Stamina to D - lots of running happened, after all. There is also a final roll for a last specialty - Rifleman. There was also some shooting.
Now I get to determine a few other stats. There is no group of PCs, so I skip unit morale, etc, though I will note that there'd better be a better leader around for that. Milena has a moral code - the military has been good for her, has indeed turned her life around, and she thinks it is her task to help those who are on the lowest rungs of society. The homeless, the shelterless. To give them the structure and support she received. I think her Big Dream, i.e. goal now will be to be part of something bigger again. If there were other PCs I would choose one as a buddy as well.
When war broke out Milena had spent 12 of her 30 years in the military. She is a buff, stern-looking woman with wrinkles around her eyes that indicate she did like to laugh only a short while ago. She dresses in military fatigues; if ever in other clothing she looks uncomfortable and out of place. She is rather small for a soldier, and her teeth still show signs of malnourishment when she was a child. She does not speak a lot. If needed, she can bark orders with the best of them but avoids command responsibility. She isn't shy but never got really comfortable with being responsible for others to that extent. She gets some equipment based on her last term, plus 2 days' worth of food, 3 of water, and 5 points worth of ammo which is used as currency. She starts the game with Rads of 1, as low as possible, so she was nowhere near a place where nuclear bombs rained down.
And with that Milena is all ready to go and change the world.
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