Mutant (role-playing game)

Mutant

1989 version box cover
Designer(s)	Nils Gullikson, Michael Stenmark, Henrik Strandberg, Magnus Seter, Jerker Sojdelius, Stefan Thulin, Fredrik Malmberg
Publisher(s)	Target Games
Publication date	1984 (Mutant) 1989 ("New Mutant") 1992 (Mutant RYMD) 1993 (Mutant Chronicles) 2002 (Mutant - Undergångens arvtagare) 2014 (Mutant - År Noll)
Genre(s)	post-apocalypse, cyberpunk, space opera
System(s)	Basic Role-Playing Custom

Mutant is a series of Swedish role-playing games that were developed and published by Target Games. The current version is developed by Fria Ligan under license by Cabinet Entertainment and published in Swedish and English by Fria Ligan and Modiphius respectively.

The campaign setting was very similar to Gamma World, taking place hundreds of years after a big catastrophe. The world is populated by humans, robots, and mutants (including anthropomorphic animals). The rule system was similar to the modified Basic Role-Playing rules used in Target Games earlier Drakar och Demoner game, utilizing a percentile die. In 1986 a rules expansion called Mutant 2 was published that among other things introduced a more advanced skill system, advanced rules for combat, hit locations and a more developed campaign setting.

In 1989 Target Games introduced a new version of Mutant (unofficially branded "New Mutant" to distinguish it from the older version). In this version, it was the year 2089 and the world was ruled by large corporations in gigantic cities, like in Judge Dredd. This was the first cyberpunk role-playing game in Swedish. The rules were simpler compared to the ones introduced in Mutant 2.

Mutant RYMD ("Mutant SPACE") was the next, short-lived, version of Mutant published in 1992. The campaign setting was similar to the 1989 version but in Mutant RYMD the corporations put much effort into space exploration and colonization, eventually reaching a fictional tenth planet named Nero and there awakening an evil, supernatural force that attacks the solar system. Some of the monsters and symbols were taken from another of Target Games role-playing games, Kult. The rules were more or less identical to that of the 1989 version of Mutant.