Mutant Year Zero 2026 Q2 - Session 1

An episode of the Playing at the Hearth podcast, hosted by The Open Hearth Gaming Community, titled "Mutant Year Zero 2026 Q2 - Session 1" was published on April 7, 2026 and runs 169 minutes.

April 7, 2026 ·169m · Playing at the Hearth

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Summary

In our first session of Mutant Year Zero, we built the Ark as a ruined mall with hotel elements. The Elder and the Dawn Vault were placed in the old Spencer Gifts. Johammed claimed the lower level and the food court. Marlotte held the upper level. The Ark’s clean water came from a single fountain fed by a jury-rigged underground line, and the group set its starting stats at Food 2, Culture 2, Tech 5, Warfare 3, with a population of 205.The player characters were Raspa the dog handler with Donut, Wilo the slave, Zippo the gearhead, and Tavri the stalker. After Assembly, the group started Hunting Party, Cropland, Temple, and a Zone Expedition to the tower. Then the group settled their PC relationships and buddy picks, which set up the main pairs for the session: Raspa and Wilo, and Tavri and Zippo.The first major scene came when the crowd discovered that Johammed’s people were taking water from the fountain. Jonats and Johammed’s gang were holding everyone back while they filled cans and buckets. Raspa confronted Jonats with Wilo and Donut at his side and used Manipulate to make her withdraw, though she still took the water already collected. That left the Ark with only a small amount of water left in the fountain.While that was happening, Tavri and Zippo investigated the water line through the maintenance shafts. Tavri used Sonar to navigate the darkness and confirmed that the problem was not inside the Ark. The clog was somewhere farther down the line, outside.The session ended with project work. Raspa trained a small hunting group and Tavri and Yasan finished the Hunting Party project. The Ark’s food supply jumped from 2 to 9, and the first successful hunt brought back raccoons.Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxSGnHzgf1Y ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Episode Description

In our first session of Mutant Year Zero, we built the Ark as a ruined mall with hotel elements. The Elder and the Dawn Vault were placed in the old Spencer Gifts. Johammed claimed the lower level and the food court. Marlotte held the upper level. The Ark’s clean water came from a single fountain fed by a jury-rigged underground line, and the group set its starting stats at Food 2, Culture 2, Tech 5, Warfare 3, with a population of 205.

The player characters were Raspa the dog handler with Donut, Wilo the slave, Zippo the gearhead, and Tavri the stalker. After Assembly, the group started Hunting Party, Cropland, Temple, and a Zone Expedition to the tower. Then the group settled their PC relationships and buddy picks, which set up the main pairs for the session: Raspa and Wilo, and Tavri and Zippo.

The first major scene came when the crowd discovered that Johammed’s people were taking water from the fountain. Jonats and Johammed’s gang were holding everyone back while they filled cans and buckets. Raspa confronted Jonats with Wilo and Donut at his side and used Manipulate to make her withdraw, though she still took the water already collected. That left the Ark with only a small amount of water left in the fountain.

While that was happening, Tavri and Zippo investigated the water line through the maintenance shafts. Tavri used Sonar to navigate the darkness and confirmed that the problem was not inside the Ark. The clog was somewhere farther down the line, outside.

The session ended with project work. Raspa trained a small hunting group and Tavri and Yasan finished the Hunting Party project. The Ark’s food supply jumped from 2 to 9, and the first successful hunt brought back raccoons.

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxSGnHzgf1Y ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★