Mutants in the Now
A downloadable tabletop RPG
LET'S MUTATE ALL OVER AGAIN!
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, they ruled the streets, kick-flipping off of villainous faces and slipping into the shadows. Then, they vanished from the world of tabletop gaming.
But they’re back. And ready to KICK BUTT.
Mutants in the Now is a retromodern retake on the mutant animal role-playing games long past and left behind by licensing. Mutants fight to survive, thrive, and make the world better for themselves and humanity.
With well over a hundred species of animals, few mutants will be the same! Species range from the tiny earthworm to the massive whale. Play a placid pika or fierce wolverine! Everything from a common Corgi to the rare axolotl. Forge your unique existence!
Combat styles, psionic powers, and distinct backgrounds further define your chimeric character! Whether it’s the street fighting of Jailhouse Rock, the “double jumps” of Telekinetic Boosting, or being a defender of a secret enclave, there’s numerous ways to build a unique mutant all your own.
Meanwhile, conspiratorial corporations, nouveau ninja, and extradimensional evildoers are up to no good. Go on adventures from the alleyways to orbit in a modern world where the shadows are filled with strangeness.
Carve a place in the world as weird as you are!
IT'S FOR THE ANIMALS.
I ran character creation and created a thoughtful, scholarly otter doctor and he's everything to me now. Check this game out, folks. - HopperUK
Can confirm that Mutants in the Now is both rad and reasonably-priced, and that you should definitely buy a copy if you didn't already back it. - Grassy Gnoll
Adding my voice to the chorus saying Mutants In The Now is good. Buy this game! - Tsilkani
Wow. Just wow. - Cavenir
- Words by Julian Kay (two-time ENnie-award winning freelancer; Level 99 Games, Pelgrane Press), art by Fábio Fontes (Pixel Tactics, Millennium Blades, Buck Up and Drive!) and funded through Kickstarter!
- Over 130 animal species and over 200 mutation traits. Use your Genetic-Organic Optimization Points (GOO-P) to build a unique mutant!
- Fourteen combat styles as traditional as Aikido and as wild as tricking, along with the natural combat forms of animals and "improvisational panic".
- Psionic powers of mind and matter: biokinesis, telekinesis, telepathy, and more.
- Intensely playtested rules that call back to the games of the 1980s, but with modern refinements. Light tactical combat, investigation, social mechanics, gimmick equipment, montages, and much more!
- Human allies, either built from scratch by players or rolled up by random generation. Don't just fight baddies, make friends!
- Fully-formed villains ready to menace, from the Proteus Corporation to the otherdimensional Voxnax Velacuss. Will the powerful have their way?
- A rough layout inspired by the TRPGs of the early '80s!
- SO MANY RANDOM TABLES.
- Also now includes high-quality (hq) and low-quality (lq) versions, as well as errata sheets for owners of the physical printings.
- Includes an alternate "arachnid-free" version, previously exclusive to the Kickstarter, that removes tarantula and arachnid references for arachnophobes.
- 120 pages plus character sheets, mutation worksheets, and combat reference sheets ready to print.
If you're looking for a physical copy, visit the j/k Games! webstore or Indie Press Revolution.
Purchase
In order to download this tabletop RPG you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $14.95 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Community Copies
Support this tabletop RPG at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copy
Mutation for all! If you're financially struggling for the foreseeable future and want to try this game out, backers on Mutants in the Now and Mutants in the Next generously made over 200 full copies available to members of the TTRPG community in need! More free copies will be made available through the next special crowdfunding campaign.
Please leave a review or rating if you downloaded this as a community copy. It really does help!
Development log
- Mutants in the Now Update - 3rd Printing FixesNov 13, 2023
- Mutants in the Now PDFs Update!Oct 01, 2023
- Mutants in the Next announced!Apr 28, 2022
- Mutants in the Now - Revised Edition!Apr 02, 2022
- Mutants in the Now Revision #8Mar 03, 2022
- Mutants in the Now Revision #7Feb 05, 2022
- Mutants in the Now ErrataJan 23, 2022
- Mutants in the Now Revision #5Jan 05, 2022
Comments
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Will there be a new physical print run of this? Would like to pick up Now and Next in print when they are both available.
It's currently available at the j/k! Games store, which can be reached through the j/k! Games webpage!
It's been so great just to read through and play around with. So much thought went into this and you can see it in all the things possible in it.
Best way to play a mutant animal RPG, bar none.
Support small creators, not corporate-backed, soulless, licensed garbage.
how to read on kindle without crashing ?
That I can't speak to, since I don't really know much about the Kindle (or the model involved). However, I am looking to trim down the PDF significantly, and hopefully that'll help when that happens. Right now I have a interstitial version that's smaller, that might help, but isn't ready for general release; if you contact me at jkgames@gmail.com, I can send that over to you.
I don't have a precise timeline because I'm very, very busy with getting the first expansion out (Mutants in the Next) finished, but I'll post an update when the trim version also gets a public release.
I've updated the files to hopefully be more compatible, let me know if you're still having this issue!
Maybe this is me just being dumb but would you ever release a video on character creation and the steps involved?
I'd love to, but right now videos aren't in the bag.
Something Awful did a thread where you can see some examples of character generation: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3993661&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1#post521511381
Also, belatedly, there's a Discord where you can ask questions: https://discord.gg/K67znCQphP
Character creation is a lot of fun; I hope to run it with my group some day.
A few questions that came up:
Perhaps an empty space on at the bottom of page two or three of the creation worksheet could be used to total up starting GOO-P pool? Sources include attributes, species, and anything else?Also for the creation worksheet, a column in the attribute adjustment table for Bonus GOO-P might also be useful.Thanks for a fun system; we're looking forward to upcoming releases!
You're welcome! To answer your questions in order:
Yes, you can reroll more than once; that particular option doesn't interact with marked attributes.
Generally speaking, he character creation is designed to be all "in order", so if you settle on a result and decide not to spend, you can't take backsies. That being said, if your table is fine with you going backward and undoing that roll, it's likely not going to break anything, but I wanted to avoid having to track previous rolls or increasing choice anxiety in undoing past decisions.
Totally tubular; thanks!
Hi there! Got the game on DTRPG, love it and will almost certainly be getting Mutants In The Next, but I have a quick question I can't find an answer to: the Wild Companion gimmick says it lets you use a natural weapon at a range, but does it count as a melee attack or ranged attack? (For the stats added to your attack roll, what you can add to the damage dice, and possibly other edge case rules bits)
Hey, sorry for the wait on this! It would count as a melee attack, since the character's traits are standing in for the companion.
No worries, thank you for the clarification! Can't wait for Mutants In The Next <3
Picked up PDF and the on demand printing haven't run it yet. I am running into some issues where it could be written clearer. There are some assumptions I've had to make in character creation that were not explained very well. I am assuming each attribute gets added goop pool? Not exactly sure what to do with skill base and skill gain. I have no idea how on p. 38 anthro traits in the example uses 20 points, no idea how many points each evolution trait costs per step. Maybe it's 5? Is that the same for each tree?
Apologies for the confusion! To answer in order:
- Each attribute adds (or subtracts) GOO-P, and it's all totaled up along with the modifier for species.
- Skill Base and Skill Gain aren't dealt with until Step #7 (pg. 54); which is why Step #3 (pg. 12) directs one to only worry about the attribute's value and GOO-P modifier for that step. The others are addressed later.
- The cost of each evolution step is listed both on the relevant pages (pgs. 38-40) and is cumulative (pg. 38); each is generally 2-5 GOO-P. If a step is n/a that means that though some species start with that trait, there's normally no evolution route to it. With the example, a limbless character (i.e. a snake or worm, generally) who wants two humanoid legs has to go along the evolution route to purchase forelimbs (5-GOO-P), quadrupedal (5 GOO-P), semi-bipedal (5 GOO-P), and bipedal (5 GOO-P), which adds up to a total of 20 GOO-P. But a character who wants the Cloaked trait has to pick up Inhuman (2 GOO-P), then Kemonomimi (3 GOO-P), and finally Cloaked (3 GOO-P), for a total of 8 GOO-P.
Ran my first game of Mutants in the Now last month and folks, I think I’ve been dreaming of this game for almost 4 decades! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The most fun I've had making a character.
As I couldn't contribute to the project being financed and have known it before, even to help spread it, I got the copy of it distributed by the community here and I'm grateful for whoever did it to help with this.
What I can say about this game is that it has all the wonderful elements for me to simulate a TMNT table or something like that "genre" that I've been researching a lot in rpg, I must say that this game is complete and perfect with its very easy mechanics. if you learn and play. By the way, I intend to open a table this Tuesday in person with my friends who will definitely have a hell of a hyper with him. I am very grateful to the author and everyone who worked on the project for that.
And I come to ask if it is possible to allow me to translate the material into my Brazilian Portuguese language for personal use? Because if you allow me to do this without charging for any cost and leave it here for you to expand access to the game I will be willing to help, again thank you for the game and for making it available.
Apologies for the wait! The holidays and gearing up for physical publication have kept me extremely busy. Free copies were funded by generous Kickstarter backers on the original campaign, so you can thank thenk!
I'd love to see translations done, with the following caveats:
1) They're offered and distributed for free; no charges, no donations, not as Patreon rewards, etc. I want to set up more of a means for people to sell their own Mutants in the... content in the future, but until I have that set up, that's what I have to request.
2) They reference the original game by linking back to either this itch.io project page, j-k.games, or both.
3) It's clear the translation is "unofficial"; I'd love to do paid translation or localization in the future, but I'd need to be at a point where I have the resources to compensate fairly.
4) Art assets (including logos, backgrounds, visual design, etc.) aren't used; I don't have the license to provide assets freely without establishing a contract as to how they can be used.
5) The text isn't modified in any unreasonable way other than that necessary to localize it. In particular, I want to make sure that any version of the game doesn't have any intolerant or regressive views added (racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ+, promotion of abuse) or promotes any form of scam (like cryptocurrency). While I don't think most translators would do that and operate in good faith, I have to be explicit.
That's it! If you (or other translators / localizers) want to talk about this in more depth, reach out to me at jkgamesbiz AT gmail DOT com.
I'd love to hear about how this game is played and how your sessions go, so feel free to let me know how it goes!
Hello, I'm also sorry for the delay in answering you, because lately I've been busy with some projects and courses that I'm doing too. But I would love to exchange some ideas with you about it and I agree with the rules mentioned above, but as I said, my pleasure is just translating without any paid means etc, that's enough for me, and I just want to help :D
Finally I couldn't find your email to talk more about it, so I'll leave my address here if you want to call me there and we can exchange this idea peacefully and in agreement with everything. lucaskyyo6@gmail.com
so, what time will you drop the next batch of community copies?
The next batch of community copies will be dropped tomorrow at roughly Noon EST (5pm GMT). Tuesday is the regular day for drops.
thanks for helping me. tomorrow, I acquire my Mutants in the Now Copy
Thank you for Mutants in the Now. I'm hoping to set up a group soon.
Great to hear! Would love to hear about it, if you get the chance.
I love this TTRPG. I have not played it(as with every other TTRPG in my vast collection), but I love looking through it. I love the character creation and I have an idea on how you play. I'm making my own world you could theoretically play in using Mutants in the Now, with some interesting(I.E. Very weird, unwieldy, maybe best off avoided unless you have a plan) mechanics. Such as Weres(Mutations/forms that activate/deactivate under specific but accessible circumstances) and Zoan(I borrowed this off of One Piece(please don't kill me), They shapeshift on demand and can automatically talk to animals in exchange for no other psionics and having to keep track of the nightmare). There's also a timeline that limits and allows certain things depending on the era(1980s-2020s).