Il Kickstarter di Coriolis last year struck me for a variety of reasons: I was looking for a role-playing game set in space and a system that made everything fluid but interesting for some time.
Coriolis: The Third Horizon, with his style a little dark and a little' Middle Eastern folklore, they kidnapped me completely. About a month from Modena Play, many rereadings of the manual and about ten sessions are ready to talk about it for better or for worse.
Different cycles for different times
The Coriolis Basic Manual can be divided into two parts: the chapters they deal with of the setting and those purely regulatory. It is not a split as much as a propensity and often the ones are dirty of the others, while maintaining defined purposes.
Coriolis setting
The in-depth chapters see their brightest examples in the Coriolis station, in Factions and in Kua system. The first is the station born from one of the two arcs initially set off in search of a habitable planet. The nerve center of everything that exists in the third horizon and an excellent starting point for adventures, the station Coriolis is where most of the campaigns should develop. The Factions they are an important part of Coriolis, almost necessary to appreciate the game in the round, and are well placed in the context. Each faction deals with a specific branch of life in the third horizon and they all seem interesting to me. The system Kua instead it is the best known and busiest system, the chapter performs a rather basic description of each planet, listing some problems and settlements, without going into too much detail.
Coriolis rules
From a regulatory point of view I have found Coriolis more defined than I was expecting; the 66 die works as well as the 100 die and the punishment level is enough to keep the characters grounded. There will be no evidence that players will face light-heartedly, that's little but sure. The rules cover virtually every possibility and are easy to understand and learn. The tricks on the diplomatic dynamics between the groups were also pleasant, a small tasty icing that denotes great attention and propensity for dialogue rather than conflict. The only blemishes are some particularly large and difficult to understand tables (wound recovery times and the amount of planets in the systems require more than one reading and some interpretation).
Where the Quickstart does not arrive ...
A separate mention is needed to explain the level-up and battles between spaceships. I expected that Coriolis (not leaning towards the epic) avoided level-up mechanics, and so I was tricked into thinking through the getting started guide distributed by wyrd. The manual amazed me by introducing an advancement mechanic built on talents (natural talents that can hardly break the game) and leaving the character rather "human", while giving the impression that the latter learns from his missions.
Le battles between ships instead they are enough kidneysalthough accurate and terribly accurate pleasant e logics from a mechanical point of view. Operation follows the ship's hierarchical scale and the ship's "shift" is divided into micro-phases in which crew members roll dice on skills and add results with synergy. It is interesting because the single shifts of theeveryone thinks of himself but at the same time it can be terrifying if you think about how to handle large battles (skies of Geonosis I'll never see you).
The next arrivals and what is expected
We still have it waiting for us screen for the narrator, map of the Third Horizon and several adventures. From the first I expect a lot of practicality and functionality: a table of critical wounds and a small scheme for battles between ships and something about weapons / technologies, being the manual rather vast to browse. The Third Horizon map and adventures will be played there ships to this role-playing game; the part that concerns everything that exists outside of Kua is rather fragmented and some mission on a distant system could give a valid alternative to a narrator to whom the Coriolis station does not attract.
In spite of everything Coriolis turns out to be a role-playing game firmest and by tone particolare e defined, with a clear purpose and audience. It is interesting for its approach, for how it is characterized and for the mechanics that revolve around rolling the dice - praying - suffering the consequences. It is suitable for all kinds of groups as it is easy to learn and does not stray too far from the old mechanics, while looking forward to encourage narration and role.
Have you read the Quickstarter review yet? You can find it here!
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