Vulcania: Quickstarter reading

To support their campaign Kickstarter, the staff behind the creation of Vulcania has released a full-bodied Quickstarter that allows you to launch yourself into the action in a few minutes. The financing of the game is well under way but the way to unlock the fantastic game world, the incredible add-ons and the amazing ideas is still long. Let's analyze the salient points and observe the strengths of the d12 system as we have done for others RPG.

The setting of Vulcania

The fantasy world of Vulcania is divided into isonations, national entities whose borders obviously correspond with the natural ones of their archipelago. The technological level is comparable to that of the industrial revolution, typical of steampunk settings, with some elements that recall the tradition of classic fantasy. For this reason we will have airships, airships and steam trains combined with alchemy and the most common swords and axes. Each isonation is built to give players a different flavor to the game, ranging from western to the mysterious east.

As for the year of play, more than a decade has passed since the last world war that devastated the world beyond repair. In the decade following the armistice new balances were born thanks to criminal unions, corporations, new governments and unscrupulous personalities.

The heroes (or perhaps not really) of Vulcania

Players will play characters who have done their best to survive in a world destroyed by a five-year war. They are not necessarily heroes but also bandits, criminals, buccaneers, smugglers, unscrupulous soldiers and mercenaries.

Each Character is characterized by four Attributes, each of which is in turn linked to four Abilities. At the level of explanation, the Attributes represent the innate part of the character, while the Abilities are the areas in which these attributes have been developed by the character during his life. In the Quickstarter all the Attributes and all the Abilities are explained in detail, which allows the player to immerse himself completely in the character sheets explained in the following pages.

The rules of Vulcania

The first and most remarkable feature of the game is that the Master must never take a dice in his hand. All shots will be the responsibility of the players, which allows the narrator to manage the flow of the narrative, adapting it accordingly to the characters and their successes and failures.

The standard roll to pass a test is obtained by the combination d12 + Attribute + Characteristic. The character sheet highlights the sum of the last two, so you have to make a single and simple addition between two numbers. At this point you have to compare the result with the difficulty of the shot imposed by the Master. The roll of medium difficulty is 10. In combat, the reasoning does not change, except that the value obtained will be compared with the evade or dodging score that the Master will have given to the enemy in turn. All clashes will essentially be carried out against fixed values ​​and only the players' shot will determine their fate.

The graphic aspect of the Vulcania card

One of the things I liked most about Vulcania cards is their design. Designed to be folded into a triangle, the cards allow the Master and the other players to have essential information about the character available, while the player will have on his side the skills and all the information useful for the fight.

Looking forward to playing this fantastic title, we invite you to follow the official game page.