Spell Etiquette

Rolemaster Unified CORE Law is the newest edition of the roleplaying game whose lineage goes all the way back to the early eighties. Its origins lie in a series of supplements which could be used together or used on their own to replace parts of Dungeons & Dragons that a playing group did not like. First, in 1980, with Arms Laws, and then followed Claw Law, Spell Law, Character Law, and Campaign Law. Published by Iron Crown Enterprises, it would not be until 1984 that all four of these books would be collected in a box as Rolemaster, a roleplaying game of its very own as the first complete edition. In the four decades since, there have been three new editions, and all four have been known for their  complexity and push to offer a realistic alternative. These editions have likewise been known for their resolution mechanic, a percentile system in which the aim is not to roll low and under, but roll high and attempt to get as high as possible above one hundred, and likewise, they have always been known for the number of tables within their books—the critical hit tables in particular. Published by Iron Crown Enterprises in 2022, Rolemaster Unified CORE Law is the heart of Rolemaster Unified and can be seen as the fifth edition of the venerable roleplaying game. It combines two aspects of the original edition of rules—‘Character Law’ and ‘Arms Law’—with ‘Game Master Law’, enabling the creation of Player Characters, the use of skills and combat, healing, social skills, environmental dangers and situations, and a lot more. However, although playable, Rolemaster Unified CORE Law is not really complete on its own. For that the Game Master and her players will need Spell Law, Creature Law I, and Treasure Law.

Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law is the spell and magic system for Rolemaster Unified. It brings the rules for magic and spellcasting in line with updated core rules and in doing so presents one-hundred-and-seventy-one Spell Lists for all of the spellcasting Professions. Each Spell List consists of twenty spells from the most basic to the most complex, covering all twenty levels, and then is extended, so that an extra spell can be learned at the twenty-fifth, thirtieth, thirty-fifth, fortieth, and fiftieth levels, for a total of twenty-five spells per Spell List, and a grand total of over four thousand spells in the book! It is no wonder that two thirds of Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law is devoted to these Spell Lists! What this means is that there are no empty spell levels up to level twenty and the thirty-fifth and fortieth level spells are new. 

Magic is divided into three types. The Realm of Channelling, whose Professions draw their power from an external source, typically a god of some kind; Realm of Essence draw upon the power around them; and the Realm of Mentalism draws directly upon the mind of the caster. Outside of the Professions of the Realm of Arms, each of the spell-casting Professions fits into one of these. Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law further classifies spellcasters into three types—Pure spellcasters, Hybrid spellcasters, and Semi-spellcasters. Pure spellcasters draw from one realm of power, for example, the Druid focuses on spells that interact with the natural world and Illusionists on spells of misdirection and illusion. Hybrid spellcasters combine two realms of power, such as the Healer drawing from Channelling and Mentalism to heal and learn Body Development, whilst the Sorcerer combines Essence and Channelling for raw destruction! Semi-spellcasters focus primarily on physical skills backed up some magical power. For example, the Bard improves his performance with his spells from the realm of essence, whilst aiding friends and baffling foes, whereas the Monk draws his spells from the realm of Mentalism to perform great physical feats and enhance himself Wuxia-style.

The history given is short and broad, really leaving a lot of room for the Game Master to create her own background, and the various spell types and spell parameters are described in short, but informative fashion. Notable here is that the Alchemical spell type is mentioned and not detailed in this supplement, instead described in Treasure Law. Advice suggests ways in which magic can be customized, whether changing it to fit a setting, adding flavour, or adjusting the mechanics. It is fairly broad advice given that it is only a few pages long and arguably it deserves a supplement of its own, but this is a good introduction. One example addresses ways in which the Game Master might think about Evil Spell Lists. There are Evil spell lists for all three Realms. For example, Curses and Demonic Summons for Channelling; Darkness and Necromantic Ways for Essence; and Mind Death and Mind Domination for Mentalism. Of course, whether or not they are actually ‘evil’ will depend upon the world that the Game Master is running and its morality, and to reflect that, the example suggests tying the Evil Spell Lists to corruptive vices. This lends their casting to entertaining roleplaying possibilities, but it is only one suggestion, and you do wish that there was room to explore this and other ideas more.

Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law covers learning and casting spells in a straightforward  fashion. This is via academic means as a default, which does leave the Game Master to develop other means (and perhaps the subject of another supplement) of learning. The actual casting roll consists of a standard open-ended percentile roll to which will be added the ranks that the caster has in the Spell List, his Realm Stat, and the bonus for the type of list. Additional modifiers can be applied for how subtle the caster wants the spellcasting to be, how fast, how preparation has been done beforehand, whether the caster is ‘overcasting’ and casting a spell higher than his Level, armour worn, and spell mastery. The latter allows some modification of a spell, like changing its colour, changing its effects in terms of duration, range, area affected, and so on. Power Points typically equal to the spell’s level are expended in the process. If the result is a failure and negative, the player rolls on the appropriate spell failure table. There is one for each Realm. If appropriate, a Resistance Roll can be made against the effects of the spell, and given that this is a dice roll, can lead to situations where the target of the spell heroically withstands the effects of a powerful spell or oddly, falls prey to the effects of a much weaker spell!

Besides standard spellcasting, Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law also explains a number of other options. This includes magic items that add spells or Power Points, casting from Runes, and innate casting—typically found amongst magical creatures and races, but the most significant addition is that of ritual casting. Where ordinary spellcasting is tactical, this is strategic, requiring time, preparation, ritual items, and possibly, multiple participants and greater investment of Power Points and even the caster’s own blood! These all provide modifiers of their own, but others come from the ritualist’s knowledge of the spell, the Spell List it comes from, the realms the Power Points are drawn from, and the auspiciousness of the time, place, and any associated prophecy. Then it comes down to a straightforward casting roll and the interpretation of its effects. This is all really simple and easy to understand, but that simplicity and ease leaves room for the Game Master and her players to add detail and flavour and roleplay it as is their wont. 

Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law comes to close with specific spell notes such as how Curse and Disease spells are handled, demons and familiars summoned, Dream spells interpreted, and Illusion and Mind Trick spells work. These notes are not extensive, but clarify specific aspects of these spells and make them easier to use in play. And then in between, there are the Spell Lists, extensive and detailed almost every spell that a Game Master and her players might want.

Coming to Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law and its nearly three hundred pages and you would expect that it is going to be a complex affair. It is not. Spellcasting and learning spells and casting rituals are all covered in fifty pages, with clear explanations and examples. The basics of spellcasting are going to be easy to understand. The complexity comes in the extensive Spell Lists with their multiple spells and having to learn what the spells do. In other words, the learning curve comes here rather than at the beginning. Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law does actually list more spells than in previous editions and whilst that does give more spells to choose from, there are no gaps in the Spell Lists, so that a spellcaster learns a spell at every level. Some of those spells are repetitions of previous spells, or rather repetitions of previous spells with minor tweaks and adjustments. What this represents is not so much repetitions as learning new ways to cast a spell and extend its parameters.

Physically, Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law is serviceable at best. The layout is perfunctory, and the text is dense. The unprepossessing layout is not helped by the artwork which is bland. Of course, it does not help that two third of the book consists of tables. 

Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law carries the tagline of “A Magic System Adaptable To Any Fantasy Role Playing System” and there is no denying that Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law could be used with the fantasy roleplaying game of the Game Master’s choice. In that, it harks back to the intent of the original supplements—Arms Laws, Claw Law, Spell Law, Character Law, and Campaign Law—which were intended to replace parts of whatever roleplaying game that the Game Master was unhappy with. Most obviously, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. That though, was forty years ago and there is less of a desire to hybridise or kitbash a roleplaying game these days and there are fewer roleplaying games which are compatible with Rolemaster Unified, let alone Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law. If a Game Master wanted an alternative spellcasting system, then there can be no doubt that Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law is a good choice, and certainly a comprehensive choice, just for the hundreds of spells alone. Yet it is in conjunction with Rolemaster Unified CORE Law that Rolemaster Unified SPELL Law will come into its own, supporting all of its fifteen spell-casting Professions and bringing their full capabilities to life with clearly explained rules and additions.

Quick-Start Saturday: Gates of Krystalia Demo

Quick-starts are a means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps two. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.

Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.

—oOo—

What is it?
The Gates of Krystalia Demo is the quick-start for the Gates of Krystalia TTJRPG, the roleplaying game based on Japanese anime and isekai stories. ‘Isekai’, meaning ‘other world’ is a subgenre of anime, manga, and fantasy in which the protagonist is suddenly transported, summoned, or reincarnated into a completely different, often magical universe.

It is a one-hundred-and-two page, 22.76 MB full colour PDF.

The writing style is that of a narrator giving game play advice in a computer RPG.

How long will it take to play?
Unfortunately, The Gates of Krystalia Demo does not come with a ready-to-play scenario. The demo does come with some a handful of enemies which can be used as a part of the scenario that the ‘Deux’—as the Game Master is known in The Gates of Krystalia—would need to write.

What else do you need to play?
The Gates of Krystalia Demo needs what it calls a ‘French’ set of cards per player as well as the Deux. This is effectively a standard deck of play cards with the Jokers removed.

Who do you play?
In Gates of Krystalia, the Heroes can be Humans, Dark Elves, Dwarves, Kemonomimi, Oni, Astralis, Demons, Elves, Kobolds, or Orcs. Potential Classes include Tamer, Berserker, Healer, Mage, Priest, Assassin, Knight, Engineer, Ninja, or Shaman. The Gates of Krystalia Demo details just three Races and four Classes. The Races are Humans, Elves, and the fox-like Kemonomimi, whilst the Classes are Berserker, Knight, Mage, and Ninja. Each Race provides adjustments to a Hero’s Abilities, two innate abilities, whilst the Class determines the Hero’s combat style and specialisations. A Hero has a Rank, from Heroic to Legendary, which will provide further bonuses. One of these, ‘Origin From Another World’, grants a bonus to an Ability and an Innate Ability is in keeping with the isekai subgenre.

How is a Hero defined?

A Hero in Gates of Krystalia has four Abilities: Charisma, Agility, Intelligence, and Toughness. These start out at zero and are adjusted by the Hero’s Race and a bonus from the ‘Origin From Another World’ trait. Each Ability is associated with a suit of cards. These are Spades for Intelligence, Hearts for Charisma, Clubs for Toughness, and Diamonds for Agility. Two of these will be Blessed Suits. At Heroic Rank, the Hero has four combat techniques and any of these match the Hero’s Blessed Suits, they will benefit from the Blessed Damage effect.

Each player also has a Vital Energy deck. This the standard deck of playing cards (with the Jokers removed) which represents the Hero’s physical and mental resources. Its cards are consumed when performing tasks or in combat, and from suffering damage. If the Vital Energy deck is exhausted, the Player Character collapses unconscious and if not healed quickly enough in combat, he can die. Sleep and some Combat Techniques can refill the Vital Energy deck.

How do the mechanics work?

When a player wants his Hero to undertake an action in Gates of Krystalia, the Deux sets a Difficulty Value from Simple and five to Impossible and twenty. The player draws a card from his Vital Energy deck and applies any bonuses or penalties set by the Deux. If the result exceeds the Difficulty Value, the Player Character succeeds. This is a simple test.

A Competence Test—which can be social, athletic, intellectual, or physical—also requires the draw of a card and any bonuses or penalties set by the Deux. To this is added the Hero’s Ability value, whether positive or negative. If the suit of the card drawn matches one of the Hero’s Blessed Suit, the total value of the card, plus situational and Ability modifiers, is doubled.

The card drawn from the Vital Energy deck in either case is discarded.

How does combat work?

In combat, initiative is determined by a draw of a single card, but otherwise uses the same mechanics as Competence Tests. Instead of drawing a single card, Player Characters and major enemies draw five cards for each scene (or turn). These are each combatant’s Strategy Cards. An attacker selects a Combat Technique and a single Strategy Card. A major enemy does the same. The Deux will draw a card if the enemy is standard rather than major. Both Combat Techniques and Strategy Cards are revealed simultaneously and whomever has the higher total will inflict damage on the other. If they are the same, no damage is inflicted on either combatant.

The base damage is inflicted if the selected Strategy Card is a number card. If it is a face card, the effect of the Combat Technique is also applied, but if it is an Ace, the base damage is doubled and the effect of the Combat Technique is also applied. If the suit of the selected Strategy Card matches the attacker’s Blessed Suit, the base damage is doubled.

In addition, a player can attempt to build a combo. A combo can be a set of cards or a run of consecutive cards, from the same suit or not, and will increase the base damage. This does increase the number of cards used and discarded.

Armour will stop some Base Damage, but better armour will also block conditions as well. When damage is suffered, cards are discarded from the Vital Energy deck.

Overall, the combat rules give each player tactical control and options in every fight without having to rely on the randomness of dice, but instead trying to get the very best of of his Strategy Cards. Working out if the effects of a Combat Technique and if a combo can be put together is not immediately easy and will initially slow play a fair bit. It may well be better if the cards are played openly initially until the players have a good idea of how combat works and how their Heroes’ Combat Techniques work.

How does magic work?

Magic involves power transmitted by the dormant archangel Krystallia or the dark forces of the Demon King and comes in various elements: Darkness, Earth, Fire, Ice, Light, Lighting, Nature, Poison, Water, and Wind. The Gates of Krystalia Demo does not include any specific spells, and only incudes the Combat Technique ‘Beyond the Limit’ that delivers a power blast that is magic-related.

What of the Gates of Krystalia?

The world of Gates of Krystalia is lightly detailed in the Gates of Krystalia Demo. It gives a description of Krystalia, the capital and Jewel of the Kingdom of Light, with its towers of pure crystal above streets paved in quartz. It is home to a Grand Bazaar where merchants from a thousand worlds hawk their wares and a School of Magic that defies the laws of physics, whilst below, craftsmen in the Foundation work the magical forges and alchemical laboratories to keep the city running. Travellers and visitors come to the city via the dimensional portals of the Gate District where reality seems to pulse and fluctuate every time a portal opens. The city is a beacon of hope where magic and mystery foment and home to the Archangel Krystalia, the Sleeping Guardian of the kingdom of Light, who used all of her power to seal away the dark threat, the Sovereign Demon Nergal.

The Gates of Krystalia Demo also details several enemies and also equipment and potential allies. Allies develop along with the Heroes and will increase the number cards in a Hero’s Vital Energy deck. In addition to developing his Hero and possible Allies, a player can develop a home and visit places such as saunas and spas to relax and recover.

One point of controversy is the set of six sample allies. Not that they are all female, but rather that collectively they are called the ‘The Hero’s Harem’. This is at odds with the tone and style of the rest of the book and the actual meaning of the word, and is a poor choice of wordage.

Is there anything missing?
Yes. The Gates of Krystalia Demo is not a quick-start or demonstration of the full roleplaying game in the traditional sense. There are no sample Heroes and no ready-to-play scenario. It is better described as a showcase that provides the Deux and her players with a taste of the roleplaying game rather than providing them with anything to play.

Is it easy to prepare?
No. The Gates of Krystalia Demo does not have content that can be prepared quickly or easily. The Deux will need to write a scenario and the players create Heroes.

Is it worth it?
Yes. That though, is a qualified ‘Yes’. The Gates of Krystalia Demo does give the reader a good feel for the rules, especially the tactical nature of the combat rules, but the setting description is light and whilst there is content enough that a Deux could run a session or two using the Gates of Krystalia Demo, it will take effort upon the part of Deux to develop it into something playable.

The Gates of Krystalia Demo is published by Top Notch International LTD and is available to download here.

Friday Fantasy: Trip the Light Fantastic

Trip the Light Fantastic is a scenario for Shadow of the Weird Wizard, the roleplaying game set on the world of Erth in the Borderlands between the remnants of once great empires and the realm of the Weird Wizard greatly changed by his magics. The unexplained disappearance of the Weird Wizard allowed all manner of creatures and strangeness to flood into the empires and kingdoms causing strife and civil war, as refugees fled into the borderlands and adventurers ventured into the Weird Wizard’s lands into explore its strangeness, hopefully stop any dangerous threats, and perhaps return with treasures both magical and mundane. Player Characters progress from Level One to Level Ten, their progress divided between three Paths—Novice, Expert, and Master, gaining greater ability, skill, and specialisation. A Novice Path begins at Level One, an Expert path at Level Three, and a Master Path at Level Seven. Adventures for Shadow of the Weird Wizard are tailored to these three Paths. Eye of the Serpent is designed for Expert Heroes and can be run as a scenario for slightly more experienced Player Characters for Shadow of the Weird Wizard. Like One Bad Apple before it, Trip the Light Fantastic confronts the players and their Heroes with one of the changes in Shadow of the Weird Wizard in comparison with traditional fantasy roleplaying games.

Trip the Light Fantastic starts out with a cliché and gets better. It starts with a village seemingly abandoned, apparently mid-activity, when the Player Characters come upon it. The village could be any number of the ones that have been settled in Borderlands and although the village can be one that the Player Characters have never been to before, the scenario works better and is likely to have more of an emotional impact if the village is one that the Player Characters have been to before and know some of the inhabitants. This might be because the Player Characters live there or because they have simply visited it before, but either way, it requires some degree of set-up upon the part of the Game Master. There are odd signs about like lots of small footprints dotted about and the milk being spoiled in addition to the missing people and livestock. The clues point towards a nearby grove of trees where the Player Characters are swarmed by Atomies, tiny faeries, that play pranks upon them and steal items from them, and if the Player Characters follow them, they find themselves elsewhere and in another realm. Then the scenario proper can begin!

The Player Characters find themselves in a faerie realm. It is heavily forested with faces in the bark of the tall trees and glowing motes drifting softly providing light under the canopy and seems like an otherworldly idyll. There appears to be no way back and so the Player Characters will need to search for one in addition to searching for the missing villagers. Fortunately, a stranger says that he will offer them a means of returning to the mortal realm in return for undertaking a number of tasks for him. These include things such as fetching the mirror from the bottom of Starry Pond or freeing Old Man Time from the witch. There are five of tasks, four of which are at set locations, whilst one can be encountered randomly at the Game Master’s choosing. There are another six locations within the realm not associated with the tasks that the Player Characters have been set, including a stair into the clouds that will fling the Player Characters randomly across the realm, a wishing well, and a sword in a stone. There is a sense of whimsy to the place as you would expect for a faery realm, but a darkness too. An old hag steeps in her bad luck and tormenting any she captures with her resentments, including an old knight whom she keeps chained up under the watchful eye of a carnivorous tree, a quartet of Poweries that wear blood red caps that like to refresh the colour of said caps with the blood of their dinner guests, and the discovery of the fate of the missing villagers. There is a definite streak of cruelty and darkness to many of these encounters , but some humour too, such as the bird that the Player Characters have been directed to rescue singing every time someone comes near waking up the Ogre holding him captive in the process like a bad version of Tweety and Sylvester (just give the Ogre a lisp to highlight the comparison)!

Physically, Trip the Light Fantastic is decently presented. The map of the faery realm is nice and clear and the scenario is well written.

The only thing Trip the Light Fantastic is perhaps missing is a random encounter table and again, the Game Master will need to provide the stats for all of the monsters as well as setting up the village so that the players and their characters have a connection to it. The scenario is will likely take longer to play than the previous scenarios, probably two to three sessions. Overall, Trip the Light Fantastic is an entertaining mini-sandcrawl through a dark amd whimsical mini-realm filled with mini-quests and mini-encounters.

The Other OSR: THREE from the LOCKER

THREE from the LOCKER is a ‘Pamphlet Bundle’ for Pirate Borg, the self-described, “Worst Pirate RPG Ever Made™!”, published by Limithron. It is published by SkeletonKey Games, which previously released the excellent fanzine, Tales from the Locker #1, and consists of a mini-adventure, Sweet Tusk, and two mini-supplements, Blood in the Water and Raise the Black, that are also available separately. In turn, they give the Game Master a location-based scenario that combines H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau with George Orwell’s Animal Farm in the Dark Caribbean; six possible situations when the ship that the Player Characters are aboard is rendered into a derelict, whether from a ship-to-ship engagement, a terrible storm, a run in with sea monsters, or other threat, and about to sink; and what might happen when a pirate captain orders his crew to ‘raise the black’ and hoist the jolly roger! All pamphlets are available on their own as well as a bundle (or pack if physical). They do share the same trade dress, so definitely feel as if they should be bought together!

Sweet Tusk promises ‘Pigs Plot, Rum Flow, Adventure Awaits’ in detailing a costal rum plantation and rum distillery that was once home to a necromancer and his cult, but is now home to a passel of pigs, some sentient, some feral, many bipedal, most of them anthropomorphised. The Player Characters could simply wash ashore at the plantation a la Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau, but the adventure’s own hooks include looking for a new source of rum, being sent to exterminate ‘feral’ pigs to prevent them from spreading across the Dark Caribbean, or being hired to retrieve an item from the plantation for its previous owners. To get the best out of the location, the Game Master should ideally combine the latter with one of the first two as that will drive the Player Characters to interact with most of the inhabitants of the plantations, its plot threads, and explore its depths.

The plantation is dominated by two factions. One is lead by Lord Wembly Trembleton and wants to restore the rum distillery and sugar mill with the aim of becoming self-sufficient, whilst Scrofa, the plantation’s spiritual leader, her sorcery twisted by the necromantic studies she found that belonged to the previous owner, is becoming increasingly and brutally isolationist. The Player Characters will need to deal with them and explore the plantations—including the tunnels that have been dug under the plantation (and make it feel like a Vietcong tunnel network)—to achieve their given objectives. Alternatively, the Player Characters might ignore them altogether and clear out the whole of plantation and take it over and run it themselves as a going concern.

Sweet Tusk has a hot, sweaty feel, sticky with perspiration and sugar and piggy peculiarity. The latter is probably the only reason why the Game Master might not want to run Sweet Tusk, talking pigs not necessarily going to suit every campaign. As written though, it adds an off-kilter element that the Game Master can throw at her players and their characters and have fun portraying a passel of pigs in the process.

Blood in the Water gives the Game Master ‘Six Sinking Ship Scenarios’. The Game Master can use this when the Player Characters’ ship, or the ship that they are on, either selecting one of the options or rolling for it. Each one has events happening on deck and three zones surrounding the vessel, out to thirty feet and beyond. The six options include the ‘Feeding Frenzy’ of a shark attack on the ship going down; ‘Tentacles from the Deep’ that flail at the ship and its crew and passenger; a ‘Powder Magazine Explosion’ that sends fire and shrapnel across the deck and beyond; the ship and floating wreckage being thrown about by ‘Angry Seas’; ghosts that come looking for new crewmembers in ‘Revenant Recruitment’; and potentially the crew and passengers being saved with a kiss by ‘Meddling Mermaids’! Since the action in each divided into four zones—three plus the deck—where different things will happen, there is a degree of procedure to running any one of these post-disaster ship encounters. Not a lengthy procedure, but quite a simple one, and they all do add a bit of flavour to a sinking ship situation beyond the Player Characters abandoning ship and racing for the boats. Added to this is a sea shanty, Sharks in the Water, that a ship’s crew can sing to give its members bonuses to tests in the first few rounds of the sinking ship. The Game Master might want to have her players and their characters learn this in response to having been in a sinking ship the first time and so learn from their experience. Blood in the Water is quite specific in the situation it needs to trigger its use and that trigger is not going to happen that often, but definitely useful to have on the shelf though.

The third pamphlet is Raise the Black. This expands upon the various effects of the jolly roger in play. First, when ‘Raising the Black’, that is, hoisting the jolly roger and its effects upon the crew of the vessel being targeted by the pirate ship. In play, the ship’s captain of the pirate ship tests his Presence and result, which depends upon the size of the targeted vessel in comparison to the pirate vessel, may leave the crew plucky still and laughing off the threat or feeling doomed and wanting no part of the battle. There are plenty of options in between and effectively determines the morale of targeted vessels. ‘Witchjacks’ are special flags, ensorcelled versions of the jolly roger, that grant special powers that can be used once per day. For example, the Banner of the Black Whale grants an extra die of damage in ramming attacks and extra damage the further it has travelled, whilst the Pennant of the Mermaid grants an extra Crew Action. A pirate captain is unlikely to want to fly a flag other than his own, so there are rules included that enable to cut up a Witchjack and sew the resulting parts and its magic into the pirate captain’s own flag. This does not always work, but it destroys the original flag. Minor, but optional rules beyond this are included to help speed up naval combat and ‘D20 Pirate Flags’ give options for both a Player Character or an NPC crew if the Game Master needs to a pirate flag quickly. Given that a third of the pamphlet is taken up illustrations of jolly roger flags, Raise the Black is the least useful of the three pamphlets in THREE from the LOCKER and add the least to the play of Pirate Borg.

Physically, the three pamphlets of THREE from the LOCKER are all decently presented. They are clearly and simply laid out and all easy to read and use. Sweet Tusk is the busiest, so is harder to read, but only slightly so, and nothing that is going to impede the Game Master running the scenario from the page. The artwork is light, but the cartography is decent.

THREE from the LOCKER is solid support for Pirate Borg, the scenario Sweet Tusk being the highlight of the three, entertaining and enjoyable, a Player Character-driven plantation-crawl that is easy to add to a Game Master’s campaign. The other two pamphlets are shorter and not quite as entertaining as Sweet Tusk and Raise the Black not quite as useful, but in the right circumstances, still good to have in the ship’s locker.

Vaesen d’Italia

Italian Chronicles is a supplement for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying, the Roleplaying Game of investigative folklore horror set in nineteenth century Scandinavia published by Free League Publishing. There has been a push to explore the set-up at the heart of Vasen, that of the clash between folklore and modernity in an age of industrialisation, shifting populations, changing attitudes, and forgetting the customs of past as a secret organisation attempts to catalogue those forgotten customs and prevent the clashes between folklore and modernity in countries beyond Scandinavia. However, most of them have remained north of the Alps, leaving the rich folklore and culture clashes of Southern Europe under much sunnier climes unexplored. Italian Chronicles introduces us to the world of the Vaesen and the Society in nineteenth century Mythic Italy. This includes a discussion of the conflicts which lie at the heart of Italian society in the late nineteenth century—the rich versus the poor, the nobility versus the bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie versus the proletariat; and the north-south divide between the industrialised and modernising north and the agricultural, poorer south. It provides basic introductions to the cities, many of whom are undergoing major transformations as they industrialise and peasants emigrate looking for work and a better life. There are descriptions of the leading Italian great and the good of the period, societies and groups active up and down the country; details of mysterious places; and a short history of the Society and its investigation of Vaesen in Italy. All of which is supported with three new archetypes and six new supernatural creatures.

Italian Chronicles is published as part of the Free League Workshop and starts with a description of Mythic Italy. This highlights the notable divides in the country during the period and its important cities. These include the northern industrial triangle of Turin, Milan, and Genoa, the medieval and Renaissance grandeur of Bologna and Florence, before moving south through the splendour of Rome as it rushes to be the city’s new capital, and down to Naples and Palermo, undergoing their own transformation with their loss of independence. Turin is the ‘magical city’, Italy esoteric and occultic capital which has its own zones of light and dark influencing magic in the city, whilst also standing in an alchemical triangle of ‘white magic’ along with Prague and Lyon, and an alchemical triangle of ‘black magic’ with London and San Francisco. How these zones affect magic in the city is not explored, but short descriptions of numerous arcane and occultic sites across the city, as well as legends up and down Italy, are included.

Numerous notables, including Cavour, Garibaldi, Verdi, and Puccini are given thumbnail portraits, alongside less well known figures such as Carmine Crocco, the so-called ‘Napoleon or the General of the Brigands’, the spiritualist Eusapia Palladino, and Cesere Lombroso, the father of modern criminology. The most notable of the societies and groups alongside the actual Society is the Inquisition, which is still operating in the nineteenth century and which the Society suspects of harbouring all manner of secrets, of already knowing about Vaesen, and of some of its members actually possessing the Sight that the Society’s members possess. The Inquisition has long suppressed occult practices and broken op occult organisations, most recently in the seventeenth century, the Accademia della Mandragora. One survivor of this suppression found refuge with the Society in Scandinavia and another, a herbalist, found refuge in southern Italy. The herbalist would later found the Order of Herbalists, based in Turin.

The three new archetypes are Teacher, Notable, and Migrant. Of these, the Teacher and the Migrant are obvious in what they are, whereas the Notable is not. It might be an administrator or a lawyer or a tax collector and some context would have been useful to make clear what it is. The Migrant does a new Talent, ‘Folk Wisdom’, which gives him a knowledge of folk traditions and customs as well as fairy tales, legends, and myths concerning supernatural creatures. Unfortunately, this has not been translated from the original Italian.

Numerous mysterious places and legends detailed as well as six new supernatural creatures. They include the Borda is a witch-like that haunts the swamps and marshes of the north looking to strangle the unwary with rope or ligature; Sprites are pranksters that differ in how they look across Italy, but the Monacello live in old houses in cities, has the appearance of a hooded monk, and can bring good luck, and the Salvanel, is wilder and dresses in leaves, and often makes travellers in the woods get lost; and the Marrabbecca is a shapeshifter that likes to live in the dark or shadows, preferably in old wells and water cisterns, from where it bewitches those who lean too close to the well such that they throw themselves in and are drowned. Besides their stats, all of the creature write-ups include secrets of the creatures that can be used against them and example conflicts that the Game Master can develop into fuller encounters.

Physically, Italian Chronicles is a basic affair. Unfortunately both artwork and writing are amateurish, but are at least in English. Not all of the supplement is.

One of the problems with Italian Chronicles and its version of Italy in the nineteenth century is that it attempts to present, “[A]n idealized, slightly timeless version, suitable as a backdrop for the activities of the Player Characters and the peninsula’s supernatural inhabitants.” Where that works in Vaesen is because its setting of Sweden is singular whole for whole of the nineteenth century, whereas Italy is not. In fact, Italy does not actually exist as a political entity until the Risorgimento—the unification of Italy—in 1861. Before that, the Italian peninsula consisted of a mix of kingdoms and duchies, some which were dominated by neighbouring France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, plus the Papal State. Arguably, Italy was not fully Italy as we recognise today until the capture of Rome in 1871. And before that, before the Napoleon Wars, the Italian peninsula was even more balkanised. Now it is this balkanisation that underpins many of the geographical, cultural, and linguistic divides in Italy and thus the conflicts in Italian Chronicles, whilst the others come from the drive to modernity and industrialisation that followed unification. The result is that even though it does not say so, Italian Chronicles really only focuses on the last forty years—and arguably—the last thirty years of the nineteenth century.

The authors do make the point that, “History should be a servant that gives the game a distinctive flavour rather than a master that stifles possibilities.” Which is a valid point, and if you are not aware of this history, then this perhaps less of an issue. If you are, then it feels as if that servant and those sixty years of history are being ignored and the whole of the century is being flattened into its last third.

However, perhaps the biggest problem with Italian Chronicles is that the description of its equivalent of the ‘Society’ is underwritten with a very short history and description and an address. We are never told how different it is to those in other countries and consequently the starting point or base of operations for any investigations into the Vaesen in Italy lacks character.

There is a surprising amount of content in Italian Chronicles, but most of it varies between short and brief, meaning that if the Game Master wants to set her campaign in Italy or send his Player Characters to Italy, she is going to have to do a lot of research herself to develop its content. There is no official supplement for Italy for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying and until there is, Italian Chronicles will have to do, but what it does is provide is only the most basic of introductions.

Miskatonic Monday #441: The Black String

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—

Name: The Black String

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: doumoku

Setting: Japan 1996

Product: Scenario

What You Get: Twenty-six page, 3.94 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Invasion of the Body Worm

Plot Hook: A missing entomophile? A changed entomologist?
Plot Support: Staging advice, three NPCs, six handouts, three floorplans and maps, one Mythos tome, two new new Mythos spells, and three Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Insects and body horror make for a classic threat

# Pleasing combination of theme and Mythos

# Has its creepy moments. Worm shower anyone?

# Solid investigation undone by the translation

# Scoleciphobia

# Mysophobia

# Entomophobia

Cons

# Needs an edit

# Challenging to read

# Weak introduction

# Would benefit from pre-generated Investigators with motives

Conclusion

# Challenging to run due to the underwhelming introduction and translation

# Insect invading body horror at the Insectarium with some well done creepy scenes

Dungeons & Disapora

For centuries, the Third Horizon—a system of thirty-six star systems—and a wave of colonial expansion and exploration reached through a series of portals built and abandoned long ago by an alien species now known as the Portal Builders, has existed in a state of peaceful isolation. Contact had been long lost with the First Horizon and the Second Horizon following an interstellar war which ended in the portals being permanently closed to the previous Horizons. Yet the Third Horizon was never without its tensions—tensions that would be exploited from within and without. Most notably the latter as the First Horizon fought to take control of the Third Horizon and the Second Horizon fought to prevent it, their proxies continuing the conflict across the ribbon of the stars that made the Third Horizon and changing it for ever. Some fled the war and never saw its outcome. Their ragtag fleet went in search of a signal emanating far from the Third Horizon, said to be from the Nadir, sent with its sister colony vessel, the Zenith, from Earth to Aldebaran, centuries before. The Zenith made contact with, and reinvigorated, the Third Horizon. The Nadir disappeared into the Dark Space between stars. The twelve year journey, known as the Long Traverse, brought the fleet to a system with only two gas giants it called Jumuah where the signal was lost and that was its final stop. The star portal which would hopefully have led onward, hopefully to more prosperous worlds was dead. The fleet was stranded. The survivors were forced to adapt. They labelled their new home the ‘Lost Horizon’ and founded ‘The Ship City of Coriolis the Eternal and Jumuah the First and Last’, or Ship City, in a hollowed out asteroid which they expanded with the hulls of ships no longer space worthy. That was two hundred years ago.

Almost a century after its founding, prophet-physicists made a startling discovery—the ‘Slipstream’. It enabled Greatships, gigantic, sturdy vessels capable of withstanding the buffeting ripples of the Slipstream, to navigate at near Faster-than-Light speeds to other systems. In time, following the River of Stars, the people of Jumuah and the Ship would expand beyond the Lost Horizon and establish eleven settlements and outposts across what is called the Charted Sphere. Now, despite its dangers, travel aboard the Greatships has become almost routine. In addition to new worlds and new systems, the explorers also made discoveries.

They found ruins. They found signs that Humanity was not the first to settle the Great Dark and the region around Charted Space. They found Gardens, Shallows, Structures, and Deep Vaults. They began to learn about them by translating the glyphs left on the ruins and the artefacts the explorers and archaeologists found. They also found the Blight. Whether it appears as blooms, as frost, as dust, or as ice, Blight is a plague that corrupts both structures and biology, that can kill and destroy, but also leave its sufferers with strange visions. And the deeper that explorers and archaeologists delve, the greater the danger of Blight. Today, almost two hundred years after the Long Traverse began, the Explorers’ Guild has risen to direct expeditions to the twelve most significant sites discovered to date and to search for other ruins.

This is the setting for Coriolis: The Great Dark. Published by Free League Publishing following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it is sequel to Coriolis: The Third Horizon, a more traditional Science fiction roleplaying game with strong Middle Eastern themes and flavour. It marks a radical departure in terms of style and tone as well as what you play in Coriolis: The Third Horizon. In Coriolis: The Great Dark, the Player Characters are not the crew of a spaceship, travelling from one world to the next, trading, investigating, fighting, and running, as they would be Coriolis: The Third Horizon and many other Science Fiction roleplaying game. Instead, they members of, or working for, the Explorers’ Guild. As teams, they will travel aboard a Greatship on the Slipstream, be dropped off in system before the Greatship departs, and make their own way to a world or moon or asteroid and explore a ruin, delving deep into its reaches, looking for discoveries, artefacts, and information. However, time is short, resources are limited, and there is the constant threat of the Blight. It feels like the Player Characters are delving into dungeons in deep space, but if this is dungeoneering Science Fiction style, it is a style—and setting—that is inspired by nineteenth-century expeditions, deep-sea diving, and pulp archaeology. The dangers of the unknown are not the only threats that the explorers face in entering the ruins. The criminal organisation known as the Black Toad sends teams into ruins to harvest the Blight and turn it into a drug that is smoked for its hallucinogenic properties. Acts of piracy have been attributed to a group known as the Wreckers and there are creatures and other things lurking in the ruins.

A Player Character is defined by his Profession, attributes, Health, Hope, and Heart, Talents, Quirk, and Keepsake. The Professions are Artist, Enforcer, Esoteric, Odd Jobber, Roughneck, Scholar, Scoundrel, and Traveller. Each provides sample names, gives a key attribute and Talents, some equipment, and a Speciality, which grants an extra Talent. Of the Professions, the Esoteric is a mystic or prophet driven reshape the peoples of the Lost Horizon and the Odd Jobber covers a range of roles such as Guild Clerk, Alley Cook, or Artefact Dealer. All of the Professions provide a variety of roles and associated Talents each of which expand a Player Character’s background. Most Talents can be taken up to three times and add a bonus base die for each level. For example, ‘Streetwise’ adds a bonus base die per Talent level to locate stolen goods, find a contact, or learn rumours, which ‘Jury-Rig’ does the same for crafting or repairing mechanical devices and components. A Player Character has six attributes—Strength, Agility, Logic, Perception, Insight, and Empathy—and three stats—Health, Hope, and Heart—which measure how much trauma he can suffer before he is broken. The attributes range in value between one and five, except the key attribute for a Profession. His Quirk represents a flaw that when roleplayed will earn a Player Character Experience Points and a Keepsake his means of recovering Hope.

To create character, a player selects an origin, chooses a Profession and Speciality, divides twenty-four between his character’s attributes, chooses three more levels of Talents from the Profession, choose a Quirk, a Keepsake, and some equipment, and then a name, appearance, and a reason why the character became an Explorer. Many of these elements can be rolled for as well.

Name: Chandra Koulidis

Profession: Odd Jobber

Speciality: Stair Peddler

ATTRIBUTES

Strength 2 Agility 4 Logic 4

Perception 3 Insight 4 Empathy 5

Health 6 Hope 9 Heart 7

TALENTS

Actor (1), Charmer (2), Cultural Savant (1), Mentalist (1), Streetwise (1)

Origin: Among the Alleys and Shanties of Aluminium Bay

Associated Faction: The Black Toad

Contact: Cook Lissa Losoi

Quirk: Wears makeup

Keepsake: Piece of a Builder shard

Appearance: Unruly hair

Reason for becoming an Explorer: To escape the drudgery of everyday life

Equipment: Fancy clothing, waking pills, bottle of shroom brandy

Mechanically, Coriolis: The Great Dark, uses the Year Zero engine, first seen in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days. To have a character undertake an action, a player rolls a number of Base Dice equal to a combination of attribute and applicable Talent, plus Gear Dice. A single roll of a six (or the symbol on the custom dice for Coriolis: The Great Dark) indicates a Success. Multiple Successes improve the outcome, especially in combat and conflict. If the roll is a failure and no sixes are rolled, or a player wants more Successes, he can Push the roll. This enables him to reroll any dice which did not result in a one or six. A roll can be Pushed once and any rolls of one on the Base Dice indicate that the Player Character loses a point of Hope, whilst any rolls of one on the Gear Dice indicate that the item of equipment used is damaged and needs to be repaired, and if happens multiple times, it will break. Other Player Characters can help another on a task, each one contributing an extra Base Die to the player making the roll.

Conflict in Coriolis: The Great Dark uses the same core mechanics. Initiative uses a deck of cards numbered from one to ten and the rules for conflict cover both ranged and close combat, plus social conflict. A combatant can move once and do one action per round. Reactions, such as blocking or dodging, are counted as actions and so use up a Player Character’s action in a round. A single Success is required to inflict the base damage for an attack, but extra Successes can be expended to increase damage as well as other effects. In close combat can be used to wrestle an object from an opponent, trip him, or push him away. Ranged combat allows for aimed fire, full auto, cover, and so on. Armour has the potential to protect against damage, requiring a roll and Successes to be rolled, to be effective. If a Player Character suffers more damage that reduces his Health to zero, he is Broken and cannot act. Critical damage is inflicted if the number of successes rolled are equal to, or exceed, the ‘Crit Threshold’ for the weapon. This necessitates a roll on the ‘Critical Injuries’ table. Two critical injuries will both NPCs and Player Characters.

Social combat is handled via rolls versus an opponent’s Empathy or Strength attributes. The rules also cover chases and vehicle combat, including spaceship combat. The rules for both are simply handled and overall, the rules for Coriolis: The Great Dark are a very traditional version of the Year Zero mechanics.

The play of Coriolis: The Great Dark switches back and forth between life and intrigue in Ship City and exploring the Ruins in the Great Dark. To support the former, there is a detailed description of Ship City, its districts and the powerful guilds—the Navigators Guild, the Machinists Guild, the Gardeners Guild, and the Coriolites, the families that adhere to the traditions of the Third Horizon, and the Black Toad, the shadowy criminal cartel operating throughout the Charted Sphere, as well as the less powerful, though still influential Explorers Guild. The background on the rest of Charted Space is not as detailed, but there is more than enough information to bring it to life on the Player Characters’ expeditions.

Expeditions form the second part and primary focus of play in Coriolis: The Great Dark and that starts with the creation of a Crew. There are five positions on the Crew—Delver, Scout, Burrower, Guard, and Archaeologist. The Delver leads the way into Ruins; the Scout looks for hidden dangers ahead; the Burrower digs paths and secures routes through tunnels and caves; the Guard protects the Crew; and the Archaeologist interprets the Ruins, as well as glyphs and artefacts found. The Explorers Guild trains Crew members in particular Manoeuvres. For example, the Burrower can use ‘Destabilise’ in conjunction with an explosive charge to destroy a wall or blockage to either open up a route or block it, whilst the Delver can use ‘Rally’ to restore Hope or remove a Condition for all nearby Explorers. These are extra combat actions that can be used specifically during a delve.

In addition to some personal equipment, the Explorers Guild provides the Crew with a rover and an interplanetary shuttle. Both will be carried aboard the Greatship that ferries the Crew to the system destination where it drops the Crew off. The oddest item that the Explorers Guild loans the Crew is a Bird, also called a ‘Garuda’, which serves as a guardian spirit and Blight-finder. They are actually bioengineered artifacts discovered in the Ruins and awakened, willing to co-operate with the peoples of Ship City. Many are kept as companions and there is specific Bird Market in Ship City. In the illustrations, the Birds have a hawk-like appearance. Although they vary in terms of type and ability, the Birds are indispensable when it comes to exploring Ruins. In particular, their ‘Clear Blight’, ‘Blight Scan’, and ‘Soak Blight’ powers help a Crew keep safe on a delve. Whilst the individual Player Characters will earn Experience Points, collectively as a Crew they can earn Crew Points for taking on a challenge, going on a trek or delve, making discoveries, and so on. These can be spent to learn new manoeuvres, as well as to improve the vehicles and the Bird. Effectively, improving the vehicles and the Bird are the equivalent of the community improvement rules found in other roleplaying games from Free League Publishing. Plus, there are Talents which help a Player Character interact with his Crew’s Bird more easily. Choosing a Bird and both a rover and a shuttle is a collective endeavour that comes at the end of Player Character generation.

Name: Fench

Type: Guide

Health: 4 Energy: 3

Appearance: Ink black with a long beak and bold personality

Special Power: Farsight

Basic Powers: Attack, Defend, Clear Blight, Blight Scan, Sock Blight, Glow

Expeditions can be mounted for many reasons, such as finding new sites to colonise, prospecting for new resources, and even to find new Slipstream routes, but the iconic type of expedition is the ‘Delve’ into Ruins. There are rules for land exploration, which essentially covers the Crew touching down in its shuttle and then making its way to the Ruin site by rover. Once there, the rules shift. Not just in intensity, but also in their axis. If the journey to a Ruin is horizontal across the landscape, the Delve swings through ninety degrees into the vertical. Not every Delve has this verticality, but most do, and it makes a Delve feel more like spelunking or potholing. Of course, one of the inspirations in Coriolis: The Great Dark is deep-sea diving and this is reflected in the heavy suits that the Crew members wear and are depicted in the art. A Delve also has the feel of a mountain climbing expedition and mechanically by the journeying rules in other roleplaying games from Free League Publishing. Mountain climbing because a Crew has to keep track of Supply—consumables including oxygen, water, food, energy, ammunition, and light—and establish camps where Supply caches can be laid up, and the journeying rules because the Player Characters will have specific roles on an expedition or Delve.

Like those journeying rules, in a Delve a Crew is trying to get to a key location or locations. This has a specific procedure, first making a Delve roll to move into the next area, then dealing with any hazards, and dealing and suffering from any Blight. Blight can be encountered anywhere, but is primarily associated with Ruins and often with the strange creatures and things discovered there. The Delve suits that each Crewmember wears provides some protection against the Blight, but if a Crewmember does suffer from Blight, it reduces his Heart stat. If this is reduced, his player rolls on the ‘Blight Manifestation’ table to represent its direct effect, which can be temporary or permanent. For example, the Crewmember might be stricken with uncontrollable shivering that leaves him Exhausted; temporal dissonance that causes lapses in time perception such that the Crewmember always goes last in combat; crystalline blooms grow from the Crewmember’s skin causing pain and piercing his Delve suit; and even ‘Wander the Pale Halls’ after the Crewmember falls into a coma, experiencing vivid hallucinations of the Pale Halls, leaving him permanently Broken.

The play switches to more traditional exploration once the Crew reaches a location. Here its members can search for artefacts, shards, and secrets. The Game Master has a good set of tables for creating Delves, defining its age, purpose, type, depth, theme, quirks, discoveries to be made, Blight levels encountered, and more. She can populate it with threats and creatures, the latter from the roleplaying game’s extensive bestiary, and even rival parties also exploring the Ruin. This is supported by an extensive discussion on the nature of the Ruins and the themes of the roleplaying game—Space as a wild sea, a sense of wonder, the mystery and enigma of the Builders and who they were, as well as intrigue, hope, and teamwork. The advice for the Game Master is excellent, covering not just running the roleplaying game, but also creating her own content for it. The Game Master is also supported with a sample scenario, ‘The Black Ziggurat’ in which the Explorers Guild sends the Crew to look for a missing Navigator near the eponymous site. The scenario emphasises the Delve aspect of play, but adds some intrigue into the mix as well.

Lastly, ‘The Outcast Explorer’ presents the option to play Coriolis: The Great Dark in solo mode. In these rules, the player still roleplays an Explorer, but one who has been spurned by everyone except the Explorers Guild. It sponsors the Outcast to explore the Red Garden, a vast valley located on Ilum, one of the moons of the two gas giants in the Jumuah System, which is dotted with labyrinthine Builders ruins. However, the Explorers Guild does not care how the Outcast conducts his expedition or if he survives. If he does, the Explorers Guild will simply sponsor him again. The rules are solidly serviceable for what you would expect for solo play, though of course, they do lose that shared sense of trepidation and wonder and awe at exploring the unknown. In the meantime, there is nothing to stop the Game Master visiting some of the tables for ‘The Outcast Explorer’ for further inspiration for Delves of her own.

If there is a downside to Coriolis: The Great Dark, it is that it does not explore the aftermath of expeditions and Delves as well as it should. What the Player Characters are rewarded with by the Explorers Guild and how their discoveries might change perspectives on who and what the Builders were and so on. The likelihood is that some of the ramifications will be explored in future releases, such as the campaign, The Flowers of Algorab.

Physically, Coriolis: The Great Dark is very well presented. It is well written and the artwork is excellent, capturing that sense of wonder almost at the end of the universe and the strangeness of what the Player Characters might find below, coupled with the slightly ramshackle feel of Ship City.

There can be no doubt that Coriolis: The Great Dark is a radical shift Coriolis: The Third Horizon. Where the setting of Coriolis: The Third Horizon was more open and traditional in what the Player Characters could do and more obvious in its Middle Eastern inspiration, Coriolis: The Great Dark is constrained and less obvious in its inspiration. There still is a Middle Eastern inspiration, but less is made of it, as if the culture of Ship City has evolved and changed in response to its change of circumstances, giving it a refreshing unfamiliarity. There is grime and grit to the setting too, its ramshackle nature have less of the sheen of Coriolis: The Third Horizon and more of a Blue Collar Science Fiction look and feel. There are likely more types of stories that can be told and roleplayed in the setting of Coriolis: The Great Dark, but its core activity is Delving and exploration, discovering secrets, revealing mysteries and experiencing the wonder and awe of both the past—what the Builders left behind—and Charted Space. Coriolis: The Great Dark brings a sense of cosmic curiosity and the mystery of the unknown to Science Fiction roleplaying, ready to be experienced, for discoveries to be made, and secrets to be revealed.