Coriolis: The Third Horizon | Review

As always, before speaking to you in this Coriolis: The Third Horizon review, I want to thank Free League Publishing for sending us a digital copy of the game.

If, like us, you fall in love with this mystical and vibrant vision of science fiction, know that you can find the basic game core book directly in the publisher’s store at 41.92 euros. There is also a delicious bundle that includes everything published in the game for just over 140 euros. As for the other publications of the Swedish publishing house, the modules to be able to play Coriolis: The Third Horizon are also available on Foundry Virtual Tabletop.

Coriolis: The Third Horizon Setting Review

The incipit of the setting is given by the moment in which two immense ark ships, the Zenith and the Nadir, depart from the Earth on a centuries-old journey directed towards the Aldebaran system, to colonize the planets of that star system. However, nothing is said of the conditions at that moment on Earth nor are the reasons for a mission of this type explained. En route the Nadir goes astray, only the Zenith then reaches the Aldebaran system only to find it already colonized and indeed by humans.

In fact, during the very long journey of the Zenith, the inhabitants of the Earth discovered a portal built by an unknown, more advanced and probably extinct civilization. This portal had been able to facilitate the exploration and colonization of the cosmos in a faster and more effective manner.

What the Zenith and her crew find upon their arrival is therefore a colonized system partly devastated by war. The colonization followed different phases, first reaching the systems reachable with a single portal jump, then those reachable with two portal jumps and finally the Third Horizon, reachable with three portal jumps. The tensions, however, were not slow to make themselves visible; to win and survive, the Third Horizon found the only solution to destroy the portals and isolate itself from the rest of the galaxy.

The Zenithians, name of the passengers of the Zenith ship, travelled throughout the Third Horizon until they stopped in orbit above the planet Kua where they partially landed; others instead converted the ark ship transforming it into a station they called Coriolis.

A Science Fiction of Colored Silk

Coriolis: The Third Horizon is a science fiction RPG. We are therefore speaking of space travel, spaceships, and alien creatures; however, what separates the Free League product from most science fiction role-playing games is the social context in which the characters move. It is a setting strongly inspired by the Middle East. Food, music and fashion, as well as philosophy, literature and religion, but above all the myths and popular stories of the Middle East are inextricably intertwined in this particularly fascinating setting.

The game context is positioned in a precise quadrant of our celestial vault; one of the neighbouring star systems of Aldebaran, a star in the constellation Taurus, over a thousand years away in the future; the game therefore takes us not only far in space but also in time. But if you are expecting cyberpunk atmospheres, you are very wrong. The setting offers a game world strongly linked to an ancient culture full of myths like the Arab one.

Fascinating and Deep Themes

Coriolis: The Third Horizon, as you may have guessed from the first bars of this review, is a game that leaves ample space to explore mysticism, conflicts between different factions and threats from the dark cosmos. The darkness that lurks among the stars is a living and evil entity, and the Third Horizon is inhabited by all manner of mysterious creatures as well as unbelievable dangers. The party can decide whether these legends are purely myths or whether to include them physically in the adventures they play. There is plenty of room for creativity in a fantastic setting that mixes future and tradition, mysticism and technology

Coriolis: The Third Horizon Character Review

Creating a character in Coriolis: The Third Horizon takes a matter of minutes, at least technically. As with other games from the Swedish publisher, the creation is facilitated by the presentation of a good number of archetypes to navigate between.

The 4 characteristics, 2 physical and 2 mental, have 4 associated skills as a direct extension, for a total of 16 overall. But distributing the scores is not enough to fill in the form and it is here that the setting transforms the numbers into an atmosphere. Already just by browsing the proposed archetypes, one realizes how much variety there is in this game.

Once the basic scores have been distributed, it is necessary to choose a talent among the many proposed; just to name a few, we move from psychic abilities to the specialities of the various non-human species. Although the manual advises against choosing a non-human character, it still leaves the possibility of doing so by precisely detailing the bonuses and malus associated with this choice. The final technical details are given by the choice of the deity adored by the character, his equipment and what role he occupies within the crew.

Character creation focuses on background creation; the game pushes to detail the personal problems of each character as well as his origin and his level of education. It is also important to specify the relationships with the other members of the group to have complete and credible characters with which to face a choral narrative.

An Optimum Gaming System

Speaking of a game published by the Swedish publishing house that we love so much, one cannot but think of their proprietary gaming system: the Year Zero Engine. The versatility of this real game engine is also demonstrated on this occasion. Just to review, I remind you that characters have 4 attributes and 16 skills associated with them. Passing a test involves rolling several six-sided dice (d6) equal to attribute + skill + any applicable equipment. Each result equal to 6 equals a success and to get more successes means to be able to obtain larger achievements.

However, the character is part of a group, so he may get help in facing the trials. Each ally, up to a maximum of three, can provide an additional die to roll as an aid to the test. Other additional dice can be obtained thanks to particularly favourable situations, according to the choices of the game master. As with other incarnations of this game system, also in Coriolis: The Third Horizon, it is possible to force the roll and re-roll all the dice that did not result in success. This mechanic is called Praying the Icons.

If in other games the reroll mechanic causes stress in the character, in this new guise it provides the storyteller with a Darkness Point. These points can be used to give boons to NPCs or trigger special events. In short, once again the system proves to be streamlined and particularly oriented towards narration.

The Combat: Turns, Threats and High Risks

Combat, as with all other incarnations of the YZE, is simple, quick, and particularly lethal.

The dynamics are immediate: as many dice are rolled as the sum of the combat skill, the relative attribute and any weapon bonuses. If the hit is successful, the weapon’s damage rating is inflicted. However, each weapon also has a critical value, which is the number of extra successes required to inflict critical wounds.

It becomes clear how quickly characters’ health can drop, not to mention the stress value that drops mind points; once reduced to zero, the character will go completely insane and become a de facto NPC.

Spaceships and Space Travel

As we said at the beginning of this review, Coriolis: The Third Horizon is a sci-fi RPG; the characters are therefore not the only aspect that the players will have to prepare together with the game master. Well yes, it will be necessary to obtain a spaceship, choosing it from the many models offered by the manual or designing a new one to measure. The variety is very high and, among the options available, there is also that of equipping the spaceship with an artificial intelligence module, transforming what in other contexts is only a means of transport into a real character.

Starships aren’t just made for travel; in fact, she will have to manage a space chase, if not even a fight. The rules for managing space battles are quite simple. They are divided into turns and require that each PC, depending on the role on board the ship, acts according to his or her competence. The fact that each player has part of the responsibility in the fight allows you to have the whole table always involved in the narrative.

People and Factions

The core book dedicates an entire chapter to the people who inhabit the Third Horizon. Divided mainly between First-come (those who first colonized it) and Zenithians, the people of the Third Horizon host many more creatures than one might imagine. It will be possible to meet, during the game: space nomads, modified humans or even semi-intelligent creatures. Inside the chapter it is possible to find, in addition to the description of the different peoples, also the different types of culture, the technology, and the calendar in use.

Particular detail is given to the nine Icons and the change brought about by the rise of the Church of the Icons with the description of the rites and the main places of worship. Just as culture differs between factions, spirituality is not approached in the same way either. Forerunners are primarily mystics while Zenithians distance themselves from the Icons, though not openly, for political reasons. In short, the lack of possibilities proposed by the various Coriolis societies: The Third Horizon is so broad that it can, by itself, shift the focus of the plots to a political and relational level.

Aesthetic Review of Coriolis: The Third Horizon

At more than 380 pages, the Coriolis: The Third Horizon core book stands among the densest in my collection. The paperback cover, with a matte finish, is robust and the illustration of Martin Grip immediately evokes the themes of the game.

The full-print pages, black backgrounds dotted with stars, drag the reader into space, sometimes taking your breath away. An impression is amplified especially when the illustrations are large. The text is divided into two columns and is aesthetically attributable to three macro categories: the rules and the setting framed in boxes in shades of light blue and teal respectively; the single-column technical tables in white on the starry background of the page; lastly, the suggestions and insights have a specific character and a dedicated background.

Those who have already had the opportunity to see other titles published by the Swedish publishing house (such as Blade Runner, of which you can find our review here, or Alien, which you can read about instead here), will not escape like Coriolis; The Third Horizon was the forerunner, at least from a graphic point of view, for this kind of manuals. Aesthetically, therefore, as can be seen from this review, Coriolis: The Third Horizon is a beautiful manual to browse in more ways than one.

Perhaps it is not always an easy manual to consult; it requires focus and attention, not for the language, which is always perfectly understandable, but more so because it is a highly graphic manual. Each page editorially stands on its own and is designed to be of the highest level aesthetically.

Coriolis: The Third Horizon Review Conclusions

Coriolis: The Third Horizon is a dense manual from more than one point of view. It is not only robust and at the same time easy to handle, it is extremely beautiful to the point of making a splendid display in any library. This approach to a setting that mixes classic science fiction with touches of fantasy and cosmic horror makes it versatile to adapt to multiple game moods. The rules system, immediate and minimally invasive, leaves the right room for interpretation allowing you to start a session in a short time

The setting has large grey spaces and Coriolis: The Third Horizon is not a manual that leads you by the hand suggesting how to fill the physiological voids of the setting. Making everything graphically elaborate (although very pleasant), then risks discouraging the reader who could feel “lost” without summary tables.

If you love science fiction in all its possible forms and you want a quality game beyond any reasonable doubt, Coriolis: The Third Horizon can’t escape you!

If you enjoyed this Coriolis: The Third Horizon review, stay tuned for more RPGs from Free League Publishing!