Gianluca Orsatti
The No Dice Unrolled editorial team is pleased to present to you the review of the basic manual of Proelium, a sci-fi role-playing game with a space setting; the manual was written by Michele “Qwein” Molinari, creator of numerous other role-playing games that you can find on his website.
We thank MP Edizioni who kindly provided us with a physical copy of the manual. You can find the basic manual in PDF on the official store for 16 euros.
Proelium Aesthetics Review
The manual has approximately 100 pages and is presented in coated paper and flexible cover. The small size and the absence of a harder cover make the manual perhaps a little fragile, but the paperback seems sturdy and therefore limits the problems on this side.
Original illustrations and graphic elements decorate the product in several places, generating a heavy and almost analogue sci-fi aesthetic, typical of products like Alien, which I really appreciated.
The Lore of the Game
Although the manual allows the creation of your own campaigns and adaptations, it immediately presents a narrative introduction.
The human race has in fact discovered the mysterious Proelium fuel, which gives the game its title, with which it has been able to expand throughout the universe. This is without discovering any life form.
At least until a ship raises the alarm for an attack, blaming alien presence.
The government keeps the news secret and sends various military spaceships to the attack sector, including that of the characters themselves, who are still space cadets with little experience.
The entire setting of the game starts from this brief introduction.
Review of Proelium: Character Creation
The characters start with the rank of Cadet or First Degree Specialist, except for the team leader who will instead obtain the coveted title of Soldier.
Name and background are then chosen to characterize the character.
Another important step is the choice of the Nickname, which must characterize the character and guarantee the ability to overturn a failed shot or an unpleasant situation linked to its meaning.
Once this is done, we can begin to define its characteristics.
Life Points are determined by 2d6+3 and when it drops below half all the character’s rolls will suffer a -1 penalty.
The character will then gain a Skill from a small list, such as Ranged Shooting, First Aid or Spaceship Piloting. In these Skills, the character will gain +1 to rolls.
The player will then roll 1d6 for Peculiarity, with a 50% chance of gaining some innate ability such as Sixth Sense. Likewise, you roll for Specialization, always with a 50% chance of having been trained in a specific field and getting a +1 on rolls associated with it.
At this point, the character will obtain the standard equipment, plus any other tool deemed appropriate by the Director (i.e. the narrator).
Every three successful missions, the character obtains an increase in Rank and can decide to improve one of his Skills, Peculiarities or Specializations, or purchase a new Skill at +1 or increase his Life Points.
In fact, character creation and progression are extremely simple and quick in Proelium, guaranteeing quick preparation and a very simple card to consult.
The Game System
Simplicity characterizes the game system at least as much as character creation.
In fact, it simply involves rolling a six-sided die and applying positive and negative modifiers. Depending on the result obtained, various results can be obtained. These range from complete disaster on a roll of 0, to simple success with difficulty, to complete success.
This system applies both in combat and outside of it.
Despite the simple system, the author took his space to provide the Director with a set of combat-ready modifiers. These include simple things like favourable cover and locations, damage locations, and particular types of damage like suffocation or radiation. All while maintaining a simple and easy-to-consult presentation.
Proelium Review: Equipment and Vehicles
A part of the manual concerns the objects that the characters can deal with. This includes the most normal backpacks, torches and binoculars, but also scientific equipment of various types related to the Specialties of our Cadets. Each object has a small description and, in the case of certain advanced equipment, there are also bonuses to rolls.
The part concerning weapons is equipped with both simple tools and others with particular rules, such as the light cannon to be used by at least two people. It should be noted that much of this weaponry has rather high damage compared to the average Life Points of the characters, making the chances of death in an armed clash quite high and forcing the group of Cadets to use conservative tactics in combat. Armor (also described in this chapter) can be useful for this purpose, as it reduces the damage suffered by the indicated value.
Spaceships and Space Combat
A fundamental element of Proelium are, obviously, the spaceships.
Each has its own characteristics such as Speed and Hull, which determines its robustness. Added to these are data such as its armament, load capacity and autonomy.
The actions of the Spaceship are applied in the Command Bridge, where the characters bring the possibilities of their space vehicle to the peak. In fact the Command Bridge is divided into sections reserved for operators (preferably PCs) to better manage the Spaceship.
The clash between spaceships (and fighters) resumes the combat system between characters with the roll of 1d6 and the application of various modifiers; depending on the result you get different results.
By inflicting damage you can destroy the various sections of a spaceship, which applies any penalties to the ship’s actions. With three sections destroyed, the spaceship breaks into various sections with major damage to life support and no possibility of carrying out further maneuvers.
This part is exposed in a very simple and intuitive way, making the combat between spaceships dynamic and immediate and giving importance to the actions of all the characters.
Review of Proelium: The Saprophytes
The real enemies in the Proelium setting are aliens of fungal origin and parasitic behaviour. They are creatures capable of infecting living beings, feeding on any organic matter they can get their alien paws on.
They can come in various forms, some more humanoid and others more bestial. Each of these aliens is connected to a collective mind that extends into every place “contaminated” by their infesting presence.
While not particularly original, their many forms and pest capabilities provide a wide range of uses for this terrible alien race.
You can handle the presence of a single creature that slowly massacres the crew a la Nostromo from Alien, with strong slasher overtones; you can decide to open up to zombie themes using infected humans; you can manage a real space battle between humans and aliens, who have spaceships described in their section; or you can create a more intimate narrative by playing with the effects of the Saprophyte infestation and the infiltration of their hive mind into the heads of the poor characters.
Ultimately, the simplicity of the concept of the Saprophytes allows for their wide use, declining it according to the needs of the Director and the style chosen for the adventure.
The Director
The Director, or the narrator of Proelium, has a small dedicated section. Here he can find some advice on managing the narrative and Non-Player Characters to give depth and “life” to his adventures.
Added to these tips are quick tables for the creation of Non-Player Characters and for ideas for improvised adventures, such as problems in the colonies or possible encounters in open space.
This is a very short section but it provides good tools and useful advice for those who are playing role-playing games for the first time or have little knowledge of science fiction settings.
Final Considerations of the Proelium Review
We can conclude this review by saying that Proelium is an intriguing product.
This RPG seems to follow the trend of the Old School Renaissance. In fact, it has a very light game system and rapid character creation, resulting in a rather high mortality rate. Yet, there seems to be a desire to give greater weight to exploration and interpretive play, pushing for the creation of multifaceted characters. All this by placing them in complex situations, in which they must carefully weigh their choices. Added to this is the possibility of exploring an entire universe and enemies, the Saprophytes, who can present themselves as challenges in various aspects and genres of adventure. A must for all science fiction fans.
