Stefano Buonocore
Today we have the pleasure to let you read our review of RAYN, a dark fantasy RPG by Dario Leccacorvi and Andrea Tupac Mollica. Right from the gamebook series Tra Tenebra e Abisso by Dario was born the idea of the setting that in RAYN has been further developed. You can find them on the site of Edizioni Aristea, whom we thank for providing us with a copy of the game.
We had already dealt with RAYN: you can read our preview of the quickstart, still available on the publisher’s website for those who want to take a look. For those wishing to purchase the game, the Set Oniromante is available at the price of 94 euros.
Review of RAYN: the Box
The Set Oniromante, as the double box set of RAYN protagonist of this review, is a real treat for players, collectors and enthusiasts in general. In the first of the two packs, we find the three manuals of the game, two of which, Il Mondo and Le Leggi, are essential to play. In fact, they contain everything there is to know about the setting and the regulation. The third, I Segni, is a collection of adventures which allows you to go deeper and deeper into the RAYN.
In the second box instead, you can find a double deck of twelve cards of the Suoni Ancestrali, an element that we will discuss later. The first version is limited to representing them, while in the second they are figurative, i.e. illustrated to replicate a sort of tarot. Fifteen other cards follow the Sigillo postcards, these too to be explored further on. The whole thing is completed by three maps and a screen of the Ierofante (that is the narrator of the game). A small screen, because the two box sets, like the manuals, are in the format just above an A5 sheet. However, it contains all the necessary information and is perhaps even more practical than bulkier screens.
The Three Volumes
The manuals are softcover paperbacks, as mentioned in an almost paperback format. Definitely practical to carry and consult, they make up for the lack of the hardcover with the slipcase. Above all, it must be said that the manuals of RAYN are beautiful (as you can also see from the images included in this review).
They are beautiful pages, a little glossy; they are paginated in such a way as to recall the effect of an ancient tome without losing legibility. But above all they are embellished by the work of master Fabio Porfidia, here in the role of artistic director. However, this does not prevent him from giving us some of his magnificent illustrations. Leafing through the pages of this volume immediately transports you to the world, but above all to the mood, of the game. A mood made up of impressive works and gloomy and oppressive atmospheres. Above all one gets the feeling that on each page there is something in the manual that needs to be discovered, dragging the reader into a sort of search.
The use of pages with a dark background and light contrasting writing is now accepted in many manuals. In RAYN however, it has a further effect, exploited to play on the contrasts between Light, Darkness and Abyss, the three principles that govern the world. Also, it is important to point out that Edizioni Aristea turned to Laura Zarri for proofreading. In a world where all publishing, unfortunately, has to deal with high costs that can lead to cuts in certain figures (too often allocating proofreading work to unprepared and underpaid interns), the figure of a professional in the sector is an added value not recently. And his presence is felt in a smooth and pleasant reading.
Review of RAYN: Il Mondo
The first volume, Il Mondo, describes the game setting. The RAYN is a world that thrives on deep rifts and conflicts. And yes, the name of the game coincides with that of its world and is curiously written in caps lock. On the one hand, its most civilized populations live in a pre-industrial era inspired by the principles of the republic. On the other, there are peoples who fight against colonization, worshipping dark gods who live in the bowels of the earth. The shining cities are contrasted with desolate lands and forgotten ruins.
Let’s go in order. The RAYN is founded on three different principles. Once upon a time, Darkness reigned, which embodies the brutality of interpersonal relationships, focusing on hierarchy, blood relations, and the law of the strongest. Tied to it were the Ancients, creatures of myth, multiform and ruthless, who kept humanity enslaved.
The humanity that, however, one day woke up. Inspired by the principles of Light, democracy, of individual freedom, rounded up the slaves, constituting the first city of resistance. Once gathered, the People took control of the Ecumene, the surface world. The Ancients have been driven underground, into the Erebo. Over time internal conflicts and rivalries have led the Gentiles to divide into various peoples, all presented in the manual.
The third principle governing the RAYN is the Abyss. The Chasma, his realm, is inhabited by Pure Entities. Spiritual creatures that lead to the breaking of borders, to the breaking down of every rule. They are inspired neither by balance nor by domination but by stark anarchy.
A Strong Link Between Game Experience and Setting
It is important to note that even if in the three Worlds (Above, Below and There) one of the three principles rules, none of them has an absolute reign. Light, Darkness and Abyss are omnipresent and continuously fade into each other. And in the same way, while Ancients and Spirits are bound to a principle, the People are free to follow what inspires them most.
This is crucial to the gaming experience. Character development in RAYN (whose creation we will deal with in the next paragraphs of this review) it is not limited to accumulating experience points and improving its skills. On the contrary, what characterizes the game, assuming a central role, is its spiritual development. As he has meaningful experiences, his knowledge of the world increases. And with it also the understanding of its nature.
This progress is inextricably linked to the principle that the character demonstrates greater affinity. It is not a question of a system of constraints, nor simply of accumulating a series of additional powers (which are not lacking, for lovers of the more traditional role-playing game). But it is important to understand that RAYN is a game in which exploration and investigation prevail over adventure as an end in itself because they are metaphors of an internal path. A path that leads to the opening of various Seals, until the achievement of higher knowledge. Discovering something of the game world means guiding the character to discover the sense of reality; and consequently, of the place it occupies in it.
Review of RAYN: Esoteric Fantasy…
Only characters belonging to the People can be played. Choosing a specific People does not imply any bonus, just a different culture. The only exception is given by the Generated, creatures created artificially thanks to the knowledge of the Technia. The latter is an esoteric form of technology, and not surprisingly since RAYN it is also defined as an esoteric fantasy game.
Technia was inherited from the Ancients. They are shreds of knowledge not fully understood, but which some scholars manage to apply to the creation of weapons, filters and complex machinery. It is an earthly but at the same time mystical knowledge. Technia is not magic, yet it is imbued with a nature that only the Ancients could fully understand. The People pass on the instructions by meeting in congregations and associations; necessary also to protect themselves from the risk that the technite works end up poisoning their souls as much as their bodies.
Conversely, Techina is mirrored by Gnosi, a form of meditation aimed at achieving enlightenment. Gnostic practices are akin to the Light and require an almost monastic asceticism. A practitioner of it can impose his will on the body and on what is material.
… and its Dark Side
Even the Abyss inspires the practices of its followers, and it does so through what is the real arcane practice of RAYN: the Ritual Magic. By appealing to the energies of the Chasma it is in fact possible to obtain various supernatural effects, similar to classic spells. Ritualists are defined variously according to their purpose rather than technique.
The Iatromanti are in fact faithful to the path of light and typically concoct rituals that protect them from the power of spirits and other inhabitants of the Abyss. On the contrary, those who practice Goetia try to actively exploit the influence of the Chasma, invoking the power of the spirits and trying to bind it. There is no substantial difference between Goeti and Iatromanti, but the former suffers a strong and understandable social stigma. Even an Iatromancer who publicly practices a Goetic ritual is certainly not frowned upon. Partially beyond this problem are the practitioners of Edge Magic. Although the latter, Goetia and Iatromancy are mechanically identical, Witches practice their rituals with no particular awareness of what is behind it, benefiting in a certain way from this ignorance.
Ancestral Sounds
Above the arcane and esoteric practices of RAYN, there is one that escapes what can be handed down. In fact, Ancestral Sounds have their roots in the very essence of the world. That barrier prevents the three fundamental principles from merging indiscriminately. The Ancestral Sounds directly appeal to the founding laws of the universe.
It’s about twelve syllables of power, hand in glove with the path of illumination of the characters. It is possible to determine which Ancestral Sound is learned during the opening of a “Seal” by rolling a special table, but it is also one of the main functions of the related decks present in the Set Oniromante. Extracting them randomly certainly has more charm. An Ancestral Sound, in any case, cannot be “learned” and that’s it. It must be studied, its sonority must be understood as well as its sign and meaning. Only then is it possible to exploit its power, perhaps combining it with other Sounds in a Mantra.
In addition to a specific power, an Ancestral Sound is also associated with an Ipostasi. These are mystical spirits with almost divine characterizations, each illustrated in the relative card in a figurative version. But not only. Each Ancestral Sound is also linked to a specific concept. Exactly as happens to some Paredro, a sort of guiding spirits who are linked to the Fratria, or to the group of characters. In fact, these have a specific mystical bond that unites them, which goes far beyond simple camaraderie or mutual friendship. More rarely a Paredro is associated with a single character who has reached a high level of enlightenment.
Review of the RAYN Props
So far the cards of the Ancestral Sounds we mentioned earlier could simply have the function of the spell cards of other games; a prop to make it a more interesting Kickstarter campaign with which RAYN was launched. But that would be wrong. The Ancestral Sounds are intimately linked to the nature of the game itself, being equally divided between the three Principles and four “Intentions”: Thought/Knowledge, Consciousness/Feeling, Relationship/Power and Creation/Acting.
Precisely thanks to this grid that is created between Principles and Intentions, extracting a card from the deck can determine random events, the attitude of non-player characters, and trigger conditions of certain situations. An adventure can be created randomly by drawing Ancestral Sounds from the deck, but not as in the classic system of random tables. The sounds are so intimately linked to the nature of the world that every combination of extractions will always be strongly linked to the themes of the game, not trivially to the textures.
Character Creation
The Ancestral Sounds cards can also be used to randomly generate a character. But there is obviously also the classic character creation system, which is particularly simple. First of all, it is good to keep in mind that only the People can be played, not the Ancients (not even those that most resemble the classic “fantasy races”). The only exception is made up of Generated, which as anticipated are creatures created in the laboratory through the technite arts. Compared to the People, a Generated has a slower spiritual progression, because he needs to become aware of himself, but he compensates with access to some unique abilities related to the purpose for which he was created.
Once chosen whether to play a human or a Generated, the player distributes 21 points between the three basic Abilities (Valor, Wisdom and Cunning) and thirty between two pools that can be consumed during the game (Physical Energy and Mental Energy). He acquires 4 Fate points, crucial for spiritual progression but also for events in which a dose of luck is required, and therefore chooses a Specialty, a specific ability linked to one of the three basic Abilities (in the case of Generated there is a specific list of specialities). Rounding it all out is the Legacy, a kind of background.
For the lazy ones and for those with less time available, a series of character archetypes is still available. These allow you to have a ready reference to add just a few touches of customization.
Review of RAYN: Le Leggi
The game system is particularly simple: it is a simple roll under made with two six-sided dice. The number of dice rolled can vary up to a maximum of four or a minimum of one, depending on the difficulty that the Hierophant sets for the action. So much for the inherent difficulty of the action, at least. External factors are instead managed with the Reliefs (which allow you to replace the dice rolled with four-sided dice) and the Aggravations (which instead replace them with dice of eight). Physical Energy is mainly used to bear injuries and resist physical exertion, and Mental Energy to use Skills and resist mental stress.
There are obviously additional mechanics that allow you to cover more complex situations, such as the Increase which allows you to obtain better results by increasing the difficulty of the action; but the core of RAYN and this. An extremely slim and practical system to use, but not for this less effective. Inspired by the simplicity of old-school games, however, it deviates from it where it adopts rules related to the interpretation and choices of the characters, allowing a gaming experience that can focus on the narrative while remaining extremely fluid.
Review of RAYN: I Segni
In Il Mondo and in Le Leggi we can discover the setting and the game system, while I Segni instead, it features eight ready-to-play adventures.
- Il Lugubre Canto della Notte and La Strada Oscura are written by Dario Leccacorvi, one of the authors of RAYN. The first will lead the Fratria to fight a creature of the Ancients who has infiltrated a mineral deposit, a classic story suitable for introducing players to the RAYN (also present in the quickstart). La Strada Oscur instead it leads the characters to venture into the darkness of Erebo, an environment hostile to them by nature.
- La Casa delle Spine e Le Perfette are instead by Andrea Tupac Mollica, the other soul of the game. In the first, the characters will have to investigate the mysterious disappearance of some children, with an ending that can lead to many implications and a nostalgic and bittersweet taste. In the second adventure, the Fratria comes across a rather particular community, whose latent conflicts they will trigger, bringing them to the surface as events proceed; a beautiful story of social contrast.
- Le Sanguinarie is an adventure edited by Mauro Longo (author of Brancalonia), which focuses on a series of urban murders, weaving myth and investigation.
- Una Fiamma Non Ha Ombre, by Valentina “Nina” Favaron, perhaps it is the least suitable to be played as a one-shot adventure. It brings to light the inner conflict of the characters accumulated during their wanderings, and without a past, it certainly makes it less. More accurate to describe it as a scenario than an adventure.
- Le Rovine dell’Illusione, by Valentino Sergi, is designed for characters who already have some experience. It will lead them to try to contain a threat that threatens to expand to an entire region, fighting against the forces of the Abyss.
- In the end, L’Aspra Via del Chasma, by Emmanuel Quarello, will lead the Fratria to face an ancient evil that has taken possession of a forgotten monastery. Also in this case it is an adventure for rather high-level characters, which expertly mixes moments of investigation, action and immersion in the esotericism that permeates the ruins.
Not Just Adventures
As usual we don’t do spoilers about the adventures, but there are some elements to note. Despite the various authors, they all follow the same pattern, which is not obvious; whenever it is useful there are notes that the Hierophant can use to have particular references. Each trial presents the possibility of using Boosts to obtain further clues, each NPC has specific information that could be asked of him – or extracted. In general, the care is obsessive, as with every part of RAYN.
Secondly, the adventures exploit all the mechanics of the game, even the determination of some factors through the cards of the Ancestral Sounds; they allow you to familiarize yourself with each dynamic in a progressive way, without engulfing the gaming experience. Furthermore, they also touch on all the main themes of the game, from those more linked to esotericism to the more purely social and political ones. There is also the more traditional investigation and a bit of healthy beating hands.
In the end, all of the adventures of I Segni can be played as one shot, in one or two sessions (or more, depending on the fratria’s style of play); it is also indicated how to compose the group depending on the challenge they offer. But at the end of the manual, there are two interesting appendices. La Modalità Campagna provides a frame in which to frame the various events, also providing some connecting elements; this makes it possible to carry on a “yellow line” throughout the news. Varianti e Tematiche Aggiuntive instead, allows you to integrate the adventures with new elements, further enriching the gaming experience.
Conclusions of the Review of RAYN
As you can see from this review, RAYN is a work behind which a monumental work is already perceived at a glance, which becomes masterful the moment one goes into it in depth. Every single aspect is flawless. The setting is vast and in-depth, but never suffocating to the point of blocking the Hierophant’s initiative in creating something original. The rules are streamlined, and quick to learn as well as to apply, but they have their own depth and fit perfectly into the themes of the game. They, in turn, do not seek at all costs an originality that can be cloying, but work excellently on the classics; interpreting them, yes, with an original interpretation.
The illustrations are truly magnificent, and the box set and additional materials are wonderful. The manuals are really well written. Ultimately the only flaw you’ll find in RAYN is that the Set Oniromante doesn’t include a group of players to try it out with right away. But if you know any who are even remotely interested in the theme of esotericism and in a setting that recalls more sword & sorcery than high fantasy, you will not find it difficult to set up your Fratria.
