https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/17/17004.

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Coriolis is a new Sc-fi RPG by Free League / Fria Ligan set in the Middle Eastern-inspired Third
Horizon (a fringe area of space comprising about 30 systems now cut off from the other parts of
inhabited space). It's a game of factional intrigue, of discovering secrets and quests to uncover
old mysteries, of pervasive spirituality and technology, the old versus the new, of exploration,
both of the systems that make up the Horizon and self-exploration through mysticism. The
game's authors describe it as "Arabian Nights in space" and it fulfills that brief marvelously.

General overview: Coriolis keeps reminding me of the Kurga Caliphate (from Fading Suns) done
right. There are some similar themes (the obvious being an Arabian-based culture in space, but
others include the notion of the Dark Between the Stars). Where the background to the Kurga
Caliphate never really clicked however, the background to Coriolis does. The system used in
Coriolis is one immediately familiar to fans of Mutant: Year Zero, with a few tweaks here and
there. Listed sources of inspiration include Firefly, Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series,
and Alien, all through an Arabian Nights lens.

Art: The artwork in Coriolis is really nice. Most pages have artwork on them that matches the
section they're found alongside, and the background design is especially fitting (a dark stellar
vista with headers and footers of Middle Eastern flowering plant motifs). All art is in full colour
throughout. The art is all top-notch stuff too - no generic sci-fi art, all the pictures evoke the
background to Coriolis; that same Middle Eastern aesthetic is found throughout. I particularly
liked the scarabs which mark each chapter. The only time the cohesion in style differs in any way
is with the depiction of the Icons - which are done in suitably iconic style instead. The art
director and artists used are to be congratulated on a wonderful book.

System: Attributes and skills lie in the 1-5 range; when you test, you add them together and roll
that number of D6. Sixes are successes, more sixes allow you to use bonus effects. You also tend
to include bonus dice from gear, so you usually have a decent chance of success. If you're in
really dire straits, you can also call on the Icons to help you, and re-roll all failed dice, though
this does have a cost - the GM picks up a Darkness Point, which he or she can use to make life
more difficult for you. There's a handy chart which shows your chance of success with 1 to 10
dice, both with and without Icon re-rolls, so that if you're rolling 5 dice, you can tell you have a
60% chance of success normally, with a 81% chance of success if you re-roll. It's the little things
like that chart which really help both the GMs and players gauge their chances and get to grips
with using the system.

Substance:
Introduction: The book doesn't start with the usual "what is a roleplaying game?" section found
in many other core rules (though it does briefly define the terms PC and GM), but instead jumps
to the one point that is always raised with any game - what do the PCs do? This is a question I've
seen in just about every new rpg thread ("sure, the background sounds cool, but what do the
characters actually do?"); for once the game designers begin with that question and seek to
answer it (for the record: Crew a spacecraft; Explore the Horizon; Unravel secrets; Plot and
scheme onboard Coriolis; Carry out missions; Pray to the Icons; all of which are expanded and
explained more thoroughly throughout the rules).

The book then briefly describes the setting by discussing some of the moods and themes -
Arabian Nights in space, the old versus the new, mysticism and Icon worship, and the dark
between the stars - that help locate the game's background. These are again expanded upon
throughout the book. The rest of the first chapter offers a description and summary of the Third
Horizon's history.

Character Generation: The next chapter involves creating the PC group - not just the characters
themselves, but the group concept - are they smugglers? Couriers? Corsairs? Rebels?
Prospectors? Colonists? Detectives? Space nomads? A travelling circus? There are five main
types of group concept, each with three additional options if those aren't enough to whet your
appetite, or if your group wants something that's a bit military, a bit intrigue, etc. Once you've
agreed on a group concept, character generation is simple and easy. Your origin and upbringing
provide a foundation for your character concept, which is a sort of base profession or class for
your character. Among the usual Pilot, Scientist, Soldier concepts, you'll also find such choices
as Artist, Data Spider and Preacher. Once more, each concept includes three sub-concepts if you
wish to flesh them out more, so if you choose to be a Fugitive, you can customise your character
as a Criminal, Mystic, or Revolutionary. Players of Mutant: Year Zero will be familiar with this
approach.

There are four attributes (Strength, Agility, Wits, Empathy) that you assign points to from a
pool. Next you choose skills and talents above those given to you through your choice of concept,
and then randomly roll for your patron Icon - the 'god' that has chosen to look upon you. I liked
the fact that while other parts of chargen are chosen by the player, the 'choice' of Icon is
randomly determined - you yourself have no effect on who the Icons favour or choose for their
own devices. The rest of the chapter is taken up with descriptions of each of the concepts and the
effect they have on chargen.

The next couple of chapters focus on skills and talents. The former are a mix of general and
advanced skills, the usual kind of thing such as melee combat, observation, pilot and science.
They're quite broad - just 8 general and 8 advanced skills are available. Talents are extras, like
boons or advantages in other systems. Characters normally start with three, sometimes four
talents, choosing a group talent that everyone can use that depends on your group concept (a
mercenary group might choose Situational Awareness, which gives +2 to Observation rolls when
making a test to spot an ambush, for example). You also have an Icon talent dependent on which
Icon you ended up with (The Traveler's Talent allows you to ask the GM which of two options
when you have a choice to make will be of most benefit to you), and a personal talent, which can
include things like Tough (which gives you additional HP), or mystical powers like Clairvoyant,
cybernetic implants such as Accelerated Reflexes, or bionic sculpts like Beautiful. Humanites
(one of the backgrounds) allow the choice of another talent, such as Water Breathing or
Pheromones.

Combat: The following chapters cover combat and weapons and other gear, with a decent array
of options for weaponry and armour. Combat is based on an action point approach - you have 3
AP each round, with a variety of actions (free (0 points); fast (1 point); normal (2 points); slow
(3 points)) available. Slow actions include things like taking an aimed shot, administering first
aid, or using a mystical power. Normal actions are things like fighting in close combat, taking a
normal shot, or reloading. Fast actions include drawing a weapon, making a quick shot, or
parrying in close combat (so it's often worth keeping an AP spare if you're in close combat), or
making a snap shot. Free actions are shouting a few words to your comrades in arms and the
like. You'll find the usual rules for grappling, ambushes, attacks of opportunity, automatic fire,
overwatch etc in this section too. Damage is also covered - when hit, you take a certain amount
of damage, which can be alleviated by use of armour (each armour level gives you a D6, sixes
reduce damage by one). Combat can be quite deadly, since you don't have a massive amount of
HP, and rules for such things as falling, cold, vacuum, fire, hunger, thirst, and drowning are also
given. The core combat system is pretty simple.

Gear consists of the usual accoutrements found in Sci-fi games: Med gear, tools, tech devices,
etc. There's a good range of weaponry available, both ranged and melee, and a good variety of
armour. Both weapons and armour have a variety of available features - fixed, in the main, such
as Light for small weapons, or Anti-Vehicle or Stun, though some of the top range armour
choices allow you to choose extra options such as Built-In Weapons, Magnetic Boots, or a
Camouflage Unit. This personalisation of armour is a cool little thing that I like, and I can see
further additions to the options given being made in future supplements.

Spaceships: The next chapter is quite a large one, centred on spaceships, including several off
the shelf ships you can use, a ship generation section so you can create your own (on a modular
basis, so you buy a particular type of ship (light freighter, mining ship, blockade runner, gun
ship, etc), then choose a number of modules to add (usually between 6 and 20) such as salvage
stations, cargo holds, a chapel to the Icons, workshops and weapons systems. You can also add
features which give you some sort of benefit to your other ship characteristics, such as Ablative
Armour, an Arboretum, or Sensitive Sensors. There's a nice level of detail here, not too complex,
and not too fiddly (there's no constant messing around with various factors like mass and power
as with Traveller or similar games). Again, I can see future supplements adding even more
options without adding to the complexity of the ship creation system. I do like the addition of
modules such as a shrine - it really brings the sense of religious belief, fervour and spirituality in
the setting to the fore.

Space combat is also covered in this chapter, with actions for each PC depending on their
shipboard roles (Captain, Engineer, Pilot, Sensor Operator, Gunner) - a little reminiscent of
Pelgrane Press' Ashen Stars. The rules are still fairly simple, the turn divided into several phases
(order phase, engineer phase, pilot phase, sensor phase, attack phase). Having each PC be
responsible for different actions keeps players involved, which is good. There's also a nice
example of ship combat at the end of the chapter.

Setting: The next few chapters are solid background material. The Third Horizon builds on the
basic introduction given earlier, going into more detail into the setting and its history, and
further describing the Firstcome (original settlers in the area) and the Zenithians (who appeared
later, on a huge colony ship called the Zenith). Current events are briefly covered too. The next
chapter on Factions introduces the big players on the scene, groups like the Consortium
(Zenithian corporations), the Syndicate (criminal organisation), and Ahlam's Temple (Firstcome
philosophers). A number of smaller or less influential groups are also given. The People of the
Horizon chapter describes daily life for a variety of people in the setting, including notes on
everyday technology, culture, and the part played by the Icons and the general spirituality of the
setting. This is one of the best chapters in the game in my opinion, as it really depicts the setting
and its particular facets (the Middle Eastern influence really stands out here, and offers good
advice for those who don't know a great deal about Middle Eastern culture).

The following chapter focuses on the Coriolis space station itself, its history, locations within the
station, the personalities found here, and the intrigues going on. You could easily spend an
entire campaign never once leaving the station. If you do, however, then the next chapter, the
Kua System, describes the immediate system surrounding Coriolis, with each planet in the
system given background detail. If you wish to go further afield, the next chapter, Atlas of the
Third Horizon, gives brief setting information on the other systems that make up the Horizon.
After that comes a bestiary of various gribblies, including spirits as well as more physical
beasties. Here again there's a distinct Arabian Nights flavour - djinn, efretes, muzhadjar are all
described - with a section on diseases and mind memes at the end.

GM's Stuff: The last chapter concerns GM advice for running campaigns, the use of darkness
points, and several scenario locations. This section does a decent job of describing the principles
of the game, how to manage difficulty levels, and the usual stuff you'd find elsewhere in good
core books. The section on darkness points offers lots of options like when to use these, and I
was reminded of the GM moves in the various * World games - NPCs taking the initiative, PCs'
weapons jamming, the environment suddenly making its presence felt, that sort of thing. None
of them seem to be too over-powered or likely to piss the players off unless they're against GM
agency altogether. There are three mini-scenarios that round out the book, two of them being
particular locations with adventure hooks tied to them, the third being a short introduction to
the setting and game system.

Summary: I really like this game. I'm familiar with Mutant: Year Zero, though not as enthused
about the setting to that game as I am with Coriolis. I was a big fan of Fading Suns, and I get a
similar vibe from this game (it wouldn't take much to convert the Coriolis system to the Fading
Suns setting either for those who aren't happy with the FS system). There's a lot in this book,
especially concerning background, which really helps bring the game to life. I'll be looking
forward to the supplements that will undoubtedly follow, especially ones that expand on the
different systems that make up the Third Horizon. A lot of thought has obviously gone into the
design of this book too, from the chart showing probablities of success for different dice totals
when making a roll, to asking and answering the questions about what PCs do in the setting, and
in ensuring that the feel of the setting pervades the book. This is a gorgeous game that I can't
wait to both GM and play.

https://fictionsuit.org/
Coriolis Podcast

https://fictionsuit.org/2017/02/04/review-coriolis-the-third-horizon/

Review: Coriolis – The Third Horizon

Coriolis

My mate Dave was coming to the end of running his SOIAF campaign, and was going on and on
about how he’d Kicked in on Coriolis, and how brilliant it was. As the Kickstarter campaign
closed I foolishly replied, saying something like “I suppose I should get the PDF then” expecting
that’s what we would be playing next. He came back like a shot, telling me “It’s the game I want
YOU to run next. I always run the games I want to play, and never get a chance to play them.” In
a fit of madness, I agreed to run it for my next campaign, and ended up Kicking in for the full
physical package. Which has now arrived, so a review is in order.

This is an English Language version of a Swedish game, published by Fria Ligan, a company set
up when the original developers of the first version of Coriolis folded. Fria Ligan are gamers and
part-time developers/publishers, who include a surgeon, and the artist of the moment
Stålenhag. Though set up to support Coriolis, their first ruleset was Mutant Year Zero, later
published in English by Modiphius. This English language version of Coriolis is also distributed
in partnership with Modiphius, and it’s seems theirs is the storefront you’ll be heading to, if you
want to order a physical copy online.

It’s a big book at 388 pages. A symptom of Kickstarters is that an easy stretch-goal appears to be
adding more pages to the core book, and while I can’t deny the value of all that extra content, I
do wonder if the book might be a little unwieldy at the table. The production quality is high, the
book is well put together and printed, and the design is full colour throughout. I’m not entirely
convinced by full colour layout of text heavy books – I prefer white pages, but the design isn’t
over-fussy, and despite off the text being held in graphic frames, it’s very readable.

There is also a very nicely produced, sturdy, three panel, landscape format GM’s shield available.
With some useful charts on the inside, it may prove to be a useful tool in play, though a table of
how the GM might use Darkness Points (one of the distinct mechanics of the system, as I’ll
explain later) is a notable absence.

The thin but glossy double-sided map of the Third Horizon and Coriolis Station is smaller than I
expected, and looks like it will age quickly with use. Similarly, the production quality of the
optional Icon card deck isn’t brilliant. Which is a pity, as a lot of thought has been put into their
use at the table, and some groups could give them a lot of play. I’m not normally an advocate of
card protectors, but you may want to invest in some before using these.

Last, but not least is the Atlas Compendium, another Kickstarter stretch goal, which a nicely
printed, sturdy but stapled 64 page book.

So, that’s what it all looks and feels like, but what about the content?

The usual what is an RPG gumph is followed by a section titled “What do you do?” and the
answers to that question are apparently “Crew a spacecraft; explore the Horizon; unravel
secrets; plot and scheme onboard Coriolis; carry out missions; and, pray to the Icons.” This last
may be the game’s USP. Traveller famously eschews any religion (unless PCs are “Gods” to some
primative race). Even the world of Warhammer 40k, with its God-Emperor, doesn’t make Prayer
a mechanic. (Or, I should say, it didn’t when I last looked.)

Character generation in Coriolis starts, not with you, but with your group. The players are meant
to agree a group concept before anybody decides on who their character should be. It does
prompt you into thinking, together, about the sort of game you all want to play. You also get to
choose, as a group, a Patron and a Nemesis. The point is, by choosing they are helping the GM to
set up the campaign, and telling him (or her) what sort of game they want to play.

One aspect of character generation that is random in your Icon, effectively the star-sign you
were born under, or the “god” that takes an interest (good or bad) in you. This is selected by a
roll of the dice, or a draw from the icon deck. But other attributes and skills are bought with a
numbers of points based upon your background.

Which brings us to the dice mechanic. Roll a number of d6 equalling your total scores in skill
and relevant attribute. Target number = 6. One or two sixes and you succeed, three of more and
it’s critical success with bonus effects. Difficulty is respresented by the GM taking 1-3 dice away
before you roll. If it’s easy the GM might give you 1-3 dice, but as the book says, if it’s easy why
are you rolling? Some gear and talents etc may give you one or two extra dice.

No sixes? Or too few? Then you can pray to the relevant icon and reroll any dice that didn’t come
up six last time. If you visited a temple earlier, and prayed properly to the correct icon, then not
just do you get a reroll, you also get to add a die.

So prayer is very powerful. But it costs. Every time you pray to the icon to re-roll, the GM gets a
Darkness Point. You don’t give her a darkness point, you don’t have a pool, there’s no limit to
the number of times you pray. The only person you gets darkness is the GM. So this effectively
reverses the Bennie/Fate Point mechanics of many 21st century games. Rather than the GM
enabling characters to cool stuff by distributing tokens, players can be cool as often as they like,
but pay for that by enabling the GM to be a dick.

“Are you shooting at my favourite GMC? Hah! I spend three DP, your gun jams. Or
reinforcements arrive. Or for one DP your gun runs out of ammo. Or I get to re-roll” Darkness
Points don’t reset at the beginning of the next session/scenario. Darkness points the GM didn’t
spend in the previous session carry over into the next which means the final session in a
campaign could be a scary as hell for the players.

The more I think about Darkness Points the more I believe that Fira Ligan have quietly snuck a
real innovation into gaming, with no fanfare. First of all, it means that there is no longer a limit
on how often players chose to re-roll, or use a power. They can do so whenever they feel their
character needs it. Some people complain that Bennie point systems spoil players’ immersion, or
worse, that they are not real roleplaying, because the players have a resource to keep account of
which isn’t part of the game-world. In this system, only the GM needs to keep track of points –
there’s nothing to take the players out of the story. Secondly, players don’t have feel as though
they should “earn” Bennies though good role-playing, or making the GM laugh or, in the case of
Cortex+ Plot Points, by risking failures and complications early in the scenario. And that brings
me to the third benefit: unlike Cortex+ which tries to emulate modern TV story-beats of failures
and complications build up until the third act where our heroes come up trumps, this system
gives Coriolis a darker mode – a sense of growing doom, as players push their luck again and
again.

The skills are few in number, and broad. So if you give your medical examiner a four in science
expecting her to be good at biology and pathology, then there’s nothing to stop her using those
four dice plus her wits to solve an Astro-physics problem. It even says “You are well-read on
everything from astrophysics and geochemistry to bionics and socio-arithmetics.” This might
lend to quite a pulpy feel, but I guess the GM can dial in a little more “realism” by imposing
difficulty dice if it’s “not her field.” Me, I like pulpy sci-fi well enough, but it might not impress
GURPS players.

I’ve been wondering quite what my mate Dave was so excited about in his proselytising Coriolis
to me. “Hot damn yes! What are you waiting for?” He wrote to me “Based on the fucking
brilliant concepts in Mutant Year Zero and mixing in the bits I love about Firefly, this one
promises to be a possible life-long fave for me.” To be honest, I don’t think I’ve seen any “fucking
brilliant concepts yet”. I like the prayer thing, but nothing else is “new”. However, even though
there isn’t much new in the combat chapter either, I think I begin to see that Dave might like.
And in fact, I think I like it too. This, more than anything else I’ve read so far, makes me want to
run the game. Though, initiative doesn’t.
Initiative is the roll of a d6, and there’ s a somewhat clunky if necessary system for breaking
what must be frequent initiative ties. Actually, one function of of the Icon deck is to be a
(slightly) more elegant initiative randomiser. There are ways of raising your initiative through
later combat rolls, and you can volunteer at any point to lower yours, but otherwise, the turn
order remains the same for every round until the end of the combat.

Then, with some trepidation, I read of “three action points” to spend each turn, and “slow,
normal and fast” actions, and I’m thinking, “this is old school.” But when we get to hand to hand
melee, and defence rolls, I’m won-over. This is one of the few systems I know wherein you can
defend yourself with a counter-attack. Suddenly I’m interested. Suddenly I really really want to
run a combat to see how it works.

The attack roll mechanic is much like a skill test, the first six in your pools means you hit, and
you can choose a variety of bonus effects for each extra six you roll, including achieving a
grapple, for example, or raising your initiative. You can only roll defence dice if you have action
points to spend still (which is one reason you may want to voluntarily lower your initiative).
Every success you get, you get to choose the effect.

Ranged combat uses the same sort of rolls, but of course there is no defence roll. Cover is
important, but doesn’t work to reduce your chances of getting hit, instead working like armour.
You run out of bullets when the GM spends a darkness point, after three quick shots in a row, or
during auto fire, when you just keep rolling dice until you roll a one. There are also workable and
deceptively simple rules for overwatch fire.

You can’t die from losing hit points, they just leave you “broken”. You can be broken through
combat stress (delivered through things like suppressive fire) too. But you can, you very very
can, die through crits. Every weapon has a critical number, which is the number of sixes you
need to roll beyond the first to get a crit. If you do, roll 2d6 as a d66 (or draw an Icon card if you
have the deck). 11-35 describe a number of injuries. 36-64 describe your injury and tell you how
long it’s going to take to die. 65, 66? You are dead. That table is followed by other ways you can
die. Fire, drowning, vacuum you know the sort of thing. And all pretty unforgiving. This could be
a deadly game.

Ship combat starts with rules on detecting each other and silent running. Assuming both ships
have made combat, the captain rolls her Command skill, and the highest scoring dice goes first.
As there is a good chance two competent captains will both get sixes, the one with the most goes
first. If they tie the one with the highest Command goes first and if they still tie, then they roll
another dice. Like personal combat, a rather clunky initiative system. Then there are five phases,
each fight ship completes each phase in initiative order.

1) Order phase – the captain writes down one of four orders and makes a Command roll, any
success will count as bonuses in one of the next four phases.

2) The Engineers distributes Power points

3) The pilot maneuvers

4) The sensor operator attempts to target the enemy/break the enemy’s target lock

5) The gunners… gun.

All of which is very admirable for involving all the players (at least, five of them), but it does feel
like a boardgame or miniatures wargame.

The chapter on weapons and equipment is a disappointment, partly because of layout. Text
descriptions seem disconnected from tables of data. And there seem to be some items that are
not explained very well. I think these might have come out of previous play, and they make sense
to people in that game but not much to us readers. Take for example this:

BALLISTIC M-INJECTOR (O)

A medicurgical injector that can be fired with a Vulcan weapon to lend medical assistance from
afar (Short Range). First, test ranged combat to hit the target – if you hit, the injector counts as
an m-dose

Cool you think, first aid from afar. I can see that being useful if I have an injured comrade
covered by an enemy sniper. But what does an m-dose do? Well it gives +1 to Medicurgy rolls.
Assuming your injured comrade isn’t a medic, it’s bloody useless to him. That’s 1000 birr (the
Third Horizon’s currency) down the drain. If he is a medic, he’ll likely have his own m-doses,
and only b50 each.

So with the rules out of the way, let’s have a look at the setting. My heart sinks at first, when I
see a chapter called ”Factions”. I find that many RPGs use “factions” or similar as a replacement
for class in D&D. Every player chooses a faction for the their character, and that choice opens up
special abilities that makes the character distinctive: this clan are the sneaky ones, these the
proud soldiers, for example. Similarly many RPGs use factions in place of D&D’s alignment, this
faction hates that one, those are the crazy ones. All rather simplistic and tiresome.

So its refreshing to see that Coriolis makes things a lot more messy and complex. None are the
“sneaky ones” and many have their own “sneaky” spies or secret police. All are entangled in each
others business too,so for example, the Judicators are a creation of the Zenithian Hegemony,
commisssioned by the Consortium, whose practices are based on Ahlam’s Temple (who if
anything are a rip-off/homage to the Companion’s Guild of Firefly).

And its important to point out that none of the characters need belong to, or side with any of
these factions. I note that only three character concepts (effectively classes) can even opt for the
talent “Faction Standing” that makes them a member of a faction. Overall, its as though the
factions are meant to feel like the competing and compromising political players of real life, and
the PCs more likely to be crushed by, than to influence, their machinations.

I don’t like story-fluff in RPG settings, but I do like a travelogue, and Coriolis delivers in spades,
starting with Coriolis itself, the de-facto new capital of the Third Horizon. But the real gem isn’t
the maps and descriptions, it’s an actual timeline, which explains our adventures start less than
seventy years after the arrival of the Zenithians. Which I like.

I like that the world is so young. Suddenly, everything I’ve read about Factions and Judicators
and so on seems fresh and exciting. Some settings seem to have millennia long histories where
nothing changes except the ebb and flow of evil empires, the technology, the society, stays the
same. This world does have centuries of history too, but like our own world, most of it is
archeology.

I also like that the descriptions of places are littered with side-bar story hooks, and short d6
tables of characters you might meet in your exploration of the station. These are sort of stories
that I find useful, and I know I’ll find them useful because at some point my players will say
“let’s go to X” and I can look it up between sessions and find interesting things for them to do
there.

What impresses me is, in just a few paragraphs for each planet, the writers manage to evoke a
varied ecosystem and a variety of societies on each planet. So Labou is not just a “desert planet”
but an interesting magnetospherical anomaly with the “south” pole permanently pointing
sunwards and reaching temperatures of 600 degrees, but an icy “North” and a vaguely habitable
bit in between. Kua describes not just one city, but many, with a variety of cultures. What
frustrates is the lack of “GM answers.” The story hooks hint at what might be happening, but the
book doesn’t reveal what actually is. That might not usually be a problem, isn’t in more fun for
the GM and players to make up the secret story through play? But I’m aware that Fria Ligan’s
previous English language game, Mutant Year Zero, had a definite meta plot, that was concealed
from players and revealed to GMs. I guess I’m suffering from a sort of GM paralysis, not wanting
to make up my own secrets behind the mystery for fear they might be retconned by a really cool
idea that comes out in a later campaign book.

For example, the introductory scenario, The Statuette of Zhar, leaves many questions
unanswered, and feels a little underwritten. It is sort of railroady, and I don’t think, given that
nature, that it tries hard enough to create encounters that demonstrate the game’s systems to
new players. Far more useful are the two “scenario locations” that follow it. Each of these
describes a place, with maps and plans, describes some of the NPCs one might meet in such a
place and offers a good number of story hooks that might get adventures started.

There is an answer, and a good one, to one of the most frustrating unanswered questions I had –
the nature of “the Emissaries” in the Atlas Compendium. That book too, offers more of the
travelogue that I love. Not more planets, but deeper descriptions of the systems that were
covered in the core book, and what looks like a fun random generation method for the systems
that are not described in detail, so every GM’s Third Horizon will be unique. If you are a GM,
this supplement is a must buy.

In conclusion, the corebook, cards and Compendium do not add up to a perfect package, but it’s
inspiring enough for me to want to run the system and to explore, with my players, the Third
Horizon.

https://yawningportal.org/coriolis-third-horizon/

Coriolis – The Third Horizon is a science-fiction RPG from the Swedish publisher Fria Ligan or
Free League. Coriolis brings together the atmosphere of the Arabian fables One Thousand and
One Night and space-operas, like Star Wars. Coriolis uses the same game system as Mutant Year
Zero RPG.

Coriolis – The Third Horizon is yet another great RPG from Sweden, published by the Fria Ligan
(e. Free League), who also publishes Tales from the Loop and Mutant Year Zero. Fria Ligan has,
just as many Swedish publishers, used Kickstarter with a huge success and recently their latest
game, Forbidden Lands, was funded and reached all stretch goals.
Coriolis – The Third Horizon is a game of discovery, intrigue and old secrets. You take on the
role of an interstellar traveller, and travel between some of the +30 systems that make up the
Third Horizon. You will be set in a world where technology and the spiritual clash. The game
designers describe this game as Arabian Nights in space. If you like games like Star Wars – Edge
of the Empire or the D&D setting Al-Qadim, you’ll probably like Coriolis – The Third Horizon.
Coriolis’ System

Coriolis uses the same game system as Mutant Year Zero, which is a dice pool system using D6.
Attributes and skills lie in the 1-5 range; when you test, you add them together and roll that
number of D6. Sixes are successes, more sixes allow you to use bonus effects. Gear and
equipment can also add dice to the dice pool, so you have a good chance of success. If you’re in
really dire straits, you can also call on the Icons to help you, and re-roll all failed dice. This
comes at a cost, because the game master earns a Darkness point which she can use to make life
harder for your character.

The skill system is relatively easy to grasp, if you have ever played a dice pool system (e.g. World
of Darkness, FFG Star Wars RPG, Degenesis The Rebirth etc.) before, this system comes natural.
Combat is also fluent and fun. Every character has a number of Action Points and actions costs
points, as long as you get a good grasp on the difference between fast, normal and slow action
you’re good to go. Space combat is a bit more complicated, but once you get the hang of it, space
combat can be really fun and interesting.
The Dark between the Stars

Zenith heralded the dawn of a new era – and the Horizon blossomed once again. Three dozen
star systems, linked by fate and the Will of the Icons, wandered together towards a brighter
future. But as the Emissaries arrived, the happy days drew to a close, and the Dark between the
Stars slowly came creeping back.

The Third Horizon is a network of star systems, which is connected via ancient portal fields. The
people of the Horizon uses interstellar space travel for commerce, cultural exchange and to
explore.

After years of war there’s is finally a fragile peace in the Horizon. The arrival of the enigmatic
and mysterious Emissaries has done nothing to cement that peace, on the contrary the Horizon
is in turmoil and conflict is almost unavoidable. At the same time Mystic’s disease or the Blight,
which can both twist the diseased’s mind just as gift it with mystical powers, spreads. And worst
of all, the Dark between the Stars stirs, prophets and astronics see terrible omens in the night
sky.

The Horizon is governed by many different political factions, who constantly try to hoard more
influence and fight for power. Each of these has a different agenda and in many ways one can’t
but think of the factions in Sigil, of the Planescape D&D setting. There are both major and minor
players on this political playing field and this part of Coriolis is an endless supply of story hooks
for game masters.

The Icons, which are a sort of divine deities, play a huge role in everyday life in the Third
Horizon, since almost all believe in their power. There are nine Icons and each of these incur
special talents to characters.
You create more than your character

In Coriolis character creation is a group process. You start with creating a group and decide
upon the group concept. Once you’ve decided on concept you choose a character concept within
that group concept. This means that session 0 is almost mandatory, and I really like that. The
system assumes that every character has a special role within a group, so there are really no
secondary roles to speak of.

Part of creating your group is to create or pick a spaceship. Since flying from one star system to
another is a huge part of the game you want to make sure that your space ship fits your group’s
concept, e.g. a mercenary group would probably own a heavily armed spaceship while free
traders would probably own a freighter.

You also need to agree upon a group talent, your group’s debt (because your spaceship isn’t
entirely yours) a patron and, of course, a nemesis. Each of these come into play and can have
quite the impact on a narrative. Safe for the group talent however, these have little systematic
effect and are mostly story tools.

Once the group is ready, you create your character based on the character concept you chose
within the group concept. There are three sub-concepts within each character concept, you get a
number of attribute and skill points (each point added to an attribute or skill adds one die to
your dice pool) based on your background. Then you add talents to your character and calculate
Mind and Hit Points.

When your character is ready, you’re set to go to explore the many star systems and planets of
the Third Horizon.
Look and feel of Coriolis

Coriolis – The Third Horizon rule book is over 380 pages long and has so many beautiful
images, making it easy to get into the right mood for the game. The layout is also great and the
text is easy to read. The rule book comes with three scenarios that are easy to use.
Conclusion
Coriolis – The Third Horizon certainly is Arabian Nights in Space and so much more. This is a
game of discovery, political intrigue and cultural differences. The system is easy to learn,
accessible and fast-flowing. The only thing I miss from it, is the co-operative nature of Tales
from the Loop.

If your players like space operas, science fiction and middle-eastern influences, this is the right
game for them. If your players are fans of Star Wars or Star Trek, liked Fading Suns RPG, then
you should take a look at this game. If your players are more into strategic battles and prefer
swords over blasters, Coriolis is probably not down their alley.

https://stargazersworld.com/2017/07/17/review-coriolis-the-third-horizon/

Review: Coriolis–The Third Horizon

Stargazer
21-26 minutes

imageIt’s no secret that I enjoyed Fria Ligan’s (aka Free League) Mutant: Year Zero. This game
came to me as a total surprise and when I finally got my hands on it, I was blown away. It had it
all: Simple, but elegant mechanics, a great setting, and extremely high production values.
Coriolis is their attempt to adapt the successful M:Y0 formula to the space opera genre. Did they
succeed? This review is trying to find out.

The Coriolis – The Third Horizon corebook is a 388-paged book with the same high production
values you’ve come to expect from products created by Fria Ligan and Modiphius (which are co-
publishing the english-language version of the game). This review is based on the digital version
of the game which has been provided gratuitously by Modiphius. Thanks again, Chris!

Middle Eastern Space Opera

One thing that immediately sets apart from other space opera games is the setting heavily
inspired by Middle Eastern culture and myths. There’s also a strong element of mysticism and
religion in Coriolis. Praying to the Icons is even part of the game’s mechanics but more about
this later.

image

The setting of Coriolis is the Third Horizon, which consists of 36 star systems which are
connected by mystic portals. In the settings’ past two colony ships were launched towards
Aldebaran. One of the ships, called Zenith, eventually reached its destination, surprised to find
that the worlds were already colonized by humans. The other ship, Nadir, vanished without the
trace. While Zenith and Nadir travelled through the dark void of space, Earth’s powers
discovered one of the ancient gates which connect the Third Horizon and used the portal as a
shortcut. So the Zenithians who left Earth first, actually are the newcomers to the Third
Horizon. The earlier colonist call themselves the Firstcome and have already claimed the worlds
the Zenithians wanted to claim their own. So eventually one group of the Zenithians colonized
the planet Kua, while the remaining ones rebuilt their massive colony ship into a space station:
Coriolis.

image

Conflict and Opportunity

The Third Horizon is a setting full of conflict. The human colonists are divided traditionally
between the more pragmatic Zenithians and the more spiritual Firstcome. There are also various
factions which fight themselves in proxy wars. The setting has more than enough opportunity
for adventure if you’re willing to give its original setting a chance.

Core mechanics
Before exploring some of the more interesting concepts of Coriolis let’s have a look at its
mechanics. Coriolis uses the same “engine” as Mutant: Year Zero, which a couple of tweaks to
make it fit the genre better. Coriolis characters have four attributes: Strength, Agility, Wits, and
Empathy, but this time they don’t also serve as hitpoints like in M:Y0. This time there are actual
hitpoints which are calculated by adding Strength and Agility. Like in M:Y0 there are general
skills each character can use and a set of advanced skills which need special training to be used.

imageThe core mechanic is the same as in M:Y0. When making a check you roll a pool of dice
consisting of the relevant skill and attribute. Each die that comes up as a 6 is counted as a
success. If you use a general skill, you still can make a check even if the skill is ranked 0. In the
case of advanced skills you need to have a skill rank of at least 1 in order to make the check at all.

The “push” mechanic from MY:0 also makes a return. But this time you don’t push yourself but
you pray to one of the Icons instead. Mechanically it works quite similar: you can reroll all the
dice which weren’t a success. But this comes at a price. Whenever you use the power of the Icons
the GM gets a Darkness Point. There are other ways a GM can get these points as well.
Whenever you use one of ancient portals, travel through the void of space, or use mystic powers,
the darkness between the stars wants its toll. These darkness points can then be used by the GM
to change the rules in their favor. Possible DP uses are rerolling the dice, taking the initiative,
forcing a player’s weapon to misfire, etc.

Character and Group Creation

Character creation in Coriolis is way more elaborate than in M:Y0. The main reason is that
characters are meant to live longer than in Fria Ligan’s post-apoc series. In Mutant life is cheap.
You venture too far into the Zone: you die. You push yourself too many times: you die. In
Coriolis you’re stuck with your character much longer. Running a campaign spanning many
years is much more feasible here.

Character creation actually starts with creating a group. Much like in the books and movies
Coriolis was inspired by, the player characters are not just a group of random people travelling
together to kill other people and take their stuff (even though this is a viable group concept). The
player characters could be a Free Traders, Mercenaries, Explorers, Agents, or even Pilgrims.
Each group concept comes with recommended character concepts. If you are playing a group of
Pilgrims for example, it makes sense to have one Preacher in the group, etc. I will talk about the
character concepts later.

image

A group in Coriolis also starts with a spaceship, which the players may actually customize to fit
their needs. Of course they don’t own the ship completely. The characters are in debt and have to
pay off this debt in monthly rates. This automatically creates a lot of opportunities for cool
stories. Last but not least each group also gets to pick a group talent which every member has
access to!

Each group needs a Nemesis and a Patron. You can pick those from a short list or make up your
own – with GM approval of course. What I really like about Coriolis’ group creation is that it
solves the age-old question of how to get the party together. It also makes sure everyone is on
the same page and they also have someone who can provide them with missions and someone
who tries to foil their plans.

Ok, let’s have a look at creating characters. You start by choosing your background, picking your
origin and your upbringing. The latter determines your starting attribute points, skill points,
reputation and starting capital. Privileged characters have less attribute points than Plebeians
but have more skills and a higher starting capital for example. You can also opt for playing
humanites, who are genetically modified (aka biosculpted) humans. These characters can not be
from Privileged upcoming and their Reputations are halved, but they get access to certain talents
later.

Concepts and sub-concepts

One of the most important choices is your concept and sub-concept. The concepts work a bit like
M:Y0’s roles. The concept provides you with a list of concept skills, starting talents, a fitting
personal problem, starting gear and modifiers to attributes and/or Reputation.

The concepts in Coriolis are Artist (Courtesan, Musician, Poet), Data Spider (Analyst,
Correspondent, Data Djinn), Fugitive (Criminal, Mystic, Revolutionary), Negotiator (Agitator,
Diplomat, Peddler), Operative (Assassin, Guardsman/-woman, Spy), Pilot (Driver, Fighter Pilot,
Freighter Pilot), Preacher (Ascetic, Missionary, Prophet), Scientist (Archaeologist, Medicurg,
Technician), Ship Worker (Deckhand, Dock Worker, Engineer), Soldier (Legionnaire,
Mercenary, Officer), and last but not least Trailblazer (Colonist, Prospector, Scout). The
available sub-concepts are listed in paranthesis. The concepts allow for basically every character
you might come up with and are definitely not as restricting as classes in other games. But they
also provide some guidance and inspiration if you’re unsure about what kind of character you
want to play.

image

I really like that Coriolis provides a lot more freedom when it comes to character creation
compared to the Mutant series. In the Mutant games things are way more focused, while in
Coriolis you have a lot of options to choose from. Of course Mutant’s focus has its advantages,
especially for the GM. Mutant is almost a prep-free game (Check out my M:Y0 review for more
details). Coriolis is in comparison a way more traditional game. That means the GM has to do
the heavy lifting himself. But the group creation helps to alleviate some of this by solving some
of the common problems.

The last step of character creation is picking your Icon. Each character was born under a certain
sign which will grant you with a special Icon talent. Each icon is also tied to one of the game’s
skills. For example you pray to The Lady of Tears when you attempt to get better results in your
Medicurg skill, or you call out to The Judge during ranged combat. Mechanically it’s all the
same, but it’s great for narration.

Talents
In many roleplaying games talents help to give your character a certain edge, something to set
them apart from their fellow men. Coriolis is no difference. I list a couple of talents below as
examples.

A FRIEND IN EVERY PORT (Agents Group Talent)

You can find a useful contact in a new place. The contact can
protect you, lend you gear, or vouch for you with the local
rulers. The GM gets 1 DP per use. One use per session for
the whole group (not once per PC).

THE JUDGE’S TALENT (Icon Talent)

You deal an automatic critical injury when your attack hits,
regardless of whether the attack penetrated cover and armor.
Any other effects from the attack are resolved as usual.
(Editor’s Note: Each use of an Icon talent grants the GM one Darkness Point.)
 RUGGED (General Talent)
You are used to extreme weather and other natural hazards
(cold, storms, strong gravity, fire, etc.). The talent counts as
“armor” with an Armor Rating of 3 against natural damage.

RESISTANT (Humanite Talent)

Your body can endure extreme weather and other natural
hazards. The talent counts as “armor” with an Armor Rating
of 6 against natural damage. You can combine Resistant with
Rugged, for a total Armor Rating of 9 against natural damage.

CYBERNETIC MUSCLES (Cybernetic Implant)

Muscles enhanced with ceramic fibers make you an extremely
fast and strong runner. Your Movement Rate is increased by
4 meters per fast action (cannot be combined with Sprinter or
Quick). The damage of your unarmed attacks is increased to 2.
Cost: 7,000 birr.

BEAUTIFUL (Bionic Scuplts)

Your beauty is breathtaking. Whether by classical standards
or tasteful originality, you turn heads wherever you go. Your
biosculpted looks give you a +2 to manipulation whenever
they can affect the situation. People with the appropriate
sexual orientation tend to fall in love with you. If you are in
a place with different ideals of beauty, the GM may decide
to ignore your modifier.
Cost: 25,000 birr.

STOP (Mystic Power)

You can stop an NPC from performing an action she otherwise
would have. It must be something subtle, that can be
attributed to simple forgetfulness. Typical examples would be
that the NPC lets the PCs pass a roadblock without checking
their papers, or forgets her keys somewhere. The power
cannot be used to stop an incoming attack.

image

Rules, rules, more rules

What I really liked about Fria Ligan’s Mutant series (sorry, I can’t help myself comparing
Coriolis and Mutant), is that it’s a very rules-light ruleset. It takes mere minutes to explain
basically everything a player must know. In Coriolis things are slightly more elaborate.
Character creation has more steps, combat has a couple more options, there’s a very detailed
space combat system, etc.
While I am sure some people love the added complexity, I have to admit I preferred the more
basic approach Mutant took. I guess it’s the problem with most space opera games.

Having said that I actually like how Coriolis treats space combat, even though it’s more complex
than I hoped for. Each space combat turn is divided in five phases: Order Phase (in which the
captain chooses his orders secretly), Engineer Phase (in which the engineer of the ship
distributes energy to the ship’s various systems), Pilot Phase (in which the pilot decides on how
to maneuver their ship), Sensor Phase (in which sensor operators lock on targets, break locks or
do data attacks), and finally the Attack Phase (in which weapons and countermeasures are
fired). Phew! That’s quite a lot of stuff to do in just one turn. But the system makes sure that
everyone get’s something to do, and if done right, it should feel more like operating a real ship
than just throwing the dice a couple of times. I especially like that the orders the ship captains
(usually the party’s captain and the GM) decided on are written down secretly. It’s just another
touch which could make space combat more interesting and a bit less predictable.

Guns, Guns, Guns!

imageCoriolis has an extensive section on Weapons & Equipment, which contains everything
from everyday items to high-tech weapons and cybernetics. Like in many other space opera
games, Coriolis uses technology tiers, but instead of a something like Traveller’s Tech Levels,
only three tiers are used: primitive, ordinary, and advanced. In addition to that there are also
artifacts left over from the species who built the portals. Primitive tech is what you get on
backwater worlds, remains from the stuff the Firstcome brought with them, adapted to local
enviroments and materials. Ordinary tech is what you can get mass-produced on most worlds of
the Third Horizon. Advanced tech is at the high end of what’s available.

Some technology is also restricted (which means the characters need certain permits to obtain
it), or only available from certain factions. Overall I’d compare the tech level of the Third
Horizon to what you know from space opera TV shows like Firefly or Babylon 5. There’s
antigravity, holographic displays, etc. Weapons use rockets or magnetic-accelerated slugs or
even superheated matter. The list of weapons and armor is quite extensive. There are even Battle
Exos, which are basically Coriolis’ version of Warhammer 40,000’s power armor.

The Third Horizon

There are space opera games where the mechanics portion of the corebook is pretty generic,
with only the chapters on the setting which really focus on the worlds you are going to play in.
This is definitely not the case with Coriolis. The setting permeates the whole book. It’s present in
the artwork, the layout, the sidebars, and even in the mechanics. Small touches like referring to
Earth as Al-Ardha make all the difference. The Third Horizon setting feels different than most
other space opera games I’ve read. The closest I could compare it with might be Fading Suns.
While the inspiration in western media like Firefly, Revelation Space, and Alien are obvious, the
Middle Eastern culture gives it an intriguing twist.

I also think that the introduction of the Icons and the fact that praying to them has a mechanical
effect, was a great idea. Sure, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it adds another element of
mystery – as is “The Dark Between The Stars” which is described by the book as “the
unspeakable, corrupting force at work in the intersection between civilization and the endless
nothingness of space”. Is this a real force or just human’s fear of the unknown? Regardless it has
a real mechanical effect.

Emissaries, Mystics, and Distress Calls

Giving you a long descripton of what the various worlds and factions of the Third Horizon look
like is not what I want to do today. Half the fun of reading Coriolis’ setting chapters is exploring
all this on your own. But I want to talk a bit about what Fria Ligan came up with to make the
setting exciting for adventure.

As I mentioned earlier, there are various Factions which influence the lives of the people living
in the Third Horizon, some of which have come together as Council Factions on Coriolis station.
Think of these of Coriolis’ equivalent to Babylon 5’s Council of Non-Aligned Worlds. The
Factions and the Council could be the perfect source of adventure if you’re into scheming,
politics, and the work of spies.

image

Recently the Emissaries appeared – spectres from another world, the Icons incarnate, or
descendants of the Portal Builders? It’s another of Coriolis’ mysteries. Or what about the
Mystics? Ordinary people suddenly and randomly developed mystical powers. In addition to
that the whole Third Horizon is littered with ancient ruins. Who were the Portal Builders? Are
there any of their artifacts left to uncover? There’s ample opportunity for a group of treasure
hunters or explorers.

The appearance of the Emissaries caused the Zalosian conflict. One of the Emissaries called
himself the Judge incarnate, which caused the Order of the Pariah to threaten leaving the
council. They didn’t but closed their home system, Zalos, to foreign traffic. What’s happening in
the closed down system? How can Pilgrims now get to the pilgramage sites beyond Zalos?

And there’s the Taoan Distress Call. Tsubari on Taoan is attacked by an unknown enemy. The
rescue mission was a failure with the majority of the forces destroyed. What has happened on
Taoan? Is it a sign of things to come, of a larger danger lurking in the dark void?
What Coriolis gets right is to present a universe full of great opportunities for all kinds of
adventures. There are game settings out there which look very cool and intriguing at first look,
but it’s actually quite hard for GMs to come up with interesting adventures. Each time I leaf
through the corebook I find new cool ideas and interesting hooks which I have missed before.

Beasts & Djini

One of my favorite chapters of Coriolis is the bestiary. The game’s creators came up with a
couple of very exciting and original beasts you as GM can throw as your players. There are semi-
intelligences which can also be played as player characters. Semi-intelligences are species which
show several signs of intelligence (like speech, tribality, etc.) but who are not considered true
intelligent species by the common scholar. There are the Beast of Horizon which include
common beasts and biosculpted descendants of animals humans brought with them.

image

Darkmorphs are widely feared creatures which are said to be spawned by The Dark Between The
Stars. Thinks of creatures the mind of H.P. Lovecraft might have created. They are dark, twisted
and have abilities which can activated by the GM by using Dark Points. Below is an example for
such an ability:

NIGHT VEIL: The darkbound can affect nearby minds with its own darkness. This works like
a mystical attack and costs 1 DP. The victim will experience the world as dark, cold and surreal.
Seeing, thinking and acting becomes harder (-2 to OBSERVATION, all advanced skills and
initiative), unless the victim wins an opposed roll using empathy (no skill) against the mystic
power score of the darkbound.

Constructs are basically robots, either new ones, or the ones left behind by the Portal Builders.
Spirits and Sarcofagoi are another manifestation of The Dark Between The Stars and also have
abilities which can be activated by DPs. Some of these beings are incorporeal like ghosts and can
do things which are usually beyond what you expect from creatures in a space opera setting. A
sidebar actually recommends that you can easily just not use them for your game if you deem
them too supernatural.

Last but not least this chapter lists a couple of common diseases and mind memes which could
possibly afflict your characters. I especially love the idea of mind memes, which remind me of
cases of mass hysteria not unknown of in our history.

A GM’s Job
The gamemastering section of Coriolis mainly gives common tips on how to run games and to
use Darkness Points in game. There is also a handy table with a list of common NPCs with
attributes and skills. There’s also an introductory adventure called “The Statuette Of Zhar”
which should help to introduce the players to both the setting and the rules. There’s ample
opportunity for roleplaying and at least one opportunity for combat. In addition there are two
scenario locations you can use in your own scenarios: a jungle on Kua and a cantina on Coriolis
station.
Before wrapping this review up, I should mention that the corebook also contains a character
sheet, space combat map, spaceship sheet, and deckplans for various spaceships and a space
station. There’s also a multi-paged index.

Conclusion
Coriolis is definitely a very intriguing space opera roleplaying game with a fresh and original
setting. There are some religious and supernatural elements which might turn off a few people,
but if you can look beyond that (or even embrace it), there’s a lot to love about Coriolis. In
addition to that it’s a very gorgeous book which is a pleasure to leaf through. But this comes at a
price. Because of the colored backgrounds (the sideabrs are white text on a grey texture) the
readability and printer-friendliness suffers. M:Y0 and Tales From The Loop (which I will write
about at a later date) both have a much clearer and more printer-friendly layout. The mechanics
in Coriolis are not that crunchy and should work very well at the game table even though the
system is not as rules-light as the one in M:Y0. Is Coriolis a good space opera roleplaying game?
Yes. Is it a better game than Mutant: Year Zero? No. But it’s still an extremely well-made game.
It was a pleasure reading it, and I can’t wait to actually play it!

You can buy Coriolis – Third Horizon either from the Modiphius online store, DriveThruRPG, or
at your favorite local dealer. The core rulebook will set you back about €45 in print (hardcover
book) and €23 as a PDF copy. There’s also a free quickstart booklet available.

Michael Wolf is a German games designer and enthusiast best known for his English language
role-playing games blog, Stargazer's World, and for creating the free rules-light medieval fantasy
adventure game Warrior, Rogue & Mage. He has also worked as an English translator on the
German-language Dungeonslayers role-playing game and was part of its editorial team. In
addition to his work on Warrior, Rogue & Mage and Dungeonslayers, he has created several self-
published games and also performed layout services and published other independent role-
playing games such as A Wanderer's Romance, Badass, and the Wyrm System derivative
Resolute, Adventurer & Genius, all released through his imprint Stargazer Games.
Professionally, he works as a video technician and information technologies specialist.
Stargazer's World was started by Michael in August 2008.

http://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/2018/03/under-middle-eastern-stars.html

he Third Horizon is both a place—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. For centuries the Third Horizon has been
isolated, all contact having been 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.
In the time that followed, the peoples of the Third Horizon turned inward and became
distrustful, contact between worlds declining as their technology regressed. Then mere decades
ago, the Zenith arrived. Together with its sister ship, the Nadir, the colony ship Zenith had left
Earth centuries before, heading for Aldebaran. Whilst the Nadir disappeared into the Dark
Space between stars, to the surprise of both the Zenith’s crew and its passengers, they found the
world and those worlds connected to it colonised—explorers from Earth had found the portals
and colonised the First Horizon and the Second Horizon and then the Third Horizon in the
centuries since the ship had departed Earth. The arrival of the Zenith proved a catalyst for the
inhabitants of the Third Horizon as contact was once again re-established with system after
system, colony after colony and relations restored. Even as the colonists from the Zenith settled
one world and much of the crew cannibalised the Zenith and rebuilt it as the Coriolis, a massive
star station where all could come to meet and trade, the arrival of the Zenith divided the
inhabitants of the Third Horizon. Those that were there before her arrival are the Firstcome,
whilst those aboard the Zenith are the Zenithians. This is perhaps the primary divide between
the peoples of the Third Horizon, but there are others, such as how the Nine Icons should be
worshipped; distrust of the Humanites, those Humans who have been biosculpted or altered to
adapt to the extreme environments of some worlds; and more recently, how to treat the recently
arrived Emissaries, faceless aliens who rose from the gas giant Xene who might be spectres from
another world, the actual Icons, or the Portal Builders. This is exacerbated by one of the
Emissaries claiming to be an Icon! Further, there have been growing reports of people
possessing Mystical abilities said to be the province of the Icons themselves—seeing the future
or events on other worlds, conjuring pyrotechnics, and more… Are these Mystics a sign of
heretical evolution or the meddling of the Emissaries?

The Third Horizon is not dominated by one government, but a council of factions which meets
on Coriolis. The factions include the Consortium, the major corporations of the Third Horizon;
the Zenithian Hegemony, the descendants of the captains' family aboard the Zenith; the Free
League, a union of free traders; the mercenaries of the Legion; the secretive Draconites; the
divine iconcrates of the Order of the Pariah; the courtesans, companions, and assassins of
Ahlam’s Temple; and the Church of the Icons. Neither the criminal Syndicate nor the nomad
fleets of the Nomad Federation have seats at the council, though the Nomad Federation has
observer status and the Emissaries have demanded a seat on the council. As distrust grows and
escalates into proxy wars between the factions—and even within the factions—trade continues
between worlds, the devout undertake pilgrimages, xeno-archaeologists search for the secrets of
the Portal Builders, and there lurks something out there, in the Dark Space. A fear, a rumour,
something…
This is the setting for Coriolis: The Third Horizon, a Science Fiction roleplaying originally
published by published by Järnringen and since redesigned and re-released by Free League
Publishing. Published in English following a successful Kickstarter campaign by Modiphius
Entertainment, Coriolis: The Third Horizon is described by its publisher as ‘Arabian Nights in
Space’, but its Middle Eastern feel is joined by that of Babylon 5 and Firefly—though the latter
with Middle Eastern rather than Chinese influences—amongst other Science Fiction insirations.
It is a far future setting in which the old is set against the new—the Firstcome versus the
Zenithians; mysticism prevails and the Icons are worshiped by all; and the Dark between the
Stars waits as a corruptive force somewhere between the depths of space and civilisation. Faster
Than Light travel is impossible, but travel between star systems is achieved through the portals.
Even then, this involves extensive calculations—which takes hours and is expensive—and the
portals can only be traversed whilst in stasis lest the traveller suffer severe mental trauma.
Interstellar travel is not undertaken lightly and is often done in convoys for safety and to keep
costs down. Similarly Faster Than Light communication is impossible, so data and stories are
carried between systems and then disseminated. Within systems the infonet is easily accessed,
but not always trusted. Anti-grav technology is available, but often expensive to maintain.
Personal weapons technology amounts to rocket guns, known as Vulcan guns, magnetic
accelerator weapons, and thermal weapons which fire slugs of superheated matter, whilst
advanced melee weaponry is powered or made of liquid mercurium. Cybernetic implants—body
armour, built-in weapons, language modulators, and more—are not uncommon, as are
biosculpts, though there are those who believe the human form to be sacrosanct and to alter it
would be blasphemous.

Character creation in Coriolis: The Third Horizon begins not with the character, but the group,
specifically, the group concept. By default, the player characters are humans, though modified
humans or humanites are available. They will own and operate a spaceship, whether as free
traders, mercenaries, explorers, agents, or pilgrims. There are further broken down into
subconcepts, for example, Corsairs, Rebels, or Tactical Teams for the Mercenaries concept. Each
concept suggests roles for the group as a whole and possible roles for the player characters as
well a patron and a nemesis for the group. Several suggestions are given as who this patron and
this nemesis might be, all of them potential NPCs who will tie the player characters into the
setting. The group concept also provides a talent that everyone in the group has access to. There
are several to choose from for each concept. For example, ‘Quickest Route’ for the Free Trader
concept halves travel time and reduces the number of encounters trip, but earns the Game
Master a Darkness Point, whilst with the ‘Assassin’s Guild’ for the Agents concept, players roll
their Infiltration skill instead of Melee when attacking an enemy unseen. Each player character
will have a role aboard the group’s spaceship.

As to individual characters, some eleven are given—Artist, Data Spider, Fugitive, Negotiator,
Operative, Pilot, Preacher, Scientist, Ship Worker, Soldier, and Trailblazer. Each includes three
sub-concepts, so for Data Spider there is Analyst, Correspondent, and Data Djinn, and each
gives a key attribute and concept skills plus options for dress and appearance, Talents, personal
problems, relationships with the other player characters, and begining gear. A character’s
upbringing—Plebeian, Stationary, or Privileged—determines how many points a player has to
assign to a character’s attributes and skills, as well as his starting reputation and capital. Besides
a personal Talent and a group Talent, each character receives a Talent for their favoured Icon.
For example, the Messenger’s Talent enables a character to make someone obey them, including
both player characters and NPCs without the need to roll the Manipulation skill. Lastly, a
character has four Attributes—Strength, Agility, Wits, and Empathy—and a mix of General and
Advanced skills. General skills, like Infiltration and Observation, can be used by anyone and can
be used by rolling a raw attribute roll if a character lacks the skill. Advanced skills require
training and cannot be rolled for unless the character has the skill.

The Mystical Powers also fall under the Talents group, but require a character to have the Mystic
Powers skill and make skill rolls in order to use them. They include Clairvoyant, Intuition, and
Telekinesis as well as Exorcism, Mind Walker, and Stop. Like many other Talents, their use also
awards the Game Master a Darkness Point.

Our sample character is Rufaidah ‘Mule’ Maloof, a deckhand who doubles as the ship’s engineer.
A slummer from the Cellar on Coriolis, she had little going for her apart from her fists and that
she could work. Work began early, working for Hassan the Scrap, a merchant who dealt in scrap
and broken technology, sorting the broken devices and items and readying them for sale. Over
time, her fingers found that she could fix some of them and Hassan could sell them, and so she
was no longer sorting scrap, but fixing it. He even got her books and she got better and better. In
time, she came to see him as an uncle rather than her greedy boss. When her parents were killed
by crossfire in a Syndicate war, Hassan not only agreed to take her in, but also demanded that
she marry him. Rufaidah took one look at the old man and floored him with a punch. That day,
she decided to get out of the Cellar and off Coriolis. She took her books and she shipped out as a
deckhand. She has no plans to be anything else.

Rufaidah ‘Mule’ Maloof

Concept: Ship Worker (Deckhand)
Appearance: Pursed lips
Clothing: Leather jacket
Personal Problem: Short fuse
Upbringing: Plebeian
Icon: The Lady of Tears
Reputation: 1

Strength 4 Agility 3 Wits 3 Empathy 3

Hit Points 7 Mind Points 6
General Skills: Force 2, Manipulation 1, Melee Combat 1
Advanced Skills: Technology 3

Talents: Quickest Route (Free Traders), The Lady of Tear’s Talent, Zero-G Training

Equipment: Vacuum Sealer, Dura Knife, Arrash, Exo-Shell, Hyper Rope

Relationships to the other player characters

Qasim (Scientist) treats you like a skavara
Faridah (Soldier) plots to hurt your best friend. You must find out how.
Esam (Negotiator) is your closest friend. You can talk about anything with each other.
Hanbal (Pilot) is someone you would follow into death, if needed.

Mechanically, Coriolis: The Third Horizon uses the same system as Mutant: Year Zero –
Roleplaying at the End of Days, but very much a stripped down version of that system. It
employs dice pools of six-sided dice, typically either equal to an attribute plus skill or just an
attribute if a player character does not have a skill and the skill is a general skill. Bonus dice may
be awarded for use of the right gear and for the situation. All a player has to do is roll results of
six on the dice and only one is required for a character to succeed. This is counted as a limited
success, but results of two or more success unlock bonus effects which can be purchased using
these successes, especially in combat—on the ground or in space. Three or more successes
indicate a critical result.

Now if a player does not roll any sixes and the player character fails or needs to roll more
successes, then he can pray to the Icons. This allows a player to reroll all dice which did not
come six. This can only be done once per skill roll and grants the Game Master a Dark Point.
Bonuses to this roll are available if the player character has prayed at a shrine or church
beforehand.

Now what is important in these rolls and tests is that they are framed around narrative control.
So when a player wants his character to do something, he describes what his character is doing
and what he wants to achieve with the roll. If enough successes are rolled and the character
succeeds, then the player describes the outcome. Similarly, if the character fails and needs to
send a Prayer to the Icons, the player details which Icon the character is making the prayer to
and what the prayer consists of.

For example, the Zephira’s Tears is in the Kua System, making a delivery to one of the
prospecting stations deep in the system’s asteroid belt. The ship has been jumped by a pirate
ship on the prowl out of Surna and taken a hit from an ion cannon. The pirates get a good hit on
the Zephira’s Tears and damages the ship’s thrusters. Despite the damage the pilot manages to
slip the ship deeper into the asteroid field and go silent. Rufaidah ‘Mule’ Maloof’s player knows
that she will have to go out to fix the ship, so tells the Game Master that Rufaidah will pray at the
ship’s shrine before undertaking the Extra-Vehicular Activity. If she needs to make a Prayer to
the Icons during the task, then the Game Master says that she will grant Rufaidah a +1 bonus.

Rufaidah suits up in her Exo-Suit and makes her way out of the ship and along the hull to the
damaged thrusters, toolkit in hand. Her player describes Rufaidah’s action as kneeling down
beside the thruster and working to clear the nozzle, so that the ship can maneuvre once again.
The Game Master explains that although Rufaidah will not be rolling for whether she can fix the
malfunctioning thrusters, but for how long it will take. Rufaidah’s player puts together the pool
of dice he will be rolling—Wits and Technology, with a +2 bonus for her advanced toolkit. This
gives the player eight dice to roll. He rolls one success. It is enough, but as the pilot begins to test
the thrusters, the pirate ship hove into view… The pilot squawks over the radio, “‘Mule’, the
pirates! They’ve found us. Get inside now!”

This is a new situation and Rufaidah’s player has to describe her actions and put together a
new dice pool. This will be Agility and Force, together with a bonus of +2 for her Zero-G Talent
for a total of seven dice. Her action is described as charging across the hull and throwing herself
into the airlock, so that the Zephira’s Tears can get under way before the pirate ship can
manoeuvre into a firing position. The Game Master agrees, but says that this will require three
successes. Rufaidah’s player rolls his seven dice and gets only one success! This is a disaster.
Quickly, Rufaidah’s player has her offer up a Prayer to the Icons, the Lady of Tears. He describes
this as, “I call upon the judgement of Lady of Tears for my safe passage into the ship so that she
may ferry us all to safety.” The Game Master likes this and lets Rufaidah’s player have the +1
bonus from giving prayers in the shrine. Ordinarily, he would have six dice to reroll for making
the prayer, having already rolled one success. The prayer brings this up to seven again.
Fortunately, he rolls two further successes and Rufaidah is back inside the Zephira’s Tears.
Rufaidah’s player narrates this as, “Rufaidah charges over the hull and as the darkness of the
pirate ship looms into view, she launches herself into the airlock and slams the outer door shut.
She yells into the comlink, ‘I’m in! I’m in! Getting moving. Now!’”

If the player has influence in the game in narrating what his character does and what happens
next, then the tool that the Game Master has at her disposal is the Dark Point. Reflecting the
influence of the Dark Between the Stars, the Game Master earns these whenever a player
character offers a Prayer to the Icons and when certain Talents are used. They can then be spent
to allow an NPC to reroll or grab the initiative, force a player character to empty his weapon’s
clip or the weapon to suffer a misfire, bringing in reinforcements, up to inflicting a Dark
Madness on the player characters.

The rules for combat use the same mechanics to present a fast , if potentially deadly system.
Each turn a character has three Action Points to spend on actions. Slow Actions, such as firing
an aimed shot or administering first aid require all three Action Points. Normal actions like
taking a standard shot or reloading take two, whilst taking a snapshot or diving for cover takes
only one. This is in addition to free actions like talking or defending oneself. Spending these
Action Points in this way gives a strong narrative flow to the action and the narrative during
play.

Where the system becomes deadly is when a player rolls multiple successes as he can use them
to buy critical damage effects. Every weapon has a critical effect value, the number of extra
successes needed to roll for critical damage, for example, a Vulcan pistol has two, but an
Accelerator rifle has one. Any successes leftover can even be spent to increase the severity of the
critical effect, allowing a re-roll on the critical damage table. Dislike the critical effect rolled?
Then spend and re-roll again and again to get the one you do! Other effects which can be
purchased using extra successes include increasing damage, striking fear into a target, raising
initiative order, disarming, and grappling.

In melee, a defender gets to react and his player can roll to get successes which will negate the
attacker’s successes. In addition, a character can wear armour, which other than taking cover
will be their primary means of protection—especially in ranged combat. The deadliness of the
system is not assuaged by the armour mechanic, which only stops damage when successes are
rolled for its Armour Rating, for example, an Armour Rating of one for a flight suit and four for
light armour. Further, characters will only have a few Hit Points, typically five or six, and no
more than ten. That said, being reduced to zero Hit Points only puts a character down rather
than killing them, it taking a fatal critical hit to do that. Plus of course, the player characters are
likely to have access to advanced medicine.

Continuing the previous example, Rufaidah ‘Mule’ Maloof has managed to make her way back
into the airlock of the Zephira’s Tears and everyone sat round the table thinks that she is safe.
Unfortunately for Rufaidah and his player, the Game Master has a handful of Dark Points in
front of her and decides to spend one to bring some reinforcements into play. The pirates sent
out an exo-team to board the ship and one of them has managed to reach the airlock just as
Rufaidah is about to close and lock it. The pirate reaches in and grasps at Rufaidah, trying to
stop her shutting the airlock. Both Rufaidah’s player and the Game Master need to roll initiative
on a six-sided die each, but the Game Master states that since this is a surprise attack, so the
pirate gets a +2 bonus to the roll. The Game Master rolls 3 and adding two, gets 5. Rufaidah’s
player rolls 6!

Rufaidah gets to act and her player decides that Rufaidah will attempt to push the pirate out of
the airlock. This will be Close Combat, a Normal Action, whilst her remaining Action Point will
used to parry whatever attack the pirate makes. This uses up all three of Rufaidah’s Action
Points. His player gets roll five dice for Rufaidah’s Strength and Melee, to which the Game
Master allows him to add another two for Rufaidah’s Zero-G Training, so seven dice. The pirate
will be defending with a Strength of 3 and Melee of 2. Rufaidah’s player rolls two successes. The
Game Master rolls two success and fends off Rufaidah’s push attempt. For the pirate, the Game
Master decides that he wants to clear Rufaidah away from the outer airlock dock so that he can
climb in. The Game Master rolls three success, but Rufaidah’s player rolls two, cancelling two of
the three out. Rufaidah is knocked back and the pirate eases his way into the airlock.

Round two. Rufaidah’s player states that she will draw her dura knife (Fast Action) and
attempt to use it to drive the pirate out of the airlock (Normal Action). Again, Rufaidah’s player
will have seven dice to roll and comes up with three success! This might not be enough, so
Rufaidah will offer up a quick prayer to the Icons, muttering under her breath that a pirate in
the airlock is not ensuring a safe journey. Her player rolls the remaining four dice which did not
come up a six and gets another two successes for a total of five. The pirate fails to parry and rolls
only one success for the armour of his Exo-Shell, so Rufaidah’s player has four. One of these he
uses to confirm that Rufaidah hits with her dura blade with another two being used to get a
critical strike and a roll on the critical table. He keeps the fourth success in case he needs to
increase the severity of the attack and get a reroll on the table. He rolls ‘d66’ and reads each
separately rather than adding them. The first roll is 16, which is a bruised lower leg. Rufaidah’s
player decides that this is not quite the effect he wants, so he increases its severity and rerolls.
This time, the result is 35 or a gouged eye. This stuns the pirate and reduces his Ranged Combat
and Observation. Her player describes this as Rufaidah’s dura knife cracking the faceplate of the
pirate’s Exo-Shell and the shards peppering his eye. Then says, “Okay. As the pirate stumbles
back stunned, I have time to shut the airlock’s outer door and then grab the pirate’s Vuclan rifle.
When he comes round, I will be pointing it at him. We have a prisoner!”

As part of setting up the player character group and deciding on the concept, the players also
need to decide on what ship they should operate. This primarily consists of selecting a ship to fit
the group’s concept, for example, a light or medium freighter for free traders, a flying circus for
pilgrims, courier ship for agents, and so on. Then the players get to build it by selecting modules
according to its size, including the type of cabins, medlab, weapon systems, and even a chapel,
which is where the ship’s crew will worship the Icons. Many of these modules provide bonuses,
the Medlab doing so for the Mediurgy skill, as does Chapel for when praying to the Icons and
when travelling via the portals. A ship aso gets a problem which the Game Master can activate by
spending a Dark Point and three features to further individualise it. Various ready-to-play ships
are given in the book, including deckplans.

Although, Coriolis: The Third Horizon is a relatively light game in terms of its mechanics, where
it is complex—and understandably so—is in handling space combat. Just like the Star Trek III
Starship Combat Roleplaying Game published by FASA for use with its Star Trek roleplaying
game and the more recent Ashen Stars from Pelgrane Press, the player characters take positions
aboard their ship and then act in the specific five phases of a round in space combat. So in the
Order Phase, the captain secretly writes orders which will grant bonuses to subsequent phases,
then in the Engineer Phase , the engineer assigns energy to the various systems aboard the ship.
In the Pilot Phase, the pilot maneuvres the ship; in the Sensor Phase, the sensor operator
attempts to get or break a target lock, launch electronic data or meme attacks, or even operate
stealth technology, if the ship has it; and lastly, the gunners get to open fire in the Attack Phase.
It is a set of mechanics designed to keep everyone involved and the fact that the ship is also the
player characters’ home, enhances this aspect.

A good half of Coriolis: The Third Horizon is devoted to detailing the setting of the Third
Horizon. This covers the history of the setting in more depth and the current state of the Third
Horizon as well as looking at each of the many factions operating in the region. Not just the
major factions like the Zenith Hegemony or the Church of the Icons, but the minor ones too,
such as the various intelligence and mercenary agencies, travellers and space caravans, spy
nests, and so on. Further, lots of supplementary information accompanies this information, so
there are lots of lists of companies, and NPCs, and so on. This continues throughout the
descriptions of the culture, everyday life, and faith of the Third Horizon into the lengthy
descriptions of the Coriolis Station and the nearby planets of Kua System. Many of these lists
amount to no more than names, but they add easy verisimilitude to the setting.

Perhaps the shortest section is devoted to the ‘Beasts and Djinni’ of the setting. It includes some
semi-intelligences, the Badger-like scavengers, the Skavara, and the tiny, Lemur-like Ekilibri, for
example, most of which are available as player character races should the Game Master allow it.
In general though, this is an option and not really the focus of the game. The section also details
several threats, such as the Darkmorphs, creatures from the Dark Between the Stars; Constructs,
artificial intelligences from the distant past or straight out of the design laboratories; and spirits
and sarcofigoi, including Djinn, Bokor, and Hazared—the latter inflicting nightmares on those it
possesses and obviously inspired by something...

Advice for the Game Master is brief and to the point. It does highlight how the Dark Between the
Stars represents something that nobody can agree on across the Third Horizon, but everyone
fears and hopes the Icons will protect them against. There is an existential aspect to this malign
something, whatever it is, and perhaps here is where Coriolis: The Third Horizon veers into
Cosmic Horror, though this is not explicitly stated. In terms of support for the Game Master, the
book includes a mini-adventure, ‘The Statuette of Zhar’, a MacGuffin hunt aboard Coriolis the
station, plus a couple of scenario locations which the Game Master can develop into something
of her own.

So what is missing? The obvious omission is a guide to names for the inhabitants of the Third
Horizon, which would have been helpful for players and Game Master alike. The other omission
is a bibliography, a selection of suggested reading and thus inspiration for the Game Master.
Some sources are mentioned, but it definitely feels as if there should be more. Although there is
an extended example of spaceship combat, it is a pity that there are not examples of extended
play or character generation. Also, the scenario is a bit short, just two sessions in length, at the
very most. It will certainly leave the Game Master wanting more and of a longer length.

Physically, Coriolis: The Third Horizon needs an edit here and there, but is well written and
beautifully presented, with large text boxes placed against a black background. The artwork
though, is stunning, very easily imparting the feel of the setting. The cartography is also very
good, the deck plans of the Coriolis in particular being nicely done and easily imparting a sense
of scale. In addition to the core rules, an Icons Deck is also available, which can be used to
foretell the future, create scenario seeds, determine combat initiative, simulate dice rolls,
manage your ship crew positions, and more. The range of artwork on the cards is limited, but
the deck is a handy tool.

In drawing from sources other than occidental inspirations, Coriolis: The Third Horizon feels
not a little like the roleplaying game, Fading Suns, and the setting of Frank Herbert’s Dune
series. Certainly there are parallels in the mysticism present in the setting of the Third Horizon
and in the mystic powers also present, but significantly, only just emerging rather than being
prevalent. Both settings are rife with factions, just as Coriolis: The Third Horizon is, but unlike
in Coriolis: The Third Horizon, there are factions both settings that stand out as good and stand
out as bad. Further, Coriolis: The Third Horizon lacks a central ruling figure, an emperor, if you
will. Of course, no faction in the roleplaying game is exactly good or exactly bad, which has
certain effects on the game. One is that the game feels rather flat, almost monotone in its setting
and culture, but delve beneath the surface and the rivalries between and within the factions are
rife and thus rich pickings for the Game Master to develop into scenarios and adventures. The
other is to avoid the danger of relying on stereotypes when drawing upon another culture to
detail the various elements and NPCs of the Third Horizon.

Coriolis: The Third Horizon presents a rich and detailed setting before using its simple
mechanics and narrative tools—the group concept, the ship design, relationship to the Icons,
player input over their character’s actions and their outcome, and so on—to pull the players and
their characters into the setting. It also presents inumerable hooks and descriptions which the
Game Master can develop into adventures of her own. Yet as good as the game feels and looks,
there remains the issue of the game’s tagline of ‘Arabian Nights in Space’ and just how much it
truly lives up to that. Certainly, the setting of the Third Horizon draws deeply from the Middle
East for its inspiration and certainly, mysticism and reverence for the spiritual play a large role
in the setting in the form of the Icons and some of the creatures described. For all that, it still
feels as if there should have been more of these elements present, as if Coriolis: The Third
Horizon should have embraced it more, perhaps by making more of it in a scenario. Hopefully,
future releases will do so.

Coriolis: The Third Horizon has the potential to be run as space opera with strong cultural and
religious aspects, as space opera with cosmic horror with the Dark Between the Stars, and as
space opera with Middle Eastern flavour. All of that currently exists in the game and as much as
it is decently supported by the simple, elegant mechanics, the Game Master will need to work
hard to impart the importance and sense of each to her players. If she can, the rulebook provides
plenty of content to work with, though of course supplements and scenarios would be very
welcome. Above all, the setting of Coriolis: The Third Horizon is both enjoyably different and
very well designed, pulling the reader in to want and go adventure in the Third Horizon.