My first roleplaying game (RPG) was the classic Little Black Book set of Traveller: Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future (GDW, 1977). Since then I have always played science fiction and not fantasy RPGs (well, except for that one, very brief, flirtation with Dungeons & Dragon 4th Edition…the less said the better). So I was very happy to see Free League Publishing run the Kickstarter campaign for Coriolis: The Great Dark which is, at the time of this post is in its final days. The campaign has already met its goal so Coriolis: The Great Dark will be coming to tabletops worldwide soon enough. In the meantime, however, the quickstarter is available for your entertainment—and it it well worth your time to look over and play.
Coriolis: The Great Dark launches you into a desolate part of space – The Lost Horizon. Here, a fledgling human civilization who fled war tries to stake out a new life in a harsh environment.
You live in the meandering asteroid-metropolis of Ship City and you are employed by the Explorers Guild to undertake dangerous expeditions. In Ship City, you will take on missions and investigations to help your guild and build your crew’s reputation with the other major players of the city – the Navigators, the Machinists, and the Gardeners.
Delving into the ruins on desolated moons or other star systems in search of resources and artifacts will bring out the best of you and your crew. Together, you will need to overcome physical obstacles, face creatures from the Dark and endure the ubiquitous Blight.
Publisher’s blurb
Mechanically, Coriolis: The Great Dark uses Free League Publishing’s Year Zero Engine, which powers other award-winning RPGs I love such as ALIEN The Roleplaying Game and Blade Runner The Roleplaying Game, but with the usual tweaks to the system tailoring it for this new game.
The setting for Coriolis: The Great Dark is inspired in ways I was not expecting:
Inspired by 19th century expeditions, deep sea diving and pulp archeology, Coriolis: The Great Dark offers you to join dangerous expeditions, navigate the Byzantine schemes of Ship City, and hunt for the keys that unlock the mystery of the Lost Horizon.
Ad copy
When I read “deep sea diving and pulp archeology” the first thing that comes to my mind is Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea…
Coriolis: The Great Dark is certainly not Victorian fiction nor pulp. The darker setting is perhaps a bit closer to The Abyss:
The quickstart for Coriolis: The Great Dark introduces us to the setting. Think deep sea divers roughneck space explorers searching for salvage meets unknown mysteries.
The quickstarter for Coriolis: The Great Dark shows the range of adventure the Year Zero Engine can deliver with just a few small rules adjustments. The quickstarter adventure is in many ways a dungeon delve, but in space. When delving, the most important part of an explorer’s kit is supply. Every delve needs to have enough supply to get down and back. The rules for supply in Coriolis: The Great Dark are not complicated or difficult and don’t get in the way of adventure but if you ignore it…well, then you deserve the Blight.
You can find the quickstarter for Coriolis: The Great Dark on DriveThruRPG for free. Download it and then take a dive into some deep space adventure…
Feature image courtesy Free League Publishing
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Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Now that sounds interesting. Will you be reviewing it when you’ve had a play?