What’s the old saying? “Rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated”? It feels like it’s been an eternity since we’ve written here. Life happened. School and job hunting and our Patreon and streaming and conventions and more job hunting since Josh lost his job too… And it’s still coming at us, but I wanted to get this written and put up because the author, Ohad Reiter asked so very nicely.
So yes, Angel’s Citadel is back in the saddle with a new review. First I want to apologize to Ohad Reiter for taking so long, but we promised we’d do it and so here it is. The review today, is his game, The Calling, a sci-fi western (yes, I did say that), that immediately evokes two other properties that we are familiar with and have reviewed here: Numenera and Predation, but we’ll get to that.
The Calling is a cooperative roleplaying game intended for three to six people with one person called the Narrator or in most common terms, the GM or Storyteller. Sadly for the dice goblins out there (like me) you only need two six-sided dice to go with the book, your character sheet, a notebook, and three to five hours to play.
A quick note on technical specs as I only have the pdf version. It’s got a lovely layout, clear crisp text and the pictures are very reminiscent of the ‘Old West’. The pdf made for an easy and enjoyable read and at four hundred and forty-five pages it’s definitely worth it. Examples and design notes are clearly set apart, though in black and white in the copy we received, it is perhaps not as clear as it could be. Those who have read many tabletop roleplaying game rulebooks will find the layout very familiar and be able to navigate it quite easily.
The premise behind this game setting is that we had the space age. Then, due to Armageddon, most of our technology was lost and only the rare thing still works from that time, such as holophones (telephones) and massive power generators that sit on top of volcanos called Lava Harvesters. Magic is active in this setting but is tethered to the Star Gods, accessed through prayers that do not always work and can grant powerful effects called miracles. The idea of a capricious magic system seemed very unique and narratively interesting to me, giving me quite a few ideas. It almost reminded me of the ability in Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars or Genesys system to roll a failure with a complication or a failure with a benefit – the idea that even though you did not receive the miracle, there was an opportunity for something narratively interesting to happen anyway. Mechanically, even if it fails, you still get a benefit that does not necessarily leave you open to attack.
Character creation has a fairly clear walk through but I recommend, as it says in the book, that anyone playing read through it at least once before session zero. I would probably also recommend that the GM make a couple of characters just to ensure they understand the process and can help walk the other players through it. There is a very clear difference between character creation in The Calling and what one would expect from something like Ironforged, Blades in the Dark, or Pathfinder. The player characters are all humans or robots. Instead of species, you start with a dojo (which can incorporate that binary choice), or in other words, your fighting style. Then choose your calling, which is basically your character’s class. You write them down as a joint role, for example, if your dojo is Kung Fu and your calling is Godchild, then you’re a Kung Fu Godchild.
Of course, then comes the math. This includes assigning your trait scores, which is done from a fixed array (5, 4, 3, 3, 2). Your calling provides you two calling-specific masteries automatically then you get to choose one. You get to select your skill proficiencies based on your Insight score, with Attack, Dodge, and one more given for free.
Of course, then you get to do the fun stuff, well the stuff that I find fun. Describe your character, who they are, what they look like, and quite awesomely they give you some really good descriptors to give you a jump-off point. Also, things that your character would like or love such as popular songs and popular movies. Then you get to decide your Star God, who is he or she or them, what are they like, what kind of issues are you going to face with this being in your corner.
I’m not going to go into detail about the different callings and dojos but I will say that Ohad put a lot of thought and research into them. The variety is interesting and fun, and I’m going to get Josh to play a few rounds with me. We’ll probably incorporate one of the oracle systems we have (Mythic, Game Master’s Apprentice, Tricube Tales, etc.) for a narrator in that case unless I find another player or two.
The system is based on two, six-sided dice. These are rolled with an added trait value and modifiers and compared to a target number on a range from 8 to 17. Combat works the same way, so one only has to learn one “system” to play the game. I like games like this for teaching other players a new game. While multiple “system” games can be interesting and model different types of behavior, single “system” games are one of the reasons that the d20 system made popular by Dungeons & Dragons has enjoyed such popularity. You only have to teach one mechanic and once you understand it, you can play the whole game.
The setting itself is an interesting change, it has western towns with a few pieces of science fiction. It reminds me in many ways of Numenera but without the weird and sheer discovery. Instead, your character knows how to use what little technology is left and you explore your word to find more of the same rather than discover new. The major focus of this game is more on ‘episodes’ than a campaign. I would compare it more to the old Western TV shows or science fiction shows than a full movie. The book is also helpful for setting up, with various scenes you can riff off of to create interesting and engaging sessions for whoever is at your table, and gives each of the players a chance to shine in the limelight.
There is a fairly expansive section primarily geared toward the GM that describes how to create and play a Star God, build a town in this setting, discusses situational rules and setting mythology (some GM-only backstory that can get discovered by the players over the course of a campaign), and then lists creatures and beings the player can encounter on their journeys. At the end of the book are chapters on prayers and miracles to cover the magic system. Included in the purchase are multiple formats of character sheets, Star God creation sheets, and a town construction sheet.
While the chapter on Plots and Encounters does a much better-than-average job with how to construct episodes and arcs for this game, there’s a part of me that would like to see an introductory adventure that teaches the GM to run the game by example and walks them through things like combat or skill use in the context of the setting in concrete detail. It’s not really a “requirement” in the book, but seeing a published adventure out there that does this for this game would be, to me, like the capstone. It ties up any loose ends and gives the GM a “complete picture” of the game.
A new offering in the indy Science Fiction space, The Calling brings a unique perspective to the genre, taking a mashup that doesn’t seem like it would work at first glance and putting it together in a unique and clever way. Fans of Numenera (or other Science Fantasy), Predation (dinosaurs and technology), and perhaps even Steampunk and what are commonly referred to as “Oriental” games (such as Legend of the Five Rings or the various flavors of Dungeons & Dragons in this genre) would probably enjoy this offering. You can find it here on DriveThruRPG for download or print on demand. Until next time (which hopefully won’t be too long), from our Citadel to yours, Happy Gaming!
-Joann Walles
Angel’s Citadel
Storytelling and Gaming 