What is Horizon: out of the ashes?

Horizon: out of the ashes is a science fiction-themed roleplaying game, featuring compelling future events of oppression, resistance and hard-won survival, set on humanity's only colony planet: Horizon. Despite the futuristic perspective, the world has just a hint of Old West flair and draws primarily on themes of grit, conflict and the unknown, without glamorizing technology or human nature. In that regard, the civilization of Horizon is advanced, but remains more relatable to the present day, or even the past, than it does to a distant future of bubble domes and space-taxis. Since the main setting is the colony world of Horizon, background is mostly conveyed through the stories and adventures of its people, including war, betrayal and other, stranger events, but if you're new and would like to get a good feel for our universe, we thoroughly recommended reading The Horizon Story on the Story page.

Originally, Horizon: out of the ashes, grew out of a story concept that Calder had been developing little by little since about 10 years old. Many people had heard (a lot) about these ideas as they grew into a cohesive universe over the years and nearly everyone who did seemed really excited about the unique setting and themes. Because of that, we could be confident that we already had a great background to work with when the decision was made to develop this into a roleplaying game. The 2 main goals that followed from this were: First, produce a game that plays the way the setting feels; and second, make it accessible, so we could play it with the people who had enjoyed the story; even the ones who wouldn't normally roleplay.

From a gameplay standpoint, Horizon is designed from the ground up to give as much creative freedom as possible, both for the Player crafting a new Character, and the Director building a new story. Trying to achieve this while keeping the system intuitive and focusing the spotlight on a unique and immersive setting has created some unique challenges and lead us to take a different approach with development, compared to many other RPGs. Firstly, we wanted the gameplay system to be as approchable as possible, so it could be fun even for a first-time player or a good introduction to roleplaying for someone just discovering the hobby. At the same time, we didn't want to lose the depth or variety that give veteran players something engaging to look forward to over many, many sessions. To satisfy this balance of accessibility and depth, we're developing intuitive browser-based apps that do the heavy lifting when it comes to maths and information management. This allows a wealth of choice and flexibility, but with less time searching the rule book and more time forging your epic journey.

One caveat in this area is our ideal that Horizon: out of the ashes will always remain playable in some form with good-ol'-fashioned pencil, paper and dice, because sometimes there just isn't a substitute for sitting around a table to banter with friends.

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Altogether, we hope to give every Horizon Player a journey all their own. We want to offer something really fun; a game that is consistently compelling and can show you something new every time you play. We hope it captures your imagination the way it's captured ours. Even if this page is the furthest you ever go with Horizon, thanks for exploring this far! ~Calder Niven, Creator.