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The Island of Dr. MacGuffin (April Update)

We have just commissioned writing and artwork for the new adventure The Island of Dr. MacGuffin. The plot will revolve around a brilliant mad scientist (Dr. MacGuffin) and his life’s work of genetically and prosthetically enhancing penguins. Players will find themselves shipwrecked near his lab on the continent of Antarctica, and face off against the cute but deadly Steampunguins, who do the doctor’s bidding.

Can the players escape the deft flippers of the Steampunguins?

Will Dr. MacGuffin’s aquatic minions waddle their way to world domination?

Buy a copy of The Island of Dr. MacGuffin and find out for yourself. As a special sneak preview, here are just a few of the deadly antagonists that await any foolhardy enough to brave their icy fastness:

The Steampunguin Grunt are the early experiments of Dr. MacGuffin. Although they lack the versatility of his later creations they’re a serious threat in large numbers.

Supporting the ground troops Steampunguin Flyer can harry the field of battle, dropping bombs from above, or diving at foes with their vicious beaks.

An ominous figure looming behind the massed ranks of lesser steampunguins, The Emperor may pose too great of a challenge for even the bravest challengers…

 

(Artwork courtesy of Deviant Artist Pan77155, and used under the guidelines of Creative Commons).

Artwork Update #1

f you haven’t heard from us in a while, it’s because we’ve been working behind the scenes. The last 90 days saw two conventions, and a slew of nearly completed artwork. The final versions of the art wont be available until we release the Core Book, but we thought we’d give you a bit of a taste of what’s been happening. The final versions of these paintings will be in full color, but for now, let’s whet your appetite.

First a rough sketch of the Changeling bloodline from Helen Mask.Another sketch from Helen Mask, this time of the Nephilim bloodline. In the completed draft, the two figures will be manifested in different ways. The upper figure is orderly, while the lower figure is disorderly.A landscape sketch by Michelle Mullen. She is the artist that did the artwork for the Clockwork Cards. When completed, this piece will depict “The Broken Road,” a path that winds through the Outer Reaches of creation beyond man’s domain.

The draft of a chapter splash draft by Ameen Naksewee. Ameen is the artist who painted the cover of the QSR and the beastfolk mechanic from the Kickstarter. His recent submissions have been even more amazing. Here he shows the “almost there” technology of automatons and the resentment felt toward them by the working class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ll post more later. For now, we hope this gets you geared up for your imminent immersion into the Clockwork.

 

Zeke & Than

“Clockwork: Empire” is now “Clockwork: Dominion”

“An Empire has borders. An Empire serves a human being on a throne. Yet our duty extends to the ends of the Earth, and our calling is to serve something much greater than man. The Great Clockmaker has blessed us and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ If we are to push back the Pontus… If we are to preserve the Clockwork, then we must realize that the Empire is not enough. This is our destiny, and all of creation must become our Dominion.”
      – excerpt from the monograph A Call for Just Dominion” by Sir Edward Herschel

 

Thanks to your support and the success of the Kickstarter, the Clockwork Roleplaying Game has gotten off to a fantastic start, and with the strong start has come a great deal more exposure. As things have grown in scope, we’ve found that there were several other creative ventures that used close variations on “clockwork empire” as part of their work, and in order to make sure that fans of our game and other creators’ works are all able to clearly and distinctly follow each project, we’re taking this as an opportunity to further refine ourgame’s identity. For consistency of reference, we’re formalizing the use of the Clockwork Roleplaying Game to refer to the entire range of the project.

To more fully tie in the setting into the cosmology of the Clockwork world and the ideology that helps drive the expansion of the British Empire into the narrative this setting and future supplements for it will be part of the Clockwork: Dominion line.

 

We have some long-term plans for where we hope to go with this project, and these changes to the names help our current work continue, and will put us in a better position for the future. Everything will remain exactly the same for our website – www.aclockworkworld.com – and our Facebook and Twitter names @AClockworkWorld. It may take a bit to get used to the name change, but we hope that you’ll agree with us that it’s an even better and more evocative fit for the setting.

In other news, we’ve gotten the majority of the backer survey responses, but we still need a few more. If you haven’t already, please respond to them right away, as we need the responses to make sure we have the correct count for cards and books, and to verify shipping addresses so we can get the order in for the cards this month. We want to get them out to you as soon as we can so you can start using the playtest materials when we send them out later this month.

 

All the Best,
Zeke & Than

Kickstarter final day!

Thank you! With you’re support we’ve blown past many major stretch goals and are we producing the 300+, full-color hardback core book, a kickstarter-exclusive design card deck, a new adventure, and 3 small supplements each exploring a different area of the setting and player options. All of that additional content is being added – for free! – to all backers of $20 and above. Right now we still have just over 13 hours left to go in our Kickstarter campaign and there’s more yet to come. As we announced in our last update, our next stretch goal will allow us to provide some additional content and prepare all of the unlocked pdfs as the first printed supplement to Clockwork. If we hit our next stretch goal at $26k, we’ll present all our Imperial Emigre backers and above with an opportunity to buy the [i]Cabinet of Curiosities[/i] at a discounted price before general release. All our stretch goals beyond $26k will go towards helping us add more Clockwork minis to our collaboration with Proxy Army.

We’re particularly excited to be working with Proxy Army (who just launched their own Kickstarter because working with them allows us an opportunity to design and develop miniatures for the unique aesthetic of Clockwork and make them available to all our players in high quality and at a great price. We’ll have a larger development post about our work with Proxy Army soon, but wanted to make sure you knew there’s so much more exciting Clockwork goodness coming up.

Thanks again to all our backers for their support, we can’t wait to share the game with you.

All the Best,
Zeke & Than

Kickstarter Update #9, News and Events

We’ve just posted a big update on our Kickstarter campaign covering a number of events. Go to the cmapign page to read it in full, but here are the highlights:

Zeke & Than will both be participating in an RPG.net Q&A chat this Tuesday at 7 PM EST. The chat is part of a regular series of designer and publisher Q&As and we’ll be covering anything and everything, so if you have questions for the designers and writers, want to know more about the setting, or see if you can catch a new tidbit about the rules and systems that will be covered in the core book, you can join the chat for free and without creating any accounts simply by hopping on the chat client tomorrow 10/29 at 7PM.

Than will be running demos and full intro sessions at The Temple Games at 167 Columbus Ave, Pawtucket, RI 02860 this Saturday from noon onwards. Come by to check out a game, ask questions, and hear more about the game.

We’re thrilled to announce that the incredibly talented Helen Mask is officially joining the roster of artists for the core book. We fell in love with her work and are already looking forward to her contributions to the book: you should drop what you’re doing and check out her gallery.

Since we’re less than $1000 from our next stretch goal – Steel & Steam – we thought it only fitting to share a glimpse of the item creation rules and talk about the many options they afford players in the game.

Keep an eye out, as we’ve got a good head of steam going into the final two weeks of the campaign, and lots more excitement to come.

Ever onwards,

Zeke & Than

Always wear your Goggles! (plus a new review)

Our new friends over at SteampunkGoggles.com have posted an eloquent review of the Clockwork: Empire Roleplaying Game. I highly recommend you check out both their products and their review. I’ve been a longtime fan of Steampunk Goggles, and own a couple of their products myself. I have a real soft spot in my heart for artisans who are both skilled and passionate about what they do – so I love these people. We were floored when they agreed to review the game, and all the more when they reviewed it so well. This is a great opportunity for me to talk up a company in our genre that really deserves to be talked-up, and seems like a good time to explain about the use of goggles in the Clockwork world.

To be honest, in the very early stages of development, we were opposed to a heavy use of goggles. It can sometimes seem like the steampunk genre can be defined by slapping gears and goggles onto objects that in no way require them; and that seemed forced to us. Why would someone put goggles on a top hat at a dinner party? What purpose did that serve? The truth is that for most of the inhabitants of the Clockwork, goggles serve no more purpose than they do for people in our own world. Thus, most people don’t own or wear them. However, we quickly realized there would be a minority of people whose activities would require eye-protection: air-shipmen and airship pirates,  scientists (mad or otherwise), those experimenting with electricity or alchemy, the explorers of harsh climates, inventors, people who use any sort of volatile experimental technology, pilots and drivers, and dozens of other endeavors where eye-safety is a matter of concern. Not only this, but the invention of advanced optics added doctors, and perhaps even some soldiers and investigators to the list. We quickly realized that, depending on your campaign style, this group of people can make up a disproportional percentage of player characters. So while the majority of people within the Clockwork don’t walk around with goggles on their hats, a fair percentage of player characters will have some on hand. So as we’ve moved from the beginning stages of development to nearing its completion, our stance on goggles has opened up considerably. If your character is involved in any of these optically dangerous activities, you might want to invest in some.

Wait? Why would anyone need a physical set of goggles for a tabletop roleplaying game? Could it be that there is a Live Action Role-Playing version of Clockwork: Empire on the horizon? Could it be that these LARP rules might even make it into the Core Rule Book as a brief appendix? Could it be that we’re actually planning to test these rules at upcoming conventions before we decide to make their existence known to the general public? Well, right now, there’s no real way to be sure (unless you’re us). So, I’ll not comment on that anymore.

In the meantime, let some of the artistic creations over at www.SteampunkGoggles.com inspire you to try something truly dangerous to your peepers.

Adventure Unlocked: Incident Aboard the Egret

We’ve already unlocked the first stretch goal in the Clockwork: Empire kickstarter campaign! The adventure “The Incident Aboard the Egret” is now unlocked and will be made available for free to all of our backers of “Citizen of the Empire” or higher. The “Incident” has a very different feel from “Idle Hands” – the adventure included in the QSR. “Idle Hands” was a classic exploration/delve with at least several characters who already knew each other and had a clear reason to work together, so we wanted to change that up in the “Egret”. This adventure has much more opportunity for social conflict of all sorts, and the 6 pre-generated characters that will come with the adventure each have their own reasons for being onboard, different goals for the trip, and their own concerns that might put them at odds with others when the voyage takes an unexpected turn.

To give you more of a taste for the adventure, we have a preview of the opening scene, and have posted the character sheets for Fitzwilliam and Augusta Slow. The pair can be used as alternate player characters for Idle Hands, or put to your own uses as NPCs or even antagonists in your own games.

Fitzwilliam Slow

Augusta Slow

Chapter 1, Scene 1: Up and Away

 “The airfield is just outside Sao Paolo itself, and the Egret sits shining and proud in the center of the field, surrounded by a scattering of small blimps that look fat and graceless by comparison. The blimps are used for short cargo flights into the logging camps and coffee plantations in the rainforest to the North, and they look the part of simple laborers. The Egret, though, is majestic. Long, lean, and modern. Even her cargo is more precious: mail and parcels traveling across the Atlantic, vital information that directs trade and politics, and helps bind the world close even over the expanse of the ocean. And, of course, the Egrets also provides swift passage to each of you.
 
Approaching the passenger gondola amidships you are all welcomed by Captain Malloy and First Mate Finch, both cutting sharp figures in their crisp blue uniforms. Greeting you each in turn and welcoming you aboard, you enter the cabin and are brought to your rooms. Fitzwilliam and Augusta Slow share a cabin, as the casket with their father’s corpse needs only berth with the cargo. Mrs. Morgadaz has a cabin to herself, as does Dr. Beechum. Herr Hoch and Mr. Dunn are splitting a cabin. The other passengers that come aboard are a somber priest dressed in the unrelenting black vestments of the Magisterium of Rome except for the first lines of silver streaking his hair, a well-heeled Brazilian gentleman with a pair of half-moon spectacles and a sporting a trim mustache and neat goatee, and a slightly sunburned but otherwise neatly turned out British husband and wife with a pair of two young children in tow.
 
As the final cargo is loaded and final preparations for takeoff begin, the Egret’s steward, Mr. Hay, comes through the lounge to offer everyone a small flute of champagne. With a polite smile, he invites a toast. “To your departure from Brazil and the launch of a smooth journey to London.”
The next two stretch goals are small, and will net us funds for additional art to go into the core rulebook and artbook, and the opportunity for us to give the unlocked pdf rewards like “Incident Aboard the Egret” to every backer from the Imperial Emigre ($20) level and higher.

With excitement,

Zeke and Than

Funding Successful! Stretch goals ahead

Thank you.

Less than 52 hours after launching the Kickstarter campaign for the Clockwork: Empire core book we reached our initial funding goal and we’ll be producing a full-color, hardback edition in 2014. We are thrilled at the support and enthusiasm shown by all our backers and want to thank you all. With your help we’ll be able to bring you more of the Clockwork world. As this post is being written we’re less than $500 away from hitting our first stretch goal – producing The Incident Aboard the Egret as our next adventure, and lots more to come after that. We can’t wait to share everything else we have in store, so keep spreading the word about the Kickstarter campaign, check out how things are trending on the Kicktraq page, and chat with us on Facebook and Twitter @AClockworkWorld.

Ever Onwards,

Zeke & Than

Press Release: October 8, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Than Dean, than@reliquarygamestudios.com

Reliquary Game Studios is excited to announce the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for the Clockwork: Empire Roleplaying Game, which will run now through the first week of November. The game has been a long time in the making, and the anticipation of its fans was shown in the raising of over $4500 in the twenty-four hours of pledging. “It’s a great start and we’re very excited,” said CEO Zeke Coughlin, “but we’re only half way to our goal. The good news is that we have thirty-three days to make it the rest of the way there.” The Reliquary Games design team plans to use the proceeds of the Kickstarter campaign to fund a beautifully manufactured, 300+ page, full-color, hardback core rule book. The $9000 goal will provide the funds needed for the amazing artists and illustrators who will make the book an immersive piece of the Clockwork world.

Clockwork: Empire is a steampunk roleplaying game set in a Victorian world of gothic horror. Players take the role of exceptional individuals within the British Empire of 1896 as it strives to maintain tradition in the face of scientific advancement, powerful mystical practices, and the threat of the Pontus – the primordial chaos which is slowly reclaiming creation. The new and innovative mechanics of the game present new possibilities such as non-linear vignette-based initiative, a physical conflict that captures the threat and feel of real combat, and a social conflict system robust enough to entertain both method actors and power gamers alike.

“With an emphasis on dynamic social conflict instead of endless rounds of ‘roll-stab-repeat’ gameplay, Clockwork: Empire is not only a palate cleanser, but an invigoratingly fresh approach to the medium. This is a game every fan of the genre NEEDS to experience.”
-Dirk Manning, writer of Nightmare World, Tales of Mr. Rhee

Reliquary Game Studios invites everyone to take a look at Clockwork: Empire RPG and it’s Kickstarter campaign at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1496416526/clockwork-empire-roleplaying-game. Discover if you have a place in the Clockwork World.

ABOUT RELIQUARY GAME STUDIOS: We are an independent game company working to create real innovation in the industry. We are composed of long-time gamers, industry writers, martial artists, historians and historical reenactors who want to use the best of our knowledge and skill to make roleplaying games that are simple enough to be approachable, realistic enough to be believable, and flavorful enough to be immersive.

#thePontusRises
http://ReliquaryGameStuidos.com
than@reliquarygamestudios.com
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Kickstarter campaign is now live!

With pride and excitement, we are happy to announce that the Kickstarter campaign for the Clockwork: Empire core book is now live!

After years of effort working through the basic design and playtesting of the mechanics and system, we’re ready to make the move to print so we can share the Clockwork with everyone! We’re already more than halfway through the final text of the core book, and have already begun working with fantastic artists to get beautiful full-color artwork to include in the final, hardback core rulebook. With your help and support we can get the rest of the art we want to make this book as gorgeous as we know it should be and get it into print and out to all of you.

We’ve already had a great response from our conventions throughout 2013, and the approximately 2000 people who have already downloaded and enjoyed the Quick-Start Rules and Idle Hands. We invite you to help us keep the momentum rolling. Backers have options to get not only the core book and a special limited-edition deck of card, they can also enjoy some unique and exciting rewards that run the gamut from inclusion in the core book to an entire victorian weekend complete with period activities and amazing food at a beautiful inn in Vermont. We also have some fantastic stretch goals already planned that will immediately give you more ways to explore the setting as soon as it comes out.

We also want to thank our backers with access to the final pre-print beta testing. Supporting us now will give you a chance to check out the rules for character creation, item creation, magic, glamours, faith charisms, and alchemy, and select settings previews once the Kickstarter ends, and we’ll listen to your feedback on the forums as we work through final pre-publication edits. We really can’t wait to share the world with you.

Keep an eye out for lots more news, updates, and interviews in the coming weeks.

With Excitement,

Zeke & Than