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
