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Clockwork & Chivalry


carandol

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Coming next summer!

This is a quick announcement; there'll be more info when our web site is up and running in the new year...

Clockwork & Chivalry

The Roleplaying Game of Uncivil War

© 2009 Ken Walton & Peter Cakebread

Copernicus has proven scientifically that the Earth is the centre of the universe. Galileo's telescope has seen the light of the sun glinting from the heavenly spheres. And in England, they are fighting the war to end all wars...

The country has been torn asunder. On one side, Puritans in their Leviathans, great machines of metal and wood, powered by the righteous power of clockwork, churn through the mud of the battlefields, their mighty guns drowning out the hymn-singing of the Elect within; on the other side, Prince Rupert, premier Battle Alchemist of the age, summons elementals and calls down storms from heaven, leading his Cavaliers in a desperate struggle, despite the death of King Charles at the hands of his enemies.

And between the feet of these wrestling titans, the ordinary people of England struggle to get by, split into a myriad religious and political factions, their faith undermined, their aspirations raised by the overthrow of the old order, and the promise of a new world to come...

Will you be a Leveller or a Digger, a Ranter or a Quaker, an Anabaptist, a Laudian or a Catholic? Will you accept conscription into the swashbuckling Cavalier army of the New-King-in-Exile or the dour clockwork dictatorship of the Puritan mechanical philosophers? Will you become a clubman and protect your community from both sides? Will you turn outlaw and take to the woods, robbing from the rich merchants that grow fat from war profiteering? Will you join the siege of an enemy city, or attempt to escape the misery and disease of your own besieged town? Or will you try to get away from everything and set up your own idealistic commune, a little bit of Heaven on Earth in the midst of the chaos?

Clockwork & Chivalry is a role-playing game set in a 17th Century England that never was; a world of war, of mad machines and mighty magic, of mud and blood and hope and death, of righteousness and revolution. Tuck your flintlocks in your belt and your slide-rule in your hat-band; the King is dead, long live the Mainspring!

An OpenQuest compatible game, using the D100 Open Gaming Licence.

Edited by carandol
spelling mistake!
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This sounds like the coolest game ever. I cannot wait for next summer. Considering my Master's Degree is on 17th century English society and the ECW, this hits every bell and whistle I want from a semi-historical based game.

That's the sort of response we like to hear! :)

I've not long finished a degree in the History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science, with special attention paid to 17th century magic and religion, so I think you'll like it.

Mind you, we're hoping it will appeal to people who don't have a Masters in 17th century history too!

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Considering I am an American, and a college professor (my PhD is in late 19th/early 20th century British medical history...too long a story to explain) I'll take anything that has a least a grounding in history for what it is: an rpg that uses real history to make things fun in a fictional version of it.

Heck, I even like Maelstrom and 7th Sea, two completely different ends of the spectrum as far as historical veracity goes. Oh, and add in Lace and Steel to the mix, Mighty Fortress from TSR, Flashing Blades, and a few other sourcebooks, and well you have exahusted 17th century roleplaying. This will be a cool addition to those games.

If its anywhere near the Rome BRP sourcebook, it will be worth every penny.

Oh, and if you need playtesters, I have the perfect group, and who are pretty experienced. Send me a PM if you want more details.

Matt

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Considering I am an American, and a college professor (my PhD is in late 19th/early 20th century British medical history...too long a story to explain) I'll take anything that has a least a grounding in history for what it is: an rpg that uses real history to make things fun in a fictional version of it.

Heck, I even like Maelstrom and 7th Sea, two completely different ends of the spectrum as far as historical veracity goes. Oh, and add in Lace and Steel to the mix, Mighty Fortress from TSR, Flashing Blades, and a few other sourcebooks, and well you have exahusted 17th century roleplaying. This will be a cool addition to those games.

If its anywhere near the Rome BRP sourcebook, it will be worth every penny.

Oh, and if you need playtesters, I have the perfect group, and who are pretty experienced. Send me a PM if you want more details.

It's kind of surprising that the ECW has never had it's own RPG, since there's so much wargaming and live battle re-enactment in that period. I've run 7th Sea and GURPS Swashbucklers from that period, and had lots of fun.

I also co-wrote GURPS Celtic Myth and Realms of Sorcery for WFRP 1st edition, both of which had a strong mix of historical research and making stuff up.

Playtesters are always welcome!

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  • 4 months later...

Hi Folks,

We now have a shiny (well, it's quite rusty really) new website - there is also a PDF preview of the worldbook available.

http://www.clockworkandchivalry.co.uk

We hope you like what you find, any other queries and we will try to help!

Keep your cogs nice and greasy

Peter Cakebread

Cakebread & Walton: Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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Nice preview. Heh, 'Black' Jack Davy as a NPC.

I like Steeleye Span too! ;t)

Can we expect to see Long Lankin and Alison Gross as characters too! ;D

Yes, you can tell what I was listening to while writing :-) Not sure about Long Lankin, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Alison Gross made it in there. And Lady Derby of "They Called Her Babylon" gets a mention, naturally!

Glad you like the preview :-D

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  • 3 months later...

`The Alchemist's Wife' and `Thou Shalt Not Suffer', Volumes One and Two in the Kingdom and Commonwealth Campaign for Clockwork and Chivalry, are available for pre-order!

http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Products/CB76101

http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Products/CB76102

Keep your cogs nice and greasy

Edited by doomedpc

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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And of course the Core Sourcebook is available here -

http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Products/CB76100

and to keep you posted - we went to Continuum where we ran a game - Oliver Cromwell and the Dragon of Naseby. This adventure will probably be in the August 2010 Signs and Portents, along with some pre-generated Adventurers. We were very pleased by the reception the game received. The corebooks are ready and looking very smart (as is the Alchemist's Wife, which will be available in August). If you have any questions about the setting, fire away (no promises though, the joy of the period is that so much of the history is disputed).

Edited by doomedpc

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Clockwork, Alchemy and Adventure

This month sees the release of The Alchemist’s Wife, the first volume of the epic Kingdom & Commonwealth Campaign, a six-part series of 96-page adventures which will take adventurers the length and breadth of England and way beyond. Rooted in the complex revolutionary politics and religion of seventeenth century England, but adding a wild mixture of eccentric characters, weird inventions, evil witches, sinister villains, ghostly apparitions and hungry ghouls, the campaign starts from small beginnings with the disappearance of an alchemist’s wife, and ends with events that could change the history of Britain and the world itself.

October will see the release of Thou Shalt Not Suffer, in which the adventurers visit Cornwall to try to prevent the secret machinations of the monstrous Witch Queen and her minions. This supplement contains new Witchcraft rules and Professions for players and GMs. In December comes No Man’s Land, in which the adventurers visit the Debatable Lands around Birmingham and get involved in mechanical and magickal trench warfare in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

2011 will see the release of: Quintessence, in which the adventurers voyage beyond the shores of Earth in search of a new element that could change the balance of power in the civil war; Hobbes: Leviathan, in which the adventurers find themselves in Paris, where their nemesis is plotting with Cardinal Mazarin for the downfall of England; and the series will culminate in the grand finale, London Calling, as England’s capital faces total annihilation, and the adventurers must somehow forge a peace between the warring sides to face a common foe.

Long Live the Mainspring!

Peter Cakebread

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Core book is now available for purchase with a complimentary pdf here:

http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Products/CB76100

The Alchemist's Wife is officially out in stores and also available for purchase with a complimentary pdf here:

http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Products/CB76101

Thou Shalt Not Suffer is available for pre-order (with an advance complimentary pdf available before physical release upon order) here:

http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Products/CB76102

and No Man's Land is available for pre-order here:

http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es113347.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es113347_shop/Products/CB76103

As soon as the pdfs become available for sale in their own right, on Drivethru, I will post the news (unless someone else gets there first),

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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  • 2 weeks later...

Clockwork & Chivalry PDFs now available

The Clockwork & Chivalry Core Worldbook and The Alchemist's Wife adventure are now available to buy as PDFs from RPGNow/DriveThru.

The Worldbook is here - http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=84078&filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=54&affiliate_id=169435

and The Alchemist's Wife here - http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=84079&affiliate_id=169435

Long Live the Mainspring!

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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It does look like a mighty fine setting. And the best part: A linked campaign on the way with six 96 page scenario books!!? If this was BRP, it would be in my hand allready. As it's not, I'll wait for some reviews of the scenarios before I jump on the wagon. Very tempted allready though...

SGL.

Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub!
b1.gif 116/420. High Priest.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi folks,

Just to let you know there is a Clockwork and Chivalry article in this months Sign's and Portents. The piece is all about running sieges in the Clockwork & Chivalry game – complete with details of historical sieges, the use of magick and clockwork in siege warfare, adventure seeds, new equipment and a random siege events table!

The free magazine can be downloaded from here - http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1946&qsSeries=13

Also Roleplayers Chronicle have written an extensive review of the Clockwork & Chivalry Core Worldbook,

which is available here - http://roleplayerschronicle.com/?p=785

Long Live the Mainspring!

Peter Cakebread

Cakebread & Walton

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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...and please feel free to make any suggestions re: things you would like covered in future articles, etc. Also, as ever, I will try (although I can't promise) to answer any setting queries you might have, so fire away.

Long Live the Mainspring!

Peter Cakebread

Cakebread & Walton

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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I bought the rulebook and the first adventure just a few days ago, and been skiming the pdfs now. What I would really appreciate is some pointers as to how to use the sourcebook with BRP rules, ie. what needs to be tweaked from the RQ rules. They're similar but not the same. Looking at the character creation, at least the connections bit and the bit about fighting styles seem unfamiliar from BRP point of view.

Some kind of RQII -> BRP conversion kit would be great...

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I bought the rulebook and the first adventure just a few days ago, and been skiming the pdfs now. What I would really appreciate is some pointers as to how to use the sourcebook with BRP rules, ie. what needs to be tweaked from the RQ rules. They're similar but not the same. Looking at the character creation, at least the connections bit and the bit about fighting styles seem unfamiliar from BRP point of view.

Some kind of RQII -> BRP conversion kit would be great...

The connections rule is about creating a bond between the adventuring party - Adventurers get a +10 skill bonus during character creation for coming up with a connection with each other. So it might be as simple as a bonus to a fighting ability for two Adventurers from the same family who sparred together as children. Or it might be more subtle - perhaps a wealthy Lord, away from home, was found injured after a riding accident by a lowly Cottager. The Cottager Adventurer might be given a bonus on a healing related skill (having successfully nursed the Lord back to full health), or maybe the Cottager becomes a friend of the Lord and has an increase in their Influence to reflect this. The noble might have picked up some of the Cottagers skills while recovering too (perhaps learning how the Cottager farms her land or learning a little Survival from her). The idea is that, as well as getting a bit of a skill boost, Adventurers from different Professions, Factions and Social Classes have individual reasons to get on and adventure together. In our own games we encourage all of the party to have one connection to each other member of the group, which means even if their characters get annoyed with each other over politics and religion they don't tend to actually attempt to murder each other. Often.

Fighting Styles just means the skill applies to the style rather than the individual weapon.

I am not aware of a conversion kit. Obviously our present license is with MRQII so that is what we are writing to, but the basic mechanics are pretty much the same as BRP.

I really hope you enjoy the rulebook and adventure - we really did have a blast putting them together. Presently we are working on the fourth C&C release, No Man's Land (we have one frenetic schedule for the next year or so) - wonderfully grim stuff, I hope.

Peter Cakebread

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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Our fourth adventure in the Kingdom & Commonwealth campaign, Quintessence, won’t be out until next year, but we can’t resist showing you this splendid artwork our cover artist Gary Buckland has done for us

http://www.clockworkandchivalry.co.uk/2010/10/to-boldly-venture-where-no-gentleman-has-heretofore-ventured/

Long Live the Mainspring!

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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The connections rule is about creating a bond between the adventuring party - Adventurers get a +10 skill bonus during character creation for coming up with a connection with each other. So it might be as simple as a bonus to a fighting ability for two Adventurers from the same family who sparred together as children. Or it might be more subtle - perhaps a wealthy Lord, away from home, was found injured after a riding accident by a lowly Cottager. The Cottager Adventurer might be given a bonus on a healing related skill (having successfully nursed the Lord back to full health), or maybe the Cottager becomes a friend of the Lord and has an increase in their Influence to reflect this. The noble might have picked up some of the Cottagers skills while recovering too (perhaps learning how the Cottager farms her land or learning a little Survival from her). The idea is that, as well as getting a bit of a skill boost, Adventurers from different Professions, Factions and Social Classes have individual reasons to get on and adventure together. In our own games we encourage all of the party to have one connection to each other member of the group, which means even if their characters get annoyed with each other over politics and religion they don't tend to actually attempt to murder each other. Often.

Fighting Styles just means the skill applies to the style rather than the individual weapon.

I am not aware of a conversion kit. Obviously our present license is with MRQII so that is what we are writing to, but the basic mechanics are pretty much the same as BRP.

I really hope you enjoy the rulebook and adventure - we really did have a blast putting them together. Presently we are working on the fourth C&C release, No Man's Land (we have one frenetic schedule for the next year or so) - wonderfully grim stuff, I hope.

Peter Cakebread

Ok, thanks Peter. It seems this bears further study, so I ordered the RQII rulebook just now. I don't know either system so well that I can confidently go about converting stuff for BRP. I might even end up using the RQII, if I feel too lazy to convert the system. That would save time and bother, and allow me to concentrate on GMing proper. I have been discussing the same subject on Strike to Stun forum with Ken, by the way.

Are you planning to set upa forum of your own for C&C?

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Cool :D

I don't know about our own forum. I guess if people want one then we should do. Currently I tend to post in quite a few places (Mongoose, because it's MRQII; C7 because they publish us; etc) and it would certainly make life easier to have a one-stop forum for all things C&C. We do have a Cakebread and Walton Facebook account, but a lot of people dislike fb so I am not sure that would suffice. I will discuss with Ken and keep you posted.

Peter Cakebread

>:>Cakebread&WaltonO:)

Purveyors of Fine Imaginings

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Hi Peter!

Read through the scenario in S&P #83 and was wondering if that scenario with its premade character could work as a start for the Kingdom & Commonwealth campaign or if they were to high-powered? If it's not a good start, do you have some pregged characters for the campaign starting in the world book?

Also, do you have some introduction for the players to read through? A document of maximum 10 pages to get them straight into the setting?

SGL.

Edited by Trifletraxor

Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub!
b1.gif 116/420. High Priest.

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