Yesterday, 9-Nov-2013, I attended JiffyCon East 2013 in Boston. I got to meet Than, for the first time in person, and played in his demo of Clockwork: Empire. Now, I knew something of the game because I interviewed he and Zeke back on 8-Oct-2013 for my podcast, but this was the first time I actually got to play it. My overall impression: it delivered exactly as promised. Specifically the claims that the card mechanic was fast and easy to learn (it was!) and that the unique initiative mechanic was better than just a round-robin initiative, but that it actually kept all of the players involved in the conflict, and provided fun, tactical decisions to make as the conflict progressed. This was born out in our first conflict, and took no more than five minutes for all of the players at the table (two of whom had never heard of Clockwork: Empire before) to understand and begin taking advantage of. Further, as promised, the social conflict rules were as fun and tactically satisfying as physical conflict. In the final, climactic battle of the session, we saw how the social conflict and physical conflict could compliment each other, as enemy morale was being manipulated. Finally, Id like to add that the rules and character sheet directly tie the character into the setting and cosmology of Clockwork: Empire. Players actually have a measure of their tie to the great clockwork as well as a measure of their resistance to fulfilling that plan, all on their character sheet. What would, in a lesser game, be just background fluff, never to come up in an actual game session, here becomes tactical elements tracked by the players and directly affecting the outcome of conflict. I also wanted to add a few things this game is not. It is not a generic fantasy setting in Victoriana garb and gears. The solid historical foundation, details, and flourishes made the setting feel more complex, nuanced, and real. Even the fantastical elements, like ritual magic, ghosts, Fey, etc. are drawn from beliefs, news clippings, and popular stories of the period. What I actually saw at the game table, was rapid buy-in to the setting, characters, and scenario by players who had not read the book and had only a passing understanding of the genre. My first hand experience of playing the game with Than and watching the other players interact with it, gives me complete confidence that this game delivers on the promises made during the interview, and would be an excellent, well loved addition to any RPG collection. If you or your gaming group has any interest in Steampunk / Victoriana then take a look at Clockwork: Empire! PS: You have 6 hours to get in on the KS!
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 22:32:09 +0000
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