Cloud Empress streamlines the Ennie-winning rules-lite Mothership 1E tabletop roleplaying system into a stand-alone Nausicaa-inspired ecological science fantasy setting.
This is a world where we are small things, where we are cursed, where reality is slippery, and we survive in beauty and terror. Welcome to the Hereafter. Explore a land governed by the patterns of giant psychic cicadas – the Imago. When the Cloud Empress goes missing, glory-hungry soldiers from royal lands above the clouds threaten the balance. The fields below will burn without your help.
Cloud Empress returns to Kickstarter! Our last campaign delivered successfully to backers in under a year. Now you'll journey into lands of ash and spore with two new setting books, Land of the Living and Land of the Dead, along with the release of hardcover box sets.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Ribbon added, thicker paper incoming, and introducing Walton Wood
7 months ago
– Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 04:49:59 AM
Ribbons added & thicker paper incoming
Hope you had a nice weekend! At 85,000 we added sewn-in cloth bookmarks to each of the hardcover books (Rulebook, Land of Cicadas, Land of the Living, and Land of the Dead). At 90,000, we'll upgrade the paper quality of each of these books, making the reading experience a little bit more deluxe.
Introducing Walton Wood
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hey, I’m Walt! I started playing RPGs in 2001, but I only got into the indie scene in 2020 when I discovered Mörk Borg, which stole my heart (and put it in a little jar of formaldehyde). I have a PhD in language and literature, and it’s been very rewarding to bring that skill set to thinking about RPGs and helping people make cool games.
What excites you most about the world of Cloud Empress?
It’s not one single thing as much as the whole gestalt. Everything just fits beautifully. Cloud Empress is clearly a labor of love, and the passion behind it ties everything together. I’m usually more motivated by systems than settings, but the lore drives me to want to explore this world.
·Describe what you'll be doing on the project?
I’m copyediting, so I’ll be spending hours at a time agonizing over fate-of-the-world matters like “Should this be hyphenated?” and “Does this comma go here?” (Commas are tricky. You don’t even know.) And as a proofreader, I’ll be helping make sure that the books are as gorgeous as they deserve to be.
Have a strange, horrifying, or beautiful fact about nature you'd like to share?
Slime molds are actually microscopic amoebas that fuse together into a single, larger organism when it’s more advantageous to do so. They’re able to learn things like paths through mazes, and they’re able to share those memories when they fuse and retain them when they divide. I think that’s neat.
Thanks so much Walt, and glad to have you on the project!
Discussion Question
It's beautiful here in the Midwest, and a lovely day outside yesterday got me thinking of running a game of Cloud Empress outdoors this summer. What is the strangest or most interesting place you've ever played a tabletop roleplaying game?
More art, cloth bookmarks & Bravo City Ruins
8 months ago
– Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 06:51:02 AM
More art & Cloth swen bookmarks
At 80.000 we unlocked more artwork! We'll commission 5 more pieces of pbbeta's wonderful NPC art. What's next? at $85,000 each of the hardcover books (Rulebook, Land of Cicadas, Land of the Living, Land of the Dead) will receive a sewn-in cloth bookmark, perfect for saving your place on a hex map or bookmarking your favorite adventure location!
Cloud Empress interviews
I've been touring the ttrpg world to discuss the ins and outs of Cloud Empress Life & Death as well as my publishing and project management process. Check out my interviews with The Weekly Scroll, Third Floor Wars, and an in-depth newsletter interview with reviewer Dave Thaumavore in the links below.
We're down to our last, but certainly not least, new biome preview of the Life and Death campaign. Bravo City Ruins showcases the epicenter of the Deadland's devastation. Here the city's last defenders rob, raid, and horde scant precious resources while escaping the wrath of the Wanderlings they abandoned during the city's fall. Underneath the city lies a grave sin, that Prince Bug and a cadre of master magicians hope to use -- but for what end?
Discussion Question
Now that we've unveiled all four biomes, The Garden, Big Blue (name subject to change), The Deadlands, and Bravo City Ruins, which biome do you plan on heading to first? Post your answer in the comments below!
Cloud Empress Creators Fund launched & the Deadlands
8 months ago
– Mon, Apr 08, 2024 at 06:04:17 PM
Cloud Empress Creators Fund funded
With 67,500 in funding, we've launched the second year of the Cloud Empress Creators Fund. This stretch goal creates one $500 grant to support an up-and-coming indie ttrpg creator making something in the world of Cloud Empress. Wahoo!
At $80,000 I'll commission 5 more pieces of NPC art from one of our lead artists pbbeta!
Cloud Empress named one of JP Coovert's best new indie ttrpg books
It's always lovely to see Cloud Empress pop up in my feed unexpectedly. I was thrilled to see JP Coovert recommend Cloud Empress for its melancholic tone!
The Deadlands
On to another biome, but this time in the Land of the Dead. From the fires of Bravo City's fall, a hollow ashen land emerged. Known only as the Deadlands, this place is polluted with plastisteel and chalk. The soot of the land is filled with hostile ash worms, twig witches, and strange ashen Imago. Few ever make the journey into such desolation, but ancient riches call to the treasure-hungry. Strange voices wake magicians in the night entrancing them to a place deep under the fallen city. What lies deep within the ash is anyone's guess.
Join the Cloud Empress Discord
For this update's discussion, you're invited to introduce yourself on the Cloud Empress Discord. We have an active community of about 250 Cloud Empress players willing to share advice, create new CE content, and provide feedback on the game's development. Click the link below in the next 7 days to join!
Double-sided character sheets + Cloud Empress Creators Grant funding on the horizon
8 months ago
– Sat, Apr 06, 2024 at 05:41:28 PM
Double-sided character sheets unlocked
With 67,500 funding we've upgraded the pad of character sheets included in the box sets to be double-side. As a fan of Mothership's character sheet, I've always wanted Cloud Empress' character creation to be as fast and fun. Now the character sheet pad with added character creation instructions (see the right side of the mockup above) means new players can move through character creation without needing the Cloud Empress Rulebook. So what's next for stretch goals?
Cloud Empress Creators Grant funding
At $75,000 we'll add $500 to the Cloud Empress Creator Fund. I use this fund to select/commission work from a pool of open applicants of indie ttrpg creators to make new Cloud Empress content. A backer favorite stretch goal from the last campaign, it's wonderful to expand the world of Cloud Empress from new and original angles and perspectives.
2023's Cloud Empress Creator Grant recipients were Sofia Ramos and Lithish!
@lithish.bsky.social is creating a new job -- the Lorekeeper job, with a series mechanisms, setting elements, and story hooks to spotlight storytelling and folklore in the world of Cloud Empress.
@hojesofia.bsky.social is creating a 1-2 session adventure where the PCs search for an Ancient Imago who lost in grief, never buried its way back into the Earth.
The Weekly Scroll life & death interview
I'll be joining my favorite TTRPG show The Weekly Scroll on Twitch tomorrow night (4/7/24) at about 8pm CST to talk all things Life & Death campaign with some new announcements about updates to the Cloud Empress Rulebook.
And If you haven't already, check out The Weekly Scroll's glowing review of the Cloud Empress Rulebook.
Discussion question
You know we love discussions over here. For our weekend discussion, what's one stretch goal you'd like to see during the funding period? Let me know in the comments.
