Hi again to all our flock members! It’s been a while.
If you’ve forgotten who we are, we’re Clockwork Bird: a two-person indie game studio that made Silicon Dreams, that android interrogation sim from a few years back.
Sorry we’ve been so quiet the last few years! We’ve been working behind the scenes on a few projects but haven’t been able to share anything with you… until now! It’s time to finally reveal what we’ve been working on for what seems like forever.
Embark on a Tarot adventure! Wield magic and fight tyranny across the Renaissance world in this tabletop RPG powered by card divination. Coming to Kickstarter in the fall of 2023.
If you’re immediately stoked, you can sign up to be notified when it launches here.
A tabletop RPG? Don’t you do video games?
Yes, but we also love pen and paper games and were thrilled when we were approached to design one. We’ve used the game design insights we learned making digital games to make this the best tabletop RPG we could! Danny’s first game projects were pen and paper games, and we both use Tarot for spiritual practice, so we’re coincidentally an excellent fit.
I’m rapidly skimming this email! Can you explain what this is in exactly 96 words?
Sure! The Hidden Isle is a pen and paper RPG that uses Tarot cards instead of dice, set on an awesome island of free thinkers and magic-users in the 16th century. We unlock the full inspirational potential of the Tarot by using the cards for inspiration, character and scenario generation, and to suggest big changes to the world.
It’s focused on collaborative storytelling, not mechanical crunch. So, the game mechanics are pretty flexible, players can intervene in the story by giving their characters visions of the future, and character growth has its own integrated, Tarot-based mechanics.
But what can I do in it?
Duel janissaries! Steal from the Vatican archives! Start a hit song in Renaissance London! Consort with demons, angels and jinni! Make friends and influence people – with magic! Whisk an occult scholar to safety in the dead of night under the nose of the Portuguese Inquisition! Turn a man into a pig!
Wait, a TTRPG with no dice??
None! None at all! It’s all cards! We love cards! They’re beautiful!
And you know what we do with those cards? We generate character backstories, we do scenario divination, we give the players visions of the future!
What was that about scenario divination?
You can generate scenarios entirely from scratch just using the cards and some handy guides we made. Which means GMs can turn up having done exactly zero minutes of prep and everyone can still have a great session with an unexpected, creative mission!
Do I need to know Tarot to make it work?
No! If you’re familiar with Tarot then that’ll help, obviously, but we’ve made a bunch of helpful tables and materials to help you feel like a full-on oracle even if you’ve never seen a Tarot card in your life.
You can use any Tarot deck, but we recommend the Sefirot deck. The game was designed with this deck in mind, since it was created by the same people who are doing this project. Also just look at it omg this thing is gorgeous
Does this have some cool classes to play as?
You betcha! Right now you can play as an Occultist, Illusionist, Hunter or Champion. In the full game there’ll be a Prowler and Scoundrel too, for the sneakier among you. We also have other characters planned for stretch goals.
Who is making this thing?
Clockwork Bird (that’s us, Danny and Jamie) are doing the game, narrative design and writing. Viv Tanner and Eliot Baum are doing the art, and it is fantastic. And the whole project was started, and is being run by, Causa Creations, another Viennese game studio who happen to be friends of ours.
This sounds awesome, can I play it right now?
You can! Causa Creations are giving out free playtest kits, and honestly, we want to know how you can break the game. So if this sounds fun and you think your friends might have a blast, go to the project Discord and request a playtest kit, or send them an email at sefirot@causacreations.net.
So when can I get the full version?
The Hidden Isle is coming to Kickstarter in Fall 2023 for the full release! That includes:
- Six character classes
- Five historical cities to play in
- A description of Dioscoria lovingly written by the fictional explorer Beatrice of Grantabruge
- A magic system inspired by historical magical practices
- Tarot tables to help you divine, improv and roleplay like a pro
- Tips and tricks for game masters
If you want to be notified when the Kickstarter launches, go sign up here.
We’re also putting together some stretch goals, so this list may well expand!
Can we do anything to support you?
Please sign up for the campaign and share the good news!
Phew, that’s it! We’ll make another post when the campaign goes live, but we won’t clutter your inboxes with any unnecessary notifications.
We’re really excited to finally tell you about this! We’ve lived, breathed and conjured the 16th century for most of 2023, and it’s a joy to share it with you. We honestly think this is a fantastic roleplaying system: it’s story- and character-focused, it uses beautiful Tarot cards, its magic is way more interesting than “shoot a fireball”, its world is literally the world of the 16th century and is therefore as rich and deep as you want it to be, and it has so many cool mechanics and rules that squeeze as much story-juice out of every session as it possibly can. And if you’re a GM, you don’t even have to prep anything!! We’ve had positive, enthusiastic feedback from veteran TTRPG players as well as total novices, so it seems like our design is doing a dang good job!
Anyway, thanks for listening, and it’s good to be back! This is Clockwork Bird, signing off.