Welcome

Welcome to the Intrigue in the Clouds, a four-hour freeform (or theatre-style, live action) roleplaying game for 31 players. It's set in the year 1886 on Her Majesty's Airship, Royal Victoria, on a voyage across the Atlantic from London to New York.

Although this is a historical setting, the world is not quite our own. Queen Victoria rules Britannia and all her colonial possessions. The Ripper haunts the streets of Whitechapel. Unknown forces are at work in the world. The Great Powers of Europe stand at the brink of war. If you played in "1897" then this is a very similar setting.

Join the passengers and crew of the Royal Victoria as she crosses the Atlantic on a voyage to destiny. Cross wits with notorious diplomats, spies, scholars, heroes, rogues, killers and worse. The occult mixes with mystery, love and danger on a GothicPulp airship!

This Page

The aim of this page is to provide a brief introduction to the game and how it will be played. Unlike many of my games, the background pages are quite small since there's no imaginary universe to be described. In fact, since the game is set in the "real" world, there are only three background pages:

• Brochure for Royal Victoria
• A recent copy of the Times of London
• Politics and Technology in 1886

The remainder of the site is dedicated to the actual details of the game itself, namely:

• The Rules System
  • details of the very basic rules that will be used in the game, including how to go round beating people up (not that anyone would want to do that)
• Casting Information
  • information on casting and links to the casting form
• History of the Game
  • details of how the game came to be

Characters

What you won't find on this site is your character sheet. In order to be cast, you will need to fill in a casting form. Please note that you can only be cast if you have already registered to play the game. To register, you must go through the organisers of the convention at which the game is being run. For more details on where the game is being run, please see click here. If you are thinking of playing the game or if you are registered but haven't yet read it, you should take a look at what to expect from my games and what is expected of you.

When you are cast, your character sheet will contain details on:

• who you are with a full background and character motivations
• what your aims and objectives are
• who you know and what you think of them

As well as your character sheet, you will be provided with copies of the background information and rules. This will be sent to you by e-mail once casting has been completed and you will also be provided with a printed copies in your character pack at the game itself.

Players who are new to freeforms might link to click on this link.

The Rules

There are very few game mechanics or rules per se as the entire action will take place in the airship Royal Victoria. The game consists largely of meeting people, talking to them and finding things out.

On the odd occasion when a character might want to do something that the player(s) involved can't actually roleplay, then the rules come into play. Basically, if you want to do something special, you will have a description on your character sheet that says what you can do and how you might do it. If not, and you think you ought to be able to do something, go and see a referee, who'll tell you what to do.

For a more thorough discussion of the rules, please click here.