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The officially licensed tabletop roleplaying game set in the world of the Temeraire novel series by Naomi Novik!
This is launching tomorrow! Super excited; Magpie Games are doing this and they've got a really great approach to the RPG that lets players play both people and dragons \o/ Check out if you're into TTRPG!
If I had a nickel for every time an eldritch universe I love got an RPG announced on an August 1st,
I'd have two nickels.
a game where we hurt each other
Last month, I played perhaps the most intense TTRPG session of my life as part of the Dream Library’s discussion of Bluebeard’s Bride, a game of “feminist horror” (more on this later) published by Magpie in a gorgeous print edition. Over the course of the month of October my guest lecturer/collaborator @marvelousmsmolly I collectively hosted three sessions of what was by far the most challenging game the Dream Library has ever discussed.
We came to Bluebeard as the second part of our fall semester covering games of intimacy and monstrosity — a unit which began in September with Avery Alder’s Monsterhearts 2 and is continuing this month with Vampire: The Masquerade (If you want to get in on the VTM discussion and future semesters, please, come join). Both Molly and I suspected that Bluebeard was going to be both a quieter month and a riskier text — but opted to play through it anyway, albeit with some tools in place to make sure everyone knew what they were getting into with a book that doesn’t pull many punches. And with all that, the first two sessions went... fine? We had some lumpy pacing, some conflicting styles of play, some questions about how a game that really seems to encourage player bleed can possibly be played online, but for the most part things were fine. Not great, not bad — not worth the anxiety we’d had about them.
And “fine,” of course, doesn’t make for interesting conversations, so Molly and I took a step back. We talked about what was going wrong: a sense that neither of us quite felt comfortable hitting hard enough, even though we asked players ahead of time and at the start of sessions to tell us what was off the table. A frustration that player choice had trended towards the Bride as a detective/hero and not someone embodied in a world of horror. A confusion — once again — over what it means to “shiver with terror” in a discord call with some friends online. Out of that conversation came a new idea: rather than two more one-shots, Molly took some time to charge up a spirit bomb and put together some more formal prep, then recruited a group she felt could get together for a more curated experience. She wrote up her own excellent thoughts on what went down — along with a lot of session details — but you’ll have to join the Dream Library for that.
The result of all that curation and preparation was that on October 23rd a group of four trans women — Molly, @jdragsky, our friend Mars, and I — sat down to play Bluebeard’s Bride knowing exactly what we were in for. We would be playing a transfem Bride, Bluebeard would be cis, and we would be hitting transfem-specific horror as hard as we possibly could.
I’m going to quote from Molly’s reflection, where she wrote:
“Another really great aspect of running this game for this table is there was such a clear feeling that we all understood, wordlessly, what was going on... There are some moments in Allison Rumfitt’s gothic horror novel ‘Tell Me I’m Worthless’ where it felt like the author, a trans woman, was dropping phrases knowing exactly how her transfem audience would react... This had a twofold effect of both giving the players a chilling moment but also, a very brief but appropriate separation between fiction and player where could all grimace and be together in that discomfort before pushing on. People knew what I was doing. The problem with the original game is it doesn’t really want to discuss the politics of what “feminine horror” means. Because of this you’re really lacking some focus. I think a table of cis women could actually play bluebeard’s bride in the way we did last night and have it hit hard for them if they approached it correctly, I don’t think our experience was uniquely elevated by our trans reading, however that was one of several tools we used for that elevation.”
Setting aside the strengths and weaknesses of the original text, that sense of shared experience was key to our game and key to allowing us to hit — and get hit — really hard and trust that our coplayers were there with us. Compared to our earlier efforts (prioritizing safety by taking things off the table via lines/veils) tightening the topical scope from an ambiguous “feminist horror” to a specific transfeminist horror in the context of a chaser bf, in the context of an economic disparity, in the context of the medical pressures of transition in the contemporary U.K. allowed Molly, our lovely host, to hurt us knowing that we were all in it together and choosing to play this game. It transformed the horror from an obstacle in an adventure game into a thing we were seeking out: a pleasure/pain we asked to feel.
In a games discourse that is — understandably — interested in protections which might be implemented anywhere, including at cons and home tables with much less of an art-and-politics interest, safety tools are often thought about as a negative thing, a preemptive cutting away of all the things which might end up hurting us. I think that’s part of why people can have a hard time filling out a lines/veils list in advance of a session. What are all the things in the world I’m sensitive to? What are all the contexts in which I’m sensitive to them? Good sensitive or bad sensitive? Sensitive enough to cause a scene? Sensitive enough to make it off the table?
In place of that — and in a table with a really remarkable amount of trust — this final Bluebeard session leaned in, hard, to the things that hurt us. That was the game. Molly wrote a lot about kink in her reflection, and I think she was right to do that. The point of the game was to hurt each other and to feel, and it was a better game for keeping that in mind. It was an actual horror game, and not just a game with horror aesthetics. I agree with Molly that there was nothing essential about having an all-transfem table — I think what we did could be done by anyone, even with the base Bluebeard’s Bride. What was essential was having a table where we all trusted each other enough to play a hurting game and to know that we were there on purpose. It elevated Bluebeard’s Bride into a really fascinating, messy experience — one I can’t wait to play again.
The officially licensed tabletop roleplaying game set in the world of the Temeraire novel series by Naomi Novik!
Magpie Games is excited to bring you Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game, the officially licensed tabletop roleplaying game set in the world of the Temeraire novel series by Naomi Novik! With over a decade of roleplaying design and publishing expertise, Magpie Games is bringing the world of Temeraire to life in a tabletop roleplaying game featuring our innovative Ædana system, newly refined for draconic military adventures.
Join us and set off in an immersive roleplaying experience that gives your formation of fighting dragons and brave captains the chance to shape your own stories of duty at war with desire!
Temeraire: The RPG includes setting information for the alternate history of the Napoleonic Era, dynamic systems for carrying out missions across Europe, numerous character types representing the variety of characters fans love from the British Aerial Corps, and even the rules for playing a dragon!
Rise into aerial battle. Fly to lands across the world. Face treachery and deceit, alongside honor and nobility. Find your love and fight for it. Save nations by the sweat of your brow and the strength of your scales!
The Temeraire series takes place during an alternative history of the Napoleonic Wars—the series of conflicts led by European coalitions against the first French Empire under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte. Though rooted in real world history, Temeraire diverges due to the presence of dragons; often the events you might find in a history book occur similarly, but the existence of dragons reshapes other events completely. Dragons can be as big as a frigate to roughly the size of a person. These great creatures aren’t mere animals. They are as varied as the humans around them; some are intelligent poets and scholars, while others are belligerent warriors. Those who bond with humans become fiercely loyal to their chosen companions, and all dragons are formidable foes in war.
In Britain, a newly hatched dragon is encouraged to form a deep and unbreakable bond with the one who “harnesses” it; the bonded human becomes a captain in the British Aerial Corps. The dragon then takes on a crew appropriate to its size, composed of soldiers and officers much like the crew of a naval ship. In Temeraire: The RPG you and your friends take on the roles of human and draconic officers in the British Aerial Corps, carry out missions for your nation, and brave dangerous battles to save the day!
The setting of the Temeraire series is like our own with a few unique differences. Here is what you need to know:
Dragons are varied and complex. Dragons have lived throughout the world for ages and they’ve shaped the way the alternate history of this series has developed. They have complex inner-lives, social structures, and can accomplish great feats. They’re not seen as pets or animals, but are on equal footing with humans and beings to be respected.
Great Britain leads multiple coalitions against France. The British formed coalitions of nations to oppose the French, their revolutionary ideas, and their imperial ambitions. Each coalition was a slightly different combination of nations, and each individual war ended with a treaty and terms before the fighting began again.
The British Aerial Corps operates as an isolated branch of the military. Among aviators, being a Captain who has bonded with a dragon is a high honour. However, outside the corps aviators are viewed as rather scandalous figures. The training practices of the Aerial Corps are secret and their ranks are insular. Coalition members know they need aviators, but it doesn’t stop them from being quietly judged.
Every culture has a different relationship with dragons. Throughout the world, dragons and humans have forged relationships that differ from culture to culture. From the British largely separating dragons from their human population and relegating them to military service, to China’s deep-rooted inclusion of dragons in their everyday lives, no two human societies think the same way about dragons.
Temeraire is a series of alternate history fantasy novels by author Naomi Novik. These nine beloved novels follow the brave British Aerial Captain William Laurence and his dragon, Temeraire, as they undertake missions to fulfill their duty to their country, fight in dangerous battles against French forces, and ultimately reshape history for both humans and dragons alike.
If you’d like to immerse yourself in the world, take a dive into the novels and experience the award-winning story, starting with His Majesty’s Dragon!
Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game is a way for you to experience the excitement of draconic battles and Regency era drama all for yourself! The tabletop roleplaying game supports approximately 3-5 players, with one taking on the role of a gamemaster responsible for portraying the world and adjudicating the rules, and the rest taking on the role of their own individual character. The game is designed for ongoing stories, as the characters pursue their dreams and face the consequences of their choices.
In this game, you and your friends create characters—both humans and dragons!—who are embroiled in the conflicts of the Napoleonic age. Caught between their duties and their desires, your characters must balance their obligations to country, unit, and each other against their hearts’ strongest yearnings.
You play members of a flight formation—a group of dragons and their crew who take on missions together. You could be the lead dragon in the formation, a captain bonded with that dragon, or even a signaler on a dragon in charge of ensuring everyone knows their orders in the air!
Formations, and the British Aerial Corps, have a chain of command that must be respected, but no one role in the game is more important than another. No matter what your role is in the formation, you contribute to the missions and ensure its success. Missions can be anything from engaging foes in an aerial battle to sneaking into enemy territory to retrieve vital troop deployment information. Different missions allow for different members of the formation to shine and apply their skills and training in unique ways!
British society during this era of history is a silken cage composed of both the neverending demands of your family and class and the weighty responsibilities of your role in the formation. Yet, amidst those burdens, you’re still a complex human being with their own wants and needs. To reflect the push and pull between what a character wants and what a character feels obligated to do, this game uses a system of duties and desires.
Your duties are the orders you have and the commitments you’ve made, your loyalty to your nation, the cause, and the people around you. Your ongoing obligations and responsibilities that centre you in society and ground you.
Your desires are your personal goals and things you want for yourself beyond the military and the social orders that constrain you. They’re not idle wants, they’re burning passions that help define who you are as a person.
You can invoke your duties and desires during a mission to aid in your rolls and get better results after your roll. When you invoke a duty, your commitment to your obligations allows you to change any one die to a hit, rising above the moment to achieve some success; when you invoke a desire, your burning passion allows you to reroll as many dice as you want—your desire urging you on to greatness!
However, duties and desires can also complicate your life. Duties restrict what you might do; if you want to act in a way your duty would restrict, then you must roll a test of your duty. Desires push you to act in their pursuit; if you want to ignore a desire, then it must be tested. If your test of duty or desire goes poorly you’ll have to act in accordance with it…or weaken its hold on you.
Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game uses the Ædana System™, a new game system built upon many lessons the team at Magpie Games have learned over the past decade of game design. Ædana is built for flexibility, with a simple central dice mechanism alongside more complex and intricate conflict systems to flesh out exciting moments.
You can read a lot more about the specifics of the system and how to run it in our Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game quickstart, here!
At heart, Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game uses challenge rolls to resolve moments of uncertainty and tension. A challenge roll has a player pick up a bunch of six-sided dice:
Dice for an appropriate attribute, usually between 0 and 4
A skill die, if you have a Trained or better applicable skill
A die for an asset (resources or equipment), if you have something useful to the situation
A die for good circumstances that gives you an advantage
Here’s an example of what assembling a challenge roll looks like:
Nocturna, a British longwing, just completed her training and joined a formation with the illustrious dragon Cinerax. The young dragon knows she earned her position, but she wants to make a good impression on Cinerax. A training run is just the place to do it! Nocturna knows it takes a lot to catch her formation leader’s attention so she decides to try a particularly impressive maneuver—saving time on her run by flying directly through the rocky formations off the coast rather than around them!
For the maneuver Nina, Nocturna’s player, looks at Nocturna’s Body attribute – a 2, so Nina takes two dice. Then, she looks at Nocturna’s skills. Agility is the skill for speed and dexterity, and Nocturna’s Agility is Trained. She adds another die to her roll, for a total of three dice. Nocturna’s trained for this, the weather is good, and only a few weeks ago she tried this maneuver with her captain, Heather Kensington, who now confidently pats her neck—she’s got this! The GM tells Nina, Nocturna has favorable circumstances and Nina takes an additional die.
Nina picks up the four dice and rolls!
On any challenge roll, you’re looking for 5’s and 6’s, called hits.
No hits, and you get a defeat: The GM says what happens, and it won’t be good.
One hit, and you get an unstable result: you can make it a success, but only if you pay a cost or face a complication. Otherwise, it's a defeat.
Two hits, and you get a success: you get what you wanted in full!
Three or more hits, and you get a triumphant success: you get what you wanted and then some!
There’s more to explore in terms of the different advantages skills can give you, different kinds of resources and equipment you can pull from, and special abilities you might have that give you some edge…but on the whole, that’s it!
Well, except for one exciting way to bring more depth to your story…
The Ædana System uses conflicts as an optional way to expand particularly intense moments of uncertainty. Conflicts play out a bit like minigames, with their own procedures designed to reflect the particulars of that scene. The quickstart includes conflicts for Aerial Battles and Balls, but the core game will have many more conflicts!
Conflicts are designed to give game groups new options for surprising play, without making demands. Any moment that a conflict comes up could probably be resolved by a few simple challenge rolls instead! But a conflict really focuses and creates tension while producing surprising and deep results. A conflict can take your narrative in a direction you’d never expect!
Be sure to check out the conflicts in the Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game quickstart!
When you sit down to start playing Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game, first you fill in some details of your formation as a group. You’ll decide what nation you serve (if any!) and in what capacity you function as a formation, who is a human and who is a dragon, and what roles your characters have within the formation as a whole.
The core book is mostly aimed at creating formations in the British Aerial Corps, but the wider possibilities include mercenary formations and formations for entirely different nations! After you’ve settled at your initial formation, you’ll work with the GM to determine your initial orders—what your formation is tasked to do at the start of the game!
Then, you go to work creating your PCs based on that starting information. Every PC is built by picking one option in each of the six different Identities, categories that are specific to humans and dragons:
Human Identities:
Position - What is your rank and job in the formation? Are you a captain? A signaller?
Nationality - What is your defining nationality? What brings you to fight?
Service Record - What is your level of experience as a soldier? Have you seen combat? How has it affected you?
Station - What’s your role in the broader society? Are you a wealthy noble? An impoverished tradesperson? A striving immigrant?
Temperament - What is your general disposition and demeanor? Are you jovial and warm? Straightforward and cynical? Determined and unyielding?
Distinction - What makes you stand out among the other characters? Are you a spy for a foreign power? A legendary war hero? A scion of an important line?
Dragons Identities:
Breed - What kind of dragon are you? A Malachite Reaper? A Longwing? A Regal Copper?
Age - How old are you, relatively speaking? Are you a newborn, eager to see the world? A senior dragon, rich with experience but slowing down?
Education - How much have you learned about the world? Are you an academic soul, often lost in books? A well-traveled adventurer always looking for new experiences?
Service Record - What is your level of experience in war? What important events have transpired in your history of service so far?
Temperament - What is your general disposition and demeanor? Are you fiery and ambitious? Possessive and controlling? Delightful, but restrained?
Distinction - What makes you stand out among the other characters? Are you a diminutive or prodigious dragon for your breed? A partriach or matriarch of a long line? Are you the possessor of a unique draconic ability?
Each Identity shapes who your character is fictionally and mechanically. Perhaps it gives you some skills; perhaps you gain some resources or equipment; perhaps it provides an ability or a trait that tweaks the rules for you. After you’ve made your choices, you have your own unique character, ready to serve in the British Aerial Corps!
Kickstarter campaign ends: Thu, March 26 2026 11:00 PM UTC +00:00
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Oh! Finally! Been very excited for this since I backed it a while back!
Root: Travelers & Outsiders ~ Magpie Games (2021)
The release of the quickstart celebrates Fallen London's 15th Anniversary and includes pre-generated characters, abridged rules, and a short
Get an early start in the Neath with the Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game Quickstart from Magpie Games
Prepping for a Campaign of Urban Shadows 2E set in Miami (tentatively titled “Neon Shadows”) so allow me to introduce my Werewolf character, Pilar “Pica” Luperón! She’s a punk rocking Dominicana werewolf based out of her family-run Hair Salon. Love playing with all the neon pinks, here, have to imagine I’ll be painting her again!
