Rules Lite for Clockwork Canon

My rules lite version of all the game design ideas I have pertaining to making an rpg tailored specifically to my game world.

Rules Lite


I. Introduction

The player has the choice of playing two kinds of Characters in Canon, the Clocklord and the Ward.

Clocklords are personifications of the twelve hours of power. Wards are the mortal denizens of Canon itself. Wards can be of a diverse number of ethnic groups, each with their own physical and cultural distinctions.

In Canon, the point of the game is to have an agenda and it is the achievement of that agenda which makes you win. On the metaphysical level of course, the purpose of this game is to tell good stories through fun gameplay, which is why you will find here elements of simplified card gaming, war gaming, and of course roelplaying. Enjoy.

II. Characters

II.a Clocklords

Clocklords are made in a very simple way. You need only understand that they are metaphysical personifications of an idea taken from the twelve hours of power. Here are the basic steps.

Step 1. Name a Clocklord. This name should reflect the idea the Clocklord represents. Also, Clocklords are genderless, so keep the semantics close to your own understanding.

Step 2. Determine the hour the Clocklord comes form. Examples of this would be Federalist Clocklords springing from the Ideology hour, Greed Clocklords springing from the Wealth hour, and even Tyranny Clocklords springing from the Domination hour.

Step 3. Determine the personality of your Clocklord. This personality is very important simply because Clocklord's cannot be personifications without a personality. Keep in mind that it should also reflect where your Clocklord is on the twelve hours of power.

Step 4. Determine your Clocklord's Influence, Power, and then Wealth. Influence is what you use to gain support from earthly mortals for your cause. It is also used to nudge these mortals in the direction which you believe is the right one. Power is the measure of your ability to bend reality. You spend it through the use of cards made specifically for Clocklords. Wealth is what you use to gain material objects. It is also used to buy cards meant for Clocklord use only. When you create your Clocklord you are given twelve points to segregate among these powers. Enjoy.

Step 5. Choose your conduit. A conduit is the link between you and the material world. Without it, you cannot bend reality, gain wards, and achieve anything at all. Conduits may be anything. They could be mechanical constructs, wards themselves, or even inanimate objects. There is only one condition for a conduit to be bound to you and that is willingness. Without it, you are just another idea among many.

II.b Wards

Wards are the mortal denizens of Canon. They are also made in a very simple way.

Step 1. Name the individual. This should of course be a realistic one, considering the context of where your character was born among the cultural groups that populate Canon. More on this will be discussed in a separate treatise.

Step 2. Choose your profession. This is not a skill based nor a combat based game. Profession is a catch all term for what your character is good at. Choose it well.

Step 3. Determine competency. Determine how good your character is at his chosen profession. Every rise up the ranks gains him a bonus of three points when doing something related to his profession. There are four levels of competency, Apprentice, Adept, Journeyman, and then Master. You will start at the apprentice level with no bonus to your actions.

Step 4. Determine attributes. Attributes are characteristics peculiar to your character. You are allowed to choose three for your character among the possible options you are allowed by your gamemaster. Also, here's the things. I don't need to make any attributes right now. Your gamemaster could just make them up for you to fit you. There are things called attribute cards in this game for your perusal as a player, so fret not.

Step 5. Determine Clockface. Like the Clocklords, every being on Canon was born on a particular hour with a predilection or incompetence with the others. This is what you call the Clockface. Among the the twelve points of power, assign the numbers -6 to +5 to signify your strengths and weaknesses. A more detailed discussion on this will be discussed later.

Step 6. Determine personality. You are an intelligent being. As a sign of your intelligence, one must have a personality. This personality must also reflect your Clockface. Enjoy.

III. Development

A game of Canon is structured, ideally, into episodes. In each Episode, when ended, a player may earn development points. For Clocklords, these points may be used to increase your Influence, Power, or Wealth. For Wards, these points can be used to earn attributes from your gamemaster, or ultimately be used to rise up the ranks of your profession.

There is only one way one may rise up the ranks of your profession though and that is through the benevolence of a teacher. You have to be taught your craft. First off, you must have the required number of development points. These you pay the gamemaster to receive the lessons you will be given. Aside from this, there are other requirements which must be met. These are the requirements of the teacher. Once all of these requirements have been met, you finally earn your rank. Kudos to you.

IV. Contracts

Contracts are agreements between wards and Clocklords for the mutual benefit of both. This is how a Clocklord may fain followers and this is how a war may be able to gain the benefits of a patron Clocklord. Contracts vary on a case to case basis. Usually, contracts are nothing more than the terms for receiving and maintaining the support of the ward from episode to episode.

V. Sequence of Play

The game is structured into episodes. At the start of every episode, the folowing things take place:

1. The Influence, Wealth, and Power of the Clocklords are replenished.

2. Contracts are renewed or reneged.

3. New contracts are filed.

During these episodes the players may have their characters do various things in the game environment. These are called actions. Actions are the active manifestations of the twelve laws of power.

VI. Actions

There are two kinds of actions, mundane actions and contested actions. Contested actions are out of the ordinary actions whose actions affect the plot. It is this importance that requires it to be measured for its success.

To measure the success of an action, do the following things;

1. Determine who goes first in an episode. This is very self explanatory. To determine who goes first, have all your characters sum up their Fate and Expertise hours. The highest number always goes first. If there are ties, they act simultaneously.


2. Determine what the actions are done against. There are three basic forms of conflict, mortal against mortal, mortal against evironment, and mortal against environment against mortal. The first to act against another is the actor, and every action done by the acted upon is a reaction.

3. Determine the hour of the action. This means the Watchmaker should judge where the action comes from according to the twelve hours of power. And example would be Killing as something from the Force hour, Intimidate as something from the Domination hour, and then Flaunt as something from the Charisma hour. Even making a purchase is an action whose hour is Wealth. The action's success rating gains the bonus of the actor's hour.

4. Determine bonuses. Actions gain bonuses from the Following; the Character's clock face, the Character's Profession, the Character's equipment, and the Clocklord's aid. Example, if your character is going to steal something and his Expertise hour is +3 then he gets +3. If he is also an Adept Thief, he gains another +3. If he is wearing lightfeather gloves, that is another +4 bonus. If his patron Clocklord is pariticularly generous, he gains another +4. Overall success rating would then be 17 against the targets success as detecting the theft.

5. Compare ratings. Whenever two actions are in contest, the one with the highest success rating automatically succeeds. Example, if a character's action to shoot another is 15, and the dodging party is 16, then the bullet barely hits. If a character's action to pick a lock is 13, and the lock has a 17 difficulty level, then the picking has failed. There is no random aspect in Canon. The Watchmaker sets the difficulty ratings for the environment.

VII Life and Death

At every Episode the characters are given three Will to Live and three Will to Carry On markers. If they lose all trhough Will to Live markers, they die. If they lose all three Will to carry On markers, they pass out and can only be awaken on the next episode.

VIII Combat and Armaments

To be revised for more realistic combat.