Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game

Special Deals!

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!

Download the Quickstart and start playing today!

Play The Game

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!

Q&A stream with Naomi Novik! 

Watch the livestream of beloved author of the Temeraire series, Naomi Novik, and Mark Diaz Truman, co-founder & CEO of Magpie Games answering your questions about Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game!

Launch party with Naomi Novik!

Watch the livestream of Brendan Conway, lead designer for Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game and Naomi Novik, beloved author of the Temeraire series, answering all your burning questions and share in the excitement of the Kickstarter launch! 

Watch the actual play!

Check out the first actual play for the epic new game Temeraire: the Roleplaying Game based on Naomi Novik's award winning book series!

Temeraire: The RPG

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!

Items & Add-ons

Check here for details on items you can get through this Kickstarter! All artwork presented is not final and subject to change. More items will be unlocked through stretch goals as the campaign goes on. 

You can purchase add-ons for your pledge through a drop-down menu when confirming your payment details on Kickstarter. It will add the additional cost to your pledge before finalising your payment.

Reward Tiers

Back now to get your hands on Kickstarter-only pricing for the Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game and all its accessories!

Stretch Goals

With your help, we can make Temeraire: the Roleplaying Game even better – we've lined up exciting stretch goals ranging from new game content to physical accessories.

Every flight crew is better with friends! Please let your friends know about the project...we'd love to see them join the mission too!

Virtual Tabletop Support

At 5,000 follows, we'll work with the helpful online platform Roll20 to bring the game to your virtual table! This implementation will be available for free to everyone who backs at the Digital Only tier and above.

Art Print

When unlocked, we'll create a gorgeous 8”x10” print featuring the evocative art of Temeraire! Everyone who backs at a level that includes physical stretch goals receives it for free, and it will be available for purchase as an add-on!

Character Sheet Upgrade

When unlocked, we'll provide a multitude of printable character sheets! Standard, form-fillable, and luxury options! Download, print, and play with your friends in unparalleled style.

Dragon Pin

When unlocked, we will create a soft enamel pin featuring the celestial dragon, Temeraire! Everyone who backs at a level that includes physical stretch goals receives it for free, and it will be available for purchase as an add-on!

Russian Empire Setting Options

When unlocked, we'll add details of the Napoleonic Era Russian Empire in the world of Temeraire, providing plentiful setting information and story hooks so you can play formations undertaking missions in that part of the world.

The Kingdom of Prussia Setting Options

When unlocked, we'll add details of the Napoleonic Era Kingdom of Prussia in the world of Temeraire, providing plentiful setting information and story hooks so you can play formations undertaking missions in that part of the world.

New Mission: Little Wars

When unlocked, we'll create a new mission you can use either for a one-shot game or to include as part of a larger campaign. For this stretch goal, we will add the mission "Little Wars", about guerrillas fighting Napoleonic forces as they move through Portugal and Spain.

Dice Bag

When unlocked, we will create a dice bag to hold all of your custom Temeraire: the Roleplaying Game dice from this campaign and more! The Dice Bag is an embroidered velvet dice bag customized for Temeraire: The RPG. Everyone who backs at a level that includes physical stretch goals receives it for free, and it will be available for purchase as an add-on!

Human Character Options for the Russian Empire

When unlocked, we'll provide new character options for human characters coming from the region of the Russian Empire and its environs.

Dragon Character Options for the Russian Empire

When unlocked, we'll provide new character options for dragon characters coming from the region of the Russian Empire and its environs.

Dragon Chart Poster

When unlocked, we will create a stunning 11"x17" dragon chart poster featuring an array of different dragons from around the world and showcasing the varied sizes of all the different breeds, the dragon chart is the perfect accessory any budding naturalists with an interest in the Order Draconia like Sir Edward Howe. Everyone who backs at a level that includes physical stretch goals receives it for free, and it will be available for purchase as an add-on!

Dragon & Human Character Options for the Kingdom of Prussia

When unlocked, we'll provide new character options for dragon & human characters coming from the region of the Kingdom of Prussia and its environs.

Shipping

Shipping will be charged during the pledge manager phase of the campaign – when you select your final rewards, we will charge you for shipping based on the best available rates at the time; if your order contains a large number of rewards, your shipping cost will rise. Our estimated costs for shipping are as follows:

All shipping is US/EU/CA/UK/AU-friendly. We will cover the cost of importing rewards into those regions, and our reshippers will do their best to ensure that you receive the book from a local address.

Pledges shipping to the United States, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand will not incur any additional taxes or customs fees. Backers in the United Kingdom and European Union will be charged VAT during the pledge manager phase of the campaign. 

Magpie Games will not charge any additional taxes or customs fees to regions not listed above. However, packages sent outside these regions will be shipped Delivery Duty Unpaid and backers will be responsible for paying any taxes or fees imposed by their destination country.

We are able to ship almost anywhere in the world except for the following regions: Africa, Central America, South America, Middle East, Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan), and Eastern Europe (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus). Unfortunately, we cannot find a reliable way to ship to those regions. We're sorry!

You can read more about our shipping policies in the FAQ!

Retail shipping for this campaign is free for most retailers. If you are a retailer located in the United States, Canada, European Union or United Kingdom you will not be charged for shipping if you pledge at a retail tier. Instead, we’ll cover the shipping as a thank you for supporting our work. We know operating a retail store is hard work even in the best of times, and we appreciate you all a ton.

For retailers outside of the regions listed above, shipping rates will be charged using the best available rates to the destination country at the time of fulfillment. For more information about shipping to a specific region, please email us at info@magpiegames.com.

All digital products will be fulfilled through Roll20. We will deliver coupon codes for you to add all digital products to your Roll20 library via pledge manager digital downloads.

While many parts of the supply chain are still reeling from the global pandemic (and the evolving tariffs situation in the United States), we're cautiously optimistic about the timeline for these books. We've got a ton of experience getting games into the hands of backers, and we've weathered challenges and obstacles that most people haven't ever seen. We're excited to print and ship these games!

That said, we know that we've often run late. One reason we're excited about our new releases is that we have been working hard to better estimate the work needed and sticking to our proposed schedule—Rapscallion went out to backers on time last year, and we are on pace to deliver the both the Root: Ruins & Rolls Kickstarter and the Fallen London RPG Kickstarter within a few months of our original expected timelines (even with the disruptions from the tariffs) for both projects.

Please note that it is likely the production of this book will overlap with other Magpie Games crowdfunding campaigns. While we do our best to deliver every campaign in a timely manner, some delays may arise and other campaigns may launch on their own timelines. We ask that all backers be patient with us—no one wants to ship these games more than us! 

Magpie Games stands with many other creators, artists, and writers against the use of GenAI. The technology is a constant and unethical violation of copyright laws, made worse by  disastrous social and environmental impact caused by its use. We are passionate about ensuring all of our products are made by human beings. 

In regards to illustration, we work with human artists—some new and some established—through a multi-step process: from sketches to tights to full color where we (along with the licensors) provide notes or approve each step. To facilitate a healthy collaborative process, we provide detailed art specifications and clear feedback at every stage of our work together.

While errors or inconsistencies sometimes occur, they are fully human-made errors and artistic decisions. We are proud to work with and support the real artists who bring our products to life. We do ask artists to sign agreements explicitly prohibiting the use of GenAI in any part of their process, and we hold them accountable to those agreements when necessary.

If you see something you suspect may be GenAI, please email us at info@magpiegames.com. We're happy to look into it!  We are human too, doing our best to navigate the current landscape, and mistakes can and do happen. We strongly encourage everyone in the community to join us in our stance against GenAI and to be thoughtful about the very real harm AI accusations can cause to artists creating genuinely wonderful, non-AI artwork.