Enter "Ultraviolet Cloud Empress"

15 Oct, 2026

A gm journal/play report experiment straight from my home table.

Welcome to the first piece of “Ultraviolet Cloud Empress” journals.
Through some small bite articles I aim to keep a record of this adventure and how I fumbled my way into preparing and mediating this shared experience.

This team-brewed sci-fantasy adventure happened earlier this year through 6 gaming sessions of roughly 2 hours each. We played every 15 days starting in late-April and ending by mid-August.

Disclaimer: I do not own any intellectual property mentioned on this play report. I have no affiliation to either Tuesday Knight Games, Worlds by Watts or Wizardthieffighter. This is a fan project that does not involve profiting in any way.

Hacking treasure

The pleasure of treasure.
Treasure is heavy
So hack it up - Luka Rejec

The Source Material

First things first, my core material for this adventure was built on top of two marvellous games:

Ultraviolet Grasslands by WizardThiefFighter

This is one of my favourite settings ever. There’s no saying how many hours I’ve spent reading, running or playing this game. Suffice to say there’s a lot of history between us and it is a place me and my caravan (going strong for years and years now) always turn back to.

Cloud Empress by Watts

This game sat idly on my shelves far too long. When I finally managed to play it, there was a rush of excitment and I was reminded of how interested I was in its themes and mechanics. Soon after, I ran the intro adventure: “The last voyage of the Bean barge” and that rich powder-keg adventure made me think of caravan chases and the deadly intrigue between factions.

Suddenly an idea came to mind.

The Prep

To craft an unique setting from these two games, I need its most precious concepts. All the pieces and bits I like so much about them must remain protagonists after I blend everything together

For this time around, the main concepts from Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City were:

• The technofantastic caravans.
  The caravan lifestyle, nature and technology. The sense of wonder and the need of travel is what this game is all about. Spending weeks on strange vehicles crossing the mutated landscape it’s essential to any UVG experience.

• Layered history.
  The depth of landmarks concerning the passage of time and the whims of history. Every location is covered in different marks made by all the different armies and groups that sought control. This allows me to juxtapose elements.

• The Anti Canon approach.
  The gaps and inconsistencies of the setting and the preference for teambrewing blew my mind on my first read. It shaped the way I play and run games so it’s inevitably part of this.

• The Joes and Does of UVG.
  The many interesting factions and character diversity in the UVG. It’s a trademark of the setting, I need these characters setting the tone of this experience.

From Cloud Empress core rules my main keeps were

• The Ecological fantasy.
  Nature and its cycles. These elements at the heart of the setting feel so refreshing and enticing. This needs to stay relevant if this game is going anywhere near Cloud Empress.

• The Cost of Magic.
  The spells feel dangerous and creative. There’s chances of catastrophic miscasts and even the successful attempts have effects and aftereffects!

• The Weight of Violence.
  Combat is also dramatic and dangerous. The stress mechanic forces player characters to find a way around combat or submit to the unforgiving panic checks. This different approach to violence would be a drastic change to the baseline UVG setting.

• The missing Empress.
  The status quo of Cloud Empress is baked with political tension, court intrigue and social strife. It perfectly sets important tones and themes of the game. It will serves us well.

Finding the thread

I was seeking the connecting thread between these two worlds that I already felt but couldn’t place my finger on it. It was there between the technomancy and the ecological collapse; between the electronic beasts and the clouds of mutated spore; amidst layers upon layers of history sunk deep into the grasslands and the ravaging consequences of humanity’s disrespect for it.

This kingdom of clouds pillaging the lands in search of their missing empress had finally arrived at the radiated grasslands sitting at the edge of the world.

Building from the Cloud Empress setting, I imagine the cloud nation venturing into a new place, a brand new frontier after exhausting other options. Their occupation is swift and fierce, gaining control over the caravan’s trails and some populated landmarks.

UVG is, therefore, the physical location where the adventure takes place. I choose one of the very first landmarks. (I dare not start off too deep into the grassland). Meanwhile Cloud Empress will provide the core rule system for PC/NPC creationg, travel procedures, violent encounters and everything else.

Adventure Time

At this point I have my "Almanac" file, a collection of the most important bits, statements and pictures that showcase the setting to the players and the “GM Journal” with my own statements and guidelines to build the adventure upon.

Next up on the “Ultraviolet Cloud Empress” journals:

“That week I had a panic attack”

Where I talk about rules adaptations and the seeds of adventure.

"The spores, the hunters and their sick car"

The play report for session #01

Thank you for reading and see you next time!