Publisher: Eduardo Camps
What Is This?
The Brass Wards is a comprehensive location sourcebook for Clockwork Asylum, a steampunk-Lovecraftian setting where industrial revolution meets cosmic horror. This system-neutral resource provides everything you need to run campaigns centered on a Victorian psychiatric hospital that's become a threshold between realities.
What's Inside?
40+ pages of dark Victorian atmosphere including:
Module 01: Design & Layout
- Complete architectural breakdown from elegant reception halls to horrifying sublevels
- The Grand Entrance, Treatment Floors, Hydrotherapy Wing, Mechanical Therapy Laboratories
- The Observatory and Administrative ...
Publisher: Eduardo Camps
What Is This?
The Brass Wards is a comprehensive location sourcebook for Clockwork Asylum, a steampunk-Lovecraftian setting where industrial revolution meets cosmic horror. This system-neutral resource provides everything you need to run campaigns centered on a Victorian psychiatric hospital that's become a threshold between realities.
What's Inside?
40+ pages of dark Victorian atmosphere including:
Module 01: Design & Layout
- Complete architectural breakdown from elegant reception halls to horrifying sublevels
- The Grand Entrance, Treatment Floors, Hydrotherapy Wing, Mechanical Therapy Laboratories
- The Observatory and Administrative Level
- Three sublevels of secrets, including the abandoned hydrotherapy facilities and the mysterious depths
- Daily rhythms and operational procedures
- Hidden areas including the Admissions Processing Center, Medicament Dispensary, Shock Therapy Suites, Isolation Ward, and Art Therapy Studio
Module 02: Non-Player Characters
40 fully developed NPCs including:
- Dr. Victoria Ashworth - Medical Director trapped between ethics and horror
- Dr. Harrison Webb - Chief of Mechanical Therapeutics, true believer in invasive treatment
- Nurse Superintendent Adelaide Thorne - Iron-willed administrator who knows all the secrets
- Chief Engineer Marcus Devereaux - Maintains machinery that's become something more than mechanical
- Silas Crowe - Head Pharmacist preparing compounds that shouldn't exist
- Dr. Cornelius Thane (in absentia) - The transformed founder who still haunts the facility
- Medical staff, nurses, orderlies, patients, and external contacts
- Each NPC includes motivations, connections, and plot hooks
- Cross-references to other Clockwork Asylum locations
Module 03: Rumors & Information
80 rumors organized by accessibility:
- 10 Common Knowledge rumors
- 20 Uncommon Information details
- 30 Obscure Details for deep investigation
- 20 Secret Information reveals about the true horror Progressive revelation structure—from "cutting-edge asylum" to "threshold for cosmic entities"
Module 04: Encounter Tables
Dynamic encounter tables for:
- Reception and Administrative Areas (Day & Night)
- Treatment Floors (Treatment Hours & Non-Treatment)
- Sublevels and Restricted Areas
- External and Perimeter 20 entries per table providing atmospheric encounters, plot hooks, and dangerous situations
Module 05: Adventure Seeds
20 complete adventure seeds organized by type:
- Investigation & Mystery: The Missing Patients, The Whistleblower's Evidence, The Impossible Patient
- Infiltration & Rescue: Inside Patient, Night Shift
- Horror & Survival: The Treatment, Sublevel Exploration
- Political & Social: Reform Attempt, The Board's Decision
- Occult & Esoteric: Thane's Legacy, The Entity's Design
Each seed includes key NPCs, complications, and multiple resolution paths.
Content Warning:
This book contains mature themes including:
- Psychological and medical horror
- Body horror and involuntary transformation
- Institutional abuse and ethical violations
- Cosmic horror and existential dread
- References to mental illness (portrayed with nuance, not stigma)
Recommended for mature audiences and groups comfortable with dark themes.
About Clockwork Asylum:
The Brass Wards is the first location in the Clockwork Asylum setting, where Victorian industrial revolution aesthetics collide with Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Each location sourcebook can stand alone or connect to create a comprehensive campaign setting where human ambition, industrial exploitation, and cosmic forces intertwine in a city teetering on the edge of transformation.