The Age of Man is long over. Cats – uplifted from our clever feline companions to use tools and language – now rule the world. In the Monarchies of Mau, cats study relics the Old Ones left behind to create new wonders, expand their understanding of the world, and combat the monsters and minions of the Unseen that threaten catkind. Curious cats explore ruins and set sail on the Acid Sea, or participate in games of intrigue against other houses, the dogs of Pugmire, and other rival species.

The world is full of mysteries and dangers, which excellent cats are eager to face.

Welcome to The Curious Cats of Mau. This book details the lives of the cats in the city-states that make up the Monarchies of Mau as they explore the world, plan daring heists and feats of intrigue, learn what they can about the Old Ones, and pounce on the sinister entities called the Unseen. You’ll need Realms of Pugmire to play this game and learn more about the dogs of Pugmire, who have sometimes been the cats’ allies, and often been their rivals.

The cats of the monarchies believe that the Old Ones served them, and the cats’ ancestors granted Man great responsibilities as a reward. Though no one knows what happened to the Old Ones, they left many wonders behind to help the cats in their endeavors. Adventurous cats explore ancient ruins, hoping to discover artifacts they can study — sometimes by breaking them apart to discover how they work.

Several decades ago, the formidable Trillani Persian von Mau united the monarchies at a time when conflict threatened to tear catkind apart. With her clearheaded leadership, she guided the great houses as they worked together, and eventually helped bring about an end to the War of Dogs and Cats. Trillani died recently, and her successor (Threnody von Mau) struggles to keep the hard-earned peace. Cats are expert at schemes and spycraft, and secrets are power. Some plot against other houses, while others seek to renew hostilities between the monarchies and Pugmire. Meanwhile, the threat of the Unseen is ever-present, waiting to strike should the cats’ vigilance waver.

Will you be an excellent cat?

Some highlights of The Curious Cats of Mau include:

This book is a supplement to Realms of Pugmire. You need that book to play the game — it contains rules for all different things your characters might do, and important information about the world they live in. The Curious Cats of Mau expands on that setting, providing information about the cats and their lives, plus rules for creating cat characters.

Our main goal, besides being Excellent Cats, is to enable Onyx Path to create a fully-developed PDF and hardcover version of Curious Cats of Mau. With your support we can create a full-color hardcover book which will be sent out as a reward to backers and also made available to game and hobby stores through Onyx Path's distribution partners.  

Exceptional funding may allow the Curious Cats team to explore more of the setting, possibly introducing adventure scenarios or a jumpstart adventure designed to launch a new campaign, or even expanding into other reward areas. The greater our funding for this project, the more resources we can use to explore these scenarios and additional items.

Beyond those campaign-specific goals, the hope is to do what these games have always done — build a community invested in each other's stories and shared imagination. Every person who participates is joining with the goal of bringing this game into the world, and that common goal is a powerful binding element that we can't help but want to share. When you back this project, you join us on this heroic journey and become part of the extended Pugmire family.

All participants who would like to make this project happen can pledge their support and add to the overall campaign total. If the campaign meets the funding target ($20,000), then we will have funded the project and it will become a reality. Your pledge will only be collected if we achieve our funding target.

In thanks for your support, we offer rewards based on your level of funding pledged. The Reward Tiers down the right side of the page outline the various rewards reflecting various levels of support pledged. Please note that international shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager.

Digital vs Physical: do you save some shelf space and go digital-only with the PDF version or go all in with the hardcover version? Are you just interested in the new book created by this campaign, need to add the Realms of Pugmire core rulebook, or looking to explore some ancient texts (older editions) with the Add-On options available as well? Please note that international shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager.

While the monarchies of Mau may be full of mysteries, dangers, intrigue, and opportunities, we've kept supporting this project as simple and straightforward as possible. To pledge support to this project, pledge yourself to one of these great Houses:

In addition to these primary reward pledges, we also offer the following options:

Need the Realms of Pugmire Core Rules as well? They form the basic system upon which Curious Cats of Mau (and all Pugmire 2E games) are built. We've set up these one-click pledge paths to get you started! If you don't already have a copy of the Realms of Pugmire Core Rulebook headed your way, you soon will by choosing either of these reward tiers.

The Realms of Pugmire Core Rulebook had a successful crowdfunding campaign last year and is currently in final development and pre-production. Any option that includes the Realms of Pugmire PDF will receive the current draft of the manuscript, which you can use as a rules reference until the Backer PDF is ready for delivery. All hardcover rewards will be sent in a single shipment, when Curious Cats of Mau is ready for fulfillment.

Finally, we love retailers, but modern publishing methods don’t always make it easy for them to get books into their stores. With this Curious Cats of Mau campaign, we have created a special Reward Tier just for you.

ACCESS TO DRAFT MANUSCRIPT UPDATES – During the course of the campaign, we will be posting the ENTIRE manuscript for Curious Cats of Mau. These previews will be shared via Backer-Only updates. You must be a backer of this project to receive these updates.

CURIOUS CATS OF MAU PDF VERSION - The digital version of Curious Cats of Mau, fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com. Crowdfunding backers will receive a redemption links for an early version of this book before it goes on sale to the public. This initial "Advance Version" will be used to get feedback from the fans to make the final version the best that it can be. When it has been updated to the final version, it will automatically be added to your DriveThruRPG library and available for download at your convenience.

CURIOUS CATS OF MAU HARDCOVER BOOK - The main goal of this campaign is to fund the creation, production, and print run of a hardcover edition of this book. Note that all Reward Tiers that include the physical hardcover version also include the digital PDF version as a bonus. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager.

REALMS OF PUGMIRE PDF and HARDCOVER BOOK - The digital version of Realms of Pugmire will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com, and the hardcover book will ship alongside your Curious Cats of Mau hardcover reward in a single shipment. Backers pledging to either the House Rex or House Angora tier will have the option to upgrade to the Deluxe Realms of Pugmire book in the Pledge Manager after the campaign. 

OPTIONAL DISCOUNTED PoD VERSION – For this Curious Cats of Mau campaign, you will have the option of using DriveThruRPG.com’s Print-On-Demand service to purchase a physical, printed copy of the PDF directly from their PoD partners at discounted cost (this cost is not included in your pledge, and you do not need to increase the cost of your pledge to use this option). When the PoD versions are available to order (which may be some time after the books have gone to print), you will receive links to purchase these versions of the books from DriveThruRPG.com. You DO NOT need to take advantage of this PoD offer as it does not affect in any way your pledge rewards. Realms of Pugmire is a fantasy game about evolved pets and other animals with a strong connection to humanity, with dogs as the central characters. These characters live in the ruins of our world, using tools, language, and ingenuity to build a new civilization in their image, with the kingdom of Pugmire acting as a center of dog civilization.

In addition to the rewards listed in each House Pledge, backers can add extra options via the Add On menu associated with your reward format. Digital Rewards can be added to any pledge, while physical rewards can only be added to rewards lists that include a Curious Cats of Mau hardcover book, and will therefore have a shippable order when information is downloaded in the fulfillment system.

  

As we increase the overall funding and support for the project, we’re able to add additional resources to the project, expand the rewards listed, and add in new offers and opportunities. Each Stretch Goal will have a target that, once reached, will add a project to the reward list for backers of the relevant Stretch Goal path. Whenever we achieve a stretch goal, the image will be updated to reflect the achievement.

ACHIEVED! - At $22,000 in Funding – REDBUBBLE BACKER T-SHIRT – A Curious Cats-themed Crwodfunding Backer shirt will be hosted on Onyx Path’s Redbubble store for a limited time. Only backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available for purchase.

ACHIEVED! - At $25,000 in Funding – DIGITAL WALLPAPER – Cool Curious Cat artwork will be used to create a wallpaper for your computer desktop. This digital wallpaper will be added to the rewards list of all backers supporting this project.

ACHIEVED! - At $28,000 in Funding – REDBUBBLE PET DESIGNS – A Curious Cats design will be hosted on Onyx Path’s Redbubble store and made available on pet merchandise, including pet mats, pet blankets, and pet bandanas. Backers will be notified when these options become available.

ACHIEVED! - At $30,000 in Funding - NEW ADD ON: CAT ARTWORK GUIDE SCREEN - A three-panel Guide Reference Screen with charts and information for running a Realms of Pugmire game will be created and offered as an Add On to the hardcover reward tiers for +$25. This screen will have the same interior contents as the Realms of Pugmire screen, but the outside artwork will be changed to be cat-focused!

ACHIEVED! -At $32,000 in Funding - MOBILE WALLPAPER – Curious Cats artwork will be used to create a wallpaper for your mobile device lockscreen. This mobile wallpaper will be added to the rewards list of all backers supporting this project.

ACHIEVED! - At $35,000 in Funding – JUMPSTART PDF - An introductory scenario designed to introduce new players to the game, along with ready-made characters and a basic rules overview, will be created as a Jumpstart PDF supplement and added as a bonus to the rewards list of all backers receiving the Curious Cats of Mau PDF.

ACHIEVED! - At $40,000 in Funding – STREAMING OVERLAY – A set of overlays for your online Curious Cats game will be created, for your use when streaming your cat-centric Realms of Pugmire game. This reward will be added to the rewards list for all backers.

International shipping has become increasingly expensive and is often prohibitive to non-US backers. Several contemporary publishers have decided to discontinue international shipping completely. For this project, Onyx Path wants to keep all options open to our customers, though shipping costs will reflect the expense.

PLEASE NOTE: Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping—and have an opportunity to adjust your pledge—after the campaign through the pledge manager.

The following are estimates for shipping a copy of the hardcover book with full package tracking, projected on current trends. Please note that these are estimates only and are subject to change by the time of fulfillment (currently projected by Feb 2026)

Again, we will be charging the actual costs via our BackerKit pledge manager once the books are preparing to ship. These are estimated costs only, and the final costs charged will reflect the actual rates at the time of shipping.

ALTERNATE OPTIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL BACKERS:

If you live outside of the US, here are your options for obtaining a physical copy:

After the campaign is over we'll launch the BackerKit Pledge Manager, our post-campaign pledge manager, and invite the backers to set up their rewards via survey. This allows you to confirm your pledge and add on anything that you might have missed, as well as possibly increasing your pledged reward tier, should you choose to expand your reward selection. This option will give international backers additional time to investigate shipping options, should they choose, knowing they can confirm a physical reward at a later date. We will also use BackerKit to charge actual shipping costs for international orders when we're approaching order fulfillment. Funding collected in BackerKit after the campaign does not count toward any campaign Stretch Goals, however.

Onyx Path Publishing has managed more than 60 Crowdfunded projects, and that experience allows us to maintain manageable projects and achievable goals. To read more about the knowledge that has been applied to this project, you can read the FAQ linked here: http://theonyxpath.com/about/faq/crowdfunding/