About Age of Aether

It all started when...

I began gaming at a very young age. 9, in fact. I was hooked by the concept: a game guided by imagination, where skilled storytelling and creative character acting mattered just as much as the role of the dice.

My friends heard my stories from the games I played, and wanted to join the fun, but none had ever played an RPG before, much less run a session. So I sharpened my pencil, started making a world, and asked for the D&D 3.0 core rulebooks for my birthday. At age 10, I became a Game Master.

As I grew older, I was exposed to other systems, such as Shadowrun, White Wolf, and GURPS. While I enjoyed playing in and running these systems, I came to realize that none of these games really engaged me in the ways I most wanted.

Historically, I was always more interested in the 18th century than medieval Europe or the far future. In terms of gameplay, I wanted a system complex enough to cover nearly all situations, but not so complicated as to make every battle an exercise in rulebook research. Combat should flow quickly from one strike to the next in an exciting sequence of attack and parry. Character design ought to represent their personality as well as their statistics, and to enhance the storytelling. Finally, I wanted a game that had in its mechanics a greater sense of, not realism, since I still wanted characters to be casting spells and use fantastical devices, but verisimilitude. I wanted each roll of the dice to actually feel like firing a pistol, or swinging from a cable, casting a spell and feeling the power draw from your life force, and not like simply following the set rules to get the desired number.

When I was 17, I sat down and began writing the first pages of what would eventually become the rulebook for my very own RPG system, Age of Aether. I decided to make the game that I most wanted to run and play. 

The development of Age of Aether was waylaid by my studies. I had to pause during college while I earned my undergraduate degree, then again as I attended night school to get my masters while working. But finally, a decade after inception, after countless rewrites, revisions, and adjustments, I've completed the rough draft of the Age of Aether rulebook!

I've test-played my game at several local conventions, and it has been warmly greeted by all who play. It is hard to describe the joy at seeing strangers take such enjoyment out of something that took so much time and effort to create. It makes me believe that, should an actual rulebook with real artwork and professional binding be printed, I could in a small way make the world a happier place. Or at least a place where you can gun down a dragon from an airship using a clockwork repeating cannon loaded with lightning rounds, and who can argue with that?

Thus you join me as I pursue this objective. I hope that you will try my game, enjoy it, and take pleasure in playing Age of Aether.

The setting

Imagine if a traditional fantasy setting advanced out of the medieval era, progressing through the ages of Enlightenment, Exploration, and Industrialization and into the 18th century. This is the world of Age of Aether.

The society represented in Age of Aether is based on that of the late 18th century, as agricultural feudalism and the Ancien Régime are threatened by the tides of industrial urbanization and political revolution. The Enlightenment has educated the masses, distributing theories concerning the nature of man and universal privileges. The people are beginning to rise, demanding more rights from their noble rulers and taking them by force if they are not appeased. Meanwhile, the monarchs of great nations engage in an endless cycle of war and peace, using armies as tools of diplomatic pressure while the actual diplomats shuttle back and forth between capitols, engaging in rapid negotiations. Peace is not considered the end of a conflict, but simply a period to rest, rebuild, and re-arm for the next conflict while webs of alliances are spun to isolate your enemies and empower your nation. It is a setting ripe for espionage, as every nation is looking for a leg up on its foes, every leader is looking to keep their people under control, and the people are looking for ways to put pressure on their rulers.

Colonization is a major element of this time period. Most powerful nations have colonies, or aspire to gain some. They press into areas unexplored by them, supplanting the local peoples and claiming the territory as their own. These colonies are used as chess pieces by various rulers, and wars of conquest can see many settlements change hands after every war. However, the settlers sometimes feel that they have a right not to be used as an expendable asset, and colonial revolts are common among the older colonies as they have matured enough to participate in government, yet are ignored. Significant conflict also occurs as the indigenous people try to defend their land from explorers and encroaching settlers. Sometimes, peace can be maintained, but if provoked, the natives will try to drive the colonists into the sea, and if the aboriginal people are powerful enough, they will do so.

It is an age of transition in conflict as well, as firelocks and artillery finally begin to supplant the use of cold steel. The firepower of massed muskets can defeat almost every foe if skillfully employed. There is still a place for traditional weaponry, though. Cavalry still relies on the weight of a charge, baring sabers as they thunder down upon an infantry square through the clouds of gunpowder smoke. A longbow still has greater accuracy and rate of fire compared to a musket, even if it requires far greater skill to use. Even the musket-armed infantryman will have a bayonet to transform his firelock into a spear if the enemy comes too close, or if the weapon fails to fire. It is an age where large armies of professional soldiers have replaced armed bands of skilled warriors, yet duels and skirmishes are still common, giving use to the honed abilities of those dedicated to the martial ways.

But enough about history, since things are made more complicated by the existence of magic. Elves, dwarves, minotaurs, orcs, pixies and goblins rub shoulders with humans, gnomes, sasquatch, and the spirit-bound clockwork beings called Clockgeists. Mages used to be the undisputed masters of the world, and magic the dominating force. With the rise of technology, though, the supremacy of the mage has waned. Why learn to move a stone with your mind when you could use a pistol? Why spend years honing the skills needed to magically fly when you can ride an airship? That is not to say that the old forces have no power. After all, mages can still fling lightning bolts, stop time, summon beings from other dimensions, and dominate the minds of weak-willed people. The difference is that now, they can be matched by a mundane individual who owns the right equipment.

Magic and technology do not have to conflict with one another. In fact, a lot of what makes the setting of Age of Aether so unique is how the two work together. The presence of magic throughout technological development has had a profound effect on the end result, producing objects that would be impossible to make in the 1700s. Powered airships soar overhead while steam locomotives thunder by on iron rails. An adventurer's life is made easier by the existence of gadgets such as chemical gas masks and pneumatic grappling guns. Impossible materials, like bulletproof cloth and strong, lightweight alloys allows the construction of advanced armored clothing. Nowhere is the prevalence of magitech so pronounced as in the development of firelocks. Revolvers and breachloading rifles, while expensive and uncommon, exist, and give the gunslinger a fighting chance against a master swordsman or a mighty mage. Additional features such as telescopic scopes and advanced firing mechanisms further increase the deadly nature of firelocks for those who can afford them.

The system

Age of Aether's mechanics are designed to be simple to use, but versatile in effect. This is done through a combination of mechanics which, when put together, create a fast-paced yet complete game system.

Age of Aether is built on a step-die system. Instead of receiving flat numeric modifiers or extra dice, any bonus or penalty will modify the type of die you use. Say you have a d8 in your pistols skill. If you receive a +1 step bonus for steadying your barrel on a fence, then you will roll a d10 instead of a d8. If you get a +2 step bonus because you also took an extra action to carefully aim, then you would roll a d12. Conversely, if you took a -1 step penalty because you were trying to hustle forwards while shooting, you would roll a d6 instead of your d8, and so on.

A unique feature of Age of Aether is the lack of linked skills and attributes. While certain skills will predominantly use certain attributes, that is in no way a universal pairing. For example, using a pistol will generally involve your pistols skill and your dexterity attribute. However, if you are trying to quick-draw against a desperado, then you will use your quickness attribute instead. Trying to fire on someone in an obscuring fog will use your pistols skill and awareness attribute. Firing at a distant target while estimating range, bullet drop, and windage will require intelligence. If you are struggling with a ruffian who is trying to take your pistol from you, you will need to use strength to pull the barrel in-line with their chest. These are just a few examples, but any skill may be coupled to any attribute to produce an effect.

But who decides what skill and attribute are required for a roll, and what bonuses or penalties are imposed on the skill die? Why, the Game Master, of course! Age of Aether gives the GM a lot of power so that they can quickly and fairly decide what dice are required for any particular roll. This keeps the game moving, while also reducing the frequency of vigorous rules debates.

Finally, there are no classes in Age of Aether. Nor are there levels. Character creation is done by buying slots, with high-value slots providing more of that aspect and low-value slots being miserly with their goods. The five slots are attributes, skills, magic, race, and resources. Within these slots, there are no restrictions. There is no reason why a powerful mage cannot swagger about with a broadsword on one hip and a six-gun on the other, and the burly orc with a mean right hook can also be an intelligent and nimble thief. As characters advance, they may buy any upgrade desired, learning new skills and abilities that their original character never possessed, allowing a player to alter their play style without losing the character they spent so long building up and enjoying.