Today I am doing something I've never done before: I am launching a kickstarter.
This is the culmination of 11 years of hard work and effort. I started making Age of Aether when I was 17 and wanted a fun project to work on after school. Although college and grad school put a 7-year hole in my writing schedule, and I took breaks to pursue job opportunities and write a novel, I've always come back to Age of Aether. It is my baby, my magnum opus. I have been working on it and playing it for so long that it has become part of me.
Being so close to done is rather surreal. Exciting, but surreal. I'm looking forwards to assembling the artists, formatting the book, and compiling the finished product. I cannot wait to have a copy on my bookshelf next to my other RPG books!
This is not the end for Age of Aether. I have ideas for supplemental books, as well as a d2 coin inspired by 18th-century specie, but the actual production of my core rulebook? This is a major turning point for me, and a massive milestone in my life.
If you've played the game and want to see more of it, follow the link below and contribute. If you have friends or family or coworkers or mortal enemies who enjoy RPGs, steampunk, historical fantasy, and creative endeavors, send them to the website. If we raise the funds, then I will have successfully achieved one of my long-term life goals. And you would have helped.
Wouldn't that be cool?