The Aethyrblood Chronicles is an old-school feel, table-top role-playing game in which you play the part of Aethyrs - humans who have bargained with alien intelligences known as the Agnati. The Agnati offer their powers to exceptional humans who agree to uphold a single principle above all others: the Covenant. This Covenant can theoretically be anything from always wearing the colour pink to resorting to murder. The Agnati have their own reasons for everything and they do not seem to care if the Aethyrs understand. They simply care that these things are done.
The Aethyrs themselves are gifted with cosmic powers in response to these Covenants, with which they can seemingly do as they please. Some act as heroes, some as villains, but the vast majority simply continue to live their own lives as normally as possible.
BackerKit Exclusive Deal for The Aethyrblood Chronicles!
The first one hundred followers on BackerKit who pledge to fund The Aethyrblood Chronicles will receive a free ashcan PDF of the game a month into this BackerKit project... even if we don't hit our funding goal!
So, we're coming up on the last 30 days of the project. I have come up with a calendar of sorts to help drum up support. They way it works is simple: on the given day, I will roll dice as I have been for each Random Reward in the past. The winner of that day gets the prizes listed. Some of them are quite magnificent indeed!
Campaign Pins will read "The Aethyrblood Project 2024" on a coloured background.
Aethyrblood dice are a series of dice including 2d3, 2d4, 2d6, 2d8, 2d10, and 2d12, as well as one percentile die.
The Sample Soundtrack will be a small selection of songs written specifically for the game, written and performed by Eiric E. Padráig.
Tee Shirts will be black, reading "I Backed The Aethyrblood Chronicles 2024" on the front and on the back it will read "So, it's my own damned fault".
Character Made means you will have the chance to sit down with the game designer and make a new entry for the Four Colour Characters section.
Session will be complete one-shots written by Eiric E. Padráig and run at at time based upon the players availability.
The Vhouj Wars will be written, regardless of whether or not the Stretch Goal is met. You will get a free copy when it is complete.
Special Thanks will be listed apart from the other backers of the project. The Lucky Thank You is going to be a special surprise.
Interviews, Praise, and Quotes on The Aethyrblood Chronicles
We have the privilege of working with over 45 playtesters over the three years this game was in development, and I don't even have a full list of playtesters to thank at this moment. But my point is, throughout this time people have said some pretty nice things about the game. Here's some interviews and quotes or similar thoughts about The Aethyrblood Chronicles:
And thanks to those who have said anything about the game!
Quote from Dan at Random Worlds: "I've grown tired of basic four-color superheroes, but I'm all about superheroes with a twist, and superheroes plus cosmic horror is an awesome twist."
The mechanical system is called the DPS System (or, 'dice pool scales'). Aspects of your character draw together a dice pool depending upon the task your character is attempting. The DPS System is fluid and adaptable. You spend an allocation of points on what you want for the character and there are no restriction on what you can take at character creation. You make the character that you want to play!
Each character has three Attributes and these Attributes have a number of Traits.
There are only eight Skills - between these, a character can literally attempt anything by rolling the appropriate dice and adding the levels they possess in a given Skill. You can Specialise in any tasks within a given Skill that the character may be exceptionally good at.
There is only one system for all rolls in the game, be it power usage, perception or resistance rolls. You combine your Attribute with a single Trait and the appropriate Skill and possible Specialisation to make your Dice Pool. And then you roll...
There are two unique rules included in the DPS System: Certainty and Doubt are gained with many rolls and influence dice rolls according the character's belief in themselves. Survival is a pool of points you spend to add bonuses to certain rolls such as damage and skill check totals and provide you with other bonuses such as recovering your power points an additional time per day.
The basic rules of the game can be distilled down to the Dice Pool. Assembling a Dice Pool for any action is very simple...
Attributes
There are three Attributes in The Aethyrblood Chronicles: Physique, Psyche, and Soul. Physique is used for any physical action, Psyche is used for all mental or social actions, and Soul is specifically for the activation of powers.
Each Attribute is given a Die Type, ranging from d3 to d12 on the human scale with d3 being equal to an infant, d4 standing in for a preteen, d6 for an average adult, d8 for an exceptional human, d10 equal to an very well trained and disciplined adult human, and d12 being equal to the maximum human potential.
Always select the Attribute that best fits the situation for which you are building a Dice Pool.
The Monotone Concept Art
Attribute Traits
There are eight Attribute Traits. Physique can be divided into strength, agility, reflex and health. Psyche is divided into willpower, reason, awareness and perception. The Soul Attribute does not have individual Attribute Traits; instead, it uses an Attribute Trait that is linked to the power being activated.
For clarity, awareness is the social Attribute Trait while perception covers the basic five senses. Agility is used when you are actively attempting to do something and reflex is when you are passively trying to avoid something.
Each Attribute Trait is delineated a level between 0 and 6 for human scales. a Zero means that the individual is equal to a base level human while a Six represents maximum human potential.
Skills
There are eight Skills: Athletics, Combat, Criminal, Mystic, Scholastic, Social, Technical and Wilderness. Each of the individual Skills are rated on the same Dice Scale as the Attributes, from d3 to d12.
Between these Skills, you may attempt any action within the game from sneaking to convincing someone to spill state secrets and even managing combat.
Skill Specialisations
Each Skill can be divided into many Specialisations; such distinctions are marked akin to the Attribute Traits with number values from 0 to 6. A zero means you do not posses a Skill Specialisation for a given task. Now, tasks listed as Specialisations can be just about anything. Athletics can be Specialised as leaping, climbing, swimming, balance, running, and so much more. The Scholastic Skill can be Specialised as history, research, politics, individual sciences like physics, chemistry, and advanced mathematics. Again, you are limited only by your imagination. But please make sure your Composer (the game's title for a Game Master) agrees with your selections.
Bringing it All Together
It's simple. Select the appropriate Dice for the Attribute and Skill being used, and add to the result the Attribute Trait and Specialisation best fitting to the task at hand. That total is your Active Result and it is compared to the needed score for that task. If your total is better that the needed target, you succeed!
There are three categories of powers in The Aethyrblood Chronicles: Arcana, Attentions, and Methods. Arcana are theoretically the most powerful of these powers, with an example being Invulnerability. Attentions are powers that focus on a singular element or aspect of the environment, such as Control Weather. Methods are essentially one trick ponies, like Flight or Create Force Fields.
There are over 70 powers in The Aethyrblood Chronicles, but they are all presented in the same light:
A quote: a witticism from a character that might have that individual power
Power Description: a feature of The Aethyrblood Chronicles powers is that each can be used for more than what is mentioned in that individual power description. Powers are limited only by the imagination of the player. However, each description lists a few basic uses of that power.
Example Characters: a short list of popular comic characters from Marvel, DC or Image that possess the listed power
Signature Characters: a short list or singular example of a character unique to The Aethyrblood Chronicles that possesses that power
Attribute Trait: the singular Attribute Trait that is linked to the roll to activate that listed power
Anguish Concept Art
Here is an example, featuring the Durability Arcana:
“I'm like that annoying bunny rabbit that just keeps going!”
Durability – sort of an ultra-healing factor, the character recovers from Wounds much faster than normal. Every full Initiative Phase of combat, the character recovers their Tier Result in Wounds. Once per Combat Round, they can make a roll to recover a number of Wounds equal to the Active Result. The Tier Result of Activation rolls can also be used as a Defence Bonus and Damage Reduction Bonus. Aethyrs with this power also receive the benefits of the Longevity Method.
Example Characters: Wolverine, Invincible, She-Hulk
Signature Characters: Sick Pyros, Zennifer
Attribute Trait: health
Here is an example of the Control Body Attention:
“When you know yourself as well as I do, anything is possible.”
Control Body – with this Attention, you can control your own body in myriad ways, and if you are good enough, you can even effect the body of those around you. To heal one's self or other is equal CK to the Class Hit of the attack (optionally, you can use your Active Result to determine Wounds recovered). Tier Three can get rid of all but the most virulent poisons and deadly diseases (which are the purview of Tier Four). Shape changing (changing one's humanoid appearance) starts at Tier Two for the most minor changes (hair colour, eye colour, etc.), Tier Three for minor physical alterations (growth or shrinking up to .15 meters/ 6 inches; ageing/de-ageing up to ten years; changing fingerprints, ear shape or lip contours; creating or removing birthmarks and moles), Tier Four for major changes (growth or shrinking up to two feet; increasing or decreasing weight by 50% and the like); Tier Five can allow an Aethyr to even switch genders. Tier Six is needed to affect Longevity, provide thicker skin for DRB or even DB. You can buff or de-buff yourself or others by relying upon the Tier Result of an activation roll and applying it to an CK that relies upon physicality.
Example Characters: Plastic Man, Martian Manhunter, Clayface
Signature Characters: Passion, The Monotone
Attribute Trait: willpower or health
And lastly, here is an example of the Method Remembrance:
“I remember the voices, telling me what to do... No, telling me how to do it!”
Remembrance - the character is able to remember aliens who held their Aethyric positions before them. This remembrance allows a sort of instantaneous telepathic speech during which the “ancestors”, through the Agnati, can communicate and give hints of how to deal within unique circumstances. The character gains a TK2d3+2 bonus on their next actions (no matter what kind of action it is) for d6 Combat Rounds (or up to one minute). This duration can be extended by d6 Combat Rounds (up to another full minute) by making a successful Communion roll. Each time a Communion roll is used in this way, the next Communion roll made is at -20% (but only for the purposes of this power).
$8,000 - Adventures in Aethyrblood We are already working on a series of adventures for the setting. These titles include "The Auvarious", "Ckraei Assault", "Reality Shows" and "The Ghost in Time", and each introduces elements from the playtest Timeline that is featured in the Core Rule Book. These will be offered in PDF and Physical POD editions on DrivethruRPG.
$10,000 - Roll20 Character Sheets We already have basic character sheets available on Roll20 for anyone who wants to use one, and we are in the middle of revising them to be much more intuitive and user-friendly. But, wouldn't it be great to have one professionally made? That is exactly what we will do if we manage to hit this Stretch Goal!
$12,000 - Foundry Modules We have always wanted a presence on Foundry, and with your help we can do just that! Our current plan is to have all of our available materials for The Aethyrblood Chronicles on Foundry, professionally made for the discerning gamer. $16,000 - Aethyrblood Miniature Line We will have a limited series of STL files made for the Four-Colour Characters section which covers the non-player characters that inhabit the setting of The Aethyrblood Chronicles. Our current plan is to have a package for Heroes, Villains, and Those Between. If we can get 100 people to pledge in advance for the Miniature Line, we will do a complete run of all the Four-Colour Characters, including those created through the Add-On available to create your own Aethyr.
$19,000 - The Aethyrblood Chronicles Special Edition If we hit this tremendous threshold, we will put together a very special edition of the core rule book that will be available as a POD product available through DrivethruRPG. This Special Edition will feature a 14 page Gallery of full colour artwork, production notes, words from the playtesters, and we will develop an extra 100 pages of content to include new scenarios, new options for character creation, Agnati creation, new martial arts, new powers, new Merits and Flaws, new Remnants and an expanded list of ways to spend Morhde, new Mutations, Cybernetics and and Super Soldier Options, optional rules for developing Power Stunts, five bookmarks ribbons, new cover art, and more! Each copy will also come with Discount Codes for future projects for The Aethyrblood Chronicles.
$21,000 - The Aethyrblood Chronicles Soundtrack We have been toying around with this concept for years for other games we have in the pipeline, but for this we will commission thirteen musical tracks that explore themes of The Aethyrblood Chronicles. We will include at least one track composed and performed by Game Designer Eiric E. Padráig himself.
$24,000 - The Vhouj Invasion Chapter One of The Aethyrblood Chronicles describes a seven-year-long war between the Aethyrs and a race of aliens known as the Vhouj. Should we hit this Goal, we will develop a Special Edition package for the Vhouj Invasion, complete with more details on the Vhouj, including their home space within the Horizon, three different kinds of Vhouj, the Gestalt Hunter rules expanded, the Vhadji outlined and explored for the first time, new STL files for the three individual subraces of the Vhouj as well as the Gestalt Hunter and the Vhadji; an expanded Timeline for the Seven Year War complete with four adventures, five more tracks for the Soundtrack specifically themed for the Vhouj Invasion, and Alien races available for play. Also featured will be a dossier on thirteen alien Aethyrs that will be featured within the Vhouj Wars. All of this will be distributed through DrivethruRPG.
DriveThruRPG is a registered trademark of Roll20, LLC.
Since we will be using DriveThruRPG with this project, there will be no shipping costs charged by Haphazard Projects at any time during or after the project.
When this campaign concludes successfully, you will be presented with a redemption code which you can use on the DriveThruRPG site. Simply sign in, enter the code, and you can instantly download your PDF and set up for either a softbound or hardbound copy of the core rule book. For physical copies, you will be charged Shipping fees by the site.
If you backed the project for digital or physical rewards, then you can use the given codes multiple times between the project's completion and March 5th, 2025. This final date may be adjusted, but if it is it will be an extension of the code's viability.
This project for The Aethyrblood Chronicles will end on September 13th, at 1200 noon, MST.
Actual Rewards will have to await until the artwork manifests. We forsee the art dropping in Early February and the end of production being early March. As soon as the books are ready, we will make a test batch to ensure quality of product. Once that is ready (early April), we will be sending out the codes to all rewards.
There of course be Updates minute to minute, but we just wanted to pin down as many dates as possible as soon as possible. Thanks for making this all possible!
You've never heard of us. We get it. Why should you support us? Well, as the Project Manager, I'd like to show you some things I have in the pipeline. Everything will use a version of the DPS System. The only things that may (probably) change is the release dates. We are called Haphazard Projects for a reason, you know...?
Q4; 2024 Chronicles of the Orb: Shaedeam's Song "...a Gothic horror/fantasy game about a character's relationships with magic, technology, the Divine, and the world of Shaedeam." The very world is alive in every sense of the word. With over 100 never before seen races, literally millions of character combinations of Traits, Skills, Abilities, Magic, Technology, Divine Channelling, and so much more. We are imagining a series of thirteen books in all: a main rule book, one book for each continent, and then three expansion books. This game, and its BackerKit project will be epic. And we will deliver on that!
Q1, 2025 Belief "...after the Rapture, those left behind strive to lead others into the Light of the Lord." A fictional Christian/apocalypse set upon the modern world where demons and devils want to corrupt man and lead them into damnation. You play in teams of two: one Believer and one Chronicler. A Believer is one who lead their lives in the path of Sin yet have some level of faith in Jesus Christ. A Chronicler is one who led the Believer upon their path of Sin, who facilitated the Sin itself, and now writes down the modern words that describe the events upon the Dying Earth. This game is written for Christians and nonbelievers alike. I promise it will be a fun game for everyone!
Q2, 2025 Apocraverse "... a wacky, thrilling, chaotic, chilling, and weird journey into the very end of the entire form of reality." Everything is dying. World by world, everything has manifested upon the planet known as LBX-421, sometimes referred to as Lybax. Everything that ever existed can be found here. The game is written to where you get everything randomly as you are one of the Last Survivors. This game will also feature unique cards to enhance the weird and wonderful world as it thrusts the characters towards The End. Game sessions have finite durations that can be anything within an hour and twenty seven minutes to seven days, sixteen hours, five minutes and eleven seconds. Seriously, the duration is up to you. But when it is time for The End, that's it. It is game over. You'll be provided a Final Act before everything fades to black. This game will be a boxed set developed by the Backers themselves!
Q3, 2025 The Ahn Chronicles "...the story of every playtester's favourite NPC from The Aethyrblood Chronicles." Ahn was the perfect soldier who lost his memories before imprisoned by the empire he served with dedication and honour. We join him in his Third Story, where he forgets everything and tries to learn everything he has lost. Meet his family, allies, new enemies, strange planets and even witness a unique point of view on the days that lead up to The Aethyrblood Chronicles. This project will be presented in the same way I began to love role-playing games, and that is a complete series of "choose your path" books. A series of thirteen, all told.
Q4; 2025 Endless "... when you live forever, how do you live with yourself?" This game is only in the earliest of conceptual phases. Players will create an Endless, an immortal who has lived a thousand lifetimes on a thousand worlds, and now they awaken once again on modern day Earth. By now, you might sense a theme in all our games. But Endless will definitively show how each game connects to each other, and a way to use them all together to tell unique stories with the Endless.
Q1; 2026 Deathbound "... this game makes me want to forget about zombies. I am legit scared now." Enter into a nightmarish world where the zombie apocalypse is happening from Day Zero onward. With evolving zombies, the corrupting influence of their existence, their presence, their worship and those that worship them, there are layers of evil so profound that characters will die before they ever come close to recognising that there is something behind the shadows. This game is intended for two methods of play: a standard role-playing game and the Unliving Game - an ongoing live campaign that will be updated weekly by thirteen lucky player groups. The adventures of whom will be collected into a unique Blu-Ray experience for all to enjoy.
Q2; 2026 We have two games that we will want to launch at the same time and develop them together, since the themes are so closely linked.
Shards of Cthulhu "... he knows the core Mythos and how to add to it to great effect. I played a demo and can't wait to see how this comes to be!" Shards are pure expressions of how to establish Mythos stories in a myriad number of ways. Romance in the Mythos? Warfare in the Dreamlands? Travelling off-world at the Mountains of Madness? These are mere concepts we plan to flesh out to a series of thirteen Shards in total. During the BackerKit project, we hope to include "Fractional Shards", ideas that the Backers themselves help us create for the project. Each Shard will be a chapter within a large book (we are imagining a 600 or so page epic).
Worlds Without End "... a series just on unique game worlds that are plug and play with any mechanical system? And the project never ends?! Shut up and take my money!" This project's name says it all. The core book will have 13 unique settings, fully fleshed out with ideas on how to incorporate any rules system you might desire. Each quarter, this project will release a new book with a new complete setting, with no plans to ever end the series.
Q3; 2026 Otherworld "... this weird science fiction world I do not, nor ever will, fully understand. But I have so much fun trying to!" I actually ran a few of these stories a few years ago, and the initial outlines are officially being dusted off. But it's just so damned different and nearly impossible to explain. But I will try. It's not like the Matrix, but it kind of is. But there is no real world - there are numerous real worlds. No one can find their way home unless they explore the Code. But they might end up anywhere. It's like the Code is the border between all worlds! We want to express this not only as a standard role-playing game, but as a unique online role-playing event as well. Let see what we can make happen!
Q4; 2026 Elderstar "...And this is really how your games end. Not with a bang nor whimper. But with revelry, song and life!" This ambitious gaming event will tie everything in our DPS System together as an end to the whole story we began with The Aethyrblood Chronicles. Of course, it is only barely outlined, but here is what we know: The First Star has only one planet that is in it's orbit. That planet has thirteen moons. Life throughout the multiverse has come to seek out the mysteries of this place in the core of our own solar system. Why here? Why now? And what does it all mean? Why are the numbers eight and thirteen so pivotal to expressing these stories? And what is The Song? Why can no one hear it?
All this and more will be discovered within this series of fifteen books. An epic end to this series. I promise great things!
So there you have it! All the projects I will release for the DPS System, even if one of them doesn't really count but hey, it fits with our themes and ideas of storytelling in unique settings. Like something you've read here?
So, I was too excited to wait, and I had a pre-launch party launch party.
Okay, so we had a few audio issues in the beginning. I am new to much involved in modern streaming. I promise it will only get better from here!
So, we talked about a LOT during these two and a half hours. There are secrets to be learned during this video. Nothing that will destroy all gaming as we no it, and it will not even impact any game of The Aethyrblood Chronicles you might ever participate within.
I am simply saying that things were said. And mentioned. And even reflected upon.
I will do another stream next week, and hopefully attendance will only grow. Thanks to those mighty few who turned in, and a giant thank you to those who might be watching it at this very moment, or any and all moments in the future.
The future looks very bright for The Aethyrblood Chronicles. Help us make this experience something cosmic!
I would like to take this time to shout out some things to everyone who has helped make this game possible:
In the beginning, there was Bufkin. So, there. Thanks, dude. You rock. He helped me devise the original mechanics that I use for this game.
Sophie and Morgan, who got the notice in the Core Rule Book, for helping me flesh out they 'why' behind it all. They are the reason this game has a setting. Sophie also gave us our first digital character sheet. Every time I think about them, I think of more things they did to contribute to the game...
Thomas, my friend and worship pastor, without whom there'd been no Cheyenne Gaming Convention 2024.
Annabel, my bestest friend, for TV marathons, surprises when they mattered most, and everything else...
My brother Jeffrey, who tried his best to get me on Foundry, bought me everything I needed to run Warhammer 4th on Foundry, and then I couldn't figure it all out. I'm still working on it....
Dan at Random Worlds, for hosting me twice when he certainly did not have to!
Jim & the Others at The Old Warlock, for that first interview after Cheyenne Gaming Convention of 2023, which got me a tonne of great responses!
Taylor at The Story Told, for really making me look good in an interview where their was no video!
I would now like to thank the games that have influenced me most, not necessarily for The Aethyrblood Chronicles creation, but these were the games that got me thus far:
Numenera (specifically the Priests of the Aeons book by Sean Reynolds), The Strange, FATE Core, Aetherium, Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu, Pulp Cthulhu, Toon, Werewolf: the Apocalypse (all editions), Fallout 2d20, Warhammer 1sts and 4th editions of FRP; Gods of the Fall, We Are All Mad Here, Stars are Fire! Predation, Over the Edge, Nightbane, Shadowrun, Paranoia, Heroes Unlimited, Champions (most editions), Hero System (5th edition), Masks, City of Mist, Talislanta and too many d20/3.X books to mention and still seem to have all my sanity intact...
And now for some of the musical highlights that frequented my Pandora Playlists during this game's creation:
Breaking Benjamin, Arteyu, Huey Lewis and the News, Disturbed, the Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, A Perfect Circle, Alice in Chains, Faith No More, Flobots, Kings of Leon, Korn, Led Zepplin, Lostprophets, Metallica, Misfits, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Offspring, Phish, Radiohead, Skinny Puppy, Soundgarden, Slaughter, White Lion, Great White, Tea Party, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Tool, Walk off the Earth, The Beatles, Sister Hazel, Bon Jovi, Cradle of Filth, Type O Negative, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the Cure, Blues Traveler, U2, Chicago and Ronnie Millsap. You read that right.
