Heroic Roleplaying in a World of Swords, Sorcery, and Steam
I’d like to introduce Aetrimonde, a TTRPG I’ve been designing with heavy inspiration from the houserules my group used back in our Dungeons and Dragons 4e days. I’m not ready to publish Aetrimonde yet, but I’m opening up this blog to discuss its design principles, mechanics, and systems.
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Category: Bestiary
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I had originally planned to continue discussing non-combat encounters in today’s post, but the third type of encounter has proven to deserve at least two posts to itself. So while I rework that post, I instead have a Bestiary post…on those most proud and arrogant, fierce and destructive, cunning and manipulative creatures: dragons! Dragon Lore…
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Having introduced the concepts of hirelings, mercenaries, and companions to represent various kinds of NPC ally, the question remains: how would an Aetrimonde campaign handle the PCs getting their hands on a golem and wanting to operate it? Well, if that interests you, read on…today’s post features an excerpt from the Bestiary section on golems…
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In today’s post, I’m going to reveal a couple of creatures from the Bestiary that build on the lore I’ve revealed for Caras Elvaren, nation of the high elves. High Elf Militiaman For starters, let’s take a look at the High Elf Militiaman, who is representative of Caras Elvaren’s citizen militias. The Militiaman is very…
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In today’s post, wrapping up November’ series on the Autumn Court of Faerie, I’m going to at long last reveal an actual member of the Autumn Court! The statblock I’m presenting here is representative of Knaves of Autumn, but there is a lot of variety: I highly recommend that if a Knave of Autumn (or…
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In today’s Bestiary post, I’m going to be covering some of the Autumn Court’s allies, and a force straight out of fairy tale and folklore: the Wild Hunt! Wild Hunt Lore The Wild Hunt, in our world, is a folkloric motif: a chase by a group of supernatural hunters, often led by a historical or…
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Today, I’m going to introduce the members of the Autumn Court, starting with their creations and hangers-on. All of the Sidhe Courts have other creatures of Faerie among their ranks (though always in a subservient position). The Autumn Court attracts allies who, like the Sidhe in charge of the Court, have no use for so-called…
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I recently wrote about elite enemies, who are designed to feel like more of a challenge than your typical enemy. Elites make for good mini-bosses, foes who pose an outsized threat and who the PCs can feel satisfaction in defeating, but who don’t feel like they deserve a name and plot significance. Today, I’m going…
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Today in my October series on Aetrimonde’s creepiest undead, I’m talking wights! Aetrimonde’s wights share an origin: they are created undead, given necromantic magic by the necromancers who animated them. The extra care, effort, and embalming fluid that go into creating a wight means that they are more of a threat than a mere zombie.…
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A while back, when I covered mooks, I hinted that Aetrimonde would also support enemies designed to be equivalent to multiple PCs. Today, I’m going to show off the first type of enemies like this: Elites, which are designed to be level-appropriate challenges for two PCs. Design Goals: Why Elites? The question that attentive readers…
Aetrimonde 