#aethercorp

[goblincow]

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Field Agent Handbooks: Observancy Dept. 1924–28

Sharpen your ESP skills and seek out suspicious activity as a pendulum-dowsing Field Agent

This set of four Field Agent Handbooks are an always-on solo RPG/LARP to play with when out and about. They’re created as in-world artefacts from the 1920s, made for you to note your observations about the world around you through a lens of suspicion. 

1924 – Revolution

We suspect the animal kingdom of plotting a revolution and you are here to help us understand their devices.

Our mission in the Observancy Department is to spot any such behaviour or signs of suspicious activity, note them down, and draw our conclusions.

Additional pages include:

Blank map with grid references

Table of potential signs of revolutionary activity

List of weather types and symbols for notation

1925 – Leviathan

The age of flight may still be in its infancy but we have heard worrying reports from our aeroplane and dirigible pilots of glimpses of giant beasts roaming the aether, just out of sight.

Our fresh mission is to observe the clouds, look for unusual shadows & formations, and attempt to discern the activity and anatomy of these sky-bound leviathan.

Additional pages include:

Common anatomy of leviathan (hypothesised)

Illustrated chart with types of clouds and symbols for notation

Illustrated chart for estimating distance to horizon

Table to identify the Beaufort Number for the wind

List of weather types and symbols for notation

1926 – Communication

While we looked upward, we didn't think to concern ourselves with the growing cacophony in our very own gardens, forests, and fields.

Our mission turns to our leafy neighbours to see if we can understand their speech and intuit their meaning throughout each season.

Additional pages include: 

Signs and shapes to look out for

Size estimation chart

List of weather types and symbols for notation

1928 – Giants

From the landscape sprung the flowers, but who formed the landscape? Newly uncovered texts indicate the folklore might be true and giants may have indeed roamed and shaped the earth.

Our mission is to lower our gaze to the ground to identify oddly shaped mounds, mimetoliths (rocks resembling faces), gouged earth, and suspicious urban planning decisions. Under the hills there may be sleeping colossus.

Additional pages include:

Signs to look out for

Common rock types

How to draw landforms & rocks in an isometric fashion

I wanted to shine a light on this project because I met Luke at Dragonmeet in December '23 and fell in love with the way he thinks about RPGs, graphic design and play/ritual/thinking-the-world in his games!

I can't recommend this project enough and I've been waiting excitedly to support it and see it succeed! It really represents everything I think is special about RPGs and the things I also want to explore in this design space *and art movement* and if you have any interest in TTRPGs beyond the scope of dungeon games, Luke is making some of the freshest and most evocative design you can find in the entire medium.

Everything you see here is directly from the kickstarter. Go back it! I promise you'll be glad you did, there are few more unique and inspiring things you could spend your money on in TTRPGs right now!

[theresattrpgforthat]

THEME: Botanical Adventures

This week’s games are all plant or plant-themed. Whether Ferns, Flowers, or Fungi, if you have a green thumb you might enjoy these games!

Plant Girl Game, by Dominique Dickey.

Your mother’s garden is crowded with succulents and sometimes—when the timing is just right, when your whole family is ready—one of those succulents emerges from the garden as a human child. This is how you came to be: you climbed out of the soil, between the ages of ten and thirteen, and found your family ready to love you. 

Plant Girl Game is a cozy tabletop roleplaying game about a family of plant children working together to prevent an ecological disaster. You don’t have to be a girl, but you do have to be a plant. Your character’s gender is not essential to the game. In fact, the real plant girl is your mom—the kind-hearted witch who grows children in her garden.

Plant Girl Game puts a lot of focus on building a world that is fun and engaging to play in. It emphasizes the usefulness of safety tools, and provides a list of questions to custom-create your very own Plant mom, as well as the place you’re growing up in. The ashcan play-kit comes with three genera, although there are nine total to choose from in the full version. Characters have 3 stats, which they will add to a d6 when they roll to determine how they succeed or fail. Success can come with complications or advantages, so you have a lot of room for layered storytelling!

Mossy Mechanics, by Sinta Posadas / Diwata ng Manila

You've seen the power of the Succulent Sorcerers, you've experienced how a Petal Paladin enacts their order, and you have been beholden to the strength of the Bonsai Brawlers - now, be enchanted by the prowess of the Mossy Mechanics!

This is actually a series of recommendations, rather than one. The Planted RPG series contains four iterations with a simple premise: you are small plants on a grand quest. In Succulent Sorcerers, you use your magic to defend Mother Succulent. In Petal Paladins, you are defenders of the plants that cannot defend themselves. In Bonsai Brawlers, you are miniature trees who have dedicated themselves to a special fighting style in order to protect what you love. Finally, in Mossy Mechanics, awakened by the “Other Mother” and faced with a decision: will you support her plan for world domination, or will you work against her? 

The basic mechanics are the same for each game. There are two stats: Resist, and Raw Magic. Characters contain three hit points, and two points of Rot. In order to push yourself to do better, you can spent a point of Rot to automatically succeed. If you fill up your Rot, take one damage and add a dot to either Resist or Raw Magic. Each game also comes with character options as well as game flavour in the form of character classes, dark secrets, roll-tables for scenarios, and premise to get the game going!

Orchidelirium, by aethercorp Games.

Take on the mantle of a grizzled and hardy orchid hunter in 1865, traversing the depths of unchartered territories in search of rare, elusive, and above all, expensive orchids for your shady employer, J. Carmichael & Associates.

For the Games Master, Orchidelirium provides a simple ruleset, an adventure, and improvisation tools to help build an adventure of discovery at the table.

Orchidelerium is mostly an adventure game with orchids added in to give a unique flavour to the genre. However, playing cards add a unique mechanic that enable setting and adversary generation  in such a way that both the GM and the players have a bit of an oracle to help guide their way. The book comes with a lovely centrefold useful for keeping track of the obstacles the group will run up against along the way, as well as a reference page to enable quick look-up of prompts. All in all, a lovely book!

Little Garden, by Five Points Games.

Little Garden is a game about decline, corruption and perhaps even a little hope at the end of it all.

Play as Nomes, helpful garden Spirits, trying to maintain their bucolic home after the absence of the Garden's creator. Fight back dangerous beasts, vagrants from the encroaching wilds, and tend to the animals and other denizens that make their home with you. At least, for as long as you can, that is. The Wilds will not slow their encroachment, decline is inevitable.

This game is sorted into three rounds: Discovery, Deliberation, and Resolution. In the Discovery Round, the GM will introduce problems that the players will have to confront, using options from a series of GM moves to create obstacles. In Deliberation, players will use a pool of 8 d6s to take turns using moves from the Player options in order to confront the obstacles. At the end of the Deliberation round, the GM will resolve any un-resolved actions in a Resolution round before starting another turn with a fresh Discover Round. This will continue until one of three conditions are met, in which the game ends. If you like structured gameplay with an easy-to-read list and a theme of slow decline, you might want to check out this game!

Mushrooms & Magic, by FeatherBoy.

Years after a mysterious series of magical Churnings, kingdoms of Mushrooms awoke in a world left behind by the Ancients, surrounded by strange beasts and remnants of ancient technology from when "humans" walked the soils. In the years following, Mushroomkind fought and explored, discovered and innovated. But Mushrooms are small, and the world is large; much remains to be learned, and countless adventures are still to be had. Will you answer the call?

Mushrooms & Magic runs using a modified Powered by the Apocalypse / Monster of the Week-like system, with new mechanics for tool crafting, abilities, and several magic types. The game only requires one die - a d20 - and makes use of just four basic stats. While not necessarily rules-light, plenty of room is left within the game's structure for players to modify core abilities and attributes (and add their own!) as wanted within campaigns, and GM's are encouraged to have fun with the setting above all else.

Unlike the stats we’re used to seeing in PbtA games, Mushrooms & Magic uses a stat wheel, along with optional intermediary stats to cover actions that don’t seem to fit one solid option. Similar to many tabletop rigs, your character choice will influence options available to you - characters will pick both a Role and a Clade that embodies their character. A Role is similar to character class - it tells us something about what your character has to contribute. Clades indicate your character’s mushroom type, and give you a starting health and some innate talents - similar to Race in Dungeons & Dragons.  If you’re looking for some good fungal fun, I recommend Mushrooms & Magic!

The Wildsea, by Felix Isaacs and Ray Chou.

Some three hundred years ago the empires of the world were toppled by a wave of fast-growing greenery, a tide of rampant growth spilling from the West. This event, the Verdancy, gave rise to the world you’ll explore as you play - a titanic expanse of rustling waves and sturdy boughs known as the Wildsea.

Your character is a wildsailor, part of a crew cutting their way across the island-studded wilderness of the treetop sea on a vessel of your very own. You’ll clash with survivor cultures and wild beasts, scavenge and salvage for wreckage and trade-goods, chase rumours, and uncover secrets. The focus of this game is on exploration, progress, and change - you’ll define the world of the Wildsea as you sail it.

If you like giant forests, leviathan squirrels, and the rambunctious energy of a motley crew crawling its way through a tangle of branch and bramble, this is the game for you. The Wild Words system, birthed in this game, relies heavily on player contributions and small seeds called Whispers to generate new locations, obstacles, and treasure for your crew of wildsailors to explore, befriend, tame, and slay. The setting alone is worth the investment in this game.

[maddyisabstract]

Here's my Dragonmeet 2023 Haul!

You can find links to all the games below:

Coiled Space Training Manual by Aethercorp Games

Onira’s Slumber by Jean Verne

Stealing Your Heart by Joshua Fox

Menagerie of the Void by Eran Aviram

From Hell’s Heart I Stab At Thee by Jonathan Sims

Scribe by Frederic Walker

Apothecaria by Anna Blackwell

Tangled Blessings by Cassi Mothwin

Talking Thunder by Eleanor Hingley and Stardust & Sigil

D12 and Delve by W.H. Arthur

Overisles, and Inspirisles dice by Hatchlings Games

Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings

Giveaway dice and tray by DnDice, courtesy of Penance RPG, plus the adorable octopus

[prosegalaxy]

"Love Beyond Boundaries: The Chronicles of Lila and Zephyr"

In the bustling city of Neo-Arcadia, humans and fantastical creatures coexisted harmoniously, each contributing to the vibrant cultural tapestry. Among them was a young woman named Lila, who worked as an engineer at the prestigious Aethercorp. Her life took an unexpected turn when she met Zephyr, a charming yet enigmatic being from the Ethereal Plane. Lila and Zephyr's love blossomed, but their relationship was not without challenges. The human-Ethereal bond was considered taboo by some, leading to whispers and gossip. Undeterred, they continued to nurture their bond, even as they faced opposition from the fearful and unyielding Council of Elders. One day, while exploring an ancient temple in the heart of Neo-Arcadia, Lila and Zephyr stumbled upon a mysterious artifact that held the key to bridging the gap between their worlds. As they delved deeper into its secrets, they discovered a nefarious plot by the power-hungry villain, Malzor, who sought to control both humans and Ethereals for his own selfish purposes. Together, Lila and Zephyr embarked on a thrilling quest to thwart Malzor's plans, overcoming numerous obstacles and adversaries. Their love, fueled by acceptance and understanding, became the driving force that brought them closer together and united humans and Ethereals against the common enemy. In the end, they managed to expose Malzor's sinister plot, leading to his capture and the dismantling of his nefarious organization. The Council of Elders, realizing the potential benefits of unity between humans and Ethereals, changed their stance on interspecies relationships. Lila and Zephyr's love story became a symbol of hope and understanding, paving the way for a brighter future in Neo-Arcadia.

[castelias-cat-queen]

My, my! It seems I have some competition! Perhaps I should check back with that Aethercorp breeder about purchasing a Litten...

Can't have myself lose the title Cat Queen, now can I? Maybe I'll even get a Sprigatito while I'm at it?

Toodles~!

convinced my parents to adopt (another) cat mon. mwahahaha

...we have 6 now, if you include Queball.

this is definitely something we're known for now...

[heyitsjali-blog1]

Leak Away. An Aethercorp product. 

Leak Away is Aethercorp’s newest product to keep you away from pesky leaks. 

[flamebourne]

@fentasm

       The once humble village turned to the now booming city hung heavy with a sort of unrest… the still heavy hanging smell of burned fabric and charred wood ash weighing down the urban air.

      College students from the prestigious school past the town���s gates whispered rumors of something supernatural about the green flames, pointing fingers to the legends of the town’s origins, blaming the mythical beasts that lingered in legend and bolted out of sight when ones’ gaze drew their way.

     Really it wasn’t the fact of the fires’ very sparks… it was the fact that they ate at buildings faster than anything anyone had ever seen. Authorities and local fire departments could find no leads… no sign of accelerants… and many witnesses swore the fires arched high with spiraling green flames… and yet no matter how hard they searched, no trace of a Boron compound and its signature white residue could be found anywhere within the grounds.

     Green eyes met with the faint but star marked sky, glittering lights muted by the dull thrum of electricity in the city and the distant ethereal flames that clawed up the building sides of the prestigious facility they’d latched onto. With knee propping the ankle to his opposite foot, hands resting idly behind his head, reclined on the hood to a dented and rust eaten Sedan parked toward the distant corner of the resident junkyard... few thought to pay attention to him... more seen skittering toward the burning building with the curious hunger to see the otherworldly destruction.

      Heavy bass thrummed in the headphones, stark green eyes watching the chaos from afar as the screaming siren of an approaching firetruck reverberated through the far distant trees that lined the compound of the burning facility. AetherCorp had done much to let this town effectively boom... but with the bustling crowd lingering near to watch the fires consume the pristine white walls of the building...

       Wide, searching eyes of the corporation’s watchdogs combed through the crowd-- glancing between dark amber and grey blue eyes in search of something toward unearthly-- the stature of the pack’s leader glanced toward the chain link fence that encircled the junkyard to the far end of the compound, scouring the motionless mounds of crushed cars and discarded box springs, dull grey hues darted to his hip to snatch up the hissing communicator hanging from his belt holster.

       Smoke billowed from the cigarette’s end, fingers splayed and winding about the orange paper, amused but curious eyes met with the turned back of the guard jogging back toward the bustling havoc of the burning building. feet swung and gently thumped against the stony roof side of the meek general store beyond the curtain of evergreen nearest the long since untouched junkyard’s far edge...

              ---Close one...

       Glancing to phone, fished from his pocket, hand then met with the poured concrete roof, dropping the finished cigarette and stamped the bud’s end under heel, couldn’t stay up too much later--

        Classes started tomorrow... didn’t wanna make a bad impression...

[goblincow]

happy october!! tabletop trick or treat :D? -hmoon

Get TRICKED!

There's a graphic/game designer I met at Dragonmeet last year who designs games as Aethercorp. I thought my business card was pretty good (it is) but his one's even better.

It's a fishing mini game, I'm just going to show you it:

Luke puts just as much charm and attention into all his other work and you should go check out his stuff over at AETHERCORP.GAMES because he's making some really incredible solo LARP style stuff atm and he seems like a lovely person.

[pokemon-ecologist]

I'm happy to surrender them to your sanctuary, I've of course read through your info and qualifications and I'm happy with what I see. Court & Marshall are very smart and I trust them to be able to make themselves comfortable where they end up.

I'm happy to know that they're somewhere enjoying work that I don't need from them anymore. I'm more than able to send them through the PC system if you have an inbox set up.

As for specific information about them:

Court the Passimian is trained to push a wheelchair user and assist with household tasks like turning on and off lights, opening and closing doors, she's even smart enough to put a frozen meal in the microwave and push the right buttons if you tell them to her and the microwave model is similar enough to what she's used to. (although, it took a lot of training and she can get it wrong). She is also, in an emergency, able to press a medical alert button to send a request for medical intervention, or carry a person in the event of a wheelchair not being available or so on.

Marshall the Oranguru is a medical alert and emotional support 'Mon, trained to register micro signs of blood sugar changes and impending seizure, as well as just signs of general chronic pain and signal you into a comfortable position or resting place. He also is able to use the medical alert system if you have one, and is trained to assist and stand by with anxiety, panic attacks and also (what he was assigned to me for) possible schizophrenia related hallucinations. He actually knows hypnosis, and is skilled enough in its use to curb or at least reduce the severity of ongoing delusions or hallucinations without putting the target to sleep. (Only if the target is judged as being a possible danger to themselves, though)

I know that these are very very extensive skillsets, but I was lucky- but Aethercorp spared no expense, when you were an orphan at Aether House you were theirs and they only wanted the best. They were bred and selected by Aethercorp and trained extensively by expensive private and scientifically modern methods. I have all their paperwork if you need me to fax it through as well.

If you ever find someone who would need such highly trained Service Pokémon then I would be glad to know they're helping someone who needs it.

Hello, I recently sent this question to @/newgrowthspaest and they pointed me in your direction. My inquiry has been copied below for simplicity:

'Hello, recent events have brought this to mind so, I wanted to broach the subject with you.

I have two service Pokémon from my childhood, currently 'soft retired' in a PC box as I am no longer in need of them both and they are a bonded pair. But they are quite long living Pokémon and require the mental stimulation of working 'Mons, not to mention, I'm quite certain they're unsatisfied with their retirement.

I was wondering if, as a service Pokémon trainer, you might be the person to ask about finding someone to rehome them?

They're a Passimian Physical Assistant Pokémon named Court, and an Oranguru Emotional Support and Medical Alert Pokémon by the name of Marshall. They're both around 50, so they should be able to work for another 30 odd years or so.

Sorry if this question is a bit difficult to address, and thank you for your time!'

Thank you in advance!

Hello, hello!

I am absolutely very experienced in rehoming service Pokémon. This is actually more common than you think. People are constantly changing, and it’s hard for service Pokémon to keep up with often growing or changing needs.

I have a few service Pokémon waiting for their new homes at my Sanctuary. If you were wanting to surrender them, I’d be happy to find them a new home, or I can put some feelers out if anyone is looking for service Pokémon with these skills and connect you to them.

I know how hard it can be to say good-bye, especially to Pokémon that can feel like extensions of yourself. I’d love to talk with you more about this and find out exactly what you’re wanting.

[pokemon-ecologist]

Okay, figured.

Basically, your saving grace right now is that Unova has a pretty big prison system, and so international laws have come down pretty strictly to ensure prisoners don't get mistreated.

This has led to some important prisoner's rights, namely, they get absolute say in who assumes custody of their pokémon.

If you can get in contact with your father in prison (there's definitely channels for this) you can inform him and he can provide you with his formal consent to assume custody, either written if possible or a judge will have him contacted in prison during any court proceedings, if it gets that far.

Another thing, and this I wouldn't exactly have experience with, beyond my own experiences with disability law and custody over disabled adults (a legless orphan raised by Aethercorp tends to go through some shit, yeah?).

You are currently enrolled in two separate Ivysaur League schools, right? Those are well known for being difficult. If they're trying to argue you can't handle the stress of a couple extra Pokémon, they'll have a real tough time in court.

Let me know if any of this helps!

hi uhm. Primm

look i know we dont talk- ever. i think i only know you through joltik and thats a stretch. but- i need advice i think and i feel like you know things. you have an "i know things" vibe.

do you know anything about pokemon repossession laws? like- someone being able to take your pokemon from you for legal reasons.

@unovanra

Hmmmm... I'm certainly not a lawyer, so I don't know as much as you might think. But I have been paying attention to your blog, and I'm pretty sure I might know what you're asking for and I may have a way to help.

Do you mind reblogging with a bit more info? What are your specific circumstances?