#aetherpunk campaign

[eric-the-bmo]

Hello I saw your tag PLEASE tell me about Annabelle Von Gears she seems right up my alley

OUGIYGH OH BOY LET ME RAMBLE ABOUT MY OC, THIS IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE STRUCTURED HORRIBLY LMAO—

So! Annabelle von Gears is my character for an upcoming homebrew campaign my friend's been wanting to run for about a year; She's put so much work into it, it's fascinating! (So sorry if u weren't expecting ttrpg stuff, but the floodgates have opened, and as a man with a special interest in ttrpgs I'm not going to shut up now—)

In very simple terms, Annabelle is a porcelain warforged/robotic wizard (bladesinger, specifically) who grew tired of her life and runs off to go adventuring. I adore her and this WILL be an infodump under the readmore!!!

[Art by @teefs_art on twitter!]

Augh okay I have no idea if I'll be able to get everything down, especially her thoughts on her family and herself, but here we go-

In terms of personality, I've been keeping it a bit vague; I'd like to have some room to build upon it when we finally play, and I've found it's easier to go off a general vibe.

So: Annabelle, at the start, is really just trying to do her job as a secretary and is very bored over the whole thing. While disruptions in the day can annoy her, she secretly delights in a few of them, because hey- that's another break in monotony, baby! After discovering free will later on, she's a lot more impulsive and upbeat, but still attempts to maintain her air of formality and fanciness. She most likely has a very strong sense of what's considered "fair." Due to Annabelle's upbringing, she'll probably be a bit rude and insensitive to others and their plights at times- and despite her sarcasm, she seems unable to detect it in others?

I definitely need to think more about how to include some knightly traits for her, and yknow, the whole thing of self vs duty, but... eh, yknow. Just vibes so far ☆

Anyway, the fact she's not literally built for a life of adventuring does nothing to dissuade her, btw; she'd rather do this than go back to a boring job.

Fun(?) facts:

Annabelle was based off the idea of "hey, what if a porcelain robot got hurt a lot and had to be fixed up with gold? Wouldn't that be cool or what"

Annabelle has programmed codes! Some of them include not being able to enter certain parts of the Von Gears manor, and being physically unable to harm her father figure (She can certainly try, but it's extremely difficult to break through those instructions)

She can sleep standing up, and yes, this probably will unnerve her party members very much ☆ (She can also stand completely still! More than once she's startled a foreign diplomat by blending in with the various statues and automatons in the manor, and so she's not allowed to go into those rooms anymore lmao)

Annabelle would really like collecting vinyls <3

She has the emblem of her home kingdom painted on her shoulder blades/upper back (it's an eagle with its wings outstretched!)

She can remove her face plate, and getting fixed by an artificer or mechanic is a bit uncomfortable :-/ It's like going to the dentist.

Annabelle is supposed to have a German accent- but I'm unable to do one. 😔

Her favorite term of endearment is to call someone "butterfly"; but so far she exclusively refers to only her sister with it.

She's unable to cry; she's not built with tear ducts! :-(

She's probably got a list full of silly little things to do while adventuring- like sneak into a building, or take part in a bar fight.

Taking heat damage is flavored as such: Her porcelain coverings are actually pretty heat-resistant! However, her insides aren't. It almost acts like an oven... (good luck venturing the kingdom of Helosh, love! ouch)

I'm absolutely going to find out how she can stim with her magic. No one can stop me /lh

And now for her general story: (note: I'm only putting in the most basic information for this. There's so much worldbuilding, but I sadly don't have time to ramble about all that. Again, sorry if this is incoherent, augh)

On the continent of Mysterra, most warforged reside in the country of Tectonica, which is ruled by Warrick von Gears (I forget his exact official title), a warforged who's been around for a very long time- definitely more than 100 years.

Following Mysterra's calendar, in 1835 Warrick decided he wanted a family with his wife Eleanor (also a warforged), and on the 19th of the Month of Talis, he commissioned the construction of Aria as his daughter– Annabelle was then added as a sudden addition. It took a year to complete the both of them, at which point artificial souls were placed inside their chests, and they were taken home to Tectonica's capital of Skysummit.

Despite being awoken at the same time, Annabelle is considered the more mature out of the two- mentally being in her 20s, with Aria being around 12- and primarily functions as Warrick's secretary. She arranged meetings, schedules, etc, and traveled along with him to diplomatic meetings to the capitals of other countries- along the way she picked up how to speak Gnomish and Draconic, as Windberg and Balaur do frequent dealings with Tectonica.

But eventually, she got bored with... well, just about all of it. It all began to seem monotonous, with only traveling for meetings, chess games with Warrick, and the shenanigans of Aria to break it all up. (She cares very much for her sister; it's almost the energy of "If this one favorite coworker wasn't here I would've quit a Long Time Ago" /hj). She wasn't really allowed to leave the estate without permission- and the thought to do so anyway had never occurred to her- so she had to find a few ways to avoid completely losing it.

Despite the fact she was built with a variety of coded spells to ensure self-defense, Annabelle began to study the variety of spellbooks and fiction in the Von Gear estate to stave off her boredom and restlessness- as well as daydreaming, becoming a lover of gossip, practicing swordfighting with some decorative blades hanging up on the wall, etc; all while wondering if something was wrong with her. Because she was built for this job, so surely she shouldn't be dissatisfied, right? [And what's with that strange tugging in her chest sometimes..?] But nothing ever seemed wrong when the mechanics showed up for yearly checks, so she didn't really ever bring it up in conversation to Warrick.

[While she loves the other Von Gears, her discontent with her current life makes her feels separate from them. Combined with her job as a secretary, she tries to be formal towards them and keep a distance– but she makes a few exceptions. She has fun with Aria, and despite her insistence she's really not part of the family, she does participate in family game night, and has accidentally called Warrick "dad" more than once. Anyway...]

And so, in the year of 1842, Annabelle von Gears is still the secretary of Tectonica's ruler— that is, until a famed Artificer is late for his scheduled meeting with Warrick. This catapults the events of the campaign, as well as Annabelle meeting her future party— an artificer searching for her missing father, a barbarian seeking revenge for the destruction of her town, a ranger with the last known dragon egg, and a paladin trying to prevent his kingdom from being destroyed by a volcano.

She’ll be sent by Warrick to join them for a quest, much to her surprise, and will discover that adventuring is just what she needs in her life. She runs off to join them, promising her sister she'll write to her.

Being an impulsive woman once she's discovered she has free will, Annabelle's bound to get into trouble and gain all sorts of scars- and probably a lot of them, since she literally isn't built for adventuring– as well as probably gaining... odd visions? And passing knowledges of skills previously unbeknownst to her? Strange...

While adventuring, Annabelle will occasionally feel guilt for leaving her job and family behind.

And oh, the Reveal! During her journey, Annabelle von Gears will eventually discover the truth that her soul isn't artificial like she was told: She had been a flesh-and-blood person whose soul had been ripped out (either from a living body or the afterlife) and rewired, just like every other warforged.... Which would explain all the odd memories and possibly even her want for adventure- she had been a person before. And surely Warrick must've known this whole time, right? (cue, hopefully, a climactic daughter-father fight)

(There's also an idea the DM and I have where Annabelle encounters the "resurrected" body of who she used to be, possibly leading to the body attempting to kill her so it can get its soul back. We're going to have so much fun with the horror elements)

Anyway augh this was A Lot, thank you for showing interest and allowing me to Ramble ;-;✌️🫶💕

[duckprintspress]

Back the Aether Beyond the Binary Kickstarter Campaign!

Duck Prints Press is thrilled to announce that the crowdfunding campaign for science-fantasy gender-diverse sixth anthology Aether Beyond the Binary is now live on Kickstarter!

The core concept of Aether Beyond the Binary is simple and compelling: create intriguing main characters outside the gender binary and set them loose to explore the modern world twisted or barely changed, enhanced or destroyed by magical aether. This power source may replace technology, supplement it, or oppose it. These characters may be agender, genderfluid, bigender, or any other non-binary identity. The thread that these tales share is exploration: of the world around them and of the self. We propose no conclusions; instead, we demonstrate how far-reaching the questions are and how expansive the range of possible answers can be, thereby broadening the discussion about the nature of gender and the place of genderqueer characters in science-fantasy fiction. We hope you’ll join us to explore the endless possibilities of these magical worlds.

This anthology includes 17 stories, each up to 7,500 words, by our diverse fancreators-turned-original-fiction-authors, gorgeous artwork by Mar Spragge, Pippin Peacock, Alessa Riel, and Atomic Pixies, amazing merchandise, and awesome add-on extras.

Looking for the perfect post-holiday purchase? Look no further! Get awesome, gorgeous stuff, a fantastic, erudite book, and support queer indie publishing – become a backer of the Aether Beyond the Binary crowdfunding campaign TODAY!

Campaign ends January 25th, 2024.

Patreon backers who support the crowdfunding campaign can also get an excellent extra: the adorable plant-watering backer as a key chain! So there’s no time like the present to back us on Patreon, too!

[dastabby]

when I saw this pictures: Oh, that somehow reminds me of the movie list from the Eberron campaign setting

*keeps scrolling* aaaah xD

"Movies inspired us as we were creating this world, and they can help put you in the mood and mindset for a rousing Eberron adventure. The following films are just a few examples of movies that have elements of the tone and attitude we've packed into this campaign setting." -Eberron Campaign Setting

[copperbadge]

Radio Free Monday

Good morning everyone, welcome to Radio Free Monday! Sorry it's on Tuesday...the day off yesterday messed up my brain!

Ways to Give:

awheckery linked to a fundraiser their friend Bill has organized for burial expenses and a memorial service for Jean, a trans activist who recently passed. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for ladyyatexel, who is currently unemployed and needs to raise $2500 to cover rent and expenses for January and February; you can read more, reblog, and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for Hunter, who needs help paying for specialist surgical treatment for her basset hound Myrtle's severe glaucoma; they're also trying to defray costs of previous treatments. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for sovay, whose cat recently passed from kidney disease; they're raising funds to cover treatment expenses prior to Autolycus's passing. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

News To Know:

Anon wanted to let people know about Duck Prints Press, a small indy press that specializes in queer stories, including a lot of short fiction and anthologies published through Kickstarter; they've published queer fanworks based on Much Ado About Nothing and The Three Musketeers, among others. They're running a campaign right now called Aether Beyond the Binary, featuring nonbinary protagonists in aetherpunk (magic-tech fusion) worlds. You can read more at their site or support their Kickstarter here.

Recurring Needs:

rilee16 is raising funds to cover utilities, to afford medication and possibly an upcoming move without local support and with short paychecks; their roommate, who in the past has been physically aggressive, has destroyed some of their belongings and stolen controlled medications. You can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.

thelastpyler is raising funds for food for the week and medication for their sister; you can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.

chingaderita's partner's family house recently caught fire and completely burned, killing his grandmother and causing extensive property loss; he has also recently lost his job due to the fire, and a number of family members have since become ill. They're raising funds to keep food on the table, and get their partner mental health aid, and now are looking at doctor's bills for medical treatment. You can read more, reblog, and support the fundraiser here.

thegeeksqueaks is a high school science teacher (who has fundraised previously for supplies and comfort items for her students, particularly her neurodivergent and queer students) who has been seeking a diagnosis for ongoing migraines, vertigo, and head pain for most of the year; she now has a diagnosis and a procedure date, but needs to raise $1.5K to cover the post-insurance payment estimate. You can read more, reblog, and find giving information here, give via Paypal here, and give via Venmo here.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form. If you're new to fundraising, you may want to check out my guide to fundraising here.

[terrapwaters]

Friends, my short story Ancient Hearts Unearthed, will be included in Aether Beyond the Binary, an anthology from Duck Prints Press (@duckprintspress). Above is the awesome cover art by non-binary artist Mar Spragge. Our Kickstarter runs through January 25th! It’s all about characters outside the binary (nonbinary, agender, genderqueer, etc.) in an aetherpunk setting! We’re almost 60% funded with 16 days left.

Here’s an excerpt from my story about a pair of archeologists exploring a newly uncovered cave:

Sasha almost ran into Victoria, stopping short. Over her shoulder, they saw the cavern wall. The appearance of the rock was unusual enough to draw Sasha’s attention to the fact that they’d come to a dead end. “Those markings are too regular to be natural.” They stepped around Victoria and reached out to run their fingers over the rock, feeling the way shapes had been carved into it. “They’re pictographs. Or runes, perhaps?” They turned to Victoria. “What does the ancient rune expert have to say about them?” “I’m…” She took a long, silent moment to look at the wall, moving her light around and tracing the shapes with her fingers. “I can’t see them well enough. We need the supplies to make rubbings. And more light.” “Where can we get anything other than aetherwork light sources?” “Candles, I suppose.” Victoria looked down at her hand, pressing the red light on and off. “Or some sort of electricity lamp.” She snickered. “Whale oil?” Then Victoria turned and ran a hand over the runes again. “What bothers me is that these are early Age of Aether markings. You see the way they’re using archaic forms of our letters?” Sasha leaned closer. “I’ll be damned. This doesn’t match the bronze era artifacts in the rest of the cave, either.” They made a tiny humming noise. “Who else would have this much knowledge of ancient runes?” As Victoria leaned as close as she could to the wall, she asked distractedly, “What do you mean?” “Obviously, it’s a fake,” they said, mulling over the problem in their head. “Sanderson has wanted my place on the admissions committee since he joined the department.” “What if it’s not a fake?” Victoria made a tiny, excited noise. “What if this is early Aether Age work? What if this is a secret that’s been buried for almost a thousand years?” Sasha’s heart swooped at the thought. “We have to find out what that inscription says.”

If you want to find out what happens next, please back our kickstarter campaign!

[equalseleventhirds]

i know i have too much shit going on, and i’m still working on the details of the homebrew world for my current d&d campaign, and we haven’t even started the actual campaign yet (altho i’ve been playing in that world with my family)

but i have a tidally locked aetherpunk sorta world being built in my head and dang i wanna play there, the science is defs all wrong but who even cares, i’d need to do a lot of work but it’d be fun

[eric-the-bmo]

look at her <3

[eric-the-bmo]

i love filling out this vault, im slowly going through all the blank notes and filling them out with what i know

[eric-the-bmo]

The Aetherpunk Campaign vault is Growing. The game hasn't even started yet-

[eric-the-bmo]

AUGH. MORE NEW ANNABELLE LORE. HI. OK.

So Annabelle doesn't see her mom(?) a lot, right? She's only seen Eleanor maybe around like 6 times. The day Annabelle woke up Warrick brought her home and was showing her around, telling her all sorts of things, and then she met Eleanor, who said: "What is this?"

And it wasn't directed at Annabelle! It was to her husband!!!! Who apparently didn't tell his wife they were getting a new secretary, I guess, but still?? Imagine you were just given sentience and your mother figure goes "hey what the fuck is this" in reference to you. I think that would definitely affect how Annabelle views her relationship with Eleanor and possibly how she views herself?

I think she'd try to find a way to have Eleanor like her, but it would be awkward because again, Eleanor doesn't appear very often, and how would you even go about doing that?

[eric-the-bmo]

NEW ANNABELLE LORE JUST FUCKING DROPPED OH MY GOD???

[eric-the-bmo]

Something i just remembered about Annabelle's upcoming game is that, as far as I know, she and the Drakewarden are the only two "original" members of the party, in the sense they're not based off/or inspired by any pre-existing media.

Becky is based off the mythology of Daedalus, Marceline is based off the Adventure Time character of the same name, and Terran is based off of Dr Bright from the SCP Foundation. Love it here ☆

[eric-the-bmo]

this came to me in a vision (the campaign hasn't even started yet)

[eric-the-bmo]

Annabelle my beloved, I love the idea of her being in the Von Gear Estate after the party left, and she’s sitting at her desk like “Damn. Those adventurers earlier were interesting. I wish I could go with them,” and then she pauses and is like “Wait a minute, I can just do that-”

And she’s so excited over this as she begins to pack, putting all she thinks to grab in the travel suitcase she has for when she goes on trips with Warrick;  She grabs a knife from the silverware display to hide in her purse; She scribbles down a note for Warrick to find- a short one, letting him know she’s leaving, because she doesn’t want him to think she’s been kidnapped- and as she goes to leave she pauses, because for a moment a part of her mind wants her to go back, to stay- but it’s only a small part of her that’s saying that besides, she’s just passed by the decorative sword hanging in the hallway- a rapier, and an idea sparks inside to take it. She takes it off the wall, ball-joint hands shaking from the excitement of the entire ordeal, and she lets the sword hang at her side as she opens the doors of the Estate. It’s a warm summer night, and the lights of the city are like stars as the three moons hang up above the sky, and Annabelle realizes she’s been grinning this whole time as she begins to pick up the pace, half-running to the gates, and there’s that small part of her brain again, telling her to turn back, but she pushes the remnants of her programming away- Because she can do what she wants, and she’s running off the high of this realization. Annabelle breaks into a sprint halfway through, feeling the wind against her porcelain skin, and she lets out a cheer of victory as she runs past the walls, because for the first time since her creation six years ago she truly feels alive. She feels like crying, like laughing, and she keeps running; past shops that have long-since closed, past citizens either heading to early shifts or to their homes after arduously long ones; past the beautiful streetlamps that flicker with oil and magic, and she doesn’t know how long she’s been running but she doesn’t care, because it’s all wonderful.

Her feet make a rhythmic pattern against the stone tiles of the streets, accompanied by the rolling of her suitcase, and here’s the main thought for her plan (and it thrills her to know she’s the only one who knows her plan, that she didn’t ask permission): She knows where the adventurers are staying. She’s going to join them, because she can do that, and she wants to see the world outside of business trips, and she wants to join a heist and start a fight and her mind is racing with everything she could do as she turns around a corner-

And she sees the building now, the place where they’re staying, and she didn’t think her smile could get any bigger, but it does, and she races to the door and knocks, and she can’t stay still as she waits for it to open; she can feel the gears in her chest turning, magic in her veins, and the streetlamps burn just a bit more brighter as she paces.

The door opens, and the redhead on the other side has no time to react, because immediately Annabelle says: “Let me come with you,” and it’s more of a declaration than anything else, illuminated by streetlights and the joy of autonomy.

[duckprintspress]

Urgent: Help Us Not Get Screwed

Anyone who follows us has seen us screaming from the hill-tops about our current crowdfunding campaign for Aether Beyond the Binary (17 aetherpunk stories! Outside the gender binary main characters!). We've only got 50 hours left...and we just got screwed.

Our Anthology Kickstarter is being scammed.

About two hours ago, with us still roughly $1,500 from our goal, we got a junk pledge for almost $2,000. This pushed us into being marked as "funded" but there is zero chance it's a real pledge, it's from a shell account marked as being in Turkey. This kind of money doesn't just fall like a miracle into the laps of small business like ours.

The timing on this attack is devastating. The final 48 hours of a campaign are absolutely critical, especially for one as close to meeting our goal as we are. We were very likely to hit our target, but doing so was going to require appeals to y'all that started with "hey, we're so close, please help spread the word." Further, the campaign has hundreds of followers who will get a notification at the 48 hour mark, and many who might have backed to help get us to the finish line will now think "oh, they're there, they don't need me," and not back. Meanwhile, one of two things will happen with the spam pledge: either it will get removed by Kickstarter, which could take hours or a day+, totally nuking us during this crucial window, or it won't get removed until the payment bounces post-campaign, at which point we won't actually have enough money to do fulfillment.

Either way, we are fucked.

Please, please don't let these dipshits ruin the love and passion that 30+ people have poured into this project for over a year.

Our campaign IS NOT FUNDED, and it won't be without help. I'm begging, help spread the word about how we're getting screwed, and help spread the word about Aether Beyond the Binary (visit the link for so much info!) so that we can get enough real pledges to fund this project we've poured our hearts and souls into.

SUPPORT THE QUEER ANTHOLOGY KICKSTARTER FOR AETHER BEYOND THE BINARY (with your pledges or with signal boosts!)

[duckprintspress]

Get to Know AETHER BEYOND THE BINARY

We are only ONE WEEK away from the launch of the Kickstarter campaign for Duck Prints Press’s sixth anthology, AETHER BEYOND THE BINARY.

What would the Earth look like if the very atoms that compose the planet were suffused with magical aether? How would our lives in the modern world be different if this aether was discovered last year, or last decade, or last century, or last millennia? How might the people who inhabit this very different but still modern Earth explore their gender identities? These are the questions we posed to the 17 authors chosen to contribute to Duck Prints Press’s newest anthology Aether Beyond the Binary. Their diverse answers are bound together in this must-not-miss collection of stories about magical worlds, adventures and mysteries, new chances and well-earned endings, and characters as gender-diverse as the worlds they inhabit. 

What is aetherpunk? Imagine a world where there’s technology not unlike what we have in the modern world, except that instead of that technology operating using the principles that we, now, would call “science,” that technology operates using magic! That’s aetherpunk—the awesome union of technology and complex magical systems in magic-filled worlds to produce unique settings that resemble modern-day Earth but are also very, very different. With aetherpunk stories, the impossible becomes possible, and new solutions to the world’s problems become available! You can learn more about the history of aetherpunk and what aetherpunk is in this blog post!

What is a character outside the gender binary? The gender binary consists of the two most common genders: male and female. Most people, whether they are cisgender or transgender, fall within this binary. Nonetheless, gender is a spectrum, and there are many gender identities that are outside, between, among, or combinations of cis and trans, male and female. One umbrella term for these identities is non-binary, and specific identities include agender (like our lead editor!), genderfluid, bigender, demigender, pangender, and x gender. Every story in Aether Beyond the Binary features at least one non-binary main character, and many stories utilize neopronouns.

The core concept of Aether Beyond the Binary is simple and compelling: create intriguing main characters outside the gender binary and set them loose to explore the modern world twisted or unchanged, enhanced or destroyed by magical aether.

We have been working on this project for over a year, and are so excited to finally be bringing it to y’all. We launch on December 26th, with a funding goal of $14,250.

Follow our Kickstarter pre-launch page TODAY and make sure you’re among the first to get notified when this super-cool, innovative anthology becomes available!

Love what we do? Want to get an awesome, exclusive bonus merch item when you back this campaign? Become a backer on our Patreon, support Duck Prints Press year-round, and get awesome stuff!