Aether Sea • A World of Adventure for Fate Core

48 Pages·2014·29.49 MB·English

by  Edward Turner

the
Aether Sea
A WORLD OF
ADVENTURE FOR
Edward Turner
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INSIDERS
Alan Bartholet Charlton Wilbur Elsidar James F Thunberg Jordan Dennis Matthew Dickson Paul Shawley Sanchit
Alan-Michael Chris Caporaso Amhransidhe Jason Jose Luis Porfirio Matthew Paulo Rafael Sarah Vakos
Havens Christian Emmanuel Jason Cotton Joshua Reubens Whiteacre Guariglia Scott Hamilton
Alexander Grafe Christian Svalander eneko zarauz Jason F Broadley Juanma Micah Davis Escanhoela Sean O’Dell
Alexander R. Christopher Eric Bontz Jason Tocci Barranquero Michael Bowman Pavel Zhukov Sean Smith
Corbett Gunning Ezekiel Norton Jean-Christophe Katie Ramsey Michael Cambata peter burczyk Selene O’Rourke
Amethyst Lynx Dan Moody Frederi POCHARD Cubertafon Keith Stanley Michael Green Peter Gates Shane Russom
Andrew Sier Daniel Frank Jeff Craig Ken Michael Shea Peter Hatch Sharif Abed
Anne-Sylvie Daniel Gallant Gavran Jeff Xilon Ken Ditto Michael Shumate Philip Nicholls Shervyn von Hoerl
Betsch Daniel Linder Giuseppe Jere Krischel Kenji Ikiryo Morgan Ellis PK Stephen Rider
Antero Garcia Krauklis D’Aristotile Jeremiah McCoy Kevin Jiyang Li Nick Randy Oest Timothy Carroll
Arlo B Evans David Glenn Mochon Jeremy DeVore Larry Hollis Nick Bate Richard Troy Ray
ArthurDent David Dorward Graham Jim Nicholson Leif Erik Furmyr Nick Reale Bellingham Ulf Bengtsson
Ben McKenzie David Ellis Graham Wills Jin Shei Marc Mundet Nicola Urbinati Rick Will Goring
Benjamin Wandio David L Kinney Gregory Hirsch Johannes K. Mark Miller Nicolas Marjanovic Rick Jakins William J. White
Brandon Burger David Reed Griffin Mitchell Rasmussen Marshall Smith Noel Warford Riggah William Lee
Brett Abbott Donald Wheeler Haakon John Beattie Marty Chodorek Osye Pritchett Robert Hanz William McDuff
brian allred Dustin Evermore Thunestvedt John Rogers Matt and Nykki Pablo Martinez Robert Kemp Woodrow Jarvis
Brian Chase Eden Brandeis Harry Lewis John Rudd Boersma Merino Rod Meek Hill
C. J. Hunter Edgardo A Montes Jack Stephenson- John Wyatt Matt Anderson Patrick Ewing Roger Edge Zach
C.K. Lee Rosa Carr Jon Matthew Patrick Ryan
Cerity Edward MacGregor Jacob Moffitt Jon-Pierre Gentil Matthew Broome Mueller-Best Ryan Singer
ADVENTURERS
Aaron Ross Powell Chris Kurts Earl Butler Jamie Wheeler JP Maurice Strubel Ricardo Gesuatto Steve Ela
Adam Gutschenritter Chris Lock Ebenezer Arvigenius Jan Stals Juan Francisco Max Richard Lock Steve Gilman
Aidan Grey Chris Mitchell Eirch Mascariatu Janet Gutierrez Max Kaehn Richard Warren Steve Kunec
Alan Phillips Chris Nolen Elsa S. Henry Jared Hunt Julianna Backer Mel White Rishi Agrawal Steve Radabaugh
Alejandro Chris Turner Eric I Jason Julien Delabre Michael Rob Voss Steven Code
Alejandro Angel Christian Lajoie Eric Poulton Jason Bean Jurgen Rudolph Michael Barrett Robert Biskin Steven D Warble
Alex Norris Christoph Thill Eric Steen Jason Best Justin Michael D. Blanchard Robert Daines Steven desJardins
Alexander Christopher Allen Erik Ottosen Jason Lee Waltman Justin Beeh Michael D. Ranalli Jr. Robert Huss Steven K. Watkins
Alexander Permann Christopher Avery Ernie Sawyer Jason Lund Justin Thomason Michael Hill Robert Rees Steven Markley
Alexis Lee Christopher Sigmund Etienne Olieu Jason Mill Kaarchin Michael Hopcroft Robert Rydlo Steven sims
Allan Bray Christopher Smith Evan Jorgenson Jason Pasch Kalle Saarela Michael McCully Robert Zasso Steven Whitelock
Andrew Betts Adair Florent Poulpy Cadio Javier Gaspoz Karl Naylor Michael Thompson Rodrigo Svend Andersen
Andrew Dacey Christopher W. Dolunt Florian Greß Jayna Pavlin Keith Byrd Mighty Meep Roger Carbol Tabletop Audio
Andrew Grant Chuck Francisco Jean-Francois Kenny Norris Mike de Jong Roland Teresa Oswald
Andrew Lloyd Cody Marbach Frank Beaver Robillard Kenny Snow Mike Vermont Ron Müller Tevel Drinkwater
Andrew Loch Cole Busse Frank G. Pitt Jeffrey Boman Kevin Flynn Misdirected Mark RoninKelt The Roach
Andrew Turbott Colin Frank Jarome Jeffrey Collyer Kevin Lindgren Productions Ross Hellwig Thom Terrific
Andy Arminio Colin Matter Frederick Perigord Jens Kevin McDermott Mitchell Smallman Roy Thomas
Angus MacDonald Craig Andera Gabriel Whitehead Jens Alfke Kevin Payne Naomi McArthur Roy LaValley Thomas Balls-Thies
Anthony Popowski Craig Mason Galen Pejeau Jeremy German Kevin Veale Nathan Barnes Ryan Burpee Thomas Maund
Antoine Pempie Craig Wright Garrett Jeremy Glick Krista Nathan Reed Ryan D. Kruse Tim
Arlene Medder Curt Meyer Garrett Jones Jeremy Hamaker Kurt Zdanio Neal Dalton Ryan Lee Tim Popelier
Arne Cyrano Jones Gary Anastasio Jeremy Kear Kyle Nessalantha Ryan Macklin Timo
Baben hauser heide Dain Gavin Jeremy Wong LarrxX N’Gham Nicholas Pilon Ryan Olson Timothy Seiger
Asier Serras Dan Behlings Genevieve jerry anning Les Simpson Nicholas Sokeland Samuel Todd Estabrook
athalbert Dan Hall Geoff Jesse Lester Ward Nick Townsend Steinbock-Pratt Todd Grotenhuis
Augustas Vaitkevicius Daniel Chapman Geoffrey JF Paradis Link Hughes Olav Müller Samwise Crider Torolf de Merriba
Austin Stanley daniel hagglund Gian Domenico Joanna Lisa Hartjes Oliver Scholes Sarah Williams Trevor Crosse
Aviv Daniel Hernandez Facchini Joe Lisa M Olivier Nisole Schubacca Trevor/Mishy Stellar
B. Bredthauer Daniel Kraemer Glynn Stewart Joe Patterson Lobo Owen Duffy Scot Ryder Tyler Hunt
Barac Wiley Daniel Ley Gonzalo Dafonte Joe.D Loren Norman Owen Thompson Scott Acker Tyson Monagle
beket Daniel Markwig Garcia Joel Beebe Louie Perez Pablo Palacios Scott Dexter Udo Femi
Ben Howard Daniel P. Espinosa Graham Meinert John Lowell Francis paolo castelli Scott Greenleaf Urs Blumentritt
Benjamin Welke Daniel Roe Greg Park John Bogart Luca Agosto Paolo Cecchetto Scott Krok Victor Allen
Bill Daniel Taylor Gregg Workman John Buczek Lucas Bell Patrice Hede Scott Martin Vincent Arebalo
Bjorn Steffen Darren Lute Gregory Fisher John Clayton Lukar Patrice Mermoud Scott Puckett Vladimir Filipovic
Blake Hutchins Dave Gustavo Campanelli John Fiala M Kenny Paul Arezina Scott Thede Wayne Peacock
Brad Davies David Heather John Hawkins M. Alan Thomas II Paul Baldowski Scott Underwood Wes Fournier
Brandon Metcalf David Bellinger Herman Duyker John Hildebrand m.h. Paul Olson Scott Wachter Whitt
Brandon Wiley David Bowers HFB John Lambert Manfred Paul Stefko Sean Harnett William Carroll
Brandt David Buswell-Wible Hillary Brannon John Petritis Marc Paul Tayloe Sean M. Dunstan William Chambers
Brendan Conway David Goodwin Howard M Thompson John Portley Marc Kevin Hall Paul Yurgin Sean Smith William Johnson
Brent Ritch David Maple Huston Todd John Taber Marcel Lotz Pavel Panchekha Sergio Le Roux William Keller
Brett Ritter David Millians Ian Charlton John Tobin Marcel Wittram Pete Seth Clayton Winston Crutchfield
Brian Bentley David Morrison Ian Noble John William Marcus Pete Figtree Seth Hartley WinterKnight
Brian Creswick David Olson Ian Stanley McDonald Mario Dongu Peter Griffith Shai Laric Xavier Aubuchon-
Brian Koehler David Rezak Ibon Presno Gonzalez Johnathan Wright Mark Peter Kahle Simon Browne Mendoza
Brian Kurtz David Stern Indi Latrani Jon Rosebaugh Mark A. Schmidt Peter Woodworth Simon Brunning Yong
Brian S. Holt Davide Orlandi Irene Strauss Jon Smejkal Mark Diaz Truman Phil Groff Simon White Z Esgate
Bruno Pereira Declan Feeney Ismael Jonas Matser Mark Gedak Philip Harboe Larsen Simon Withers Zeb Walker
Bryan Denis Ryan J. Brandon Massengill Jonas Richter Mark Harris Philipp Pötz Sion Rodriguez y Zed Lopez
Bryan Hilburn Derek Mayne Jack Gulick Jonathan Mark Widner Philippe Marichal Gibson Zolnir
Bryce Dianne Jackson Hsieh Jonathan Dietrich Markus Haberstock Philippe Saner Slawomir Wrzesien Zonk PJ Demonio
Bryce Perry Didier Bretin Jaime Robertson Jonathan Finke Markus Schoenlau Phillip Webb Sophie Lagace Sonriente
Caleb Figgers Dillard Jake Linford Jonathan Hobbs Marley Griffin Piers Beckley Stefan Feltmann
Carl McLaughlin Don Arnold James Boldock Jonathan Rose Martin Deppe Porter Williams Stefan Livingstone
Carlos Flores Doug Blakeslee James Crowell Joonas Iivonen Mason R R Clark Shirley
Carlos Martin Douglas James Heide Jordan Deal Mathias Exner R. Brian Scott Stephan A. Terre
Charles Chapman Doyce Testerman James Husum Jose A. Matt Clay Rachael Hixon Stephanie Bryant
Charles Kirk Drew Shiel James Rouse Joseph Formoso Matthew Gushta Ralf Wagner Stephen Caffrey
Chip Dunning Duncan James Schultz Josh Rensch Matthew Miller Randall Orndorff Stephen Holder
Chris Edwards Dylan Green James Stuart Joshua Matthew Whalley Raun Sedlock Stephen Hood
Chris Heilman Dylan Sinnott James Winfield Joshua Ramsey Matti Rintala Raymond Toghill Stephen Waugh
THE
AETHER SEA
A WORLD OF
ADVENTURE FOR
WRITING & ADVENTURE DESIGN
EDWARD TURNER
DEVELOPMENT
ROB DONOGHUE
EDITING
JOSHUA YEARSLEY
ART DIRECTION
MARISSA KELLY
LAYOUT
FRED HICKS
INTERIOR & COVER ARTWORK
JOHN ALVAREZ VITA
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
SEAN NITTNER
MARKETING
CARRIE HARRIS
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
CHRIS HANRAHAN
An Evil Hat Productions Publication
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The Aether Sea
Copyright © 2014 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Edward Turner.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by Evil Hat Productions, LLC.
10125 Colesville Rd #318, Silver Spring, MD 20901.
Evil Hat Productions and the Evil Hat and Fate logos are
trademarks owned by Evil Hat Productions, LLC. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior express permission of the publisher.
That said, if you’re doing it for personal use, knock yourself out.
That’s not only allowed, we encourage you to do it.
For those working at a copy shop and not at all sure if this means
the person standing at your counter can make copies of this thing, they can.
This is “express permission.” Carry on.
This is a game where people make up stories about wonderful, terrible,
impossible, glorious things. All the characters and events portrayed in this work
are fictional. Any resemblance to real people, spacefaring goblins, hegemonic
human empires, spaceships made of wood and magic, dashing young asteroid
farmers, or scruffy nerfherders, is purely coincidental, but kinda hilarious.
CONTENTS
Wading into a Great Big Sea ..........................................................2
What is the Aether Sea? ............................................................................3
Mapping the Aether ...................................................................................4
The Royal Hegemony .................................................................................5
The Folks Who Trawl the Sea .........................................................7
Creating a Character ..................................................................................7
The Folk of the Aether Sea ......................................................................9
Magic .................................................................................................16
Dabbling in Raw Magic ............................................................................16
Focusing on Raw Magic ..........................................................................17
Using Raw Magic ........................................................................................17
Preparing and Performing Spells .........................................................18
Schools of Magic .......................................................................................20
The Ships .........................................................................................23
Building an Aethercraft ..........................................................................23
Operating Your Ship ................................................................................27
Surviving in the Sea .................................................................................30
It’s Only an Elven Moon .................................................................32
Getting Trapped in the Red Corridor ................................................33
On the Trail ..................................................................................................35
Other Troubles in the Red Corridor ...................................................43
Where to Next? ..........................................................................................44
WADING INTO A GREAT BIG SEA
Used to be, there was a planet that went by a half-dozen names. Nobody who
lived there called it Homeworld, so that’s what we call it now. It seems fair.
The different kinds of folks who lived on Homeworld didn’t much care for one
another, and they all scrabbled for elbow room; elves, dwarves, goblins, trolls,
humans, and orcs, all crammed together, most of ’em convinced they deserved
to be the rulers of this little rock. So they fought, in piecemeal skirmishes and
all-out wars. But there were so many sides that nobody could ever win, not
really; there was some comfort in knowing that, though a tribe of orcs might
sack your city, they’d be driven out by an elven strike force in a decade or so.
It was magic that caused the trouble. The better we got at it, the longer and
darker those skirmishes became, and the longer the damage lasted. Five hundred
years ago, Homeworld ended up a scorched wasteland, half of it so thick with
magical fallout that you could flip a coin and have a fifty-fifty chance of surviv-
ing long enough to see it land.
That’s when folks started fighting over little things like food and drinkable
water.
But one day, a human by the name of Albus Fletcher did the thing that
humans are good at: he talked to people. He met with a couple of clever elves
who’d become hotshots in academia and pulled a dwarven artisan out of one of
their slums to do a little assembly. Heck, he even purchased the service of some
trolls and goblins to do the heavy lifting and calculations. Together, the group
made an aethership. It was the first of its kind, a ship that could drag itself off
the planet and into the sky without being torn apart by the aether.
And because Albus Fletcher was very, very good at talking to people, he man-
aged to get all the patents in his name.
It wasn’t long before every seaworthy vessel on the planet was fitted with a
couple very expensive enchantments, and everyone who could buy, beg, or steal
a ticket joined the great exodus. Folks took off into the unknown, putting down
roots on new planets—after centuries of killing each other, they finally got their
wish: ruling their own little rock.
…o’course, now they’re elbow to elbow in a great big sea, fighting over whole
planets instead of little tracts of land.
2 FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
What is the Aether Sea?
We call it a sea, but that ain’t exactly right. Aether’s not well understood, and
what we know about it’s not too useful: it’s invisible, it’s intangible, it tears leaky
ships apart, and if you walk into the aether without protection, you’ll explode.
That’s what the universe seems to be made of.
As far as we can tell, the aether goes on forever; we know there’s at least mil-
lions of stars and billions of worlds out there. When most folks talk about the
aether sea, they mean the bit we’ve colonized so far, which is tiny compared to
the whole deal. About a thousand worlds, we think. Not many records were kept
in those first few years of the exodus from Homeworld, so the numbers aren’t as
exact as we might like.
One thing’s for sure, though: every planet that’s occupied is occupied by the
descendants of Homeworld. There’s no life in the sea outside of us and what we
put there—nothing that we’ve found in five hundred years of looking, at least.
That’s one of the things that’s put a damper on exploration: no stores, no allies,
and no planets you can live on without taking a year or more to make ’em habit-
able. Don’t stop people from looking or rumors from forming, of course.
The biggest chunk of the sea is Royal space, the territory claimed by the Royal
Hegemony. It’s in the dead center of the known universe, and best guess is that
it’s got two-thirds of the occupied worlds within its borders. Outside of Royal
space is the deep sea: dozens of little territories claimed by nascent emperors and
warlords, and a hundred more worlds chugging along, trying not to be affiliated
with anyone except themselves.
THE AETHER SEA 3
Mapping the Aether
The aether sea is broken into quadrants, sectors, and planets.
Quadrants are large chunks of space, more useful for navigation than anything
else: crossing a quadrant is, roughly, a week’s travel time. Ages ago, Royal terri-
tory was exactly four quadrants—hence the name—but these days it’s a bit less
exact. Quadrants only really matter when it comes to getting from place to place;
look at page 31 for more on that.
Sectors are political divisions; planets within a sector are all part of the same
government. Most of the time, people sayin’ sector or star system mean the same
thing. Sometimes a sector will cover a few systems, but they’re never larger than
a quadrant; it’s hard to keep a government together over such distances. The
Royal Hegemony isn’t a sector itself, but a whole mess of sectors that happen to
fly a Royal flag above their own.
A planet is, of course, a planet, but things that aren’t exactly planets in the
scientific sense get called planets too: moons, big old asteroids, even some arti-
ficial stations. It’s just a term for a spot in the sea where folk can live that ain’t a
ship. Even the largest and most colonized planets tend to be pretty homogenous,
culturally speaking; we’ve only been colonizing for a couple centuries. There’s no
colony planet that’s full to bursting, but there’s plenty whose only livable terrain
is overpopulated—habiforming takes a while, you know.
Sector and Planetary Aspects
GMs, you’ll do right by the players by making sectors and planets interesting
and dangerous. Part of that comes from their issues. These issues work much the
same as the issues from page 22 in the Fate Core System: come up with a major
problem for an area, and make it into an aspect ripe for compels and invokes.
A sector issue is usually a political problem or something that affects a huge
region of the sea, either a current issue—such as In the Midst of a Civil War or
Under a Naval Blockade—or an impending issue, such as Pirates Gathering
at Our Borders or Slowly Dying Star.
A planetary issue is a problem just for one planet. It’s also either current—
such as Constant Earthquakes or Powerful Crime Family—or impending, like
Whisperings of a Revolution or Running Out of Clean Water.
A planet’s issues are in play while the PCs are on a planet, and sector issues
are in play while they’re within a sector, including planets in the sector. Once
the PCs move on, they leave their issues behind. That’s the great thing about an
aethercraft: there’s a lot of room behind it.
4 FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE
The Royal Hegemony
It’s a big sea. Describing everyone who swims in it is an exercise in futility,
not just because it’ll take forever, but because it’s impossible to collect it all.
Paperwork is a nightmare within the Royal Hegemony, and usually ignored out-
side of it. There’s self-sufficient planets out there that haven’t contacted the rest
of the sea in centuries. But there are some big powers who almost everyone has
heard of, and none more important than the Royal Hegemony.
In the dying days of Homeworld, just before the first aethership was created,
a whole mess of human kingdoms put themselves together in a sort of union.
They figured that pooling their resources and information would work to every-
one’s benefit.
Nowadays, Royal space encompasses roughly two thirds of the sea. So it seems
that worked out.
Planets within the Hegemony are technically self-governing, and on paper
the system seems strong: if you’re a part of the Hegemony, you pay some taxes
and obey a few mandates from on high—usually well-meaning stuff like “no
slaveholding”—and in return you get the support of the Royal Navy and a few
other benefits, like emergency aid and a good working relationship with the
Spellcasters’ Union.
In practice, if it seems a little suspicious that a collection of starving monarchs
went on to run the better part of the universe—well, yeah. It is. The Royals have
been a relentless force of expansion for centuries, partly because they have the
money and power to just demand that folks obey them—plus it doesn’t hurt to
have the Royal Navy, who are more than willing to explain to an errant planet
just how dangerous life is without their protection—but mostly the Hegemony’s
power comes from their stranglehold on magic use in the sea.
The Spellcasters’ Union
In the center of every Spellcasters’ Union station you’ll find a statue—solid
gold and twice life size—of Albus Fletcher. There’s a plaque that says something
about how he founded the SCU, and how his pivotal role in the creation of
aethercraft is an example to us all about how all people are stronger when they
work together.
But that’s not why he gets a statue. He gets a statue because, amidst all the
chaos of inventing the aethercraft, he held on to the patents. History’s written
by the victors, right?
The SCU is an organization of magic users, and within Royal space they
are the one way to legally practice any form of magic or spellcraft. Technically
they’re independent from any government, but they are Hegemony-subsidized
and have a very close relationship with the Royals. Fact is, ever since Fletcher was
crowned into the Hegemony, the head of the SCU has always been a member
of a Royal family. The SCU openly claims it’s a strict meritocracy. Make of that
what you will.
THE AETHER SEA 5
On paper the SCU has no power outside of Royal space, but they still have
outposts where they provide magical services at heavy markups, outposts that let
them keep a close eye on the largest powers operating out in the deep sea.
Within the Hegemony, the SCU is the only legal source of magical educa-
tion, and all professional magic-users must be SCU-licensed, with the fees and
oversight that implies. But that’s just a portion of their influence: the Spellcasters’
Union owns the spells that make aether travel possible, and anyone discovered
attempting to re-create those spells is tried for “actions with the potential to
destabilize the economy of the region.” Outside of Royal space, such folks gener-
ally just disappear. That’s what keeps the SCU in power.
The Great Bureaucratic Integration
The Spellcasters’ Union is in bed with the Royal Hegemony, the Hegemony con-
trols the planets in Royal space, and the planets mostly govern themselves, but
everybody lives in the shadow of bureaucracy.
If you want to deal with the SCU, your ship must be registered and licensed
with the Royal Shipping Registry. You’ve got a name on top of your forms that
complies with the Royal Naming Statute—that is to say, a human-styled first
name and family name, regardless of how your folks like to name themselves.
Cargo gets tagged and registered with the Royal Trade Commission, and your
route is covered by the Board of Aether Travel—and that’s just on the govern-
ment side; the SCU has its own internal divisions to track its customers and
what they move. A dozen different acronyms poke their noses in every aspect
of life in the Hegemony, and that’s just if you’re traveling through. Planetside,
those technically self-governing sectors in Royal space tend to have governments
made of 50% Royal red tape by volume.
Near enough everything a person does is recorded, and filed away, somewhere.
A lot of money is spent on that. And a lot of money is spent keeping things from
being filed away so neatly. Now, part of that is because folks need illegal things
moved from planet to planet: drugs, people, unapproved spells, and such. More
than that, some things need to move quickly and efficiently, things not condu-
cive to scrutiny by a dozen low-level employees. Royal warehouses, after all, are
full of rotting food and medicine addressed to dead people.
The closer you get to the edge, the slower the wheels of bureaucracy turn: the
home office for all those departments is in the Homeworld system, and they
don’t trust employees on the outskirts to think for themselves. The benefit, such
as it is, is that this runs as true for the SCU itself as for the planets and ships in
the area: they’re a little slow to act and a little blinder to the black markets and
illegal shipping in their midst.
6 FATE: WORLDS OF ADVENTURE