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Gaming Steampunk TTRPG

Dev diary – Welcome to The Aether Throne

The Aether Throne is an alt-history version of our own world, in a time period resembling the late 19th century: the Victorian Age.

In The Aether Throne, a distant Queen rules over a vast Empire, her prosperous rule having allowed huge advances to be made in science and technology. The powers of steam, clockwork, arclight and magnetism have been harnessed, allowing great advances in utilities, transport, weaponry and other wonders to be deployed across the whole Empire.

Not everyone supports the Queen and her rule however. Across the poisoned black waters of the English Channel lies the Republic, a confederation of countries and city states that view the Empire as an aggressive and expansionist threat. Though the Republic has also discovered the marvels of science, it has an equal if not greater reliance on Aether, a mysterious source of power that allows those who understand it to carry out things that would previously be thought of as miraculous.

Though the Empire and Republic are not formally at war, tensions between the two could escalate at any point. Threats also exist elsewhere, both inside and beyond the Empire’s borders. Sky pirates, rebellious dominions and fell creatures of nightmare exist, harrying the Empire’s resources and creating a constant need for military readiness and strength.

One tool of many that the Empire have employed to combat the many threats facing it is The Ministry. A hierarchical organisation with judicial and martial powers, it exists to monitor, infiltrate and ultimately eradicate all who oppose the Empire.

One small operation within The Minstry is its most clandestine. A body which employs renegades, criminals and those desperate enough to seek the chance of redemption it offers. Here, otherwise lost souls have a chance of redemption, working on secret missions and clandestine operations that the Empire prefers not to be seen to be involved with.

And it is here, in the Black Diamonds, that the player characters find themselves. With a promise of pardon, riches and redemption, they each have their own reasons for being here, and together have a chance of regaining what they once held so dear: their freedom.

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