The World of Aethermon II (the Rattata Question)

A question we asked ourselves early in the creation process of Aethermon was, should we have ‘filler’ aethermon? We concluded the answer was ‘no’, and today we’re discussing why. As mentioned last week, Aethermon is not a collect-a-mon game.  In collect-a-mon...

The World of Aethermon I (Moral Agency)

If you’ve ever studied the philosophy of ethics, you will have heard of Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative.  This doctrine believes that morally good behaviour should be based, not on what works best for you and your life, but on what works best if all moral...

Buffing the Universal Move Pool

In earlier iterations of Aethermon, an Aethermon’s Specific Battle Moves tended to be slightly more powerful than the Battle Moves available in the universal pool. The rationale here was partially thematic – if Thunder Aethermon were supposed to the fastest...

Balance Class Specific Moves

Game design mistakes tend to take one of two forms: (1) an issue or improvement was never considered when it should have been; or (2) an issue or improvement was considered and the wrong decision was made. Upon identifying the first kind of mistake, the solution tends...

Reducing Player Overhead 2

To truly immerse players in the Aethermon experience it was essential that players had a tangible sense of their Aethermon’s growth over a playthrough. Representing this growth however created a conundrum – the most overt ostentatious displays of character...

Reducing Player Overhead

Aethermon has always strived to create a tabletop experience, undiminished by the typical limitations of tabletop games: One of these limitations is player overhead. This concept is best explained with an example: In the earliest iterations of Aethermon, random...