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 agents were to follow the same course. A central tenet of this is the belief that a person has a value in and of themself, not merely for what or how they can be used.
This is a belief we have leant into when creating the aethermon. The story takes place in a world much like our own, with humans and animals already established by the time the aethermon arrive – which is itself long before the time the story takes place. The aethermon are not human, but nor are they animals. They are their own moral agents. We wanted to be unambiguous about their moral value, in a way that is difficult when discussing animals in our own world.
Here are some of the ways we are following this principle both in the game design and in the lore of the World of Aethermon:
Aethermon is not a collect-a-mon game. There is no mon-trading mechanic, nor does the player capture wild aethermon for the purposes of enslavement or battle (or anything else).
The aetherbond is a unique reciprocal relationship. Much like a deep personal friendship in the real world, it is not replaceable – although one can be friends with many aethermon, humans and aethermon share only one aetherbond.
Although the basic concept of Aethermon is a battle sport contest, it isn’t merely about putting your aethermon under physical harm, cockfighting-style. In the first game of Aethermon, players proceed with their aethermon from a small village to the stadium of a large city, to compete in the Aether Championships. This has a fairly typical sports trajectory – challenge small opponents, then minibosses, then eventually compete for the cup. However, there is more to the World of Aethermon than merely a battle game, and that isn’t the end of your journey.
Do right, AetherRen.