D&D 5E A new, old-school, high fantasy setting for 5E is coming soon: the Chronicles of Aeres

[Accaris]

Thanks for helping us reach our Kickstarter goals. If you're just now seeing this thread, feel free to check us out on Youtube, where we have a short trailer and a handful of videos about the setting:

The Chronicles of Aeres is a classical high fantasy setting brimming with nostalgia for the golden age of fantasy. We're not OSR, but we have a lot in common. Aeres is an almost Tolkien-esque world, mythological, folkloric, compact, and travelable, but with a ton of influences from Dragonlance to the Secret of NIMH. It's a bit slimmer than your average kitchen sink setting: the gods, races, monsters, and heroes all share a common story thread.

We have new classes to explore, tons of new race options with heroic feats and abilities, and a fully fleshed out world map with lots of story hooks (plus a few pre-made adventures are in the works.)

We also have a free preview up on DriveThruRPG if you want to take a look at a draft of the layout and gameplay elements: The Chronicles of Aeres Preview: The Witch Class - Dueling Dragon Adventures | DriveThruRPG.com Some of you might have even downloaded it already.

 

[Accaris]

A piece of artwork for ya'll. One part Skeksis, one part Draconian, one part Ridley, the twisted Draconvir are monstrous shock troopers of a Dark Emperor. A version of them will be a playable race as well!

 

[Quartz]

I've just watched your trailer. You might want to think of some more original names. 'The Tombspire' and 'the Shattered Fields' do not inspire confidence.

Good luck.

 

[Accaris]

I've just watched your trailer. You might want to think of some more original names. 'The Tombspire' and 'the Shattered Fields' do not inspire confidence.

Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback. Some of my names are intentionally stereotypical. "The Tomb of Horrors" and "The Isle of Dread" weren't exactly electrifying names, even in their times.

So, do these areas inspire confidence that you're going to get a complex Malazan-like experience by visiting them? No... but they do sound like areas one might explore in 1st or 2nd edition, which is the intent.

 

[Accaris]

A new piece of art for you guys, from Tyler Vail. Normal dragons in our setting are extraordinarily rare, and some adventurers spend years looking for their treasure hoards, only to come up empty-handed. One day, some poor fool's going to get lucky.

 

[dave2008]

A new piece of art for you guys, from Tyler Vail. Normal dragons in our setting are extraordinarily rare, and some adventurers spend years looking for their treasure hoards, only to come up empty-handed. One day, some poor fool's going to get luckily.
View attachment 130958

Does that mean you have new dragon stats?

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Thanks for the feedback. Some of my names are intentionally stereotypical. "The Tomb of Horrors" and "The Isle of Dread" weren't exactly electrifying names, even in their times.

So, do these areas inspire confidence that you're going to get a complex Malazan-like experience by visiting them? No... but they do sound like areas one might explore in 1st or 2nd edition, which is the intent.

My two cents, I would ignore that criticism. It wasn't particularly constructive, and personally I like the names; in D&D a lot of players like exploring places, ESPECIALLY when they have ridiculous names. Normal D&D is like this; if you look at the Doomvault, it's stuffed with extravagant names!

Your setting won't please every type of player, so lean into the target group you want to appeal to .

 

[Accaris]

Does that mean you have new dragon stats?

Yes, we'll have an Aeres-specific legendary dragon with its own stat block, but regular D&D dragons could also be used without issue.

 

[Stormonu]

The Reepicheep/Redwall characters won me over. Pledged!

 

[Accaris]

The Reepicheep/Redwall characters won me over. Pledged!

Ah, thank you very much! Our ratfolk go on adventures side by side with humans, elfs, and other people, and they can be quite heroic, not at all like Skaven or wererats.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Could you publish an AMV (anime media video) in youtube to promote your work? With that music and the pictures...

 

[Accaris]

Could you publish an AMV (anime media video) in youtube to promote your work? With that music and the pictures...

Uhh thanks man but I don't think we'll be putting together any anime music videos for this one.

 

[Accaris]

We've started a new short lore series for our setting, to talk about the world and gameplay elements. Check out our first entry!

 

[Accaris]

We are at 98% funded on Kickstarter and well on track to meet stretch goals! If you have any questions at all about the project, let me know. Thanks for your support

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I feel curiosity about the new PC races and classes. I understand this needs time for the pictures, but I guess these help to sell more.

 

[Accaris]

I feel curiosity about the new PC races and classes. I understand this needs time for the pictures, but I guess these help to sell more.

Sure, there are some good pictures in the trailer, but I can post more here.

 

[Accaris]

Our classes:
The Witch, a caster with two subclasses, the Malefici (focusing on the left hand path,) and the Feasa (focusing on the right hand path.) Basically destruction versus nurturing.

Our next class is the Dreamcaller, inspired a bit by Neil Gaiman's Sandman. A magic-user who siphons power from the dream realm, which can then be used to conjure mystical dream-like entities; effectively a Summoner in the old school Final Fantasy style.

And lastly, the Alchemist. Far from purely a potion-maker like what we see in Tasha's guide recently, the Alchemist is a melee combatant, an enchanter who can bend the properties of weapons and items to give them powerful short-term abilities. Pictured here as a Ravenfolk.

 

[Stormonu]

Is the left-hand path/right-hand path metaphorical or physically manifested in abilities somehow? As a Sinister (left-handed person), this intrigues me.

 

[Accaris]

Is the left-hand path/right-hand path metaphorical or physically manifested in abilities somehow? As a Sinister (left-handed person), this intrigues me.

Yes, both literally and figuratively represented. Both paths have a plethora of Hexes, unique spells which reflect the lore of the type of Witch practicing them. This is in addition to subclass-specific abilities achieved while leveling.

 

[Accaris]

Well, we've exceeded our kickstarter goal and with 2 weeks remaining. Thanks for all your support.