I love Aden. I first found out about it in 1996 when I picked up the Masterbook supplement from WEG and I fell for it quickly. It was my first real exposure to steamtech in fantasy, and I really dug that part. The fact that magic and technology existed separately from one another for so long, then were finally combined in the form of mechamagic, was really neat. It opened up a lot of doors for different kinds of characters. The nations were all very cool and had iconic roles, interesting relations, and unique characteristics. It was easy to buy into it without having to spend a lot of time delving into long histories and learning dozens of new proper nouns.
For me, though, the thing that really cinched it was the Darkfall.
The Darkfall is the most significant event in Aden's history, happened only ten years ago, and is a complete mystery. In the span of a single day, a thousand years of peace were completely shattered and the world changed forever. Entire nations were destroyed and new ones rose in their place. Heroes and villains were born, and the fate of the world was altered. Ten years later, the nations of Aden are still struggling to survive, and the peace they have enjoyed for a thousand years is desperately strained not only by the Nocturnals (the supernatural creatures born during the Darkfall), but by the conflicts growing between them as a result of the stress the Darkfall has placed upon them.
I've talked about these things and many others on the Kickstarter, and we'll be talking about a lot more stuff before the week (and the KS!) are over, so I hope if you're interested you'll stop by for a little more information.
Thanks for reading!