Aetherball Expanded: A Sport, a Stage, a Secret War
How to Turn the Sky’s Favorite Game into a Narrative Powerhouse In the floating cities of Aether Skies, few things unite people like Aetherball. It’s more than a sport—it’s religion, rebellion, and war by other means. Played in zero-gravity bowls threaded with sigils and aether currents,...
Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland: This Game Is Totally Tubular, Dude
Let’s get real for a sec—if your RPG roots trace back to Saturday morning cartoons, shredding VHS tapes, or raiding arcades for quarters, then Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland might just be your ultimate blast from the radioactive past. This game doesn’t just flirt with...
The Devkin: Hunters in the Chaos Sands
“They don’t stalk. They wait. Because they already know where you’re going.” The Devkin are among the most iconic—and terrifying—original species to emerge from the chaos-churned wastelands outside the dome city of Balaria. Once simple predators twisted by time and storms, these beings have evolved into...
Playing With Morality: Shades of Grey in TTRPG Storytelling
How to Run Morally Complex Campaigns Inspired by the Intrigue of Aether Skies [caption id="attachment_21598" align="alignright" width="300"] Aether, you know, that stuff that surrounds us...
Villains Who Shape the World: Developing Antagonists Like Vek’th and the Grind Barons
“The best villains don’t just want to stop the heroes—they want to change the world… and sometimes, you wonder if they should.” In any great tabletop campaign, a good villain isn’t just an obstacle. They are a mirror, a force of nature, a storyteller in their...
⚡🔥 Forged in Fire and Storm: Homebrewed Spells from Under the Dome
In our Under the Dome campaign—helmed by the ever-diabolical Dave—I play a sorcerer who’s just a little obsessed with fire and lightning. Velrian Blitzstorn (yes, that's the name—because subtlety is for wizards) has been blazing through spell slots and leaving scorch marks in his wake...
Aetherpunk Adventures: Combining Magic, Steampunk, and Horror
How to Blend Magical Technology and Eldritch Nightmares into a Cohesive RPG Setting Welcome to Aether Skies, a world where magic fuels industry, floating cities hover over a cursed wasteland, and unspeakable horrors stir just beyond the veil of reality. This is a world of Aetherpunk—a...
🎪 The Carnival of Chaos: Twisted Spectacle Under the Dome
In the strange, crumbling lands of Under the Donea, where Chaos storms of all kinds punch holes in the world and magic bleeds like oil from a cracked lantern, there are whispers—always whispers—of The Carnival of Chaos. No one remembers when it first arrived. No one...
Shadowsteel and the Price of Power – Our Under the Dome Saga
If you’ve been following our channel for any length of time, you’ve probably heard us talking about our Under the Dome campaign—our high-octane, motorcycle-riding, chaos-fueled adventures through a world that constantly tries to kill us. We have a bunch more articles on Under the Dome,...
Crafting Dangerous Terrain: From the Sea of Blades to the Bog of Eternal Acid
In the unforgiving world of Under the Dome, terrain itself can be a lethal adversary. Whether it’s the jagged, ever-shifting dunes of the Sea of Blades or the caustic quagmire of the Bog of Eternal Acid, the environment shapes not only how battles are fought...
Navigating the Surface: Survival in a Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy World
In the world of Aether Skies, the surface is more myth than memory—a cursed, overgrown graveyard full of ruined cities, forgotten gods, and things that don’t stay dead. While the floating cities drift safely above the clouds, the world below festers in darkness, twisted by...
Gladiators, Racers, and Rogues: Non-Combat Challenges in TTRPGs
How to make skill-based, narrative-driven encounters as thrilling as combat. Tabletop RPGs are often defined by their combat mechanics—but what about the high-stakes, high-tension moments that don’t involve a single sword swing? [caption id="attachment_28702" align="alignright" width="192"] Arguably the most famous mul in D&D lore, Rikus was a...
Dreamscapes and Nightmares: Designing Memorable Dream Realms
I love diving into characters dreams when I play D&D and other tabletop RPGs. It is a clear way to bring out back story and work on those charcter goals and plot points. And at times it can even [caption id="attachment_59059" align="alignright" width="232"] The ogre magi...
Races of Resistance: Creating Unique Playable Races for a Gritty Setting
How to Build Grounded, Adaptable Species for Darker, Wilder Worlds In gritty, post-apocalyptic, or chaos-wracked settings, traditional fantasy races can sometimes feel out of place. Elves who live for 700 years and perfect art forms don’t always mesh well with rusting spires, toxic rain, and mutant-hunting...
Building Floating Cities: Worldbuilding in the Sky
In a world where magic keeps cities aloft and the ground below is teeming with horrors, worldbuilding doesn’t just mean mapping streets and markets—it means rethinking gravity itself. Floating cities in Aether Skies aren't just marvels of arcano-engineering, they are pressure cookers of political tension,...
