Aetherway

Pathways & Personages

for Planar Perambulations
By Jason Tocci

1
Welcome to the Aetherway
THE AETHERWAY is a network of pathways, portals, and passages linking
countless planets and planes. It remains more affordable than commissioning a
vessel and charting a route directly through the aether, but a wrong turn may leave
one abruptly ejected into alien environments. Travelers are advised to bring
companions and an umbrella.

THIS IS A ROLEPLAYING GAME for two or more players. One takes on the role of
game moderator (hereafter “GM”), playing the supporting cast and describing the
world. Each other player controls a character embarking upon a strange journey,
embracing whatever adventures await. You will need two six-sided dice—ideally, a
pair for each player. Sometimes you roll “2d6” (add them together), and sometimes
you roll “d66” (one for the tens place, the other for the ones place, for a two-digit
list item, from “11” to “66”).

THIS GAME IS COMPATIBLE with materials produced for both the Tunnel Goons
and Troika! RPGs. Fans and publishers have created a wealth of adventures and
character options for each of these games. As Aetherway is a game about traveling
between strange and diverse worlds, you can combine materials willy-nilly. The
“Rules of Play” (opposite page) adapt Tunnel Goons rules to make it easy to run
Troika! materials, and additional “Detailed Rules (based on Troika!)” (p. 13–14) are
available at the end of this booklet. In other words: Use Aetherway to run Troika!
adventures with Tunnel Goons rules (or vice versa), to supplement your Troika!
game with 36 new backgrounds, or to randomly generate strange people and
places for any RPG you like.

ESTABLISH EXPECTATIONS & BOUNDARIES before play. It’s just a game, so being
kind to other people is more important than “rules” or “creativity.” Much as a dinner
host checks guests’ cuisine preferences and allergies, your group should agree upon
the tone and note content that’s off-limits. Will there be death? Flirting? Slapstick?
Make sure everyone has a shared understanding of what kind of game it will be so
that everyone has a good time. During the game, if something uncomfortable
unexpectedly comes up, any player should feel comfortable vetoing things and/or
redoing scenes. See the Tabletop RPG Safety Toolkit (http://bit.ly/
ttrpgsafetytoolkit) for additional techniques.

PLAY IS A CONVERSATION in which the GM describes the world and its denizens,
and asks, “What do you do?” Other players describe how their characters act. The
GM may present a published adventure, prepare their own scenario before play, or
improvise based on characters’ backgrounds or random setting elements (p. 7–11).
Everyone cooperates to have fun.

Aetherway (v1.0) is by Jason Tocci, based on Tunnel Goons by Nate Treme and Troika! by
Daniel Sell. Aetherway is an independent production of Pretendo Games and is not
affiliated with the Melsonian Arts Council or Highland Paranormal Society.

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Rules of Play
CHARACTER CREATION: Each player rolls a d6 for the tens place, and another for
the ones place, and looks up that number on Character Backgrounds (p. 3),
recording all Skills, Possessions, and Special abilities noted. Write down that your
Stamina starts at 10, and your Inventory holds up to 8 Possessions. (List tiny items
like jewelry and “Possessions” like a Black Cat’s “sleek black coat” under “Other
Possessions,” without limit.) Players may also elect to start a character with a
satchel or rucksack, torch or lantern, and provisions.

ACTION ROLL: When an action’s success is uncertain, a player rolls 2d6, adds the
value of a relevant Skill (if any), and adds +1 for each relevant Possession. (If a
situation only tests their luck, they roll 2d6 plus nothing.) If the total is equal to or
greater than the action’s Difficulty, it succeeds. Most actions are Easy (8), Moderate
(10, the default), or Hard (12), at the GM’s discretion. Characters played by the GM
have only a Difficulty score, not Skills, but the GM might adjust their Difficulty ±2 for
things they’re especially good at.

STAMINA: If a character fails at an action that risked physical danger, they lose
Stamina equal to the difference between the Difficulty and the roll. At 0 Stamina,
they die (or, in a game with a lighter tone, abandon their travels to retire). Their
player creates a new character to introduce as soon as danger has passed—perhaps
a trusted acquaintance, or a hapless stranger stumbling out of a one-way portal.
Characters regain all lost Stamina by spending the night in a safe spot. The GM’s
characters use their Difficulty as their Stamina. (Lowering their Stamina thus makes
them easier to beat.)

Example: Kit attacks a robot with a Difficulty of 10. Kit’s player rolls an 8 on 2d6 and
adds +2 from their Sword Fighting Skill, +1 from a sword, and +1 from a shield. Twelve
minus 10 is 2, so the robot takes 2 damage, lowering its Difficulty to 8. If Kit’s total
had been 6, Kit would’ve lost 2 Stamina (10–8 = 2).

INVENTORY: Each item held in excess of your Inventory limit (which, again, starts at
8) deducts 1 from all your action rolls. Small items of the same kind (like arrows) can
be bundled in 1 slot together.

MAGIC: Characters can cast spells they are Skilled at with an action roll (10
Difficulty—or an opponent’s Difficulty—by default). On a failure, the caster loses
Stamina equal to the difference between the roll and Difficulty. On a roll of double
1’s, the spell is miscast. The GM may improvise an effect, or consult the Magical
Mishaps list (p. 12) to choose or randomly roll for an effect.

ADVANCEMENT: After a session, each player adds 1 to their character’s Stamina or

Inventory, and either adds 1 to a Skill or gains a new Skill at 1. New Skills should be
fairly narrow and make sense to take on; the Clockwork Assassin may be skilled in
“Violence,” but without such programming, a character gaining a new Skill is more
likely to pick up “Sword Fighting.”

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Character Backgrounds
11 BLACK CAT The witch is dead, so you are no longer a familiar, and are free to
roam. Skills: 3 Sneak, 2 Acrobatics, 2 Tracking, 1 Cat Fighting, 1 Climb, 3 Jinx
spell (plague target with seemingly coincidental annoyances for a day).
Possessions: Claws, night vision, sleek black coat. Special: You have d6+3 Lives.
At 0 Stamina, lose 1 Life and regain 1 Stamina.

12 CHANGELING You have words for your biological parents. Skills: 2 Second
Sight, 2 Sneak, 2 Ventriloquism, 2 Illusion spell (+2 Difficulty per extra target).
Possessions: Plain outfit, shillelagh. Special: Test your luck to say, “That’s not
me, it’s a bundle of sticks and mud. I’m elsewhere.”

13 CHIRURGEON Many worlds rely on traveling healers to share medical advances

and deliver transfusion fluids. Skills: 3 Healing, 3 Autopsy, 1 Poison.
Possessions: Long needle, bone saw, surgical outfit with gloves and mask, jars
of basilisk bile, phoenix phlegm, and bogey blood.

14 CIRCUS SOLOIST As the traveling show fell apart, you covered more and more
roles, until only you remained. Skills: 3 Acrobatics, 2 Knife Throwing, 2
Strength, 1 Beast Taming, 1 Biting Heads off Small Animals. Possessions: Tight
outfit, throwing knives, whip, swallowable sword.

15 CLOCKWORK ASSASSIN You are supposed to deactivate after the job is done.
You have other ideas. Skills: 3 Violence, 1 Climb, 1 Repair, 1 Sneak. Possessions:
Clockwork innards, metal shell, telescopic eyes, grappling-hook arm, crossbow
arm, spare parts. Special: Use spare parts to regain Stamina. Someone must
wind your key daily, else you deactivate.

16 CURIOUS HOMUNCULUS An obsessive alchemist gave you life, but no tutelage

on how to live. Skills: 3 Sneak, 2 Earnestness, 2 Curiosity. Possessions: Child-
sized robes, d6 flasks filled with potions whose contents you can’t quite recall,
“naturally” squishy and boneless body.

21 DINOSAUR SAGE Spreading a warning—or hope. Skills: 3 Strength, 2 Oration, 1

Second Sight. Possessions: Horns or teeth or tail, thick hide, solemn robes,
wooden staff. Special: Once per session, test your luck to take back an action.
(“It was just a vision.”) Retry, or try something else.

22 DOPPELGÄNGER Traveling makes it less likely you’ll be recognized. Skills: 1

Lying, 1 Sneak, 1 Awareness. Possessions: Roll a Background; take none of its
Skills, but all its Possessions. Tell the GM whether that person lives. Special:
Touch someone to mimic their appearance.

23 ECCENTRIC SCIENTIST One must experience the universe to learn how it

works. Skills: 5 Analysis, 3 Reasoned Argument, 2 Jargon. Possessions: Slightly
singed suit, tube of phlogiston (inflammable), battery-enhanced lodestone,
magnifying goggles, pen and notebook.

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24 ELECTRIC PRIEST Programmed to pray, so you don’t have to.™ Skills: 3 Ministry,
3 Healing, 1 Exorcism spell (cast out possessing spirits), 1 Jolt spell (electric
shock, ignores armor). Possessions: Vestments, rod of office, metal body, self-
repair function.

25 EX-CONVICT You served your time, but do you have marketable talents
beyond Aetherway robbery? Skills: 3 Brawling, 2 Crossbow Fighting, 2 Dagger
Fighting, 2 Disguise, 2 Sneak. Possessions: Leather gambeson and breeches,
marker from a criminal who owes you.

26 FALLEN STAR Assuming a humanlike shape was easy enough for one with
aeons-old cosmic power. Reclaiming your place in the heavens may prove more
difficult. Skills: 3 Awareness, 3 Second Sight, 3 Flash spell (test luck vs.
blindness for d6 minutes). Possessions: Perpetual glow, hot touch. Special: At
0 Stamina, a mini-nova incinerates everything within 3 paces.

31 FROG NOBLE You’re too far removed from the throne to expect an arranged
marriage to cure the family curse, but perhaps you’ll find purpose—or “the
one”—on the road. Skills: 3 Jump, 2 Tongue Lashing, 2 Sword Fighting.
Possessions: Exquisite sword, gleaming armor, signet ring, tailored finery,
adhesive tongue, powerful legs. Special: You are amphibious.

32 FUGITIVE CULTIST Did the demon stalker let you live, or did you escape? Skills:
1 Head Butt, 1 Furtive Stabbing, 3 Necromancy spell (ask the dead 1 question), 2
Summon spell (conjure a named demon). Possessions: Sacrificial dagger,
blood-red robes, bag of fingers, horned goat head where your human head
used to be.

33 GENTEEL APE Whether you travel on business or on holiday, you shall brook
no insult nor stereotype. Skills: 3 Climbing, 2 Strength, 2 Etiquette, 1 Duelling, 1
Fisticuffs. Possessions: Cane-sword or duelling pistol, prehensile toes, long
arms, silver pocket watch, fine suit and hat.

34 GOD BOTHERER You are on a mission to show people the truth of the gods,
whether they like it or not. Skills: 3 Oration, 3 Religion, 2 Persistence, 1 Healing,
1 Second Sight. Possessions: Conservative suit, book of scripture or A Field
Guide to Deities, god whistle (only audible to gods; test your luck to see if any
answer and/or are terribly annoyed).

35 HEAD IN A JAR Hopefully some other character agrees to carry the jar. Skills: 3
Awareness, 3 Speech. Possessions: Fluid-filled jar. Special: You can be affixed
to a headless body. If it is killed, test your luck to roll off and survive with 1
Stamina. You must return to the jar within an hour.

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36 HOBO You get by on improvisation and a positive attitude. Skills: 2 Awareness,
2 Run, 3 Make Do, 3 Odd Jobs. Possessions: Harmonica, spoon, handkerchief,
shabby suit. Special: Test your luck in a new place to see if it has hidden hobo
signs you can read for clues about it.

41 INTERPLANETARY EXPLORER Does a world really count as “discovered” if

humans just stumbled upon it? Skills: 3 Orienteering, 2 Climb, 1 Machete
Fighting, 1 Gun Fighting. Possessions: Spyglass, map, compass, machete, pistol,
rugged outfit, 4 arms, green skin.

42 LEVIATHAN HUNTER Contrary to popular opinion, the most dangerous game

is flying horrors the size of buildings. Skills: 3 Shooting, 3 Tracking, 2 Sneak, 1
Climb, 1 Trapping. Possessions: Leviathan gun (big, loud, counts as 3 items),
climbing gear, peacoat and trousers.

43 LOST ASTRONAUT It’s not clear how to get back to where space feels blissfully
empty. Skills: 3 Astrogation, 2 Fly, 1 Raygun Fighting, 1 Analysis. Possessions:
Space suit, jetpack, raygun, scanner.

44 MAGPIE ANTIQUARIAN Your distant ancestors’ reputation precedes you, so

negotiation is sometimes necessary to acquire shiny things. Skills: 3 Appraisal,
2 Awareness, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Barter. Possessions: Deep-pocketed clothes,
ornate knife, lucky penny (+1 to test your luck), ring with an imprisoned wizard
soul, feathers and beak.

45 MUSHROOM DIPLOMAT It’s an open secret that the Fungal Kingdom’s oft-
detained diplomats are a pretense to find more fertile soil. Skills: 3 Diplomacy,
2 Stick Fighting, 2 Sneak, 1 Appear Harmless. Possessions: Diplomatic pouch,
walking stick, spongy body, spores (induce coughs).

46 MUTANT EXILE Shunned from your homeland for being different. Skills: 1
Disguise, 1 Sneak. Possessions: Hooded robes, quarterstaff, 2 visible mutations
(animal senses, thick hide, third arm, prehensile tail, quills, lobster claw, gills, eye
stalks, fangs, or caustic spit).

51 OSTENSIBLY REPENTANT DEMON If you found a road out of hell, wouldn’t you
take it? Skills: 3 Deception, 1 Unarmed Fighting, 1 Fly, 1 Second Sight, 1 Fear
spell, 5 Possess spell (temporarily control a weak-minded body). Possessions:
Claws, jagged teeth. bat-like wings.

52 PLAGUED PILGRIM You are sworn to scatter a saint’s ashes on a distant world.
Just don’t huff them all first. Skills: 3 Frighten, 1 Projectile Vomit. Possessions:
Robes, bells, chain, urn of sacred ashes (test your luck when you inhale them to
attempt a miracle; run out of ashes on two 1’s).

53 PLAYER Each new world is a new audience. Skills: 3 Acting, 3 Music, 2

Disguise, 1 Acrobatics, 1 Exaggerated Swordplay. Possessions: Colorful clothes,
donkey costume, music instrument, hand mirror, makeup, prop sword (could be
sharpened). Special: Take +1 for singing in-character.

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54 POSTGRADUATE WIZARD You should have chosen a dissertation topic with
fewer ley lines and rare components. Skills: 2 Arcane Research, 2 Conjure Fire
spell, 2 Shape Water spell, 2 Move Stone spell. Possessions: Divining rod,
academy robes, ash wand, unfinished manuscript.

55 RENEGADE LIBRARIAN Returning with new rare books might get you out of
the late fees for what you took on the way out. Skills: 3 Book Learning, 1
Appraisal, 1 Arcane Languages. Possessions: Baxter’s Interplanar Bestiary, The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Aetherway, grimoire of spells you are still trying to
decipher, robes, quill and parchment.

56 RESTLESS SPIRIT You won’t get a good night’s sleep until buried in the soil of
your homeland. Finding your remains would help. Skills: 3 Second Sight, 1 Fly, 3
Poltergeist spell (move things mentally), 5 Possess spell (temporarily control a
weak-minded body). Possessions: Spectral rags and chains. Special: Only
magic, spirits, and salt can touch you.

61 SKY SAILOR You know the routes between the stars—but without a ship, you’re
stuck on the Aetherway like everyone else. Skills: 3 Pilot, 2 Astrogation, 2
Climb, 2 Shooting, 1 Strength, 1 Swim. Possessions: Harpoon gun, knife,
parachute, spyglass, warm and loose clothes.

62 SPACE DESERTER Whether you disagreed in principle or realized the invasion

was a suicide run, you wanted out. Skills: 2 Raygun Fighting, 2 Spacecraft
Piloting, 1 Second Sight, 1 Scuttling. Possessions: Raygun, antennae, adhesive
digits, suicide detonator (deactivated).

63 STREET FIGHTING FISH They say when a koi reaches the top of a waterfall, it
becomes a dragon—but when a betta bests a man in unarmed combat, it
grows arms and legs and tours the worlds picking fights. Skills: 5 Swim, 4
Brawling, 3 Strength, 2 Intimidation. Possessions: Gills, fins, elaborate tattoo,
loose trousers.

64 TINKER People along the Aetherway trade for a lot of technology they have no
idea how to maintain. Skills: 5 Tinkering, 3 Appraisal, 2 Barter. Possessions:
Small tools, glasses with magnifying lens, pouches clinking with spare parts,
heavy wrench (suitable for bludgeoning), wind-up beetle automaton that
follows simple instructions.

65 WIDDERSHINS WIND For the personification of a force of nature, you sure

have a rubbish sense of direction. Skills: 2 Cone of Air spell (target can breathe
fresh air for 12 minutes), 2 Levitate spell (more for your pals—you can fly), 1
Quench spell (snuff a small flame), 1 Fly. Special: You always fail at Navigation
rolls, but can always get back where you started.

66 WASTELAND REFUGEE You wandered until you found a world that wasn’t
destroyed, but wandering is still all you know. Skills: 3 Awareness, 3 Junk
Fighting, 2 Run, 1 Locks, 1 Tracking, 1 Trapping. Possessions: Scrap armor with
tire pauldron, stop sign shield, lead pipe club, shiv, metal mask.

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Pathways One Might Take
Paths through the aether and portals between worlds are varied and strange, but
usually well marked. When it’s time travel between worlds, the GM might roll d66 on
the list below to describe the next leg (or leap) of the journey.

11 A series of floating rocks, some close enough to jump between

12 A dense spacetime tunnel a few minutes long, as years pass outside
13 A wooden ladder that bows slightly between here and the moon
14 A rainbow bridge that cracks underfoot
15 A small, unlit tunnel smelling of soft earth and tree roots
16 A cylindrical, echoing pipeline fashioned from sheet metal

21 A long jump, pulled by gravity through the hole in a toroidal sun

22 A rope bridge with rotting wood planks that look like contorted faces
23 A calm aether stream leading into rapids between jagged asteroids
24 A foggy expanse lit by indistinct shapes holding yellow lamps on sticks
25 A ferryman offering passage in exchange for one fond memory
26 A cold, slow route marked by buoys, through echoing whale song

31 A balloon ride through purple clouds that obscure huge, black tentacles
32 A stone, moss-covered portal ring, big enough to fly a castle through
33 A large hole in the trunk of an oak tree, with a rope ladder hanging out
34 A gargantuan frog, opening its mouth to reveal a tongue with footprints
35 An open grave under a headstone carved with a weather-worn map
36 A tire swing on a rope hanging from a distant branch of the World Tree

41 An ever-twisting whirlpool that acts like a wormhole

42 A bucket on a pulley, lowered into unfathomable darkness
43 A series of well-maintained footbridges, wrought in brass and silver
44 A cannon next to an umbrella stand and a sign that reads TAKE ONE
45 An elevator extending upwards beyond the range of sight
46 A multi-lane, paved road with guard rails, stretching through space

51 Aether as thick and cold as water, with bubble stations offering free air
52 Thousands of monkey bars
53 A comet with six chairs, completing a daily circuit, boarded in motion
54 A mirror leading to a space full of mirrors, some painted with directions
55 An extremely slow conveyor belt
56 A gargantuan bird that swallows travelers whole to disgorge farther on

61 A beam of light that disintegrates travelers to reassemble elsewhere

62 An aether lake that can be skipped across like a stone
63 A mechanical gondola that rides along a long, long cable
64 A flight of stairs that turns at geometrically impossible angles
65 A perfectly square hole in thin air, with another world on the other side
66 A forking aether stream, most efficiently traveled with an aether-oar

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Places One Might Visit
The GM can introduce the characters to any world they can imagine, including those
in published adventures. To improvise a new place, however, roll d66 on each of the
lists below to generate a couple of its characteristics.

11 Punishingly hot sunlight 11 City on a ring encircling a sun

12 Impossibly starry night sky 12 Huts standing in purple meadows
13 Thin layer of ice over everything 13 Jungle village under mosquito net
14 Sunlight makes skin blister 14 Onyx pyramid amid the dunes
15 Sporadic, foul-smelling showers 15 Massive tower on a barren world
16 Unusually slow snow flurries 16 Town at the bottom of a huge well

21 Solid black clouds overhead 21 Shantytown on rafts in the sea

22 Moss-green fog 22 Tree village with rickety bridges
23 Everything covered in dew 23 Quiet sea, coral city below surface
24 Persistent rainbow 24 Crashed UFO in a mountainside
25 Falling ash 25 Town built on back of a huge crab
26 Loud, strong winds 26 Village dug into a burrow

31 Occasional rolling thunder 31 Aetherport staffed by goblins

32 Lightning in strange shapes 32 Houses and ladders up cliff walls
33 Unending chitter of bugs 33 Medieval city around a castle
34 Distant, bestial roaring noises 34 Colony in fossilized World Serpent
35 Visible fungal spores all around 35 Academy of magic floating in sky
36 Red-tinged sunlight 36 Temple with robot attendants

41 Harsh day/night temp change 41 Ancient, dusty stone ruins

42 Persistent full solar eclipse 42 Glittering, sprawling metropolis
43 Half Earth gravity 43 Aetherside bar, The Dusty Star
44 Double Earth gravity 44 Faux-Victorian pseudo-London
45 All sound oddly muffled 45 Office building, everything beige
46 Short day/night cycle 46 Boomtown on rim of a volcano

51 Planetary rings arch overhead 51 Ruins of a post-apocalyptic city

52 Clouds look like warring gods 52 Space god skull made into condos
53 Frozen birds rain down at times 53 Tents placed over thermal fissures
54 Hot, dry wind, smells like milk 54 Domed city on airless rock planet
55 Huge sandstorm (?) on horizon 55 Disco dance club on the moon
56 Crisscrossing rainbows 56 Ancient prison left to the inmates

61 Whispering, audible only to you 61 Stone colossus dotted with towns

62 Rampant blue-ivy overgrowth 62 Ceramic palace in a huge cavern
63 Slime drips from above 63 Valley so deep the sky is a myth
64 Rocks float by overhead 64 Hive city with huge, mounted bees
65 Feels like someone’s watching 65 Cathedral carved from gargoyles
йй What was that? Did you see—? 66 Mid-American suburb, circa 1986

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People One Might Meet
The GM can populate the worlds as they see fit—but should they need inspiration,
roll d66 once each on the lists below to generate local cultures, communities, and
persons characters might encounter in their travels.

11 Tall 11 Townies 11 with creepy masks

12 Friendly 12 Refugees 12 with egg-like lumps
13 Unwelcoming 13 Nomads 13 known for philosophy
14 Hard-working 14 Colonists 14 deep in prayer
15 Athletic 15 Soldiers 15 encased in ice
16 Warlike 16 Workers 16 living in shadows

21 Futuristic 21 Academics 21 ruled by a giant eye

22 Reclusive 22 Cultists 22 led by a tyrant
23 Doped-up 23 Peasants 23 with no clear leader
24 Mutated 24 Bureaucrats 24 with a quirky queen
25 Wooden 25 Monks 25 led by elders
26 Spectral 26 Thieves 26 advised by ghosts

31 Fiery 31 Goblins 31 disappearing at night

32 Leaping 32 Fish people 32 reciting poetry
33 Mechanical 33 Orcs 33 with a bad harvest
34 Psychic 34 Dwarfs 34 displaced from home
35 Undying 35 Snake people 35 with stretchy limbs
36 Ageless 36 Vampires 36 covered in leaves

41 Communist 41 Skeletons 41 with yawning plague

42 Hairless 42 Giants 42 in need of lumber
43 Bone-white 43 Morlocks 43 with robotic limbs
44 Bulbous 44 Barsoomians 44 building a big tower
45 Filthy 45 Slug people 45 trapped in this place
46 Steam-powered 46 Beast folk 46 with rotting flesh

51 Tough 51 Faerie 51 from a bygone age

52 Loud 52 Sphinx 52 with an imp problem
53 Unintelligible 53 Manticore 53 trained in duelling
54 Old 54 Wizard 54 guarding a relic
55 Crystal 55 Statue 55 hoarding treasures
56 Suspicious 56 Lamassu 56 in mourning

61 Wealthy 61 Dragon 61 singing happily

62 Gold-skinned 62 Ogre 62 conducting research
63 Downtrodden 63 Cacogen 63 hoping to eat you
64 Well-armed 64 Cyclops 64 eyeing your fingers
65 Folksy 65 Woodwose 65 looking to recruit you
66 Wildly diverse 66 Witch 66 trying to ignore you

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Creatures One Might Encounter
Not every encounter along the Aetherway—or upon the various worlds it leads to—
will be with intelligent folk. The GM may wish to roll d66 once each on up to three
lists below to combine characteristics for a strange creature.

11 Rainbow-hued 11 Earthworm 11 that teleports

12 Razor-feathered 12 Weasel 12 that turns invisible
13 Three-headed 13 Gorilla 13 that moves on walls
14 Bug-eyed 14 Mantis 14 with caustic spit
15 Mind-reading 15 Warthog 15 that breathes fire
16 House-sized 16 Toad 16 with a wind-up key

21 Glowing 21 Automaton 21 leaking plasma

22 Bristly 22 Salamander 22 with stinging barbs
23 Amorphous 23 Slime mold 23 with a venomous bite
24 Undulating 24 Fish 24 radiating heat
25 Chrome 25 Wolf 25 slick with mucus
26 Translucent 26 Panther 26 with odd footprints

31 Electric 31 Stag 31 shrouded in shadow

32 Phasing 32 Sea monkey 32 with a nimble tail
33 Silent 33 Snail 33 with a tight grip
34 Hungry 34 Planarian 34 with two bodies
35 Gentle 35 Porcupine 35 with a sticky tongue
36 Rampaging 36 Squid 36 that sees the future

41 Heavily scarred 41 Clone 41 spewing smoke

42 Growling 42 Bat 42 covered in eyes
43 Slow-moving 43 Tree 43 that spouts gibberish
44 Indestructible 44 Camel 44 with visible batteries
45 Ancient 45 Snake 45 with shiny scales
46 Forgetful 46 Gremlin 46 riddled with arrows

51 Horned 51 Blob 51 humming tunelessly

52 Saber-toothed 52 Walrus 52 whistling on exhale
53 Marble 53 Tardigrade 53 wilting nearby plants
54 Levitating 54 Nematode 54 branded by a rancher
55 Blindingly fast 55 Rat 55 with broken chains
56 Super-strong 56 Hyena 56 bones jutting out

61 Playful 61 Wooly mammoth 61 that eats people

62 Sleepy 62 Puppet 62 that eats stone
63 Jumpy 63 Bird 63 that feeds on fear
64 Slobbering 64 Beetle 64 that radiates stress
65 Magnetic 65 Centipede 65 that eats garbage
66 Nuclear-powered 66 Butterfly 66 that wants to cuddle

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Reasons to Travel
Every character background has motivation to travel, and travelers typically need
no special reason to band together in this game beyond “it’s dangerous to go
alone.” Here are some additional reasons, drawing on the earlier lists.

11 You’re hired to do maintenance and upkeep of the Aetherway pathways

12 Important people invited you to a fancy party in an exciting place
13 Warring peoples from different places need help negotiating a truce
14 People need help recovering a sacred relic from an unsafe place
15 An important person needs an entourage to impress leaders of a place
16 A person with rare goods needs guards to escort them to a distant place

21 You are on a pilgrimage to a place to offer fealty to a holy creature

22 Someone needs to track down farm creatures that wandered to a place
23 A dangerous creature is traveling the Aetherway, leaving places in ruins
24 You’re friends on vacation, taking scenic and exciting pathways to a place
25 A person hired you to steal (back?) an ivory monkey from other people
26 You’re on a research expedition to study the creatures of a place

31 A dangerous aether storm forces you to flee to a place though pathways

32 Colonizing people move in; lodge a complaint in their home place
33 As a rite of passage, you must face a dangerous creature in a place
34 People in a place need help rousting bandits holding a pathway
35 You’re on an anthropological trip to get to know the people of a place
36 Your world was destroyed; find a new place among welcoming people

41 You’re being sent to a prison in a place guarded by people and creatures

42 Escape unjust imprisonment through various pathways to hide in a place
43 You’re writing a travel guide, detailing peoples, places, and pathways
44 Clear up an erroneous warrant for your arrest among people of a place
45 Track a notorious person and bring them back to a place for the bounty
46 You’re food critics sampling the cuisines of various peoples and places

51 Your lost love is getting married to a cad in a place, and you must stop it
52 A package for you went to a place instead, and you must retrieve it
53 You collect hard-to-find, unsafe-to-use action figures across the worlds
54 A creature barks at you excitedly—your friend fell down a well? Let’s go!
55 Star-crossed lovers in different places need help passing secret notes
56 You’ve inherited an estate from an eccentric person in a strange place

61 Some person in a place owes you a great deal of money

62 People of a place are turning into creatures; you’re hired to investigate
63 You simply must find the person who makes this cheese to get the recipe
64 People you’re friends with went missing from a place; track them down
65 Nobody’s brought back a live creature from a place—will you be the first?
66 Your traveling band performs for new people in a new place every week

11
Magical Mishaps
If a character rolls double 1’s when attempting to cast a spell, it goes badly. The GM
can improvise a result, roll on this list for inspiration, or pick a fitting element from
below at their discretion.

11 Affects somebody the caster prefers not to affect instead of the target
12 Sucks magic out of the caster—no more spells until after a night’s rest
13 Wracks caster’s body with pain—lose +1 Stamina
14 Psychic pain costs d6 Stamina from anyone thinking about the caster
15 Boom deafens caster and anyone else close enough for conversation
16 Caster and all in line of sight struck colorblind for d6 days

21 Attracts immediate attention of an irritable, extraplanar entity

22 Ground within 3 meters of caster takes on consistency of quicksand
23 Caster’s eyes fall out (but can be put back and work again if found intact)
24 Local animals can now all talk, but mostly only do so to berate the caster
25 Caster glows with a golden aura for the next 13 hours
26 Frogs crawl from caster’s mouth whenever they try to speak for 13 hours

31 Target’s shadow comes loose, escapes to do as it will

32 All metal carried by caster suddenly melts
33 Caster is encased in ice (but can be safely thawed to return to normal)
34 Local weather shifts for a while to a heavy downpour of gasoline
35 Target disappears with a loud bang, only to reappear 13 seconds later
36 Caster looks vaguely suspicious to all who meet them from now on

41 Everyone is now somewhere else, and can’t remember the last 13 hours
42 Caster’s arms and legs grow to be half again as long as before
43 Gourds—some quite firm and heavy—rain from the sky for a few hours
44 Target becomes frictionless, still subject to inertia, for several seconds
45 Local gravity doubled within a kilometer for the foreseeable future
46 Caster loses depth perception, but can touch things 13 meters away

51 Caster’s and target’s consciousnesses switch bodies

52 Fluids exit caster as ectoplasmic spirit—“alive,” but can’t lift heavy things
53 Caster replaced with parallel-reality version of self with a cool tattoo
54 Target turns into a gigantic, rampaging beast for 3 minutes
55 Caster’s neck grows long, like a giraffe’s
56 Everyone present smells strongly like just-cooked beef from now on

61 Thorny flowers grow from the caster’s skin (must be pruned regularly)
62 Chatty mouth speaking in an unknown language appears in caster’s palm
63 Caster’s fingers on one hand all replaced with fully functional tongues
64 13 eyes appear randomly around caster’s body, moving but not usable
65 Caster’s voice now sounds like they’re far away, in an echoing cavern
66 A new Aetherway portal suddenly opens nearby

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Detailed Rules (based on Troika!)
You may wish to use these more detailed rules if you are familiar with Troika!, if you
enjoy more random character creation and progression, or if you prefer greater
mechanical differentiation between weapons. The Initiative, Luck, Attacking, and
Inventory rules can also be substituted into the simpler rules.

CHARACTER CREATION: Follow these steps to make your character.

• Roll 1d3+3 to determine Skill.

• Roll 2d6+12 to determine Stamina.
• Roll 1d6+6 to determine Luck.
• Take Possessions including 2d6 Silver Pence, a Knife, a Lantern & Flask of Oil, a
Rucksack, 6 Provisions.
• Roll a d6 for the tens place, and another for the ones place, on the list of
Backgrounds (p. 5), and record the Possessions, Skills (noted in Backgrounds
simply as “Skills”), and Special abilities.

ROLL UNDER: When an action’s success is uncertain, roll 2d6 on or under your Skill,
plus an Advanced Skill if you have one that applies. If you use an Advanced Skill,
make a tick mark to remind you later it may be Getting Better.

ROLL VERSUS: When attempting something opposed by someone else, roll 2d6
and add your Skill and Advanced Skill. The higher total wins.

LUCK: When the GM or an ability tells you to test your luck, roll 2d6 on or under
your Luck score, then reduce Luck by 1. On failure, you suffer consequences. You
may test your luck in combat to attempt to break a tied roll in your favor, or to add
2 to your Damage Roll on a successful attack. Rest 8 hours to regain 2d6 Luck.

INITIATIVE: Write each character’s name on 2 note cards. (Henchmen only get 1
card; creatures played by the GM may get a different number at the discretion of
the GM or an adventure module.) Write “End of Round” on 1 card, and shuffle all
into a stack, face-down. During combat, draw a card to see who acts next, removing
it from the stack. Reshuffle all cards when “End of Round” is drawn. On your turn,
you may take an action and move 12 meters.

ATTACKING: Whoever wins a roll versus in an attack rolls d6 and subtracts the
target’s Armor modifier (if any). Look for the result of that number with that
weapon on the “Damage Rolls” table, and subtract the result from the target’s
Stamina. Double 6’s is a mighty blow, doubling Stamina damage, and double 1’s is a
fumble, adding +1 to the winner’s Damage Roll.

ARMOR: Armor reduces a Damage Roll (before consulting how much Stamina is
lost) by a fixed amount, to a minimum of 1. Targets are either Unarmored (0),
Lightly Armored (-1), Modestly Armored (-2), or Heavily Armored (-3). Using a
shield offers an an additional -1 to the Damage Roll.

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INVENTORY: You have 12 slots to carry things; carrying more incurs a penalty of 4
to all rolls. Large items take 2 slots; armor takes twice as many slots as its
protective value. Small items, like arrows, can be bundled together into 1 slot. To
retrieve something fast, roll 2d6 over the item’s position on your inventory.

INJURY: When reduced to 0 Stamina, you must be healed to survive. If this is

during an initiative round and the End of Round token is drawn, you die.

HEALING: Sleep 8 hours to regain 2d6 Stamina. Eat a provision to regain 1d6
Stamina (up to 3 times a day). You cannot have more Stamina than your max.

SPELLS: To cast a spell, roll under or versus as appropriate, and lose Stamina equal
to the spell’s casting cost. (For the sake of convenience, all spells noted in
Aetherway have a casting cost equal to their Skill values.) Rolling double 1’s
prompts a roll on Magical Mishaps (p. 12).

GETTING BETTER: When you rest, choose up to 3 Advanced Skills or Spells with a
tick next to them. If you roll 2d6 over your current Advanced Skill + Skill total, it
increases by 1. (Roll two 12’s in a row to increase an Advanced Skill that has already
reached 12 or more.) Afterward, remove all ticks from your sheet.

DAMAGE ROLLS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7+
Axe 2 2 6 6 8 10 12
Bow (2-handed) 2 4 6 8 8 10 12
Club 1 1 2 3 6 8 10
Crossbow (2-handed) 4 4 6 8 8 8 10
Fusil (2-handed, ignores 1 armor) 2 4 4 6 12 18 24
Greatsword (2-handed) 2 4 8 10 12 14 18
Hammer (ignores 1 armor) 1 2 4 6 8 10 12
Knife 2 2 2 2 4 8 10
Mace (ignores 1 armor) 2 4 4 6 6 8 10
Maul (2-handed, ignores 1 armor) 1 2 3 6 12 13 14
Pistolet (ignores 1 armor) 2 2 4 4 6 12 16
Polearm (2-handed, ignores 1 armor) 2 4 4 8 12 14 18
Shield 2 2 2 4 4 6 8
Staff 2 4 4 4 4 6 8
Sword 4 6 6 6 6 8 10
Unarmed 1 1 1 2 2 3 4
Small beast 2 2 3 3 4 5 6
Modest beast 4 6 6 8 8 10 12
Large beast (ignores 1 armor) 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Gigantic beast (ignores 1 armor) 4 8 12 12 16 18 24

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Pretendo Games