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Spoilered for Exposition you might not care about.

I was kicking around posting this on my Facebook as a note, but thought better of it since I would most likely forget about it, and I thought I would get some opinions on it also. Now, though I post this and will work on it, the Card/Model game gets the Cake; I'm working on that one first.

Anyway, the story:

Four Kingdoms were at war, and each Kingdom controlled one of the Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. During the fiercest battle in that long war, all of the Elements Clashed and created the Sundering; a Giant Tear developed in the world and the land surrounding the battlefeild was instantly turned into Wasteland. At the exact middle of the Sundering was the Aether Gate, a rip in reality in which raw Aether flowed freely from. A Ceasefire was issued, and all four Kingdoms came to finaly realize peace as they sent Exploration Teams into the Aether Gate. However, soon the Teams stopped coming back, and each Kingdom blamed the others. A giant power struggle formed, with the armies of the Kingdoms once again clashing, but this time over the Aether Gate; he who held that held the raw Essense of the world.

Mechanics: Each player starts out with a Hero, determined by Body Type and Elemental Force. So for Example, you can have Champion Wind, Mage Earth, or Marauder Fire. Champions are Melee Characters, Mage's are Magic/Utility, and Marauders are mixed.

Players determine their lists via Points, much like Warmachine; each model uses Points and you set your total to 15-50. Selected models eat up points, however, they are NOT the models you get during the game; they are the models you Summon during the game. You start the game with ONLY your Hero and Alter.

Every turn, your Alter generates D6 Aether Points. These can be used several ways; summon beings from your List, or to Empower your Melee or Magic scores. Say, for instance, a Militia Man costs 2 Aether Points to summon, and you roll a 3. You can now summon a Militia man and then carry the 1 over for the next turn, OR Empower your Magic Sword to increase damage dealt, OR add +1 to your Casting Score. A Dragon, or similar, would cost upwards of 20 Points to summon, but would be one mean mother hubber.

Monsters would be divided into three tiers; Tier 1 would be basic throw away units, Tier 2 is stuff like Trolls and Ogres, and Tier 3 is your Dragons/Demons. Going by the Tier system, Hero's would be: Tier 0 (going to get the crap kicked out of him by anything in Melee): Mage, Tier 1 Marauder, Tier 2 Champion. However, you can Empower your Heros using your Aether Points, turning them into 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5, respectively: They are going to slaughter things in those tiers, but it costs alot of Points to Empower them that much.

Six Spells per element, and they would work like this: The first Two are known by the Champion, cast on a 5+, and he only gets One Dice to cast his spells with. The first Four are known by the Marauder, with the second two being cast on a 10+. He gets Two dice to cast his spells with. The Mage gets all six, three dice to cast spells with, and the last two cast on a 15+, usually resulting in an Epic shift in power. However, they can Empower their Magic, and for every Aether Point spent, can add +1 to the Casting Roll (must be spent BEFORE rolling, naturally).

Wind: based on Control; you can push enemy's back, and move forward faster, little damage.
Earth: Single Target Damage and Blocker; they can summon Earth Walls to block areas, though it is difficult to do so.
Fire: Widespread carnage, little utility.
Water: Not sure what to do for them.

The game is played until the Alter loses 10 Hits, with different Summons taking off different Hits; a Militia Man would only take away one, but a Dragon would take away 5.

If your Hero dies, you can spend 6 Aether to bring him back at the Alter.

Fire Kingdom: Agronak

The Fire Kingdom, Agronak is a tranquil forest and a wild fire at once; They are very Calm, peaceful folk, and hardly get angry. Woe to those who do manage to make them angry. Their Bloodgames keep them fresh for War, and their Warriors are only rivaled in status by their Iron Forges. While most live normal lives, their Soldiers and Blacksmiths are to be feared; Some ancient Agronak Forging techniques make blades that can only be cooled in Warm Blood, and when fully unleashed, Agronak Soldiers create a terrifying slaughter field.

There is an ancient rite in becoming an Agronak Warrior that Militia Men are deemed to not be worthy of; After months of rigurous training, the Warriors gather in the Dead of Night, where their heads are shaven. When the moon is bright, a Forgemaster must create an Iron Mask, and while it is still heated, press it onto the Warrior Candidates face, cooling it in his blood and flesh. Those who survive both the training and the Branding are elevated as Warriors of the Iron, and are allowed to grow out their hair as a status symbol; those with long manes of black hair are survivors, having completed multiple campaigns successfully. Warriors see it as a sign of endurance to not faint during the Branding. Forge Masters see it as a sign of skill to cause Candidates to faint.

Aesthetics: Chains and Black Leather, Colors: Black, Tin.

So what do you think? I still need to think of an aesthetic/background for the other 3, and like I said, Cyber Threat (really need to think of a better name for that.....) is getting priority, but I thought I would share.

Stats:

Movement: Self Explanitory, I think Mages and Champions will move 6", Marauders will move 8".

Attack: how easy it is for that model to hit things.

Defense: How easy it is to get hit. Things like Dragons will have a low Defense; they are rather large targets, after all... (I have been using Warhammers To Hit Chart, I will write my own later. Basically, use the Attack of the attacker and the Defense of the Opponent).

Damage: How much damage you deal in a single hit.

Health: How much damage you can take.

Cost: How many Aether Points it costs to get that model on the field.

Special: Special Rules for each monster. Giant Frost Frogs will be able to swallow models whole, moving at only 2" per turn afterwards, but controlling where that model ends up once the Frog is slain, it fights its way out, or something.

I have the three basic units that every army is going to have made. I am making them all have the same base so that A) There are completely balanced armies with no weird shenanigans for when it's called for, B) experianced players have a way to get newer players into the game without bogging them down with lots of wierd rules, and C) People can choose their army based on looks.

Every army will have Four Tier 1 "units", Three Tier 2 Units, and Two Tier 3 units.

Conscript:
Tier 1
Movement: 6
Attack: 2
Defense: 2
Damage: 5
Health: 5
Cost: 1
List Cost: 5 (How many points out of your List you need to spend to make them available during the game.

Ogre:
Tier 2
M: 4
A: 2
D: 5
Dam: 10
H: 30
Cost: 5
List Cost: 5

Dragon:
Tier 3
M: 8
A: 8
D: 4
Dam: 50
Health: 75
Cost: 20
LC: 15



Still working on the Champion, Marauder, and Mage.

Also, have another Fire Unit I am working on

Dervish:
Tier 1
M: 6
A: 5
D: 2
Dam: 5
H: 15
Specials:
Whirlwind: The Dervish attacks every enemy in base contact with him, not just one.
Chains Grab: The Dervish whirls around, the chains attached to his arms grabbing and dragging everyone into contact with him. Roll a D6 for every humanoid model within 4". On a roll of a 4+, Move that model into base to base contact with the Dervish. Alternatively, choose one Larger than Human model within 4" and roll a D6. On a 4+, move the Dervish into base contact with it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also! I have gotten the aesthetics down for each race, these are just the inspirations (The cultures, not so much the pics)

Water:



Earth:



Wind:

Ok, these are the basic rules, so that way those of you who want to play this can. This is ALL I am going to be posting, mostly because I want to keep it under wraps while I test out some stuff. I take that back, when I get Water and Earth's spell figured out, I will post those.

The playing Feild: I have been playing on a feild that is 31" by 31".

Alters: Alters are your source of Power. They have 10 Structural Points, and at the beginning of every turn, players gain D6 Aether Points. To damage an enemy Alter, you must get into Base Contact with it, and then you deal Dam/5 Structural Points. 5 Dam is equal to 1 Structural Point. Remove the model from the game after it deals damage.

In order to summon from the Alter, you must pay the models Cost in Aether Points, and then you may place that model within 2" of the Alter. You may make any number of Summons as you wish per turn, paying the cost for each model. If there are any enemy models within 5" of the Alter, you may not Summon ANY Model except the Hero you are using. This is called Summoning Block.

You start the game with 5 Aether Points, and don't roll for more on the first turn.

Combat: if a model moves into base contact with another model, they are in Close Combat. Both Models strike at the same time, roll to hit using the Attackers Attack against the Defenders Defense (use the To Hit Chart found in Warhammer Fantasy/40K.)

Conscript:
M: 6
A: 2
D: 2
Dam: 5
H: 5
Cost: 1

Ogre:
M: 4
A: 2
D: 4
Dam: 10
H: 30
Cost: 5
Special:
Linebacker: No enemy model may pass within 2" of the Ogre.

Dragon:
M: 10
A: 8
D: 5
Dam: 50
H: 60
Cost: 20
Specials:
Magical: Dragons count as having Magical Attacks.
Breath Weapon: Target enemy within 6" takes 10 damage. Can NOT be used to attack the Alter.

Heros: Heros start the game within 2" of your Alter. They can NOT attack Enemy Alters, and do NOT count for the 5" Summoning Block.

They may cast spells, but those spells can NOT be used in Close Combat, unless stated in the Spell list. Every Hero knows every spell of his Element, but Champions get one dice to cast it with, Marauders get two, and Mages get three.

Empowerment: Heros may Empower themselves using raw Aether. To do so, declare you are Empowering before rolling the dice. They may Empower their magic, in which they gain +1 to their Casting Roll (a Champion can use twelve Aether Points to allow himself to cast a 15+ Spell on a 3+ on his one dice). They may also Empower their weapons, gaining 5 Dam per one Aether Point Spent. This can allow your hero to kill a Dragon in a single blow.

Hero Death: If a Hero dies, remove him from the board. Your following turn, you may spend Five Aether Points to Summon him back to the board, in the same way as normal summoning. Note: this is not affected by Summoning Block.

Alter Server: Any Hero may pay 1 Aether to instantly teleport to within 2" of his Alter. This can NOT take him out of Combat.

Champion:
M: 6
A: 6
D: 6
Dam: 35
H: 60
Cost: -
Special Rules:
Magical: The Champions Magic Weapons and Magic Spells count as Magical Attacks.

Magical Spells:

Gust: Wind Spell. Range 12", Casts on a 5+. May Friendly Fire. A gust of wind blows a Human or Ogre sized model directly away from the caster. The target takes 5 Dam, and then is moved back D6" for Human sized models, and D3" for Ogre Sized models. If this movement takes them into contact with a peice of terrain or another model, both models take an additional 10 Dam, and is stopped. Terrain is unaffected. All Damage is calculated after the movement.

Ignite: Fire Spell. Range 12", Casts on a 5+. The target bursts into flames! Deals 5 Dam, and additionally, place a Flame token in base contact with the affected model. Every turn, roll a D6. on a 1-4, the model takes an additional 5 Dam. On a 5 or a 6, the flames go out; remove the Flame Token and take no Dam. If the Flame Token gets in the way, just remove it off the battlefield, but keep track of if the model is still on fire.

I would recommend getting or making a Chinese Calculator, with about 25 Balls on it. Not only is it helpful to keep track of your Aether points, but it's a great accesory for Toga Parties!

Please help me playtest this and get back to me on what you think. Also, magical attacks don't do anything yet; Djinns and such are Etherial, only being harmable by Magic Attacks, but I don't have the rules figured out for them yet.

NEED HELP, Aesthetically.

Not sure if I should make it Humans all around, or Orcs as Fire, Elves as Wind, Humans as Earth, and Lizards as Water. Or maybe just Orcs instead of anything else....

I know it's going to be based around five elements (Air, Earth, Wind, Fire, and Aether), not sure what the "people" should be, though.