Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi, all. More News from the Aetherverse front!

I have just finished updating the core rulebook to a new version. This version is now a complete rulebook: all of the rules are in one place, and it has been laid out and edited into a fully readable form. This is essentially what is going to be released on May 1, with some additional army lists and art in place.

The PDF can be downloaded here. It's "tablet optimized", so some of the graphics might appear somewhat low-res on a high-end monitor, but there isn't very much art in this version to begin with.

Feedback continues to be welcome and encouraged, either here or at the TiSpork forums.

Thank you for your continued support, Dakka!

Just added a small tip to the TiSpork site:

Excel Formula for base profile cost:

Here’s a tip that some people might find useful for building their army lists. When you are building the army’s basic profile (and if you are using a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc), it’s a simple process to calculate each stat’s point cost without having to flip back to that page in the book.

The spreadsheet formula for each stat’s point cost is X*(X+1)/2, where X is the cell that you have the stat in. So, if you have “5″ in cell A2, then A2*(A2+1)/2 = 15, the cost of a basic stat of 5. Then just add a SUM( ) formula along the bottom row, and there’s your basic profile before modifiers.

In one week (May 1, 2013) I will officially be launching the Alpha Release of Aetherverse 2nd Edition. I've started a "one week countdown", and the first thing that I'm doing with that is releasing one last version of the playtest rules. Only a couple of changes in this one (mainly, I realized that I'd never stated that one could not shoot into a melee, which needed a fixing), so this pretty much is what will be in the Alpha Release. All that remains to do for next week is to finish up some more sample armies, and to get ready to actually start talking about the game on sites other than Dakka.

The latest rules can be downloaded from the website. Feedback is welcome and encouraged, either here or there.

For Day 2 of the Countdown, I have created what is probably the longest post ever created at TitaniumSpork.org: a demonstration of the Aetherverse Army Design System, which is pretty much the entire reason for the game's existence.

This demo goes through the process of creating an army's base profile, as well as the steps needed to create a unit within the army. This is what allows you to field models from any miniature line in existence while also instilling them with character fitting their background.

Comments and feedback welcome as always, either here or at the site.

Thanks!

Just a reminder: tomorrow (1 May) is the launch of the Alpha Release! I'll be announcing it in the News/Rumors forum and a couple of other sites, but I'll need help from other people to spread the word. Once I get the official announcement up tomorrow, I'd love it if people would share it on their favorite gaming sites or with their local clubs, or even their Twitter/Facebook feeds. This is going to be one big word-of-mouth campaign, since traditional advertising doesn't really make sense at this point.

This is also your last chance to get suggestions into place for tomorrow's release! I'll be putting together some final armies over the course of the day, doing a final pass over the text, stuff like that. Then it's on to the next phase of the release: the rules for Personalities and Commanders!

Thanks for the support so far, Dakka.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
You know what? The heck with it, we're going live right now!

From the TiSpork Website:

The time has come! The Alpha Release of Aetherverse, 2nd Edition, is now officially released to the public. Aetherverse is a free tabletop wargame, designed to be used with almost all 25-30mm scale miniatures, regardless of manufacturer. For more specific information visit the Aetherverse page here on the site.

The rules can be found there, or simply download the current edition of the rulebook here.

This release consists of the core rules: everything that one needs to create a standard army consisting of infantry of various types along with for any other model that would be supported by similar rules. Every month, we’ll be adding a new section of the rules: rules for solo models, for vehicles of various types, rules for psi-powers (magic), etc. A complete schedule is listed here.

This version of Aetherverse is and always will be free. Eventually we’ll look into doing a Kickstarter to create a printed book and a “pretty” digital version containing full-color art and additional background material, but the text of the rules themselves will remain a free game, released under a Creative Commons license as noted in the site credits and in the rules file.

As always, feedback is welcome, through comments on this post, through the forums, or through any of our social media contact methods.

Finally, and this is very important: word of the game travels best through word of mouth. If you like it, or just the idea of it, please share word of this release with your gaming groups, on your own social media, or on gaming sites that you might frequent (don’t worry about DakkaDakka, I’ve got that one!)

I thank all of you for your support now and in the future!

Because I apparently suck at this, I built the armies in the first released version using a "mental copy" of the old weapon costs. These were changed in the 2nd Edition, but I blanked on that.

EDIT:
v1.01 is now available in a fully bookmarked version. This includes the fixes noted above.

I figured that since it is one of the "selling" points (as much as a free game can be "sold"), I should post more about the activation system. This is crossposted from the TiSpork website and to N&R:

One of the things that sets Aetherverse apart from a number of the larger games available is its turn sequence. Rather than the boring, traditional “I Go, You Go” system where one player does everything while the other player sits and watches them roll dice, Aetherverse uses an activation system in which both players are active throughout the turn. I have uploaded page 11 from the rulebook, which summarizes the turn sequence, allowing potential players to see how Aetherverse differs from other games. I have also posted the sequence below.

Aetherverse Turn Sequence

1. Collect activation tokens / Shuffle activation deck (be sure to remove markers for dead units). See the end for a more detailed description of the activation system.

2. Draw activation marker.

3. Activate a Unit: The player indicated by the marker chooses one of their units that has not yet been activated and performs up to two actions. No action may be performed twice, except “Move”. Actions may be performed in any order, except that units with models in base-to base contact (“Melee contact”) with enemy models may only move (either moving models closer to enemies or a “withdrawal move”, see the movement section for details) or perform melee strikes.

The possible actions:

-Move (Default move distance is 6”)
-Shoot
-Charge
-Melee (requires models in base contact with an enemy, may only be performed once per activation)
-Take Cover (prevents further actions but makes the unit harder to hit with shooting)
-Pass

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until there are no remaining markers

5. Perform “End of Turn Cleanup”

-Remove markers for any dead units
-Resolve “until end of turn” effects
-Check for victory conditions being met and/or game end

Unit Activation:

Aetherverse uses a weighted random initiative system that can be performed with a few different methods. Regardless of which method you choose, you’ll be starting each turn by doing one of the following.

1. Count out a number of glass beads/colored dice for each player equal to the number of their units. Each player must have a distinct color from the others. Place the markers in an opaque cup or a hat, then draw when required.

2. Count out a number of playing cards for each player’s units; each player is assigned a suit (or a color if they
have more than 13 units). Shuffle these together and deal one out when activation is required.

Right, time to get to work on the rules for Personalities!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And here is the initial draft of the Personality Rules. What is left to do are the following:
-Write rules for Command Squads
-Add Personality-Only traits

Download the Personality Rules v0.1.

I have completed the draft of the Personality Rules. This includes rules for leaders, command squads, and traits for both standard personalities and those that have been upgraded to use the leader trait. I have not yet updated the sample armies, but that will likely wait until the June 5 release up the updated Core Rules.

The draft personality rules can be downloaded here.

Inevitably, I've got a couple of users working on a set of conversion stats for 40K armies. It's not something I can heavily contribute to myself, other than giving suggestions on how to effectively use the system to do so, but it's a pretty good start for what's there.

I suspect that at some point it'll be compiled into a sort of unofficial "book" (wargamers are a resourceful bunch) so I'm pointing to the discussion in case anyone wishes to add to it.

I am basically finished with the personality and leader rules; they'll be coming out next week with the June update.

In other news, I'm trying to decide if I want to make a change to the unit creation rules. Currently, when you select extra models for a unit, you can give them a different weapon from their unit. This weapon has no discounts for being given to one model instead of a whole unit, so it can get rather expensive. My initial reasoning for this was:

1. You are paying extra for giving a unit increased flexibility
2. It makes it easier to do the math (no need for an extra division step)

Now, though, I'm thinking that it might just be overkill. You're essentially paying a 300-800% premium on a weapon to be able to gain a little bit more firepower for a unit, or to let it throw occasional potshots while it moves forward. The way that the rules are set up, the extra weapon in a squad isn't going to have a huge impact.

So, I am considering changing the rules so that when you build a special weapon for a unit, you divide the cost by the base number of models in the unit. This would bring it in line with the rules for paying for the extra models themselves.

Whether I would do this for personalities as well (probably using the base model count of an equivalent Elite unit as the divisor) is up in the air.

Updated the first post to be a bit more informative and concise.

Do you have any battle reports using the Aetherverse rules?
I had done the read through of the rules a while back, but I wouldn't mind seeing the game in action. I tried looking on your blog but didn't see any after action or session reports.

 bosky wrote:
Do you have any battle reports using the Aetherverse rules?
I had done the read through of the rules a while back, but I wouldn't mind seeing the game in action. I tried looking on your blog but didn't see any after action or session reports.

Haven't done that yet, no. Once I have the personality rules in place (since the Command mechanic is something I think really adds to the game) I'll see about getting some stuff like that put together.

I look forward to it! Text, video, whatever form it takes, I think having a clear demo would be great.

Version 1.02 of the Alpha Release is now available! Once again it's a few days early, but I don't think anyone minds. Download the newest update directly!

This update bring Leaders and Personalities into the game. Leaders are single models capable of boosting the stats of friendly units or even granting special powers to those units. Leaders can also bring along a command unit which is capable of increasing the range at which they can command their troops. These squads range from primitive drum beating or flag waving up to satellite transmission systems or even psychic messages. Personalities are similarly single-model units, though they tend more towards the "heroic deeds" end of the spectrum.

This continues the monthly release plan for Aetherverse 2nd Edition, where I'll add in a new segment of the rules until the game is entirely complete and ready for a full publishing run.

Feedback on the game is always welcome here or at the Titanium Spork Gaming website.

While discussing in the Eden Project thread, shooting into melee combat was brought up. It's something that I didn't have in AV1, mainly because when I first wrote the rules they were a little bit too influenced by 40k. Even though the 1st Edition moved away from it with deliberate effort, that is one thing that I never really thought about adding back into the game. Since adding my suggestion to that thread, though, I've been giving it thought and I might put it into Aetherverse as well.

What I would probably do is something similar to the D&D method.

1. You may shoot at enemy units who are engaged in close combat
2. Units in close combat gain Cover 4
3. Any shots that miss hit your own unit(s) in the same combat. If you have multiple units in the combat, simply roll a d10 and divide the possible results by the number of units in the combat (i.e. if there are two units, unit A is hit on 1-5, unit B on 6-10).
4. Blast and Flamethrower weapons may not fire into combat (largely a rules expediency)

Comments?

I replied in the Eden Project thread as well, but figured we could brainstorm here too

I always feel that going "Okay 1-3 it hits that guy, 4-5 it hits that guy", etc. (generally followed by ("Wait, who was a roll of 3 again?") is rather awkward. It also can be a hassle in larger games with uneven numbers in combat, like with a D10 and 6 combatants, how do you allocate that?

I do like your idea of giving a flat Cover bonus, and only doing fancy stuff on a miss. I feel like a shot that hits should always hit, and shooting into melee and hitting would represent the classic Hollywood scene of someone with a gun nervously trying to aim at two rolling combatants before pegging the right person.

Although I like slick mechanics as much as the next guy, I also like mechanics that help players interact and help create memorable moments. That's why I recommended a roll off style as an option in the Eden Project thread. In the case of Aetherverse each combatant would roll a D10 and add +X where X = number of enemies in combat. Whoever gets higher chooses where to direct the shot. When I visualize people playing through this system I can imagine the cheers of an underdog player who has a +1 mod rolling against someone with a +5 mod and winning. Then the satisfied glee as they direct friendly fire onto their foe.

A simpler idea could be that if the shot misses it hits the CLOSEST target instead, regardless of whether they are friend or foe. That does away with worrying about delegating numbers to mass combats. It also helps facilitate positioning and risk management as a player goes "Well, I couldn't get the enemy closest, so I could try to shoot and maybe hit my own guy...".

You could also do some kind of competing melee roll on a missed shot where the victor basically uses an enemy of their choice as a human shield against the shot. Very thematic.

Or the simplest approach that if the shot misses, then it misses, no extra effect (I did that for Dinosaur Cowboys and it works fine). The combatants are closer together in melee, but it's not like there are extra rules for a missed ranged shot, even though maybe the bullet deflects or goes wide and hits a further unit. Don't have to have rules for every possible scenario just because it's realistic, after all.

 bosky wrote:
Or the simplest approach that if the shot misses, then it misses, no extra effect (I did that for Dinosaur Cowboys and it works fine). The combatants are closer together in melee, but it's not like there are extra rules for a missed ranged shot, even though maybe the bullet deflects or goes wide and hits a further unit. Don't have to have rules for every possible scenario just because it's realistic, after all.

That might be the way I end up going if I add the rule in. Being a predominately SciFi setting without major GrimDark (except when players want it!) means that "close combat" generally isn't "I want to hit you with my sword" and more "we're all really close together and being particularly careful about taking cover in this close-up firefight". Giving the target a unit a flat cover save and not really doing anything else on a miss is the simplest and quickest solution. I miiiight keep in a bit of the "misses hit" element by saying any roll of a 1 hits your own unit.

Your other suggestions probably don't work for this particular system. The battles aren't as big as 40k, but I still have been trying to keep extra die rolls out of the game. "Roll off" elements, are definitely flavorful and something that I plan to use in a couple of other small-game designs that I've got locked away, but they're not quite something I want to add to AV.

Yeah in the end simple is normally better. Especially in a hi-tech universe where something like this modern day "smart" rifle would be extremely mundane.

With the release of the Personalities and Leaders update it is time for me to start work on the Vehicles update. This is going to be a big part of the 2nd Edition since it adds a new type of model to the game that will use different rules (Personalities essentially acts just like regular units for the most part).

I've got a whole month to work out what direction I want to go with the vehicle rules, so I wanted to open things up to the community to give you folks a chance to help influence them. I've got a couple of possible ideas (one of them involves just treating vehicles as normal models, with wounds and such, that just happen to have a number of special rules attached) but I'd like to see what other people might want to add.

One thing I definitely want to hear about is what you like about how other games handle vehicles. I know the 40K system for them pretty well but I'm not too up on how Dust Tactics (for instance) treats them. Systems like Flame of War or Dropzone Commander, where you potentially have dozens of them running around, might not be the best example to follow but would be worth hearing about, too.

Finally, it is important to note that, as with any other case of offering suggestions, by doing so you're giving me permission to use your suggestion(s) without expectation of credit or reward. I'll try to give thanks where I can, but in an annoying legal sense there's no obligation that I do so.

Thanks, all. Your commentary or feedback is welcome either in this thread or over at the TiSpork forums.

I think the answer depends on what feel you want for vehicles. Do you want nitty gritty low level tracking of mechanical failure? Do you want them to be big models that carry stuff and otherwise don't act much different? Do you want them to move uniquely with skidding and mandatory momentum?
Basically should they be a focus or not? How many vehicles do you see per side at once?

Some people seemed to love the 40k 2nd edition "Vehicle Cards" approach, where each vehicle had a unique critical hit table and so on.

I like more complex maneuvering, but that can get a bit finnicky depending on the size of the game and number of vehicles. Something like Car Wars with it's "turning key" or Firestorm Armada with it's 45 degree angles.

 bosky wrote:
I think the answer depends on what feel you want for vehicles. Do you want nitty gritty low level tracking of mechanical failure? Do you want them to be big models that carry stuff and otherwise don't act much different? Do you want them to move uniquely with skidding and mandatory momentum?
Basically should they be a focus or not? How many vehicles do you see per side at once?

Some people seemed to love the 40k 2nd edition "Vehicle Cards" approach, where each vehicle had a unique critical hit table and so on.

I like more complex maneuvering, but that can get a bit finnicky depending on the size of the game and number of vehicles. Something like Car Wars with it's "turning key" or Firestorm Armada with it's 45 degree angles.

As much as I hate to say it, something like 40K is kind of what I envision for the rules. Vehicles will be low in number (1 or 2 per side, really, at a maximum). On the whole I don't want very much data tracking in AV, other than "wounds" or wound equivalents. Similary, things like momentum, skidding, and mechanical/damage tracking is something that I think belongs better in a game that's more vehicle- or Mech-centered (Warmachine, Mechwarrior, even a Flames of War-level game) and I'd love to develop one some day, but it's not right for AV.

What I'm leaning towards right now is that vehicles will have a profile just like any other (though STR, CON, MOR, and PRE will be irrelevant) along with an Armor Value that's roughly equivalent to a normal model's Wound Level (CON+Armor) and that can max out at 20 (just like a normal WL). Beyond that there are a couple of options that seem to carry equal weight.

Option 1 (the easy, quick option):
-The Vehicle's Armor is reduced by an amount equal to the amount you beat it by (if you get a d10+DAM total of 17 vs. an Armor 15 vehicle, it loses 2 points of Armor). Equalling their armor has a 50/50 chance to reduce it by a point.
-Vehicles whose armor is reduced to (less than ten, or zero) are destroyed

Option 2 (the Aetherverse 1st Edition version):
-There is a damage table, though rather than rolling on it you just get a result determined by how much you beat the vehicles armor by

Option 3 (combine the two; involves a decent bit of bookkeeping since you have to track armor reduction AND damage table results):
-There is a table, result determined by beating the armor
-The vehicle's armor is reduced by a point for each point you beat it by

The table could be by how much you beat the armor by, for example

tied- must take skill/ morale check or become impaired temporarily
1 over- impaired temporarily
2 over lose shooting of weapon or throw a track
3 over lose all functions for a turn, impaired with aiming or moving permanently

And you can change this around for different vehicles, making some more succeptable to throwing a track, or having ammo go off!

And you have to roll a die to see if it loses hull points or explodes

tied- 6 it loses a hull point
1 over 3+ loses a hullpoint 5+ explodes
2 over 2+loses a hullpoint 4+ explodes
3 loses a hullpoint 3+ explodes

You can use these ideas, but in no way have ownership over them OP

The first edition had a table based on exceeding the TN, yeah. It would be interesting to add a die roll on top of that, as you suggest, though. It will definitely be something I consider.

I have completed the draft Vehicle Rules for Aetherverse 2nd Edition and have released them for feedback. You can download the file here. These rules will be incorporated into the Alpha Release rules next Wednesday.

In addition, the following rule change has been made (also going into effect next week):
Elite/Support ratio changed to 1/2 unit per Basic Unit, respectively

In the end, I went with my option 3 (there is a damage table, with the result determined by how much you beat the Armor by, and the armor is then reduced by the same amount).

I've made a few updates to the vehicle rules based on feedback from the TiSpork forums.

Post with the link is here.

v3 of the vehicle draft rules are now available!

(Crosspost from N+R) As scheduled, version 1.03 (the Vehicles Update) is now live. Download Link.

This update brings rules for fielding vehicles of all types into the game: everything from lumbering beasts loaded with troops to armored personnel carriers to massive 4-legged walkers to nimble hovering tanks bristling with firepower. The rules for fielding these machines (and creatures!) as well as the means by which you can create them are included in this latest update.

With the Vehicle Rules complete, this leaves only two more major updates of the rules remaining. Next month will see the Aircraft and Artillery release, and finally in September we will release the Magic and Mutation update. Once these two updates are complete, Aetherverse 2nd Edition will be finished and we will begin the process of looking forward to an official publication of a true rulebook.

As usual, thanks for your continued support, and please spread the word! We had some great feedback (both at TiSpork and here) to help make a quality vehicle release, and more people talking about the game will help us make it even better going forward.

More information about the game can be found at the Aetherverse Page on the site.

In case anybody was visiting the website and getting turned off by the horrible load times of the front page, the issues have been fixed. We were getting slowed down by some Facebook API changes; updating to the new stuff has solved the issues and the page loads quickly now.