Aether Captains
Overview
A solo dice game set in a steampunk world where you captain a zeppelin in aerial combat over the skies of Arkady’s Grand Compact. You must manage your airship’s systems while battling enemy forces. The game features dice allocation mechanics where you assign dice to different ship stations (weapons, engines, repairs) to fight threats and survive encounters.
Components
- Ship board/card showing zeppelin stations
- Custom dice
- Enemy cards/tokens
- Damage tracking components
- Rules sheet
Setup
Place the ship board in front of you. Set up the initial encounter and prepare the dice pool. Track your starting hull/damage values.
Turn Structure
Each turn:
- Roll dice: Roll your available dice pool.
- Allocate dice: Assign dice to ship stations (weapons, movement, repairs, etc.).
- Resolve actions: Execute each station’s action based on allocated dice.
- Enemy phase: Enemies attack and advance.
- Check conditions: Determine if game continues.
Actions
Ship Stations
- Weapons: Attack enemy units. Higher dice values deal more damage.
- Engines: Move and maneuver your zeppelin. Affects positioning.
- Repairs: Fix damage to your airship. Essential for survival.
- Special systems: Various steampunk devices with unique effects.
Combat
Damage is dealt based on dice values allocated to weapons. Enemies have health values that must be reduced to zero. Your zeppelin takes damage from enemy attacks, tracked on the hull.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
Win by completing the scenario objective (typically destroying all enemies or surviving a set number of rounds). Lose if your zeppelin’s hull is destroyed.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
- Dice allocation creates tension between offense, defense, and repair.
- Some dice results may trigger special events.
- The steampunk theme includes unique technology-based abilities.
- Solo-only game designed for quick play sessions.
Player Reference
Turn Sequence
- Roll dice
- Allocate to stations
- Resolve actions
- Enemy phase
- Check victory/defeat conditions