![Aetherine Skies, 1793 [D&D 5.5E Lvl 2-20 Sky-Piracy Freedom]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fspg-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com%2F6418469c-e92d-4973-b40b-fd0a991d0d82&w=3840&q=75)
Aetherine Skies, 1793 [D&D 5.5E Lvl 2-20 Sky-Piracy Freedom]
Become sky pirates, far-flung explorers and revolutionaries in a boundless adventure through the clouds! The heavens await!
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Wednesday - 10:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 3–4 hours
Campaign Length / 40+ Sessions
1 / 6 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
For players who thrill to the rush of sky piracy, the cunning of corporate espionage, and the labyrinthine webs of imperial intrigue, this campaign suits swashbuckling rogues, visionary alchemists, and rebellious outcasts alike. In the ethereal heights where mist-shrouded skies conceal ancient secrets, Aetherine Skies invites daring souls to boundless adventure! 💨✨ Aetherine is a mystical substance harvested from deep earthen veins in its raw, rock-like form or as volatile liquid vapours, refined through thaumaturgic rituals and magnetised to grant ethereal lift to vessels that dance among the clouds. For one hundred years, the Highspire Empire has risen on its power, forging floating citadels and armadas that dominate the heavens. But 5 years ago was the Year the Sky Broke Open, and the secrets behind the Empire's airships have been revealed, and pirates rule the skies! Venture into imperial heartlands rife with courtly schemes, where princely councils and gilded magnates vie for control of Aetherine monopolies, or slip into the lawless Cloud Reaches — vast, untracked wildernesses teeming with pirate havens, fractured realms, and the forgotten ruins of previous ages (and empires). Whether you're chasing epic aerial duels or after tales of the forbidden arts, here you can be sky captains raiding uncharted expanses, spies unravelling monopolistic plots and explorers venturing beyond the Empire's grasp. With high-flying heists, moral crossroads, shadowy factions, mystical plunder and new horizons, the heavens await! Will you seize their infinite promise, or fall to their treacherous depths?
Game style
Hexcrawl / Exploration
Combat Heavy
Roleplay Heavy
Sandbox / Open World
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(12)
1 year on StartPlaying
59 games hosted
Highly rated for: World Builder, Creativity, Storytelling
Average response time: 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
Hullo, I'm L Sunborn, British GM — it's a pleasure! PASSION is where I'm at right now. This is not only some of the most fun a person can have, it's also really important to where we are as a species. Sure, it's a window into the unknown and unfamiliar, but its real PSYCHIC BOON is how much you can learn about yourself and the people you're playing with. A writer since birth (moving gradually through fantasy/alt history/post-modern romance/pulp fiction/sci-fi), I took instantly to GMing. Being able to immerse others in such a direct and collaborative was a BREATH. After six years running games in person and online with local and worldwide friends, I became a dad, and then more of us became parents, and it became very difficult to schedule games. But NOW I find out there's a way to do what I love (and am very good at, promise!) while getting a bit of nappy/diaper pocket money? Sign me up!
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
A week before the first session, we'll have a laidback Session 0 so you can create your characters with a bit of information about the setting. But there's no harm in preparing! The setting is eclectic and at the moment is painted with broad strokes, so it'll accommodate aaalmost any idea you have. For now, we'll stick to the D&D Beyond character creation, using 2024 species, backgrounds and classes. If you have your heart set on a bit of homebrew, you can ALWAYS run it by me!
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You will need a working mic, Discord and a D&D Beyond account. Owlbear doesn't need an account and works grand on most devices. If you're not too experienced playing D&D, don't fret, I'm very good at helping new players!
What L Sunborn Games brings to the table
A coherent but flexible player-driven world. This means it's built and amended around the decisions you make and everything that you are interested in, and that it functions in reaction to your passions and convictions. I'm very comfortable with sudden shifts and thinking on the fly! The world, as a hex grid world map, is a massive landmass centred on the Highspire Empire, surrounded by a dense fog bank, and small duchies past that. We have a D&D Beyond campaign for everyone's character. We use Owlbear maps with custom tokens for hex exploration and combat, and voice chat on Discord with ambient/atmospheric music. I'll also provide character voices galore! At the end of each session, I sketch out the main beats of the session while it's fresh it everyone's memory, then before the next session (usually Monday), I do a proper write-up that everyone can collaborate on and will be used to introduce the next session. Combat will be pretty challenging, but always gauged by your interest in it, and against lore-driven enemies — many homebrew, but also making sure you all get to fight all the classics.
Homebrew rules
Many, but none too controversial! It's all the greatest hits (potion as a bonus, improved critical hits, secret death saves), as well as a bunch of custom-made mechanics arising from the gameplay of the players (random encounters, journeying, crafting, hireling training, and many more). With everything else, they're collaborative — I'll always be happy for critique and to make sure to bounce off you. You can read here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tg4JD95gbRCLGv0x1O4J4h-oM6tk9nDl3HwrnDrGfgg/edit?usp=drivesdk
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How L Sunborn Games creates a safe table
The Session 0 will be set up as a character creation session and "mood board" rundown for anyone who joins. At any time you can let me know about lines and veils and I'll stick to 'em religiously. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. The content/trigger warnings below are not exhaustive. Basically, let your mind delve into tropes of sky pirate adventures in a corrupt and exploitative empire, and we'll probably get there at some point. HOWEVER there will be no majorly problematic content or themes, nothing outright abusive or discriminatory -- if you have a concern, shoot me a line or veil.
Content warnings
Safety tools used