Rulesets

***NOTICE: This article deals with game mechanics rather than with Aeldrum lore. More complete and up-to-date documentation of game mechanics and rulesets can be found here.***

Campaigns and one-shots in the Aeldrum Setting have used multiple rulesets, representing the evolution of the system needs of the setting. The rulesets used are enumerated below in chronological order of introduction:

1. Early Threeverwood Homebrew: the first Aeldrum campaigns (Aeldrum, Shambler, Abortive Expedition and Skinchanger) were run on a modified D&D 3.5e ruleset, which used a single generic class with flexible features (e.g. players picked saving throw allocations and could emulate many non-magical class features from D&D 3.5 SRD) (core system features written by Christophe, further developed with feedback from Tom, Andersen, Karl)
2. Threeverwood Homebrew v1: the first formally written homebrew ruleset used in Aeldrum, the Threeverwood Homebrew v1 eliminated the last prescriptive structures of the generic class system in favor of a character-point based system for fully flexible character creation. Homebrew v1 also marked the introduction of the Background Points system as a formal tradeoff between character flaws and assets. Outside of character creation and the adoption of a Wound Table, the system largely preserved core d20 mechanics from D&D 3.5 SRD and the open-source d20 system. (written by Christophe to debut in Weird West Campaign (non-Aeldrum), then Expedition Campaign (Aeldrum), with periodic feedback from Tom and Andersen)
3. Songs of the Pantheon War: a modification of the Polaris system for collaborative narrations of legendary deeds in the Pantheon War Era (modifications from Polaris by Tom, debuted in Legends of the Pantheon War). The system featured additional mechanics for "lore-checking" major narrative arcs or story details, and some changes to the order of operations.
4. Threeverwood Homebrew v2: the successor to the v1 rules, the Threeverwood Homebrew v2 rescaled the character-point system for further flexibility and introduced generic special ability templates to create a wide variety of special abilities to suit different character builds. The system objective of v2 in relation to v1 was maximum flexibility and a reduction of "bespoke" character features for specific applications (e.g. combat). The v2 rules also deviated more substantially from SRD d20 mechanics and consisted of a fully self-contained mechanical system (unlike v1 which assumed core d20 mechanics to be in effect and offloaded their enumeration): major changes affected combat, including altering the structure of action economy to a more generic "fractional action" system (as opposed to move/standard/full action), making combat capabilities skill-based (eliminating Base Attack Bonus and related concepts) and scaling damage with the degree to which a character's attack exceeds a target's defense (replacing weapon critical range with weapon-specific damage scaling rules). General changes included the incorporation of degrees of success into skill checks, extended rules for character assistance during skill checks, cost-scaling for skill ranks, and standardization of "resiliencies" such as hit points and sanity points. The v2 rules went through two substantial iterations, first following the Kill Sigvald adventure and then after the Gangster campaign, focused mostly on skill-scaling and degree of success mechanics (written by Christophe to debut in the Kill Sigvald Campaign, with feedback from Tom, Seth, Logan and Lux).
5. Despots & Diplomats: drawing on the lessons of the Threeverwood v1 system applied to the Spires/Legacy War Campaigns (e.g. characters with hundreds of background points), the Despots and Diplomats System represented a total departure from d20 mechanics in favor of using variation in dice type as a denominator of character ability. The system's objective was to rescale from the tactical and party-scale rules of the then-incumbent v2 system to support a much larger player base dealing with highly aggregate phenomena and actions for a Grand Strategy scale (e.g. commanding an army or reforming an economy). The system features semi-structured order templates to improve DM time-to-execute while preserving player flexibility to act in highly open-ended conditions (e.g. national policymaking). The system changed the emphasis of character traits, for instance by collapsing physical characteristics into one attribute while breaking out cognitive attributes into further detail (e.g. charisma becoming a) charm and b) magnetism). (written by Christophe for the Grand Strategy Campaign, applied in modified format to the Pantheon War Campaign to simulate "high power" engagements aggregated above v2 scale)