I started working on Crucible of Aether a literal decade ago, back when I was just a kid working at a comic store in Bryn Mawr. In those days, Pathfinder reigned supreme, riding the coattail of the unpopularity of D&D 4e. That game was everything a young 19-year-old me could have wanted: mountains of content, many complex and often simulationist systems, and a huge fleshed-out world. Of course, PF was far from the only popular game at the time. Call of Cthulhu, the host of 40k games, and Iron Kingdoms were actively played in my store. I saw so many games with such fantastic worlds and complex systems and really wanted to make something special that could sit alongside those giants. So that's what I set out to do.
During its 10-year dev time though, I shied away from the internet, from global spaces — preferring my local friends and communities. And during that time, so much has changed in the TTRPG space. Hell, when I started writing CoA, terms like "Actual Play or Micro RPG" were not really a thing. People didn't really know who Matt Mercer was. GMless games, the narrative vs. crunch debate... all relatively unknown. I mean... it was a scandal that Pathfinder made their own game from the OGL instead of just making more D&D content... (We were all so ignorant back then)
Now I finally find myself online and in love with all the magical ways this new generation of RPG creators have shaped the culture. I love Micro RPGs... I love seeing games built on other games built on other games built on other games. I love games designed for one-shots. I love games as pure art, as expressions of queerness and rebellion and giving voices to the voiceless...
And I look at Crucible of Aether, my version of the content-heavy, simulationist, big-world games of my teens.. and I just have to say... I am so excited to share it with y'all. Sure, it comes from a very different culture... but this generation has taught me that RPG spaces are an ever-growing conversation. And I think it is time I add to it... I know I will learn a lot in the process, and hell, maybe it'll be nice to add some of these older ideas to the space as well! Love all of you wonderful and creative TTRPG designers, and I am proud to be amongst you!