Gaming

Getting weary of the same old elves and dwarves of fantasy? Like science fiction, but it's become a little overdone for you? Not a huge fan of modern roleplaying when you've been doing it all your life? Well, good chap, welcome to Tephra.

Steam, wild gizmos, hulking automatons controlled by advanced brainworks, bio-engineered abominations, chainsaw swords, locomotives and elegant airships - let me introduce you to steampunk, a time ruled by intelligent industry, vests, top hats, and corsets. A time where adventure was one dirigible's ride away, and gentlemanly duty was society's norm. Welcome to Tephra, a steam-powered world, where fantasy meets science fiction, all pounded together into a pre-industrial technological boom.

Tephra is an evolutionary tabletop roleplaying experience, built by gamers who enjoy an easy-to-learn system with unlimited options. You'll feel at home in our easy to use system, with just one die (a twelve-sider), over 400 different character abilities, and a seemingly infinite amount of character combinations. Gone are the specific classes of many systems - in are a massive numbers of skills for you to specialize in. To top it all off, everything's available from level 1, and it only gets better.

Then delve into our rich and easy crafting system. Customize your razor-edged, chainsawing claymore or your electrified, steam-powered longrifle to your heart's content. And it doesn't stop at weapons - you can build an entire automaton, customizing its body, the way it thinks, the weapon's it uses, and how it functions, and, when you're done with that one, build another! And steampunk wouldn't be complete with airships, dirigibles, and locomotives. And, of course, you can build them all! Customize your train so that it has a deployable helium-filled envelope, is entirely amphibious, has magnetech cannons lining its side, and has a roaring engine that nobody can out pace. And that's just the beginning.

From our easy character creation system to our intuitive and high-movement combat rules, to our enormous array of character abilities, Tephra will leave you building, creating, and dreaming until your friends start wondering about that new handlebar mustache you're sporting. This is steampunk - the

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"Listen closely, my newfound god. Before you begin your journey you should know the following information. You will be tested sorely in the Known World where rival gods, leviathans, elder gods, and demons abound. Drape yourself in these kernels of truth."

New gods serving humanity come from many types of backgrounds. Some spontaneously form out of nothingness through the worship of a family group or a village. Others were once members of a tribe who continue to take care of their kinsmen even after death. In some cases, a wayward demon—a soul without the taste of mortality—finds followers and begins the path towards godhood.

However the gods arrive at their current status, the moment they walk into the Celestial Gardens they know they are not alone. Fate, the cloaked figure that aided the journey, provides the first key pieces of information:

• The mortal realm is called the Known World and it has been around longer than the new gods can imagine.
• There are elder races, elder gods, demons, minor races, Leviathans, and a myriad of other beings they can only begin to imagine.
• Most of these entities are hostile. The elder races see humanity as a newer, younger, and not necessarily welcome race. Many of their gods view the new gods as usurpers of their resources and territory.

The new gods will meet many of these entities in the Celestial Gardens of Fate. Those who are welcoming readily pass on gossip and knowledge of "how things work."

Here is what the new gods first learn of their existence:

• The Creator arranged the universe and created the Well of Souls and the Known World; there is much more out there beyond the Abyss.
• Mankind has only been around for centuries; there are elder race cities older than the existence of man. The gods of the elder races have no problems reminding you of this fact.
• Some of the older human gods participated in a battle against the leviathans and were key players in defeating the menace. Thus the elder gods begrudgingly allow the new gods to sit in at some meetings and don't seek to immediately wipe them from the face of existence.
• Among the elder gods there are feuds going back thousands of years.
• Each of the elder races will claim they came first, or say nothing at all.
• The new gods know that there have been many human gods before them who have disappeared after only a season or two.
• As a god, followers are critical to survival. They give the gods Belief which enables the casting of miracles. Lose followers, and the gods lose everything.
• To the other human gods, new gods are considered both an ally and competition.

About Demons, Wraiths and Ancestral Spirits

In the Known World there are several types of souls the new gods will meet on their travels.

Demons are souls who escaped from the Well of Souls before they could be born into a mortal body. Demons have esoteric knowledge gained from their travels to the Known World and are amoral in their views of the world.

Wraiths or raging souls are cursed spirits who were angry in life, died a horrible death and have no afterlife waiting for them. These foul souls usually haunt the living and eventually turn into Leviathans.

Ancestral Spirits are usually elders of a tribe or leaders of some sort during their journey in life. After death they are venerated, some to the point of achieving godhood.

The Truth About Leviathans

The cursed creatures known as Leviathans bring forth Terror to the land of the living, feeding off the misery they cause. Leviathans come in many forms, some as beasts, others as great wizards or necromancers, a few manage to become the land itself. All of them have the same objective, to cause Terror in all living creatures and feed off of it. This Terror works similar to Belief for they may create miracles from Terror as a god uses Belief. To defeat a Leviathan, one must be strong and cunning or else suffer the loss of your tribe.