Aether Captains Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Items Needed
• Components
  • Zeppelin Dice
  • Air Pirate Dice
  • Crew
  • d12
  • Playing Mat
• Initial Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Phase 1: Air Pirate Attack and Your Defense
  • Phase 2: Air Pirate Movement
  • Phase 3: Your Movement or Attack
  • Phase 4: Your Repairs
  • Phase 5: Crew Re-roll
• Expansions
  • Expansion 1: The HMS Dominion
  • Expansion 2: Revenants (Air Pirate Boarding)
  • Expansion 3: Crew Expansion
  • Expansion 4: Corsair Class (The Peakhope)
  • Expansion 5: Air Pirate, The Brass Dagger
• End of Game

Items Needed

• 6 Zeppelin Dice
• 6 Air Pirate Dice
• 1 Crew Die
• 1 D12

Components

Zeppelin Dice

Your zeppelin consists of 6 dice, numbered 1 through 6. There are 4 die faces for each ship section (with 2 faces on the ends showing a cross section through the ship). These ship sections will rotate as your ship takes on damage (indicated by explosion icons). As the dice faces rotate, attack, defense, repair and movement rolls will be harder to make.

Four of your ship sections (marked 1, 2, 4, and 5 in the upper right corner) are gun emplacements and are used to attack the Air Pirates. They are designated with a red circle and a number. Small black squares designate gun ranges used during your attack.

One of your ship sections (marked 3) is the command deck and controls repairs. It is designated with a yellow circle and a number.

One of your ship sections (marked 6) is the engine and is used to move your ship. It is designated with a green circle and a number.

All ship sections also have a blue circle and a number. This is the defense value of each section.

During the course of the game you will be rolling a d12 and checking it against these colored circles with numbers. If the d12 value is higher than the value in the colored circle, your roll is successful. As you will notice, when your ship starts to take on damage, these rolls are increasingly harder to make, though your crew members may offer a bonus to these rolls.

HMS Dauntless zeppelin dice (values as printed). Each row lists the four faces of one die as attack/defense pairs (red attack number, then blue defense number):

Die	Face 1	Face 2	Face 3	Face 4
1	10 / 8	9 / 7	7 / 6	6 / 5
2	8 / 8	7 / 7	6 / 6	5 / 5
3	11 / 7	9 / 6	8 / 6	6 / 5
4	8 / 8	7 / 7	7 / 6	5 / 5
5	10 / 8	9 / 7	7 / 6	6 / 5

Air Pirate Dice

There are 6 types of Air Pirates you may encounter. These will be determined during the initial setup. Each Air Pirate has a red circle and number for its attack value, as well as a set of small black hit point numbers surrounding it. Each Air Pirate also has a red triangle used for initial orientation.

Air Pirate	Attack strength	Hit points of damage
the Zomby Strike (glider)	7	2
the Iron Hammer	4	4
the Skystinger	3	6
the Double Zeppelin	4	8
the Steamraven	7	3
the Pirate Zeppelin	6	4

The hit point faces of each Air Pirate die are printed on the component diagram; the table above gives the attack strength and hit point total stated on each Air Pirate.

Crew

There are 6 types of crew members. Each allows a particular bonus during a round, with the exception of the first round! Air Pirates always start off with a sneak attack, surprising your crew as they come screaming out of the cloudy sky.

• the Captain: +1 to all your attack rolls during phase 3.
• the Lieutenant: allows both a movement and attack in any order during phase 3.
• the Diplomat: prevents one Air Pirate of your choice from attacking during phase 1.
• the Engineer: repair one extra ship section during phase 4 without roll.
• the Steam Welder: +1 to all your defense rolls during phase 1.
• the Able Crew: +1 to movement, or +1 defense, or +1 to attack rolls during phases 1 and 3.

d12

A 12-sided die is used to position the Air Pirates during setup and used to make attack, defense, movement and repair rolls.

Playing Mat

The playing mat shows six positions for the zeppelin dice in a row, with the title artwork.

Initial Setup

Place the 6 ship dice in a column with the 6 numbers in white boxes oriented towards the right, in order top to bottom (marked 1-6). This represents your zeppelin.

Roll the 6 Air Pirate dice to see what squadron of Air Pirates you will fight.

Next, roll a d12 to position each Air Pirate die. There are 12 possible positions the Air Pirates can strike: 6 portside, 6 starboard.

The upper right side of zeppelin die 1 is position 1, and counting clockwise around the dice faces, the right side of zeppelin die 1 is position 12. (The nose of a zeppelin is heavily armoured against ice and lightning storms, and the engines spit out boiling steam and red hot coal dust. Both make for poor targets for Air Pirates.)

Roll the d12 and position the Air Pirate dice, one by one, with the red triangle facing your zeppelin. During this part of the setup several Air Pirates may be attacking from the same position. If this is the case, stack the Air Pirate dice behind each other in a horizontal row. These positions will be important later for gun ranges.

Playing the Game

A round consists of 5 phases:

1. Air Pirate attack and your defense
2. Air Pirate movement
3. Your movement or attack
4. Your repairs
5. Crew re-roll

Phase 1: Air Pirate Attack and Your Defense

The villainous Air Pirates attack first during the round. Air Pirates always attack the section of the ship they are facing (to their left or right). Air Pirates stacked next to each other also make an attack to the adjacent ship section. The Diplomat allows you to choose one Air Pirate who will not attack during this round.

Roll the d12 for each Air Pirate, going clockwise one by one around the zeppelin, and check the value against the attack number of the Air Pirate (the number inside the red circle). If it is lower than this red number, or a tie, it is not a successful attack. If it is higher, the attack is successful and you will roll a d12 again for the particular ship section needed to be defended.

The Steam Welder allows a +1 bonus to this die roll, or the Able Crew can add a +1 value to this roll if you choose not to use their bonus for attack or movement during phase 3.

If the roll value is higher than the blue defense value, your defenses hold and no damage is incurred. If the roll value is less than or equal to the blue defense number, your defense has failed. Rotate the die one quarter turn to the next die face to show the new damage the ship has taken. (You can always check which face to rotate to by the number of explosions indicated. If one explosion is showing, rotate the die to 2 explosions, etc.) If black crosses are revealed on 4 ship sections, the game is over and you have lost.

Phase 2: Air Pirate Movement

Starting clockwise, roll the d12 for each remaining Air Pirate.

• If the value is 1-4, move that Air Pirate one dice position counterclockwise (i.e. 5 to 4, 1 to 12, 7 to 6).
• If the value is 5-8, the Air Pirate stays where it is.
• If the value is 9-12, move that Air Pirate one dice position clockwise (i.e. 4 to 5, 12 to 1, 6 to 7).

If one or more Air Pirates are already occupying the space, stack the new Air Pirate on the outer end of the row.

Phase 3: Your Movement or Attack

You may now decide to move your ship or attack the Air Pirates. You may not do both during this phase unless indicated by the Lieutenant.

Moving allows you to bring your guns into range or to fly damaged ship sections out of range of an Air Pirate's attack. You may not move beyond the adjacency of any Air Pirate die.

If you decide to move, roll a d12. If the value is higher than the number in the green circle on ship section 6, you may move your entire ship up or down one die position of your choice. The Able Crew can add a +1 value to this roll if you choose not to use their bonus for defense or attack.

If you decide to attack, roll a d12 for each gun emplacement. Each gun emplacement has a set of black squares on ship sections 1, 2, 4 and 5; there will be 1, 2 or 3 black squares.

The set of black squares indicates the range of the guns. 3 squares means that gun has a range of 3 die spaces, either up and down along the sides of your zeppelin or outward to an Air Pirate's die position. Each gun fires only once during a round, but multiple guns may be used to attack the same Air Pirate target. The Captain can add a +1 to your attack roll, or the Able Crew can add a +1 value to this roll if you choose not to use their bonus for defense or movement. Compare this d12 value to the red number indicated on the ship section operating the gun to see if it is successful.

Port guns can only reach Air Pirates on the port side, and starboard guns can only reach those Air Pirates on the starboard side. As your ship takes on damage you will notice the gun range decreases, and you may also lose a gun completely on one side of your ship.

If your attack is successful against an Air Pirate, roll a d12 and divide by 3, rounding down, for your damage value for that gun's attack. Rotate the Air Pirate die clockwise to the next lowest hit point number, one point for each point of damage you have given to the Air Pirate. (When first positioning your enemy craft, you will have oriented the red triangle so that it points towards your zeppelin, showing the highest hit point value.) If the Air Pirate's hit points go below 1, that craft has been destroyed and your job has gotten a bit easier. If multiple Air Pirates are stacked adjacent to each other when this occurs, move the next Air Pirate so it is adjacent to your zeppelin.

Phase 4: Your Repairs

You may now try to repair one damaged section of your ship.

Roll the d12. If this value is higher than the number in the yellow circle on ship section 3, you may rotate a section of your ship of your choice up one damage level (i.e. 2 explosions to 1 explosion, etc.), repairing it. The Engineer allows you to repair one additional ship section of your choice during this phase without having to roll for the repair number.

Phase 5: Crew Re-roll

Roll the crew die to see what crew member can offer bonuses next round.

Repeat the phases of each round in order until you destroy all the Air Pirates or die valiantly in the attempt. Good luck!

Expansions

Expansion 1: The HMS Dominion

The HMS Dominion is a fast attack armoured zeppelin. The page prints its six ship section dice as attack/defense pairs (red attack number, then blue defense number), with the same layout as the HMS Dauntless:

Die	Face 1	Face 2	Face 3	Face 4
1 (nose)	10 / 9	9 / 7	7 / 7	6 / 5
2	11 / 9	6 / 8	5 / 7	4 / 5
3	10 / 10	9 / 9	6 / 6	4 / 4
4	10 / 9	9 / 8	6 / 6	4 / 4
5	11 / 10	10 / 8	8 / 6	7 / 5

The page gives no separate rules text for this ship beyond its dice.

Expansion 2: Revenants (Air Pirate Boarding)

Revenants, rumoured to be the souls and broken bodies of tortured Air Pirate prisoners trapped within automated fighting mannikins constructed of iron and brass, are boarding parties that attack ship sections, crippling their effectiveness until dealt with.

After a successful Air Pirate attack and subsequent first defense roll for damage, make a second defense roll. If the roll value is less than or equal to the blue defense number, that ship section has been boarded by Revenants, villainous pirate raiding teams. Place a Revenant Marker on top of that ship section. Until the next Air Pirate attack round (phase 1), that section is busy repelling boarders, and no attacks, movement or repairs rolls can be made by you for that section. Continue to phase 2: Air Pirate movement.

At the beginning of the next phase 1, remove all Revenant Markers.

Expansion 3: Crew Expansion

The Crew Expansion adds six crew members, with a Crew Expansion Die:

• the Gunnery Officer: years of battle experience. +1 to all your attack rolls during phase 3.
• the Saboteur: enemy spy. -1 to all your rolls for the round.
• the Stoker: boilermaster. +1 to your movement roll during phase 3.
• the Scientist: invents new weapons. All gun ranges raise by one during phase 3.
• Bad Weather: wet gunpowder. All gun ranges lower by one during phase 3.
• the Emperor's Niece: the crew is motivated to protect her from danger. +1 to defense for phase 1.

The page does not print separate instructions for how the Crew Expansion Die is combined with the base Crew Die; the crew effects are transcribed as printed.

Expansion 4: Corsair Class (The Peakhope)

Newsreels in the Kino-bijous have the Empire abuzz with recent developments of His Majesty's Navy concerning a new class of zeppelin, smaller, with our latest technological advancement: forward gun emplacements. These new ships join our honourable fleet to rid our skies of the Air Pirate scourge.

The Corsair class ship is the Peakhope. It has five ship sections, with five section dice (attack/defense pairs, red attack number then blue defense number, as printed):

Die	Face 1	Face 2	Face 3	Face 4
1	9 / 9	8 / 7	6 / 7	6 / 6
2	10 / 9	7 / 8	5 / 7	4 / 6
3	11 / 10	10 / 8	8 / 7	7 / 6
4	10 / 9	7 / 8	6 / 7	4 / 6
5	11 / 9	10 / 8	8 / 7	6 / 6

The page marks a forward gun emplacement on section 1, and labels the Air Pirate positions used during initial setup (positions 1 to 12 around the ship).

Note as printed: because the Peakhope has only 5 ship sections, if 3 are showing black crosses the game is lost. The base rule for a 6-section ship is still 4 black crosses.

Expansion 5: Air Pirate, The Brass Dagger

The rumours are true! Air Pirates have recently begun using a new super-ship, The Brass Dagger, to attack cities along the coastline of the Great Compact. Can the brave men and women of our Emperor's Navy rise to the challenge?

The Brass Dagger is a three-section ship. Its section dice show red attack numbers on each face: section 1 faces 4, 5, 6, 7; section 2 faces 3, 4, 5, 6; section 3 faces 4, 5, 6, 7 (as printed on the layout). Rules for using Expansion 5

Initial Setup. Roll the d12 for the ship's initial 1 to 12 position and place the first ship section, with the red triangle facing your zeppelin, at that position, followed by the other two sections in a column. The Brass Dagger is intended to be a close quarters broadsides strike-boarding ship. Any other Air Pirates will always stack outwards from it during initial setup, as well as in phase 2. This ship replaces two of the base game Air Pirate dice, unless you want a more challenging game. If so, feel free to use all the Air Pirates.

1. Air Pirate attack. Each section of the ship makes one attack on your zeppelin as if it were an individual Air Pirate ship. Use the ship section's red attack numbers for their attack rolls. Only sections touching your zeppelin may make an attack. Revenant expansion rules apply for each section touching your zeppelin during your defense roll as well.

2. Air Pirate movement. Roll the d12 as you normally would for Air Pirate movement, sliding the ship up or down one position or leaving it where it is. If the roll causes The Brass Dagger to move to the other side of your zeppelin, use the first section of the ship for placement. If one or more Air Pirates are already occupying the spaces that will be taken up with The Brass Dagger, stack them outwards from it.

3. Your attack. Your zeppelin guns can attack any section of The Brass Dagger as long as you have range. If an attack is successful, instead of rolling for hit point damage, rotate the ship section to its next damage die face. Each successful attack by you on a section will rotate it only one face. It will take at least 6 successful attacks to defeat The Brass Dagger. If two sections show pirate skulls, you have destroyed the Air Pirate ship.

Note as printed: the Expansion 5 text refers to the ship as "The Brass Dagger" in its heading and most of the rules, but as "The Brass Knife" in phase 3 ("rotate The Brass Knife ship section", "defeat The Brass Knife"). Both names refer to the same ship.

End of Game

Repeat the phases of each round in order until you destroy all the Air Pirates or die valiantly in the attempt. Good luck!