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Kaladesh Overview
A World of Art
Kaladesh is a living work of art – a vibrant, beautiful plane where anything is possible. Optimism, innovation, and the spirit of creativity fuel an intoxicating renaissance of invention and artifice across Kaladesh. Its inhabitants frequently assert that “anything can be built,” and brilliant inventors seem to prove that saying every day.
Clockwork automatons walk the streets, acting as servants and bodyguards, soldiers and sentries, mounts, and even pets. Soaring aeroships provide transport both within and between the cities and villages of the plane, and carry prospectors high into the sky to draw on limitless reserves of magical aether. Intricate and ornate whirling thopters flit over marketplaces, carrying messages, gathering information, and driving away gremlin infestations. Elegant interlocking gear mechanisms raise and lower bridges over canals. Exquisite tools gleam like jewelry, incorporated into the bright and colorful fashions of artisans, prospectors, and inventors alike. In all these fabulous constructions, intricate design and graceful beauty are prized almost as much as efficient function. The artifice that produces these works is viewed as the ultimate form of creative and intellectual expression – both stemming from and further feeding the inventive spirit of the plane.
Kaladesh is bright and hopeful, and its people are inspired. Every invention is an astonishing work of art, holding the potential to dramatically improve quality of life. The natural world mirrors the beauty and harmony of the plane’s cities, with gracefully curving trees, eddying streams, sculpted mountains, and sapphire skies punctuated with brilliant blue streams of aether.
Aether
Kaladesh owes its bright existence to the tangible presence of aether – a raw form of magical energy that fills the space between planes. Aether seeps into Kaladesh, and has become a critical part of the environment as well as the foundation of contemporary civilization. The skies are full of it, the plants and trees bend and twist to be closer to it, and flowing waterways trace patterns beneath it. The ingenious inventor Avaati Vya developed a way to refine volatile aether into a potent and safe fuel, a process that has made all the inventions and contrivances of society possible. For six decades, Kaladesh’s greatest minds have been devising ever more wondrous ways to put aether to use. From aeroships to animal-like constructs, from cogwork trains to musical artifacts, from medical devices to full-body mechanized suits, the creative possibilities are endless.
Aether
Aether in Nature
Most aether on Kaladesh exists in its raw form high in the upper reaches of the aethersphere. Under the right conditions, the brilliant blue substance makes its way down to the world below. When touched by aether, nature reacts. Trunks of trees form horizontal spirals to leach as much power as possible from the gusting winds. Flowers bloom in bucket-shaped blossoms to collect falling aether rain. Mountains are pockmarked with dazzling, luminescent aether gems pounded into their sides by the squalls. And waterways carve paths through the land to reflect the seasonal ebb and flow of aether tides in the skies above.
The wildlife of Kaladesh is affected too, attracted by the magnetic pull of aether. Flocks of birds migrate with it, schools of fish swarm around it, wild beasts battle over the richest deposits, and gremlins consume condensed, nonreactive aether geodes. Creatures such as skywhales, drakes, and high-flying birds have evolved to live in the volatile, energy-rich aethersphere itself, spending their lives basking in its radiance and amassing its magical power.
Aether as an Energy Source
It was always clear to the people of Kaladesh that aether was powerful, but only in the past century have they found reliable ways to collect and use that power. Six decades ago, the world-renowned aetherologist Avaati Vya cracked the aether code. The refinement process she developed separates the charged, energy-rich component of aether from its volatile, reactive component. This allows people to harness the power of aether without risking life and limb.
Mere months after Avaati Vya's first successful refinement, Kaladesh's largest governing organization, known as the Consulate, saw the opportunity to ensure that the power of aether was made accessible to all. The Consulate developed methods for mass production and distribution of refined aether. Safe collection techniques were established, aeroships were commissioned for transportation, and aether pipelines were constructed to carry the refined energy directly to homes.
Much to the pleasure of the consuls, the plane-wide availability of aether spurred what has come to be known as the Great Aether Boom. The people of Kaladesh, many of whom were inventors and craftspeople, now had access to power beyond their dreams. It was a time of frenzied invention, boundless hope, and wondrous celebration. Today, the Consulate continues to encourage the optimistic and creative environment that the Great Aether Boom helped to foster. Kaladesh is a world where anything is possible, everything is buildable, and any problem can be solved by the power of mystical aether.
The Aether Cycle
Since the Great Aether Boom began, artisans, engineers, and architects on Kaladesh have been on a ceaseless spree of invention. This has led to a world where cogwork automatons walk the streets, ornate whirling thopters flit over the marketplaces, animal constructs act as humble companions, and dramatic airships soar through the highest reaches of the aethersphere. Each of these inventions is the product of an innate five-stage process of invention called the Aether Cycle.
• Inspire. Artisans observe patterns in nature shaped by aether and find the inspiration for a new device.
The elves of Kaladesh live in harmony with both nature and technology because they believe that nature inspires technology. In their eyes, each artifact is an expression of natural laws and principles. They are able to inspire others to see this as well, and thus they have become associated with the "inspire" step of the Aether Cycle. They most often supply the essential spark of an idea.
• Innovate. Brilliant inventors hone and refine the design of that device and carry it to ingenious new heights.
The vedalken believe that nothing is perfect, and nothing can ever be perfect—and they rejoice in this. Vedalken see every imperfection as a chance for improvement. They spend countless hours in the pursuit of progress, and thus they are associated with the "innovate" step of the Aether Cycle. They represent the genius brainstorm, the next idea just beyond what's currently possible, and the clever trick that solves the engineering puzzle.
• Build. After the design is complete, hardworking manufacturers build the device, infuse it with aether, and repair and maintain it throughout its lifetime.
For dwarves, there is nothing more worthy of praise than a machine that has stood the test of time. Dwarves are proud of their quality creations, and often speak of them as though they were their children. Dwarves are Kaladesh's tireless workers, and they personify the "build" aspect of the Aether Cycle. They are sticklers for craftsmanship, valuing the durability of a machine over its innovation.
• Liberate. When a device has reached the end of its usefulness, it's dismantled, and the distilled aether inside is liberated from the invention.
The gremlins of Kaladesh are tenacious scavengers with an insatiable appetite for aether. They congregate wherever aether is plentiful, and they stop at nothing to break into supplies of the glowing, blue substance and feed. As a side effect of their extremely messy feeding, much of the aether is liberated back into the environment. Thus gremlins embody the "liberate" step of the Aether Cycle. Their crucial role is often undervalued by the former owners of their meals.
• Reclaim. Finally, the aether recombines with the secondary product of refinement, and it returns to the aethersphere.
The aetherborn are connected to aether in a more intimate manner than any other race on Kaladesh: they are born of it, an unforeseen byproduct of the aether refinement process. Aetherborn are in a constant state of flux, always moving toward a form that can be recycled back into the aethersphere. The "reclaim" step of the Aether Cycle takes place inside an aetherborn's body. It's not a long process. An aetherborn's life span can range from a few months to a few years, and it is the fleeting nature of their existence that defines them. Each moment not spent indulging in fun or pleasure is considered a waste. They enjoy life with a contagious exuberance.
While humans are not innately connected to aether like other Kaladeshi races, they are credited with being among the first to consider the various properties of aether as a cycle. They see the big picture, while other races get caught up in the details. At their best, humans attempt grand and expansive endeavors and become energized by seemingly impossible goals.
The World Itself
Ghirapur, City of Wonders
The largest city on Kaladesh, Ghirapur is a massive cogwork machine that comes alive with the power of aether. The city extends from the port district of Bomat, located at the confluence of Kaladesh's three major rivers, through a multitude of varied and distinct neighborhoods, including the bustling Eleven Bridges market district, the aviaries of Freejam, the metalworking zone of Weldfast, the cosmopolitan greenbelt of Kujar, and the artist colony known as Giants' Walk. Ghirapur was founded on the spirit of invention, and today it is home to the Consulate government, which strives to uphold the founders' principles of optimism, creative freedom, and hope.
Peema, Touched by Aether
Spanning tens of thousands of acres, the wild forest of Peema is home to a population of elves who are deeply connected to the flow of aether. Daily, aether streams dip from the aethersphere to wind through the flora and imbue the fauna. The plants and trees are more vibrant in Peema, and the creatures are stronger, faster, and livelier than their counterparts elsewhere on Kaladesh.
Lathnu, City at the Top of the World
Lathnu is a remote settlement in the far north perched high on the Devra Cliffs; it can only be reached via vertical rail track, or a very long and strenuous climb. Lathnu's economy is based around mining and smelting the metals found in the mountains, which inventors throughout Kaladesh depend on to build their wondrous devices.
Vahd, the Golden Steps
Vahd is an expansive region in the plane of Kaladesh that was once solely devoted to farming. Vahd took on a new identity during the Great Aether Boom, becoming a hub of the aerowright industry. The wheat fields surrounding the villages of Panka, Cambi, and Maranjapur were cleared away to make room for runways, hangars, and workshops, and many farmers trained to become aerowrights and test pilots.
Ghirapur, City of Wonders
Greenwheel
Greenwheel is known for its cluster of garden domes. It is a zone of elvish design and home to the city's foremost experts in horticultural research. The must-see in Greenwheel is the cluster of garden domes. Liberated from the constraints of local weather patterns, these specialized climate-controlled domes allow Consulate researchers to replicate and study biomes from around the world. These meticulously-crafted gardens are populated by amazingly lifelike animal constructs created by the Greenwheel Lifecrafters.
Freejam
Many of the Consulate's most esteemed pilots got their start in the League of Aeronauts, which is headquartered in Freejam, and visitors seeking an adventure can surely find it in this zone of Ghirapur. Upon stepping through the dragon-shaped archway into this hub of aeronautical engineering, one can behold the heights of invention. Sometimes the extremely tall architecture in Freejam can be dizzying, but once acclimated to the raised plazas, plentiful turrets, and rotating platforms, many visitors make a game of seeing how much of the zone they can cross without ever setting foot on the ground. Freejam is also popular for its exquisite street food, whose heat can only be matched by the roaring engines of passing skyships, or the fiery breath of the dragons rumored to nest in the highest towers of the zone.
Eleven Bridges
The bustling market zone of Eleven Bridges is located over the Dukhara Canal. This zone is aptly named for the eleven bridges that crisscross the canal, signifying the eleven original nobles who cooperated to found Ghirapur. The bridges now serve as the city's largest marketplace. Each bridge is host to rows of boutiques, shops, and specialty stores, where visitors can purchase wares from the city's finest inventors, artisans, and crafters. This zone is also home to Aradara Station, Ghirapur's central train terminal, as well as the statuary garden located inside the station's arboretum. Here you can find the carved likenesses of some of the world's most famous inventors who have helped to transform Ghirapur into the City of Wonder. The Bastion of the Honorable, hheadquarters of the Consulate enforcers, is also located here.
Weldfast
Home to some of the most brilliant minds in the city, every facet of Weldfast is a handcrafted work of art. Ghirapur is, and has always been, a city of dreamers; this kind of unbound creativity can blossom thanks to an easily accessible aether reservoir, which can be found in the zone of Weldfast. The inventors of Weldfast sometimes like to show off with flashy displays that might include elemental effects such as sprays of water or crackling fire.
Bomat
The harbor known as Bomat is the port district of Ghirapur. It is located at the confluence of Kaladesh's three major rivers, and is home to a number of traditional sailors, along with being a hub for aeronauts.
Kujar
Kujar is a wealthy, cosmopolitan greenbelt. Every leaf, tree, and building in Kujar has been placed to achieve maximum harmony, in accordance with the elvish philosophy known as the Great Conduit. This zone is home to many of the Consuls themselves.
Giant's Walk
The Giant's Walk is an artist colony. It was designed by the city’s engineers and edificers to include accommodations, including rotating platforms, shifting bridges, and adjustable canal locks, to provide giants a clear and easy pathway during their biannual migration through the city.
More Areas of Note
• Embraal. This is an industrial zone. In Embraal, inventor gangs defend their turf with ingenious devices and brutal weapons.
• Ovalchase Racetrack. Location for one of Ghirapur's timeless traditions: the land-based vehicle races during the Inventors' Fair. Known competing teams: Ground Grinders, Rumble Runners, the Burnouts and the Derby Crows.
• The Consuls' Foundry. This is an aether-powered factory that mass-produces automatons for the consuls. It was once burned down by a renegade mage.
• The Prakhata Nightclub. This is a shady nightclub owned by the aetherborn crime lord Gonti.
• Gupha Penitentiary and Kohali Prison. These prisons are where the Consulate deposit troublemakers and renegades.
• Night Markets. Ghirapur is home to illicit marketplaces with shifting locations, known as Night Markets. If you know who to ask, you can find what you're looking for at any time of the day.
• The Dhund. The hidden city prison and spy central. It runs all under the night markets.
• The Cowl. This is the city's wildest greenbelt. It is a refuge for the renegades.
• The Aetherflux Reservoir. This is the main aether storage facility of Ghirapur. It is a massive tank of aether that looms over the city blocks around it.
The Consulate and Renegades
The Consulate
The city of Ghirapur and the towns and villages of the surrounding region are like an enormous, precise cogwork machine, managed and supported by the Consulate. The eleven consuls and countless bureaucrats who make up the Consulate maintain the order of society and ensure that all its interlocking cogs turn in harmony. An important part of this work, of course, is facilitating the sanctioned distribution of aether and maintaining the aether-powered infrastructure that undergirds civilized life on Kaladesh. The Consulate believes that the wonders and conveniences of an aether-based society should be accessible to all. Thus, the consuls hold that the process of obtaining and distributing aether, as well as the construction and sale of aether-based inventions, must be standardized and regulated.
The Consulate employs hundreds of theorists and engineers to design machines, devices, and infrastructure. True innovations are valued and rewarded. But the value of any invention is tempered by the need to make the conveniences of an aether-driven society available to all citizens. Thus, efficient construction is more important than any artistic expression of individuality, so that inventions can be mass-produced in Consulate foundries and made widely available.
The Renegades
Standing to various degrees in opposition to the Consulate is a disparate group of inventors, tinkers, thieves, and artists collectively designated as “renegades.” By portraying the renegades as a monolithic entity resembling a criminal gang, the Consulate tries to sway public opinion against them. But in reality, the so-called renegades have a wide range of goals and motivations, different methods, and varying degrees of disdain or loathing for the Consulate. The only thing all renegades share is a record of some past subversive activity viewed as criminal action under Consulate law. This “subversion,” though, is often as innocuous as bypassing the strict regulations governing invention and the distribution of aether.
Character Backgrounds
Depending on the theme and flavor of your campaign, player characters might be associated with either the Consulate or the renegades, or they might be independent of both. A character’s background can be a good indication of where their loyalties might lie. The following list includes the default backgrounds and provides a few general ideas for character backgrounds.
• Acolyle. Because religion is not part of everyday life on Kaladesh, this background is not well suited for a Kaladesh campaign.
• Charlatan. Almost by definition, a character who lives by deception is treated as a renegade by the Consulate, whether the character associates with other renegades or not.
• Criminal. Criminals of any stripe are considered renegades under Consulate law. Some characters with this background will be considered criminals as a result of being a renegade (associated with anti-Consulate agitators). Others will be considered renegades by default despite their criminal interests having nothing to do with renegade activity. A character with this background could also be a Consulate spy, perhaps working to infiltrate a renegade group.
• Entertainer. Entertainers have no necessary leanings one way or the other. Popular entertainers on Kaladesh include quicksmiths – who engage in competitions to invent and build devices at a breakneck pace – and racers of wheeled or flying vehicles.
• Folk Hero. A folk hero on Kaladesh is probably a renegade, viewed as heroic because of opposition to some particularly oppressive Consulate policy or decree.
• Guild Artisan. A character with this background is probably a career inventor. A guild artisan might be employed in a Consulate inquirium or be a member of an inventor society—many of which have Consulate loyalty or renegade leanings.
• Hermit. The best reason to become a hermit is to escape from Consulate restrictions, particularly those concerning aether harvesting and refinement. Thus, a character with this background is probably a renegade.
• Noble. This background best represents a bureaucrat associated with the Consulate. However, such a character could easily use their position to secretly aid the renegade cause.
• Outlander. The hinterlands beyond Ghirapur harbor both pro- and anti-Consulate sympathies. But a character from far enough away might have no opinion of the Consulate simply from lack of real knowledge.
• Sage. A sage character is more likely to be associated with a Consulate inquirium than to be self-employed. Some sages are associated with the Aetherological Society, which is fiercely independent from Consulate control but not opposed to Consulate rule.
• Sailor. The harbor district of Ghirapur, called Bomat, is home to a number of traditional sailors. This background might also reflect the life of a skyship pilot – or a pirate of the air. Many pilots are loyal to the Consulate, and some even serve as officers on Consulate vessels. Pirates include both unlicensed aether harvesters and true pirates who steal from other aeroships.
• Soldier. Most characters with this background are connected to the Honorable – the military watch of Ghirapur – and are thus closely tied to the Consulate.
• Urchin. Most urchins have no close ties to the Consulate, and life on the streets leads easily to renegade activity such as aether smuggling or petty theft.
Inventor Societies
League of Aeronauts
The League of Aeronauts is the first, and most esteemed, aeronaut society in Ghirapur. While there is a certain degree of kinship among all aeronauts, the League's rituals and traditions set them apart from other societies, and membership is by invitation only. All League members wear green coats embroidered in orange and adorned with the badge of the ten-bladed propeller.
The Derby Crows
"The Crows will show" is the unofficial motto of a small but notorious aeronaut society that never misses a chance to compete in a sky derby. The Derby Crows have only a handful of members and only three aeroships between them. Nevertheless, they are regarded as some of the most talented pilots in Ghirapur.
The Glint-Sleeves
One of several societies that create wearable artifice, the Glint-Sleeves have made a name for themselves by focusing on devices that fit over the wearer's arms and hands. The Glint-Sleeves are mostly gearcrafters and foundry workers who share a passion for building custom pieces designed to solve a particular challenge.
The Scrappers
The Scrappers gather for one reason only: to pit their fighting automatons against each other. Though they're a little rough around the edges, the Scrappers are surprisingly meticulous in their designs, constantly looking to refine and modify their automatons to maximize any advantage. The automatons are treated more like prizefighters than mere machines, and some even gain a degree of celebrity around the city.
The Countless Gears
If a machine requires a loupe and tweezers to build, then the inventors of the Countless Gears are interested. The spirited and enthusiastic members of this society have a deep fascination with micro-scale artifice. To them, compactness is a sign of mastery. They're responsible for crafting the smallest automatons and thopters found on Kaladesh, along with miniature sculptures that require a magnifying glass to see.
Ground Grinders
One of the many societies founded around the sport of racing, the Ground Grinders tweak and race any vehicle that rolls, crawls, or walks. The society claims a handful of workshops along the perimeter of Ovalchase racetrack in Ghirapur, and it's the most medaled society of its kind.
Greenwheel Lifecrafters
While most Kaladeshi artificers take inspiration from natural forms, some go so far as to try to duplicate the original exactly. The Greenwheel Lifecrafters build automatons that are perfect models of creatures found on the plane—but usually on a massive scale. The constructs move as their wild equivalents do; lumbering rhinos, prancing camels, and trotting horses roam the streets of Ghirapur.
The Metalspinners
The Metalspinners are a temperamental group of artists from the Weldfast zone who specialize in kinetic sculptures and rogue artwork, which they display in the streets. They display their unique works in public as a means to overtly rebel against conformity, using aether to shape metals into massive sculptures that are as functional as they are beautiful. The Metalspinners delight in the beauty and danger of their craft, and they proudly bear the scars of both fire and aether burns.
Invention and Magic
Invention
Invention and artifice are the cornerstones of life and culture on Kaladesh. Inventors are significant cultural figures, from the invisible functionaries creating the conveniences of civilized life in the Consulate’s foundries, to the renowned free artisans who attract groups of admirers when they walk the streets of Ghirapur. Societies of inventors and artisans are a key social unit, uniting people who share similar interests, and providing the basis for social interaction and the exchange of ideas.
Magic
Mages who can cast actual spells – without the assistance of aether-powered devices – are a rarity on Kaladesh. Under the Consulate’s rule, mages have always been regarded as dangerous and unstable, to the point that a special Consulate force is tasked with protecting the world from them. Led by Inspector-General Baral, this force seeks mages out, learns their secrets, disrupts their plans, and brings them to justice for their crimes – whether actual or potential.
Character Classes
Because actual spellcasting ability is rare on Kaladesh, the nature of classes available to characters is slightly different. At the same time, though, you should feel free to alter or ignore class descriptions to suit your character and your particular vision of Kaladesh: although your character might statistically be a wizard, they might instead be a gadgeteer whose magic comes from their aether-powered artifacts. The Fire Bolt cantrip might actually be a gun, for example, while Detect Magic might be a monocle which highlights aether. Work with your DM to reflavor spells and abilities to account for the nature of magic in Kaladesh.
• Artificer. Artificers are incredibly common in Kaladesh, and to some degree represent the primary driving force of development in society. Keep in mind that invention on Kaladesh is fundamentally democratic – it’s a skill anyone can learn, and it shouldn’t be restricted to a single character within a group. Anyone can be an inventor regardless of whether they are statistically an artificer.
• Barbarian. Barbarians might be found in the outland regions, beyond even Peema and Lathnu. Such characters would likely seem out of place in Ghirapur – but that can be an excellent opportunity for character development. An elf barbarian (probably a member of the Tirahar, who forsake the aether-based technology of the city folk) might be a particularly appropriate choice. However, you could also play a barbarian whose supernatural rage comes from an infusion of aether-based steroids, for example.
• Bard. Bards on Kaladesh would probably be seen as a particular form of mage. As such, they would be subject to the persecution of the Consulate. However, you could also play a bard whose inspirational magic comes from an aether-boosted musical instrument, for example.
• Cleric. Traditional clerics do not exist on Kaladesh. Religion is not a significant force in the lives of the plane’s people, and magic derived from the power of the gods is unknown. However, you could also play a cleric whose holy abilities simply resemble divine magic, but are actually granted by technology.
• Druid. Druids on Kaladesh are elves who harness the power of the Great Conduit to create magical effects. Non-elves generally can’t be druids. However, you could also play a druid of any race whose natural abilities simply resemble nature magic, but are actually granted by technology. Wild Shape is essentially unknown in Kaladesh, so work with your DM to determine the way this feature would work for you.
• Fighter. Fighters are common on Kaladesh. Fighters might be Consulate enforcers, renegade skirmishers, or ordinary (if hardy) citizens. Actual eldritch knights would be persecuted as mages, although you could also play an eldritch knight whose physical prowess is augmented by aether-powered gadgets rather than true arcane magic.
• Monk. Monks are unknown on Kaladesh due to the absence of religion, unless you want to create a monastic order found in one of the remote regions of the plane. However, you could also play an aetherborn monk whose ki powers come from a brief lifetime of training to master their own innate aether, for example.
• Paladin. Paladins are unknown for the same reasons as clerics. It might be possible for a warrior to derive magical power from the strength of devotion to an oath, but such a character would probably be viewed as a mage. However, you could also play a paladin whose holy abilities simply resemble divine magic, but are actually granted by technology.
• Ranger. Rangers, like druids, must be elves. However, you could also play a ranger of any race whose natural abilities simply resemble nature magic, but are actually granted by technology.
• Rogue. Rogues are common, but most rogues are renegades, in the sense that they live on the wrong side of the law for a wide variety of reasons. Arcane tricksters would be persecuted as mages, although you could also play an arcane trickster whose skills of stealth and thievery are augmented by aether-powered gadgets rather than true arcane magic.
• Sorcerer. Sorcerers are the most common form of mage on Kaladesh, and are frequently hunted down by Consulate forces. They are familiar enough that many people will have an inkling of what a “wildmage” is when they encounter one – but are still rare enough that most people greet a sorcerer with fear. However, you could also play a sorcerer whose arcane magics are actually complex aether-based gadgets.
• Warlock. Warlocks, if they exist, are not widely known or understood. A warlock could begin as an inventor fascinated by the Dark Schematic – the pattern used to create demons – eventually leading to a pact with a Fiend. However, Kaladesh’s proximity to the aether-filled gaps between the planes of existence might allow some alien consciousness to project into the world and form Great Old One pacts. Moreover, the Great Conduit could itself be personified as a being with the traits of an Archfey. However, you could also play a warlock whose arcane pact magic is actually an abstract dedication to your craft, with a patron's gifts being replaced by wondrous inventions of your own design.
• Wizard. Wizards are extremely rare on Kaladesh. However, a vedalken aether scientist might gain sufficient mastery over aether’s flow to channel it into spell effects. However, you could also play a wizard whose arcane magics are actually complex aether-based gadgets.
Aether-Powered Devices
The citizens of the Consulate enjoy what is perhaps the most exciting and inspiring period in Kaladesh’s history. In the sixty years since Avaati Vya discovered the process of aether refinement, aether has transformed virtually all day-to-day activities and reshaped the way people think about their lives. Over the course of the last half century, hundreds of thousands of new devices, machines, vehicles, constructs, and even weapons have sprung from the minds of talented inventors – all powered by the wonders of aether.
The tremendous variety of aether-powered devices on Kaladesh can be represented by many of the magic items in D&D. These items are far more common on Kaladesh than they are in most D&D worlds, and are readily available for purchase. Your DM should feel free to be generous in allowing characters access to magic items, in the spirit of Kaladesh.
The following guidelines – plus a healthy dash of inventor’s ingenuity – can be used to adapt D&D magic items to the world of Kaladesh. Additionally, the captions that appear beside some of the art in this document offer examples of how you might translate Kaladesh’s aether-powered wonders into the magic items of D&D.
• Charges. Magic item charges represent aether fuel in Kaladesh, but charges do not replenish automatically. Instead, an item’s owner must secure aether and refill the item to replenish its charges. As long as normal aether supplies are available, refilling an item is no problem – and a major principle of the Consulate is ensuring that aether is fairly distributed among its citizens. In the case of an item that normally regains a random number of charges automatically, that random roll can represent the amount of aether that is available to a character on a particular day. A character can purchase additional aether (at a night market, perhaps) at a cost of 50 gp per charge. If an item’s charges don’t replenish automatically, the item can’t be refueled.
• Consumable Items. Some aether-powered devices are designed to create one-time short-term effects that duplicate the effects of potions, scrolls, and similar magic items. These don’t take the form of actual elixirs or spells on paper, but they have the same effect.
• Attunement. The process of attuning to an aether-powered device represents a few different aspects of working with the invention. Many devices must be carefully modified to fit and function for a particular user, which can be accomplished as part of the attunement process. The limitation on the number of items a character can attune to reflect the basic supplies of aether that are available to and transportable by a single character. Items that require attunement by a cleric, paladin, or other class that does not exist in your campaign have no aether-powered equivalent.
• Planar Travel. Items that allow travel to different planes of existence have no aether-powered equivalents.
• Conjuring Creatures. Items that conjure creatures might produce lifecraft creatures.
• Cursed Items. Cursed items that appear in your campaign could be malfunctioning inventions. It’s also possible that a character who intends to make a particular item might make a cursed version of that item instead, but such a thing should be extremely rare.
• Sentient Items. Sentient magic items can’t be created with the use of aether.
Inventing and Manufacturing Devices
Aether-powered devices are created by inventors. Some are mass-produced in Consulate foundries, but all spring from the minds of creative, ingenious thinkers. Player characters can invent and manufacture their own devices using the following rules.
Crafting a known kind of device requires a schematic plan. The crafter need not be a spellcaster, but must have an ample supply of refined aether, which is included in the cost of crafting the item. If crafting the equivalent magic item would require an expensive material component, that cost represents additional aether that must be purchased to make the device.
If a character does not possess a schematic plan, it is possible to invent one. A character who is inventing a device rather than following a schematic must make a successful Intelligence (Arcana) check each day of crafting. The difficulty of the check is determined by the rarity of the item: DC 10 for a common or uncommon item, DC 15 for a rare or very rare item, or DC 20 for a legendary item. On a failed check, the character still spends the 25 gp for that day’s work, but that day does not count toward completing the item.
If a group of characters is working together to invent an item, each character who is contributing can attempt the Intelligence (Arcana) check. If any character succeeds, the group makes progress toward inventing and completing the item.
Buying and Selling Devices
On Kaladesh, aether-powered devices are available for sale on the open market. Some devices are mass-produced in Consulate foundries, carefully tested for safety and functionality, and sold at prices ordinary citizens can afford. Others are crafted by renegade inventors who bypass the Consulate regulations and sell their devices in night markets or back alleys.
The DM decides whether a particular item is mass-produced and legally available for purchase. As a rule, weapons and other destructive items fail to pass Consulate safety regulations. A device purchased in a legal market costs 70 to 120 percent (1d6+6 × 10 percent) of the cost to create the device. (Mass production allows many devices to be manufactured at significant savings.) An illegal device costs 150 to 200 percent (1d6+14 × 10 percent) of that cost.
A character who invents and manufactures a device can sell the item for 150–200 percent of the creation cost. It might also be possible to sell the invention to a Consulate inquirium for further development, so that it can be mass-produced in the future if it passes all required testing.
Automatons and Vehicles
Certain categories of aether-powered inventions are not easily described as magic items, but they can still be created in the same way.
An artifact creature such as a battle automaton or a lifecraft animal can be considered a magic item with a rarity determined by its challenge rating:
| Challenge Rating | Item Rarity |
|---|---|
| 0 – 2 | Common |
| 3 – 5 | Uncommon |
| 6 – 10 | Rare |
| 11 – 16 | Very rare |
| 17 + | Legendary |
Aether-powered vehicles can be priced as if they were magic items. Simple self-drawn carriages might cost no more than 100 gp (the equivalent of a common magic item), while the dragsters used in races in Ovalchase can cost five times that amount (as much as an uncommon magic item). Flying vehicles are significantly more expensive. A small sky skiff or copter might be a rare item, and a larger skyship should be considered very rare or even legendary.
Inventing Options
Feat: Quicksmithing
Prerequisite: Intelligence 13 or higher
You have mastered the art of on-the-fly invention, improvement, and jury-rigging. You can use your talents to create immediate, short-term magical effects similar to spells, given time and an adequate supply of aether.
When you choose this feat, you master two magical effects, each of which recreates the effect of a 1st-level spell that has the ritual tag. These spells can come from any class list, but Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for them.
If you come across a schematic geared toward quicksmithing or study with another quicksmith, you might be able to add another spell to the effects you have mastered. The spell’s level can be no higher than half your level (rounded up), and it must have the ritual tag. The process of mastering the spell takes 2 hours per level of the spell, and costs 50 gp per level. The cost represents aether you use as you experiment with the spell effect to master it.
In addition, you have proficiency with artisan’s tools (quicksmith’s tools). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to construct a Tiny clockwork device (AC 5, 1 hp). The device ceases to function after 24 hours unless you spend 1 hour repairing it to keep it functioning. You can use your action to dismantle the device, at which point you can reclaim the materials used to create it. You can have up to three such devices active at a time.
When you create a device, choose one of the following options:
• Clockwork Toy. This toy is a clockwork animal, monster, or person, such as a frog, mouse, bird, dragon, or soldier. When placed on the ground, the toy moves 5 feet across the ground on each of your turns in a random direction. It makes noises as appropriate to the creature it represents.
• Fire Starter. This device produces a miniature flame, which you can use to light a candle, torch, or campfire. Using the device requires your action.
• Music Box. When opened, this music box plays a single song at a moderate volume. The box stops playing when it reaches the song’s end or when it is closed.
Feat: Servo Crafting
Prerequisite: Intelligence 13 or higher
You are skilled in the creation of servos – tiny constructs that function as personal assistants. You can cast the Find Familiar spell as a ritual, creating a servo to serve as your familiar instead of an animal. A servo’s statistics appear in the “Artifact Creatures” section of this page. In every other way, a servo familiar functions as described in the Find Familiar spell.
You can communicate telepathically with your servo familiar and perceive through its senses as long as you are on the same plane of existence. You can speak through your servo in your own voice.
Additionally, when you take the Attack action, you can forgo one of your own attacks to allow your servo familiar to make one attack of its own.
Kaladesh Bestiary
Gremlins
Gremlins are tenacious scavengers with an insatiable appetite for aether. They are drawn to places with abundant supplies of aether, including laboratories and workshops, where they can destroy months of careful work in a matter of hours. A small infestation of gremlins can easily end an inventor’s career – and in sufficient numbers, these creatures could obliterate the aether infrastructure of a city like Ghirapur. Although the Consulate has extensive programs to prevent and control gremlin infestations, it often seems as though the city of wonders is just one gremlin away from a large-scale blackout and complete shutdown.
Gremlins are small, hairless creatures with six legs and long snouts. Each leg is tipped with hard, dense claws that are perfect for slicing and shredding through rock and wood in natural environments – as well as metal and machinery in more urban areas. Gremlins can also use their claws to climb, to widen holes and tunnels, and to pull themselves through cramped spaces.
Angels
Angels are mysterious, detached beings seldom glimpsed by mortal eyes. They are the living incarnations of law and virtue, and embody inherent tendencies toward order and harmony. Some inventors view angels in the context of the Aether Cycle as an expression of a Great Design. Given divine inspiration and an utterly perfect stage of innovation, an angel is the constructed result – a living invention. Their masks, headdresses, and armor give them an almost mechanical appearance, but they are living beings with brightly colored skin almost entirely concealed beneath their armor and decorative robes. Because of their perfection, angels are believed to be immune to the final stages of the Aether Cycle, which would involve their destruction.
The people of Kaladesh do not worship angels or beseech their intervention in mortal affairs, and such prayers would go unheard anyway. The solitary angels interact with each other only in formal, nuanced rituals whose meanings are obscure. But the sight of an angel is thought to be a good omen, and in particular, it is believed to presage success with invention.
Demons
Demons are artificial creatures, carefully constructed and imbued with aether according to a pattern called the Dark Schematic. Unknown artificers of the ancient past devised this blueprint – perhaps in an attempt to imitate the angels, or possibly to replicate native demons that have since been hunted to extinction. Just as angels embody law, virtue, and the construction phase of the Aether Cycle, demons are ravenous incarnations of destruction that feast on aether. They raid night markets, pillage aeroships, and break into refinement plants seeking aether to slake their thirst, causing as much destruction as possible in the process. They can thus be imagined as an embodiment of the reclamation stage of the Aether Cycle.
Artificers execute the Dark Schematic only in great desperation, often in the course of seeking power for themselves or revenge against their enemies. The destructive might of demons is hard to control, though, and these creatures have no particular regard for or gratitude toward their creators. As often as not, even an inventor who performs the steps necessary to create a demon with the utmost care suffers the same dismal fate as all its other victims.
Demons resemble angels on a superficial level, wearing ornate masks and headdresses, and often armored. The aether a demon consumes marks its skin with whorls of fiery red, deep purple, or searing yellow.
Whales and Leviathans
The aethersphere is home to its own ecosystem. Tiny organisms float in the aether currents, deriving all their energy from it and serving as food for larger creatures. Leviathans (similar in form to enormous eels) and flying whales filter these organisms out of the air as they swim through the aethersphere. The whales, as a rule, are not hostile by nature, though they can cause devastating sparks or destructive storms as they move through the aether flows. But leviathans are perpetually hungry, and feed on drakes and aeroships just as readily as they do on smaller creatures. Along with dragons, leviathans are the primary reason that aether-mining aeroships carry enormous harpoons.
A sky leviathan is similar to a purple worm in its propensity to swallow prey whole, but it lacks the worm’s poison stinger and is therefore significantly less dangerous.
Sky whales are generally docile filter-feeders that avoid confrontations with aerpships and flying predators whenever possible.
Drakes
Drakes are skittish, opportunistic predators that hunt the skies of Kaladesh in units called rushes, made up of as many as a dozen drakes. Though they prey mostly on birds, they can also be seen clinging to the hides of leviathans and whales, picking off winged leeches and other parasites and scavengers that attach themselves to the huge sky beasts. Occasionally, a rush of drakes will descend on a herd of mountain goats or other game found at high elevations.
Drakes have reptilian bodies and large, leathery wings. They use the sharp claws on their two legs to cling to rocky crags, whales, or leviathans, as well as to grasp and tear at larger prey. Drakes are highly territorial, and have been known to attack aeroships from time to time. A drake is intelligent enough to recognize specific aeroships that have killed other members of its rush, and drake harassment often forces such ships to find new routes to avoid a rush’s territory.
Dragons
Dragons are the apex predators of the skies. They are usually found in rural areas, avoiding the crowds of aeroships and thopters found above the cities of Kaladesh. Their favorite prey are the sky whales that drift through the aethersphere, but they also hunt leviathans, wurms, hydras, drakes, giants – and aeroships.
Dragons typically hunt by perching on a promontory or hilltop, remaining perfectly still as they wait for prey to come into view. With a single snap of its powerful wings, a dragon can launch itself into the air with lightning speed, hurtling toward its target like a deadly arrow.
Dragons resemble a cross between a lizard and a tiger, with powerful feline bodies covered in striped fur, reptilian heads crowned with long horns, and enormous leathery wings that propel them through the sky at tremendous speed. Their chests are adorned with elaborate patterns resembling fine filigree. Dragons rarely reach ancient age in Kaladesh. They can spew great blasts of flame, but a dragon’s preferred method of assault is to hold flame in its mouth as it attacks.
Giants
Standing twenty to thirty feet tall, giants are towering bipedal creatures that follow the flow of aether on regular migratory routes. Once they start moving, they build both momentum and a single-mindedness that makes them nearly impossible to stop. Anything in their path, whether it’s a building or a force of soldiers, is crushed without thought.
Giants eat whatever they happen across in the course of their migrations, which includes many other creatures drawn to the aether flow. They are beings of pure aggressive instinct, but without a hint of malice. In all likelihood, giants aren’t intelligent enough to wish harm on anyone or anything. Still, the combination of their regular migrations and their sheer destructive power makes these creatures a menace.
Any structure built along one of their migratory paths is sure to be destroyed unless special accommodations are made. The zone of Giant’s Walk in Ghirapur was designed by the city’s engineers and edificers to include such accommodations, including rotating platforms, shifting bridges, and adjustable canal locks that provide the giants a clear and easy pathway during their biannual migration through the city.
Hydras
Hydras are giant lizards resembling iguanas, with multiple heads set atop long, snakelike necks. Aether traces whorling patterns through their scales, shapes the crests running down their necks and tails, and glows blue within the skin under their chins. Most hydras have five or six heads, but small hydras with as few as three heads – as well as enormous specimens with eight or more – have been seen in the deep forests far from Ghirapur. Hydras are fierce predators, favoring prey that has absorbed large quantities of aether from the environment. This taste for aether also leads them to devour aether-powered machines whenever they encounter such devices, from thopters to automatons. In the remote wilderness near Peema where hydras are plentiful, such altercations are rarely an issue. But in the rare event of a hydra coming too close to civilization – or even wandering into one of Ghirapur’s greenbelts – they can cause widespread destruction in their hunt for aether.
Artifact Creatures
Many of the products of Kaladesh’s most inventive minds are tools meant to be wielded, piloted, or otherwise employed by other people. But the crowning achievement of the artificer’s art is the imitation of life itself, crafting artificial creatures with the capability to move, act, and even make decisions independently, according to a comprehensive set of instructions.
Ghirapur is full of such artifact creatures – courier devices dashing through the streets of Bomat, thopters flitting from aerie to aerie, and assembly workers crafting more artifacts in busy foundries. These creatures are as diverse in their forms and appearance as they are in their purposes, but they can be broadly grouped into four categories: constructs, servos, thopters, and lifecraft creatures.
• Constructs. The term “construct” encompasses a tremendous variety of artifact creatures. Some are automatons designed for battle: most often to fight each other in arenas, but also in real combat. Many of these battle constructs specialize in defense, sometimes carrying shields to protect their creators, or simply escorting their charges like a watchdog.
Many constructs are intended for use in foundries and workshops, assisting inventors or performing repetitive tasks. Such a construct might find and deliver a specific tool its inventor requests, or perform routine maintenance in parts of a foundry that are difficult or dangerous to reach.
Other constructs have been designed to carry messages or packages, to load and unload goods from barges and airships, to trawl the sewers for salvageable materials, and even to scan crowds of people for known renegades and fugitives, recognizing their facial features.
• Servos. Servos are tiny constructs that function as personal assistants. They are often seen perched on the shoulders of their inventors, acting as a fashion statement as well as a useful extra hand. Servos are small enough to be grasped in one hand, with tiny gears providing impressive motive force from a small aether supply. They rarely stray far from their inventor-masters, but they can be sent to carry messages or perform similar tasks.
• Thopters. Thopters are small automatons that fly using some combination of whirling rotors and stretched-fabric wings. They are ubiquitous in Ghirapur and other settlements, where they carry messages like carrier pigeons, hunt gremlins like trained hawks, race each other in friendly and not-so-friendly competitions – and serve as remote viewing devices for Consulate authorities and crime lords alike. Thopters range from the size of pigeons to the size of eagles, with extremely intricate gearwork usually partly visible beneath glass orbs and filigree.
• Lifecraft Creatures. Many inventors – particularly elves, but members of the other races as well – view nature as the greatest artificer and strive to imitate it as closely as possible. The Greenwheel Lifecrafters are an inventor society dedicated to this kind of work, and they are responsible for coining the term “lifecrafting” to describe it. Lifecraft creatures are automatons that mimic the forms of natural animals in intricate detail. More than merely artistic endeavors, these creatures often serve practical purposes, just as domesticated animals would. A lifecraft elephant hauling a cart or carrying passengers through the streets of Ghirapur is just as effective in that work as a natural elephant, but it can’t be spooked and it leaves no messy waste in its path.
The work of elf lifecrafters is particularly notable. Like most elf inventions, it incorporates living wood and foliage into its design, creating striking hybrids of plant life and animal form united as a perfect aesthetic whole
Inventors can create lifecraft versions of virtually any creature. A lifecraft creature’s type changes to construct, and it gains immunity to poison damage and to the charmed and poisoned conditions. Its other statistics are typically unchanged.
