Survive the Terrors of a Broken World in Ghostfire Gaming’s ‘Arora: Age of Desolation’
Published on May 26, 2022, Last modified on March 11th, 2024
In a world desolated by a cataclysmic event, can you muster the courage and smarts to survive?
Table of Contents
What is Arora: Age of Desolation?
Arora: Age of Desolation is an adventure setting for the 5e system developed by Ghostfire Gaming. This setting takes players to the world of Arora, a planet that has been split into five realms after an apocalyptic event broke the world. Arora is now a place of great danger, where humanoids must try to survive in its inhospitable environment while being hunted by deadly enemies.
Arora: Age of Desolation released a Kickstarter campaign on May 16th and has already blown past its fundraising goal. The project’s creator, Ghostfire Gaming, is a premier TTRPG game designer that has brought us amazing products such as Dungeons of Drakkenheim and Twisted Taverns.
The History of Arora
Our tale begins when dragons arrived in Arora from another world. These dragons were peaceful and sought to live in harmony with the denizens of their newfound world. Unbeknownst to the dragons, they were followed into Arora by an untold evil that began to infect humanoids and beasts alike, turning them against their own kin.
The infection soon reached a point where the dragons and the citizens of Arora were at risk of being overrun. Before the battle was lost, a mysterious force destroyed the infected legion, saving the people in their most dire hour. Arora’s salvation came at a price, however. The world was torn into five separate planes, turning once peaceful locations into dangerous and hostile environments. After the cataclysm, the survivors eventually learned to find ways to survive in the new world in which they found themselves.
Just as the people of Arora began to rebuild they were once again set upon by misfortune, this time at the hands of the very dragons they had come to rely upon. For some unknown reason, the dragons turned against the people of Arora and began ruling the separate realms with a tyrannical, iron fist.
It is in this world, a world of danger and desolation, where the adventures of Arora take place.
Arora’s Five Realms
500 years after the cataclysmic events of the dragon apocalypse changed it forever, Arora is now made up of five distinct realms ruled by dragon overlords:
Khoor
Khoor is a festering swampland full of dangerous creatures and treacherous marshes. The land is ruled over by a great acidic black dragon.
Gallaht
This land of dunes and dust is turbulent with war and strife. Blue dragon warlords battle for water supplies, using armies that have sworn fealty out of necessity to survive.
Mogsturma
Before the cataclysm, Mogsturma was a thriving, beautiful nation. Now it is little more than a wasteland of scorched lands and raging volcanos.
Tievmer
Ruled over by an ancient green dragon, Tievmer is shrouded in a dark and twisted forest. Travelers of the realm know better than to enter the shadows, as any hidden nook can lead to nightmarish pocket dimensions from which there is no return.
Prazzolar
A sprawling, frozen tundra is what awaits those that explore Prazzolar. Powerful elemental magic sweeps across the land, frozen spires stand like sentinels in the ever-blowing blizzard, and above all an ancient white dragon rules from its lair of ice.
What does Arora: Age of Desolation contain?
An Enhanced Survival System
Surviving in the broken world of Arora is one of the main focuses of the gameplay in this setting. Food and supplies are hard to come by in this desolate landscape, which makes the environment as deadly as the enemies you’ll be facing. Whether you’re escaping violent lightning storms or attempting to survive in the frigid tundra, Arora will provide gritty survival sessions with intuitive mechanics.
Granular Exploration Mechanics
Environmental factors and exploration play a huge part in Arora. In order to bring survival and exploration to the forefront, Arora: Age of Desolation has rethought the way exploration functions in 5e to provide crunchier, more granular mechanics.
‘Ancestral Traits’ Character Options
In order to flesh out character creation and allow players to make truly unique characters, Arora: Age of Desolation includes an all-new character creation system. This system allows players to build their characters by combining a huge selection of ancestral traits.
Evolved 5e Advantage System
To further diversify gameplay, Arora: Age of Desolation allows players and GMs to choose alternative benefits when granted advantage, rather than simply rolling two d20s and taking the highest result. This robust system doesn’t recreate 5e’s famous Advantage system, but rather it builds on top of it to enable more meaningful player choice.
Where to purchase Arora: Age of Desolation
If this preview of Arora: Age of Desolation tickles your fancy, you can back the Arora: Age of Desolation Kickstarter today until June 18! There are tons of cool products to check out, on top of digital and physical copies of Arora: Age of Desolation. The Special Edition Dragon-Dice Set is a sharp-edged, resin dice set that comes in a faux-leather scroll carrying case that can be used as a rolling mat and a safe way to transport your dice.
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