Tephra really needs a good review. It's so unusual that it needs a good look. I'm not going to do that here, but what I am going to do is give you my honest opinion of Tephra, and recommend it. When I say it's unusual, I mean that yes, it's Steampunk and even though Steampunk has begun to take on a populus bent, Tephra covers the genre very well. It has all the tropes you would expect of Steampunk, but it definitely is not just a boring game with iron bits welded on to make it look Steampunk without actually doing it very well. Cracked Mononcle not only has created a very unusual system mechanically, but the world, the setting, and all the fantastical elements of Tephra all are like nothing you may have seen before. Simple things like how the health of the character is determined and used, and how Tephra treats magic (the Aether) are just some of the things that you'll love in Tephra. It's truly it's own game, devoted to adding to the genre without stealing the tired elements that we've seen flooding the market.
The only thing I personally don't like about Tephra are the PC races. It's just my personal preference; it has nothing to do with the creativity or design. I would GM this game using a Victorian age England as the setting with maybe one or two at the most unusual races. I know that's same-old, same-old, but to me Steampunk is forever tied to Queen Victoria's England. The races they introduce in Tephra are well done and unusual, I just don't like them very much. Sorry.
The artwork is also very nice in Tephra, although again my personal opinion is that it's too "Anime". I can't stand Anime (that's just me) so anything similar to it just turns me off. Don't let that turn you away from this game, though. And get all the expansions, especially the Aether and the Automatons! The price of Tephra, even including all the expansions and sourcebooks, is quite low, and it'll be a worthwhile investment to your gaming group. I see the core rulebook is on Drivethru right now for 9.99, down from 39.99 regularly. Hopefully they're able to keep it that low.
Final word: Excellent!
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