ZEITGEIST Homebrew World with Zeitgeist

[ratzofftoya]

Hey folks, I'd like to run Zeitgeist but in more of a homebrew setting--not too much of a departure thematically, but a little more emphasis on the sorta industrial revolution stuff and maybe a bit more of a "weird/absurd" feel to the different cultures. What's the best way I knew which things I need to build into the world, which geographical constants need to be maintained, etc., short of reading every single adventure first?

 

[RangerWickett]

How developed is your homebrew world already?

Key geographical elements:

An island in a sea between two nations that have warred intermittently.

A city with a spooky mountain in one of those countries.

That country has five big biomes that can be home to slumbering titans that emerge at epic level: swamp, mountain, forest, plains, seas.

A route that makes sense for a long railroad, passing through multiple countries.

Another country (not the two warring ones, and not the ones with the long railroad) which has an island nearby with a volcano. This country should ideally border or be near the main country, and ought to be big enough that building a railroad across it would be a great feat.

Somewhere with glaciers.

Somewhere with jungle, that is the site of a former empire, now collapsed and mostly depopulated (or colonized).

That should do ya.

 

[ratzofftoya]

@RangerWickett Awesome! Not developed at all yet, other than broad strokes. But I have some ideas. I suppose using this page will give me the bare minimum that I must include? Overview — ADVENTURES IN ZEITGEIST Is there anything in here that is not necessary?

Re geography, I notice these "border states"--do they play a role or can it just be islands with no border state?

 

[RangerWickett]

The border states were just to be realistic. Not every country is big and meaningful. Also, it provided areas for PCs if someone wanted to build a character who didn't fit with the rest of the setting, and I figured GMs could pencil in details if needed.

 

[ratzofftoya]

The border states were just to be realistic. Not every country is big and meaningful. Also, it provided areas for PCs if someone wanted to build a character who didn't fit with the rest of the setting, and I figured GMs could pencil in details if needed.

Awesome. Looking at the overview, how important is it that "humans dominate three of the six great nations?"

 

[RangerWickett]

It's not. The physical shape of folks doesn't really matter, though Ber loses some of its novelty if it doesn't consist of groups traditionally seen as dangerous monsters.

The philosophy and culture matters more. Risur and its ties to druids and fey. Danor and its focus on science and progress. Drakr and its doomsday fascination. Crisillyir and its faith in Triegenes's teaching that anyone can better themselves, when in achieving godhood (plus a history of locking away demons and heretical things). Ber and its concern about proving their civility to the world while maintaining their own traditions and identities. And Elfaivar being devastated by the Great Malice and yet surviving through the teachings of Vekesh.

 

[ratzofftoya]

It's not. The physical shape of folks doesn't really matter, though Ber loses some of its novelty if it doesn't consist of groups traditionally seen as dangerous monsters.

The philosophy and culture matters more. Risur and its ties to druids and fey. Danor and its focus on science and progress. Drakr and its doomsday fascination. Crisillyir and its faith in Triegenes's teaching that anyone can better themselves, when in achieving godhood (plus a history of locking away demons and heretical things). Ber and its concern about proving their civility to the world while maintaining their own traditions and identities. And Elfaivar being devastated by the Great Malice and yet surviving through the teachings of Vekesh.

Awesome! Super helpful! I thought that at least Danor would need to have a bunch of Tieflings...

 

[RangerWickett]

Well, the place should ideally not have magic, but the people in charge don't have to be tieflings. It just helps a bit to differentiate the different countries when you're introducing the world to the players.

 

[ratzofftoya]

Well, the place should ideally not have magic, but the people in charge don't have to be tieflings. It just helps a bit to differentiate the different countries when you're introducing the world to the players.

Thanks. Very glad to be freed up in this way. Hopefully the players are sophisticated enough to conceive of nations that are defined by something other than just a common genetic ancestry...

 

[MarkM]

My advice would be to read very thoroughly through all the adventures at least twice before you start homebrewing the world. I've been running campaigns only in homebrewed worlds for 20 years and started out to heavily modify this one. After some time and a lot of work, I realized this one is not only better than what I can create, it is also tied into the story in so many little ways. I've backpedaled on a number of things. I still have a lot of backstory that I've written and integrated, but it is more tweaking things or fleshing them out than big changes. I've been planning this campaign for over a year, and even after reading it multiple times I still find small things nearly every week where I'd missed or forgotten a connection. If you spend a lot of time upfront getting very, very familiar with the campaign before you start to build a world you will save yourself even more time down the road.