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<blockquote data-quote="SanjMerchant" data-source="post: 7820821" data-attributes="member: 6860001">OK, so there was this ancient (by internet standards) attempt by Rich Burlew to create a campaign setting with his audience in full view of the decision making process (I know there's since arisen a super-trendy term for this, but it's escaping me at the moment).&nbsp; Most of it is not relevant here, but this one tiny little excerpt I think points pretty succinctly to my whole problem with a Zeitgeist campaign setting that canonizes a specific Axis Seal 2.0.&nbsp; On <a href="http://www.giantitp.com/articles/YPgbz2j3PckGjjviJU5.html" target="_blank">this page</a>, the following text is buried:Granted, this is Rich Burlew of about 15 years ago, and who knows what he'd have to say on the subject today, but I think it does get at the central problem here.&nbsp; The needs of writing a cohesive, single story (even one as prone to revision as any D&amp;D campaign) and the needs of writing a sandbox campaign setting are very, very different.&nbsp; Trying to convert one into the other is invariably going to lose something.Lose what?&nbsp; I'm glad you asked!&nbsp; Zeitgeist is essentially a huge, sweeping epic designed to bring the players to one, specific question:If you had the chance to remake the entire world, what would you do with that power?The whole campaign is giving you context for that decision:&nbsp; a world that you're changing, so you can have a sense of the specific consequences of your choice; attaching it to a singular event sets up &quot;no backsies&quot;; Nicodemus is a foil to you, giving you a mirror to reflect on what you're doing; giving you a set of predefined planes to choose from (instead of a true blank slate) makes the whole thing digestible in a &quot;restrictions paradoxically encourage creativity&quot; sort of way; and on and on.That choice is the heart of Zeitgeist.&nbsp; It's what makes it more than just Yet Another Steampunk-Fantasy Pastiche.&nbsp; Taking that decision away from the players, even retroactively, just tears the heart out and throws it in the garbage.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="SanjMerchant, post: 7820821, member: 6860001"] OK, so there was this ancient (by internet standards) attempt by Rich Burlew to create a campaign setting with his audience in full view of the decision making process (I know there's since arisen a super-trendy term for this, but it's escaping me at the moment). Most of it is not relevant here, but this one tiny little excerpt I think points pretty succinctly to my whole problem with a Zeitgeist campaign setting that canonizes a specific Axis Seal 2.0. On [URL='http://www.giantitp.com/articles/YPgbz2j3PckGjjviJU5.html']this page[/URL], the following text is buried: Granted, this is Rich Burlew of about 15 years ago, and who knows what he'd have to say on the subject today, but I think it does get at the central problem here. The needs of writing a cohesive, single story (even one as prone to revision as any D&D campaign) and the needs of writing a sandbox campaign setting are very, very different. Trying to convert one into the other is invariably going to lose something. Lose what? I'm glad you asked! Zeitgeist is essentially a huge, sweeping epic designed to bring the players to one, specific question: [B]If you had the chance to remake the entire world, what would you do with that power?[/B] The whole campaign is giving you context for that decision: a world that you're changing, so you can have a sense of the specific consequences of your choice; attaching it to a singular event sets up "no backsies"; Nicodemus is a foil to you, giving you a mirror to reflect on what you're doing; giving you a set of predefined planes to choose from (instead of a true blank slate) makes the whole thing digestible in a "restrictions paradoxically encourage creativity" sort of way; and on and on. That choice is the heart of Zeitgeist. It's what makes it more than just Yet Another Steampunk-Fantasy Pastiche. Taking that decision away from the players, even retroactively, just tears the heart out and throws it in the garbage. [/QUOTE]

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