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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 5388951" data-attributes="member: 63">Thanks for the feedback.Okay, then I think I'm going in sort of the right direction with this. I've got a 2-page primer, which will have links to more details for those who are interested. I'll paste the primer below. If anyone would be willing to give it a read, and tell me if your eyes roll off it in boredom, I'd greatly appreciate it.(The map below is just a rough thumbnail, and will definitely be changed, but it gives a vague sense of the relations between the different nations.)[sblock]<img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=46339&stc=1&d=1291009001" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />[/sblock]Zeitgeist Player Guide  Steam and soot darken the skies above the city of Flint, and winds sweeping across its majestic harbor blow the choking products of industrial forges into the fey rainforests that dot its knife-toothed mountains. Since the earliest ages when the people of Risur founded this city, they feared the capricious beings that hid in those fog-shrouded peaks, but now as the march of progress and the demands of national defense turn Flint into a garden for artifice and technology, the old faiths and rituals that kept the lurkers of the woods at bay are being abandoned.      The Unseen Court, the Great Hunt, and the many spirits of the land long ago conquered by Risur’s kings no longer receive tribute, but they cannot enter these new cities of steam and steel to demand their tithe. The impoverished workers who huddle in factory slums fear monsters of a different breed, shadowy children of this new urban labyrinth. Even their modern religions have no defenses against these fiends.     Times are turning. The skyseers – Risurs folk prophets since their homeland’s birth – witness omens in the starry wheels of heaven, and they warn that a new age is nigh. But what they cannot foresee, hidden beyond the steam and soot of the night sky, is the face of this coming era, the spirit of the age. The zeitgeist.        Campaign Primer: A Step Away from Classic Fantasy  In the ZEITGEIST campaign saga, your characters serve in the Homeland Directorate of the nation of Risur, protecting the country and its citizens from foreign threats lurking within Risur’s borders. During missions of espionage and assassination, your duty will be to root out hostile spies and pursue international conspiracies. As you learn more of your homeland’s own secrets, however, your loyalties may be tested, may even be turned, and you may find that it is you whose hand controls the gears of the turning age.     The setting of ZEITGEIST stands apart from the ‘points of light’ assumed world of traditional Dungeons & Dragons. Many tropes of classic fantasy still find their home here, but have histories and relationships unique to this setting. We suggest all players give this section a quick read to get the gist of the setting. If you’re interested in learning more, follow the links to the recommended pages.   <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">  Humans and the Great Nations. Humans rule three of the five great nations of the region. Their ascendance in the past thousand years toppled a mighty eladrin empire and has provoked belief in doomsday millenialism among many dwarves. Every PC has a strong loyalty to Risur (pg xx), even if the character does not hail from there.     </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Eladrin, Devas, and the Great Malice. Five hundred years ago, the death of the eladrin goddess Srasama caused nearly every eladrin woman to perish. Those few who survived were often claimed as trophies by human conquerers, though a handful of free matriarchs head their own family lines in the ruins of the old empire. Those interested in the eladrin should read the section on Elfaivar (pg xx).      Mortals present at the death of the eladrin goddess have continually reincarnated in the following centuries as devas, as if a sliver of Srasama’s divine spark has granted them a semblance of immortality. Those interested in devas should read the section on Crisillyir (pg xx).     </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tieflings, Technology, and Dead Magic. When the eladrin goddess died, an entire other nation became a dead magic zone, and some in that land were marked by a curse, turning them into tieflings. In the centuries since, however, the tieflings have come to rule that nation, and in the last few decades they have begun a revolution of industry and mighty science almost as powerful as the magic they lack. Those interested in tieflings should read the section on Danor (pg xx).      If you are interested in utilizing some of the new revolution’s technology for your character, such as firearms and steam engines, see the section on Equipment (page xx).     </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dwarves, Doomsday, and Nihilism. The major dwarven nation is bleakly resigned to the belief that the end of the world is imminent, yet adherence to duty is so ingrained in their culture that they persist in their toil even as they prepare for doomsday. Those interested in dwarves should read the section on Drakr (pg xx).     </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Savages, Primitives, and Peace. The youngest of the great nations formed from an alliance of several monstrous races who now live in an uneasy peace as their rulers seek to force the disparate peoples into the modern age. Those interested in dragonborn, goliaths, half-orcs, minotaurs, or shifters should read the section on Ber (pg xx).     </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Piety and the Planes. The heavens possess an undeniable hold on the world’s religions, its people, and its very structure. In Risur, skyseers believe that the movements of the night stars foretell the future and direct the fate of the world. More enlightened scholars study distant planes of elemental and temporal power to understand how the flow of their energies affects the fundamental nature of reality. The eladrin people have begun to withdraw into the feywild, and the bishops of the high church of the Clergy invoke condemned spirits from the shadowfell to frighten sinners into worship.      The Astral Sea, Elemental Chaos, and Far Realm exist only as postulations, and there are countless other theories on the nature of reality. No one in this world has ever traveled to these planes, and the few beings that are summoned through the veil are only visitors, returning as soon as the spell that called them ends.      Those interested in the setting’s metaphysics should read the section on The World (pg xx).     </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Heroic Themes. Recent products introduced the concept of character themes. The ZEITGEIST campaign setting presents themes that reinforce the heroic archetypes of the world, such as dockers, gunsmiths, and technologists. Each player should choose one Theme for his or her character, preferably one unique to the world of ZEITGEIST (pg xx).</li> </ul></blockquote>

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