So, what’s ZEITGEIST?
A number of people have asked for more information about the ZEITGEIST setting and the Gears of Revolution adventure path.
ZEITGEIST is one of our core settings. The ZEITGEIST setting is a step away from traditional fantasy. In many parts of the world, day to day existence is much unchanged from how folks lived centuries ago. Fey trickery, prowling monsters, and roaming brigands pose as great a threat as ever. Priests and druids offer guidance, and it’s possible to live all one’s entire years without seeing a steam engine.
ZEITGEIST was originally launched over a decade ago with the adventure Island at the Axis of the World. That was the first adventure in a 13-part Gears of Revolution adventure path set in the world. It was re-published for 5th Edition in the last couple of years, and comprises about 1,500 pages of content. Yep, it’s big!
So we currently have two ZEITGEIST things in the Level Up Kickstarter:
Adventures in ZEITGEIST. This is a brand new hardcover campaign world book designed for Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition.
Gears of Revolution. This is a massive 13-adventure, 1,500-page 5E adventure path we have previously published, which we added to the Kickstarter as an add-on due to popular demand. It is only available in PDF format. It takes place in the ZEITGEIST campaign world, and is for core 5E (of course all 5E material is compatible with Level Up!)
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
This is the brand new 300+ page hardcover setting book designed for Level Up. It contains everything you’d expect to see in a setting book — world information, heritages, cultures, archetypes, equipment, even a new class: the Savant (think the Robert Downey Jr. version of Sherlock Holmes). Here’s the ‘mechanical’ material in this book:
Heritages — Deva, Gnoll, Goblin, Kobold, Lizardfolk, Minotaur.
Cultures — Bloodmarked, De Guerra, Dialectician, Elfaivaran, Harmiau, Pedresco, Steelmarked.
Backgrounds — Archaeologist, Faction Agent, Investigator, Riven Mind.
Feats — Courseur, Docker, Gunsmith, Martial Scientist, Ottoplimist, Skyseer, Sophist, Spirit Medium, Technologist, Telemachian, Tropezaro, Veskeshi Mystic.
Class — Savant, with Steward, Vanguard, and Vox archetypes. Warriors rely on their physical prowess, and spellcasters have all manner of magic, but a savant needs no weapon or armor, only their mind. Brilliant ingenuity, meticulous planning, or keen deductions will win them the day and leave their enemies confused at how they were defeated. Of course, you’d have to be a fool to not use weapons, armor, or magic when they’re available, and savants are no fools. Knowledge is power, but power is also power. A savant is at their most effective when they have an array of tools at their disposal and an assortment of allies to enact their cunning schemes.
Archetypes (subclasses) —
Adept — Durala Carao (think gun-fu!)
Berserker — Queen Bee
Bard — Vagabond
Cleric — Aspirant
Druid — Axis Slayer
Fighter — Gadgeteer
Herald — Executore
Ranger — Titanist
Rogue — Occult Blade
Sorcerer — Annihilator
Warlock — Urbanist
Wizard — Last Raven
Equipment — inventions, firearms, apotropaics, travel, magic items
Monsters
That’s just the mechanical stuff, of course. This 300+ page book contains a ton of setting information. There’s also some setting information on our website:
Gears of Revolution Adventure Path
In the GEARS OF REVOLUTION adventure path for the ZEITGEIST campaign setting, your characters serve in the Homeland Constabulary 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.
You can read more about the Gears of Revolution adventure path here (warning: spoilers!)
This adventure path takes characters all the way up to level 20 during the course of 13 critically-acclaimed adventures. In total it’s about 1,500 pages of material. It’s big. We first published it a decade ago, and we re-published it for 5E over the last couple of years over on our EN5ider Patreon, which provides weekly 5E content. It’s also available in full from our website.
So this enormous AP isn’t new material, and isn’t really part of the Level Up Kickstarter. However, some folks asked us to include it as an add-on so they could pick it up, so we added it.
In advance, you can download the FREE Player’s Guide and Campaign Guide for 5th Edition! These documents will introduce you to the epic GEARS OF REVOLUTION adventure path, providing you with all the setting and background information they need to get started along with a slew of ZEITGEIST-specific rules material.
The enormous free 60-page Player’s Guide provides player information on the world, races, the Royal Homeland Constabulary, equipment, and more.
The free 27-page Campaign Guide provides GMs with an overview of the entire 13-part adventure path, background information, and other details not meant for players.
This free two-page player’s handout will help give your players a quick overview of the setting before you embark on the GEARS OF REVOLUTION adventure path.