The World of Weirth is my home-brew FRP setting. It is strictly Swords & Sorcery, in a setting designed to look and feel more like Asia Minor and the Mediterranean coast than the typical, Northern European-style environment. I am currently running a playtest campaign, the Shadow of Evil Chaos, so we can shake out any problems with the magic system, alignment and so on before I make this available as a complete product.
I have definitely learned some things about the setting that I was not aware of (!), and figured out some ways to make it better and more immersive. I recently asked my players to fill out a short survey, with some pretty specific questions about the setting and the role of the PCs and NPCs. The answers were illuminating!
First of all, I must say thank you to my players for their very thoughtful and detailed responses. It shows they are invested and that they seem to really care about what is happening. (Even though they have little idea of what is happening!) They also pointed out some areas where I need to work a bit harder, create some more content for them to fill in the blanks, and work some more Lore into the play and exploration.
With each adventure session I had intentionally set out to cover one or more aspects of the setting, in order to create a sense of immersion in a different world, but one that can be easily imagined. Looking over the responses to the questionnaire it seems I was partially successful. These responses give me a bit of a road map for enhancing the Lore and sense of wonder I’m trying to create.
Re-Evaluating Each Session
Over the course of the next few weeks, I plan to go back and examine my own notes from each session. First, to evaluate how successful its “lesson” was for future sessions and according to the survey responses. This should help me fine-tune the tools I’m using to teach these lessons, from Encounter Tables to Overland Travel Methodology to the Combat- and Magic-systems. Of course, I will then share the results with you all here on the blarg, because I know that some folks like to see the sausage getting made.
I was not planning on creating an all-new OGL-retroclone, but it looks like that’s what I’m doing in trying to mesh this setting with my vision for the mechanics and character creation.
I hope to be able to re-publish portions of each session report, with some notes and commentary on how effective the adventure session was in conveying the particular setting information.
In the meantime, I also need to work in some Lore and world-building in the ongoing sessions.
Here are some of the “Most Pressing Unanswered Questions” the playtesters have:
- What is the role of the gods?
- Who created the world?
- Why did the Saringa forget their heritage?
- Why did the Alfen leave Weirth?
- What other Human-like races exist?
- What is the Crimson Maiden?
- What was before the Cataclysm?
Finally, it seems I have neglected updating the Weirth Glossary, so I’ll be getting to that ASAP.
Be sure to stay tuned, and please, if you have any questions, please leave a Comment!
