I asked around for the bare-minimum people want out of setting information, and the consensus seems to be that you need three things: places with potential as adventure locations, NPCs with schemes and job that adventurers could do, and factions whose plans the PCs will inevitably get tangled up in.
Here's what I'm working with right now with Krevborna:
Locations
of Note
The
scent of incense hangs heavy in the air of Chancel, a city
that is at once a den of immoral decadence and religious fanaticism.
Although Chancel is under the theocratic rule of Brother Lazarus
and the Church of Saintly Blood, raucous taverns, brothels,
opium dens, and music halls abound. The tension between the saints
and sinners of Chancel is palpable.
Creedhall
is a melancholic town governed by Proselyte Wolfstan. It is
home to the renowned Creedhall University, which is said to
possess a vast library of obscure and forbidden tomes. Creedhall is
situated on the shore of Loch Riven, a lake whose depths
sometimes disclose strange shapes and hideous portents on nights of
the full moon.
It
is rumored that a school of black magic is hidden within the
Nachtmahr Mountains.
Avoided
by god-fearing folk, the mining town of Hemlock has abandoned
the Church of Saintly Blood to follow vile pagan ways. Hemlock's most
powerful family, the Graymalks, are rumored to practice the
darkest arts of witchcraft and to have made pacts with the Devil.
Seances are a popular pastime for Hemlock's prosperous citizens.
Ruled
by the vampire Countess Alcesta von Karlok, Lamashtu is
a cold northern realm where the populace must pay their undead
sovereign a tithe in blood. Despite the obvious horrors of this
kingdom, the court of Castle Lamashtu attracts artists and
writers who find undeath to be aesthetically inspiring.
Piskar
is a salt-blasted canal town, a center of thriving maritime trade,
and a haven for pirates. Although it is governed by the Brine
Priest of the Church of Saintly Blood, grave heresies are thought
to have taken root in Piskar. A series of brutal murders has troubled
the town in recent years; it is believed that these murders have
occult significance.
Though
sublimely beautiful, the Silent Forest is haunted by
unnameable monstrosities.
Although
it was set ablaze to purge it of evil, the forbidden town of Veil
is still home to the desperate and depraved.
Ancient
catacombs deep within the earth, the Hypogeal Tombs are
the remains of a civilization that predates the rise of man.
Almeric
Dalloway is the captain of the Sacred Butchers. He desires
vengeance against Countess Alcesta for murdering his mentor Leonidas
Mayhew.
Eurania
Linton is an aged but still formidable bounty hunter who hails from
foreign lands.
Now
bound to a wheelchair due to horrific injuries, Galenus Wright
gives sage advice about hunting the forces of darkness to those who
visit his workshop in Chancel.
Granvile
Fray is a hunter of lycanthropes with a known passion for music.
Isoline
Josefson is a young plague doctor who runs the Andronicus
Asylum in Chancel where the afflicted often find solace.
Brooding
twin sisters of pale aspect, Pandora and Morrigan Rue
dress in the manner of Lamashtu noblewomen. They sometimes hire
adventurers for inscrutable investigations.
The
Choristers are the elite upper echelon of the Church of Saintly
Blood. They control Church doctrine and believe that the human condition is something to be transcended through the
consumption of sanctified holy blood.
Sworn
to the service of Countess Alcesta, the Knights of Lilith
scour the world to find the one who will help the Countess to
conceive her deathless child.
The
Incendiary Guild are an order of wild and romantic inventors who
share the goal of pushing science beyond the boundaries of rational
thought.
The
League of Rat-Catchers believe that to fight beasts one must
become a beast; they consume vermin both mundane and unnatural to
gain their power.
The
Promethean Sparks are a cabal of scholars who hope to
discover the secret of giving life to inanimate matter.
The
Sacred Butchers are a group of templars associated with the
Church of Saintly Blood pledged to purge the world of the undead.
Their goal is the destruction of Lamashtu and the execution of
Countess Alcesta.
A
militarized branch of the Church of Saintly Blood, the Luminous
Hunters act as witchfinders, inquisitors, and crusaders.
The
White Ravens are a loose guild of investigators,
bounty hunters, and—some say—assassins.
* * *
Some notes on religion
One thing I'm doing with Krevborna is having the central religion be one that venerates a multitude of saints. What this means in terms of playing convenience is that players bringing in characters from other campaigns can discover that their character's religion fits into the syncretic faith of Krevborna.
* * *
Some notes on religion
One thing I'm doing with Krevborna is having the central religion be one that venerates a multitude of saints. What this means in terms of playing convenience is that players bringing in characters from other campaigns can discover that their character's religion fits into the syncretic faith of Krevborna.