Sorry for the title, couldn't resist. I'm looking into writing a Genius Loci character up for my setting, and I ran across Zeitgeist. For those that don't want to look them up - one means 'spirit of the location' and the other means 'spirit of the age'.

So, this has me thinking, how would a Zeitgeist manifest? For my Genuis Loci I would like to stat up an immensely powerful incorporeal spirit - would a Zeitgeist be the same? Perhaps there are multiple Zeitgeist - only one that represents the present but hundreds of old, retired ones. Perhaps a new one is created every year, or whenever there is a major shift in ideas - like every 10 years or so? Or perhaps its a bit of each - one is born each year, but over time the similiar ones tend to group together and merge so that the older they are, the more time they represent.

My other problem is defining 'immensely powerful' - what kinds of abilities would Loci and Zeitgeist have aside from the obvious? I want to say they only have a modified version of spellcasting available: they lack the creativity mortals have, but can enforce the ideals they stand for.

Any thoughts? How would you stat up either in full? Any thoughts on Zeitgeist?

OK, so I've been mulling this over for a bit. There is an old standby that says that if failing a roll wouldn't result in anything, don't call for a roll. I generally interpret it as thus:

1) If the roll has no real relevance to the campaign, don't call for a roll
2) If the PC can't possibly fail or succeed, don't call for a roll
3) (Recently learned) If the player has recently made the roll doing something similar, don't call for a roll. Use the recent result instead.

Now, that said, I wanted advice on how to handle a scene. I was planning on having an NPC introduce himself by essentially showing the groups seer a vision of hope - considering her visions are by nature always graphic, horrible and depressing, this should come as quite a shock. I was considering this as a mental attack that would place an aspect on her for the duration of the story and hopefully suggest a new permanent aspect in the future. I'm considering this as an autotakeout - so I'm thinking I have three options:

A) Big mental attack, enough to one shot her mental stress attack. Give her the option of trying to fight it off, but compel her not to.
B) Massive mental attack. Don't bother letting her roll as per the rules above.
C) Find another mechanical way of modeling this?

I should mention, this is a plot device, not really screwing the players over so much as making sure they pay attention to the badass NPC. If I go with A, the Aspect should probably screw her over a little, so I'm leaning towards that, even if I have to compel her with 2-3 Fate points.

My question is, am I trying to railroad the players doing this? I'm new to this and trying to determine how best to accomplish this. The best I can do at the moment seems to be railroading them into wanting something (since as PCs, the players haven't really given their characters much by way of wants, needs or passions.) My best guess on how to handle this situation is to railroad them into a goal, then let them figure out how best to accomplish that goal (while planning out the obstacles to the most obvious routes to that goal and preparing to improvise when they take a less obvious route.)

OK, so I'm struggling with my setting. I'm playing a low powered campaign and I have a lot of ideas, but parts of it seem kind of boring.

The city is actually a geographical area - and probably a large one compared to most. Southern Ontario. Specifically Waterloo region (which gives us several cities to work with - Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge and Guelph was tossed in for good measure.) We're calling this setting "The fractured cities"

Our Themes/Threats are "The fracture," "New school vs. Old School" and "Breeding ground for mediocrity"

The fracture: This is a threat, drawing on a combination of a real political situation in the area of cities merging, but still refusing to give up their individual identities. We've combined this with a magical geographical feature. Basicly, we're surrounded on 3 sides by the great lakes. As well, we've decided that overall, several powerful lay lines travel through the region and are split by the lakes into a massive net made up of tiny, useless tributaries. This net creates a sort of distortion field that effects everyone differently, mostly just grounding out magical power from outside the area. More on this later, but I will mention it's only a threat, not a change to the mechanics of the Dresdenverse.

Breeding ground for mediocrity - Basicly, the distortion field of the fracture drove out the traditional political powers and as a result, outsiders look at Ontario as the badlands: a human group is the dominant political power, Wylde-fae live here to avoid the pull of summer and winter, and Were wolves make up the other major faction.

Old School vs. New School: We've decided that the 'human' faction that dominates politics here is actually the large population of Mennonites in the region (that was a shock to me, but an interesting twist when I got over it) basically controlling things from the shadows. Too their credit, there has been no real organized crime in the region thanks to their over zealous meddling throughout history. Now however, thanks in equal part to the uprising in technology made possible by the fracture (see the universities) and the newly formed paranet, knowledge of the supernatural is getting around and a new school of mortal is forming. With this new awareness, the politics of the Mennonites is in question...

The factions:

The Mennonites: Our region has a large population of Mennonites. Some are true Amish, but many blend in with society and rule quite effectively from the shadows. Composed of pure mortals, they pulled a chapter of hunters over  early on as their leaders became aware of the supernatural and effectively took control of the supernatural world. With the Jagers keeping outside influances in check, the Mennonites effectively became the dominant political group in the area and kept the place clear of organised crime - both the mortal and non-mortal varieties. Still, in the supernatural world many consider them akin to a hate group when it comes to Fae and Magic users, or any other supernatural creatures. Old habits die hard, and no where is that more true than in Mennonite society.

The Universities - One major effect of the distortion field is grounding out static energy caused by mortal practitioners. While this isn't perfect, it has given local tech companies a distinct edge. Tech companies mean universities,  and universities mean scientists and students. As a result, the universities have slowly grown up in the region and are only now beginning to study the fringes of the normally taboo never-never. This has given the universities a new view point recently, and some have become aware of the true political landscape. As a result, the Universities have begun to challenge the rule of the Mennonites, although they don't fully realize the extent of what they deal with...

The Wylde-Fae: The fracture tends to ground out the pull of the summer and winter courts - something aligned fae hate. Unaligned fae however, who are constantly feeling the pull, love the fracture. Although they have no real political ambitions, many have come here and live mostly in peace: their children tending toward scions rather than changelings. For the most part, they've been driven out of politics by the far more zelous mennonites and, for the most part, they're happy with that. Their children, however, are always unpredictable... As a note: the local Fae recognize the accords and respect them, even if most of the mortals do not. The rest of the factions have only recently become concious of the accords as there has never been any need for them here.

The Jagers: Before immigrating to Canada, the Jagers were a German guild of hunters who secretly specialized in the supernatural - everything from witches to werewolves, the Jagers helped keep the German countryside safe from that which went bump in the night by killing non-mortals without exception (and even some mortals, if suspected of the black arts). So, when the local Mennonites noticed a population of werewolves in the region, they pulled Jagers from Germany over to help here. Modern day Jagers are much more civilised these days however and only really hunt if a creature has become a threat: more of a policing paramilitary than bloodthirsty systematic killers they once were. They still have a tendency to be a bit overzealous though, especially since most of their members are Mennonites. Using mostly raw training and the odd artifact captured over the years, the Jagers are more than capable of dealing with any local werewolf or Fae that decides to get out of hand, without ever even recognizing the accords.

The Paranet: another new face on the field, the Paranet only recently formed but has become a radical new faction here, with much more power than in most places. The Paranet represents a new unification of all of the lesser factions that the Mennonites have kept down all these years. Led by a council, this group has recently started calling the Jagers to account for their actions, and the Mennonites have begrudgingly respond with justifications, lest their political power waver. For the most part, they merely educate, but they've already shown to be a major political danger to the rest of the factions.

The Wardens: For mortal practitioners, casting magic is like breathing on Everest - it takes time to acclimatize yourself, but once you do it is possible. This process is an extremely slow process, so as a result, the white council has left several active wardens in the area to keep an eye on things. Since the Jagers generally do a good job of keeping threats taken care of, this long ago turned into a joke position: essentially a title and little else. Most are recruits from the region who would struggle with casting anywhere else anyways. Still, this contingent is maintained just in case: since the fracture seems to effect different types differently, you never know who might build up an army here in secret if the region were to be left unchecked. Today: the local Wardens are more or less a joke: pencil pushers who check in every once in a while to keep tabs on local events, but little else.

The Weres: No ones fully sure why, but there does seem to be a large population of Were's in the area: humans who through bloodline or by chance have learned to transform themselves into local animals. No ones quite sure why, but the tradition is a long one. The local Were's are more of a demographic than a faction here: disorganized but a bit more aware of things than most. For years, this was the primary concern of the Jager's: and with the paranet and Universities, this job is only getting harder as the Were's slowly realize just how many of them there are...

Other: No ones quite sure what else might be here, which is part of the reason why we have so many wardens here, joke or not.

So, for anyone who feels like reading, any thoughts? I'm sure I'll see some concerns right away which I can explain how I intend to handle them. Please bear in mind this setting was only partially created by me, so I am just working with what I've got