Life Quest, is the current prototype name for a one-shot homebrew campaign and setting of my own design. It's based heavily on modern day systemic issues, American History, and Native American mythology. While there is still much work to be done, I have laid out a route for the campaign, along with the backstory of how all this came to happen. And I'm looking for opinions on how much the players should be aware of at the start. Because the actual background is too long for a campaign introduction, and I'm really bad at summarizing. Just FYI, none of this is final. So I'm also open to suggestions.
For thousands of years, the beautiful continent of Patria was home to hundreds of diverse kingdoms of Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, Gnomes, Centaurs, Minotaurs, Dragonborn, Goblin, Orc, etc. While wars did break out, the large abundance of resources on the continent kept wars sporatic and minimal in damage. This caused the Kingdoms and races to respect eachother. But one day, this relative peace was toppled, leading to centuries of death, fear, and lies.
It began 530 years ago, when a mysterious and pervasive force came to Patria. No one knew where it came from or what it's origin was, but it ravaged the continent, mutating countless people into immortal vile creatures of pure evil, known as Manda's. The virus also altered the planet's climate, causing destructive storms, forests to burn, lakes and rivers to try up, blizzards to freeze entire settlements, and terrible floods. And lead by a Manda who's original names was lost to history and had crowned himself as their God-King, the Manda's waged a terrible genocidal war to seize Patria for themselves and mold it to their likeness. But the people of Patria refused to give in, and a great war began.\
The war lasted for 128 years and countless Kingdoms were destroyed and countless people died. Finally, as the Manda's neared final victory, a group of nature spirits took mortal form and lead the remaining defenders in their final stand. In the end, the Spirits sacrificed themselves to cast a powerful spell that sealed the Manda's, and their God-King inside a hell like dimension known as "The Death". Additionally, the Spirits channeled their power through magic stones, one for each of them. And these stones survived their masters sacrifice, and kept their power in tact. The war was won, but the cost was heavy. Many lands were ravaged and the Kingdoms were all shells of their former selves. Many also feared the return of the Manda's. And indeed, shortly after victory, the Kingdoms sages and priests fortold that one day the Manda's would return. But they also fortold that the Nature Spirits would become incarnate again, in the form of mortals, and either be Patria's salvation, or damnation. But Patria's troubles were far from over. For new visitors arrived... humans.
The humans were colonists and immigrants from a far away land that ruled a vast Empire, and they sought to bring Patria under their rule. Their first settlement, was built on the battlefield where the lock on The Death was sealed, and the Patrian Kingdoms, too weakened from their war, were powerless against the new invaders. Entire Kingdoms were wiped out and non-humans killed or enslaved as the humans built new settlements. But that was not the worst of it. The humans exploitation of Patria's land and resources caused the lock on The Death to weaken. As time went on though, the wealthiest of the human Patrians grew resentful of the taxes and limitations their Emperor imposed on them. They desired more wealth and power.
Soon, the human Patrian nobles delcared secession from the Empire, and after 145 years of bowing to an unseen Emperor, the nobles rebelled. But the revolution quickly turned against the rebels, and the Empire closed in for the kill. Sensing the nobles fears from his weakened prison, the Manda's God-King entered their dreams and offered to provide limited aid from his leaking cage... in exchange for the nobles to build a new Empire that would rule in the Manda's interests, mold the entire world into the Manda's likeness, and free them, even though it would still take centuries. Too greedy and desperate to say no, the nobles agreed. And armed with new dark magic, they drove the Empire out, and founded the Empire of Patria.
Over the next 238 years, the Empire of Patria conquered all the remaining nonhuman Kingdoms, and killed or enslaved their inhabitants. Soon, the prophecy of the Manda's and the Spirits return was lost to all but a few. Those few took the Spirit Stones, and hid them in a ruined temple where they believed they would never be found until their masters reincarnated. The humans build their settlements on the ruined ashes of the settlements of the old races. Ironically, most of the Empire was built on the backs of slaves. While slavery was eventually outlawed, systemic racism is still present. This injustice, lead to the birth of the Elder Wolves movement, who initially were a militant faction created for protecting the other Races from systemic oppression.
Hampered by Imperial propaganda, the Wolves soon became demonized as fanatics and terrorists trying seize power or special privileges, who pillage and burn civilian homes. And while in the past the Wolves have taken action, any pillaging or burning has mostly been done by greedy independent individuals seeking a little cheddar cheese. But though most humans distrust the Wolves… they key word is “some”. Over the years, a number of humans, for often different reasons, have supported the Wolves. Some do so because for all of Patria's talk of “freedom”, it does not walk the walk. The only people who seem to have true “freedom”, are the royalty, nobility, gentry, and some of the magic guilds. For their influence on the government keeps the needs of the common people second to the needs of the higher ups.
Additionally, women are often seen as less than men. And are often subjected to systemic sexism of the worst kind… and pleas for help are usually ignored or dismissed as hysteria, or as defamation. And even if a woman actually DOES do something bad, it’s often used as an excuse as to why women should not be trusted. The LGBT of the Empire need no explanation.
And even outside its boarders, the Empire makes its presence known. It has waged wars of economic interests, or assassinated leaders of other nations who opposed their interests, and installed puppet rulers who would serve the Empire’s interest. Many lands and nations have been pillaged and exploited by the Empire in the worst ways imaginable. This forces refugees to travel to the Empire seeking asylum, but all the real world nightmares that real world refugees face, happen in this world. Few are let in, often out of fear of tipping the scales, like how humans did when they invaded the continent.
But while the rich and wealthy keep their power, they distract people by playing them against each other. Indeed, the Empire is divided by many things. Race, religion, political belief, competition for jobs… as long as this division continues, the rich will stay in power... and appease their dark overlords.
By the time of the campaigns start, The Death is on the verge of breaking, and the entire world is on the verge of being turned into a mordor like planet where only the Manda's and their pawns can live. But last week, a group of individuals all had the same nightmare multiple nights in a row. The world being flooded or on fire. Monstrous creatures slaughtering without remorse, and an image of a farm with a golden rooster on the farm door and harvest area, and chicken area, in the Western farmlands, and of the other heroes They’ve all decided that these are too consistent to be simple dreams, these are omens or warnings. So, they’ve decided to make their journey’s to this place. Unbeknownst to them, they are the reincarnations of the Spirits who gave their lives to save the world so long ago. And the farm they have seen... the owners have dug up something, possibly a map or a piece of the prophecy.
But the Empire has also learned of the prophecy from the farmer's discovery, and they fear the heroes will jeopardize their plan. They have sent their servants to hunt them down and kill them. There is not a moment to waste. These heroes must find out what these nightmares mean, who they are the reincarnations of, recover their stones to recover their lost powers, topple the Empire, ensure the Manda's stay banished forever, and save the world. Phew!
How much you want to give your players is up to you. I've run campaigns where I give my players no real starting information, other than questions they ask for backstory generation, and I've run campaigns where the players were given an 82-page in-universe travel guide letting them know a little bit about the major features on the map. For a one-shot, I would err on the side of giving them less, but not zero--you want them to know enough about the world that you do not spend a bunch of time in the single session explaining it.
Since you also asked for a critique of your backstory, using "women are mess than men" as a campaign theme, and whatever you meant with your dismissive "no explanation" comment about the LGBT+ community, can be extremely alienating to your players if you have anyone who is either female or LGBT+ (and you never can be quite sure that you do not have someone who might be in the closet in your group). This is a fantasy game; no need to force your players to relive the very real systemic problems they deal with on a regular basis.
Well, perhaps I could start by just informing them that their nightmares have lead them to the farm where the quest begins. I added the women and LGBT themes in as social commentary about systemic injustice against women and LGBT. And I happen to be a transwoman.
Fraid this setting still has work ahead. I still need to create NPC's encounters, and the various stages, and find multiple routes for players to take to achieve objectives.
Well, perhaps I could start by just informing them that their nightmares have lead them to the farm where the quest begins. I added the women and LGBT themes in as social commentary about systemic injustice against women and LGBT. And I happen to be a transwoman.
Makes sense. I've seen this kind of in-game representation of real world repression go both ways (being a smart, well-considered part of the campaign or being a disaster that makes someone at the table feel uncomfortable), so always like to warn folks that might be considering this as an option to at least be careful--which it sounds like would happen based on your response. You might not have much time to get too in-depth into any themes if just doing a one-shot, so just be prepared to perhaps miss the message depending on your time constraints (which isn't necessarily bad, just a factor to take into account when thinking about planning).
Otherwise, I think just giving them the basic call to adventure of nightmares would work pretty well. It gives them a quick reason to get interested and nightmares are a solid initial hook that tends to tickle the fancy of players and encourage them to investigate and follow the story prompt.
Well, perhaps I could start by just informing them that their nightmares have lead them to the farm where the quest begins. I added the women and LGBT themes in as social commentary about systemic injustice against women and LGBT. And I happen to be a transwoman.
Makes sense. I've seen this kind of in-game representation of real world repression go both ways (being a smart, well-considered part of the campaign or being a disaster that makes someone at the table feel uncomfortable), so always like to warn folks that might be considering this as an option to at least be careful--which it sounds like would happen based on your response. You might not have much time to get too in-depth into any themes if just doing a one-shot, so just be prepared to perhaps miss the message depending on your time constraints (which isn't necessarily bad, just a factor to take into account when thinking about planning).
Otherwise, I think just giving them the basic call to adventure of nightmares would work pretty well. It gives them a quick reason to get interested and nightmares are a solid initial hook that tends to tickle the fancy of players and encourage them to investigate and follow the story prompt.
I'm currently running a homebrew campaign where the world's backstory touches on some of the same colonialist themes yours does, albeit from different angles, and the best piece of advice I can offer is to listen to your players. If they're interested in exploring that aspect of your world, they'll let you know with their decisions, from character creation on up, and you can let them dive in as deeply as they want to. If they're not, don't force it -- give them little pieces of the story as needed to keep them pointed (more or less) in the right direction, but if they don't want it to be more complicated than "evil empire bad, must save world", that's cool too
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I'm currently running a homebrew campaign where the world's backstory touches on some of the same colonialist themes yours does, albeit from different angles, and the best piece of advice I can offer is to listen to your players. If they're interested in exploring that aspect of your world, they'll let you know with their decisions, from character creation on up, and you can let them dive in as deeply as they want to. If they're not, don't force it -- give them little pieces of the story as needed to keep them pointed (more or less) in the right direction, but if they don't want it to be more complicated than "evil empire bad, must save world", that's cool too
I think what I'll just do is establish that life on this continent and life under the Empire is hell, give them a few reasons why it is hell... and then the players have their nightmares that kick off the quest.
Yeah, I'd just tell them what it's like now. Things are sexist, homophobic, etc etc. Then give them a very brief overview of the history- what the characters would probably know. Say that the Empire had previously defeated an ancient evil. You could either reveal it at the beginning that there are whispers that it might return, or you could drop that in during one of the sessions, where you expound a bit more on the events. For the start though, they should only have a very rough idea of the history. That has a few advantages:
It's realistic - most people wouldn't have much knowledge of the past.
It allows you to go as deep (or not) as the players want.
It allows you to do it organically. It's not that every character is a history buff and knows everything. Instead, the players get to share their character's journey as they learn about their history - both the good points and the betrayals, etc.
It's a lot easier to drip feed rather than doing an exposition dump.
It allows you to intertwine their knowledge with the campaign - especially the part about the nobles making the pact with the devil as it were, that's something that would be cool to find out as they go a long and retroactively explains why things are so messed up.
It's a lot easier to engage the players that way. No offence and this isnta jab at your story - but I'm likely to forget most of that by tomorrow. If it's fed to me as the game progresses, I'm a lot more likely to remember and piece things together. Especially if my character is earning that knowledge.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I'm currently running a homebrew campaign where the world's backstory touches on some of the same colonialist themes yours does, albeit from different angles, and the best piece of advice I can offer is to listen to your players. If they're interested in exploring that aspect of your world, they'll let you know with their decisions, from character creation on up, and you can let them dive in as deeply as they want to. If they're not, don't force it -- give them little pieces of the story as needed to keep them pointed (more or less) in the right direction, but if they don't want it to be more complicated than "evil empire bad, must save world", that's cool too
I think what I'll just do is establish that life on this continent and life under the Empire is hell, give them a few reasons why it is hell... and then the players have their nightmares that kick off the quest.
You know, part of the fun of playing a game like this is decided for yourself how you feel about the world. If you make it too obvious, your players might not enjoy it as much as if you give them something to think about and express how they (or their characters) feel about the issues at play. Being a DM is less about telling a story and listening to the story your players want to tell.
This is a LOT for a one-shot. I appreciate that you've put a lot of thought and energy into developing this world, but for a game that only lasts a few hours you want to spend as little time as possible on exposition. I love diving deep into my own settings too, but I've noticed over the years that when I'm reading about someone else's setting, my eyes start to glaze over by the second paragraph. And it's not because it's not interesting, it's because I'm already thinking about my character in the world you've begun to describe. I want to play. Hook them and then show them what the world is like instead of telling them.
I don't know what your playing situation is like, but this would be a good teaser for a long-term campaign. Drop them in the world knowing just enough to get started, let them see how that world is through their immediate surroundings, and let them know additional stuff as they ask for it.
Generally with lore and world building, I tend to start things off light. Focus on what the characters need to know right off the bat. What is the immediate area the campaign starts in like, and enough lore regarding their backstory to let them hit the ground running without drowning them in lore. Then flesh things out as you go and let them learn more about the world at their own pace.
This is a LOT for a one-shot. I appreciate that you've put a lot of thought and energy into developing this world, but for a game that only lasts a few hours you want to spend as little time as possible on exposition. I love diving deep into my own settings too, but I've noticed over the years that when I'm reading about someone else's setting, my eyes start to glaze over by the second paragraph. And it's not because it's not interesting, it's because I'm already thinking about my character in the world you've begun to describe. I want to play. Hook them and then show them what the world is like instead of telling them.
I don't know what your playing situation is like, but this would be a good teaser for a long-term campaign. Drop them in the world knowing just enough to get started, let them see how that world is through their immediate surroundings, and let them know additional stuff as they ask for it.
Yeah. One shots really need to be more lean. A one shot vs a campaign is like a two hour movie vs a series of novels, or even just one really meaty novel. You need to be more mindful of the limited time frame in a one shot. The players can't really be expected to memorize a ton of lore for a one shot since their characters will only see a few hours of play, and the session itself needs to be a bitmore tightly paced unless you're willing to let it drag on past a single session.
Life Quest, is the current prototype name for a one-shot homebrew campaign and setting of my own design. It's based heavily on modern day systemic issues, American History, and Native American mythology. While there is still much work to be done, I have laid out a route for the campaign, along with the backstory of how all this came to happen. And I'm looking for opinions on how much the players should be aware of at the start. Because the actual background is too long for a campaign introduction, and I'm really bad at summarizing. Just FYI, none of this is final. So I'm also open to suggestions.
For thousands of years, the beautiful continent of Patria was home to hundreds of diverse kingdoms of Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, Gnomes, Centaurs, Minotaurs, Dragonborn, Goblin, Orc, etc. While wars did break out, the large abundance of resources on the continent kept wars sporatic and minimal in damage. This caused the Kingdoms and races to respect eachother. But one day, this relative peace was toppled, leading to centuries of death, fear, and lies.
It began 530 years ago, when a mysterious and pervasive force came to Patria. No one knew where it came from or what it's origin was, but it ravaged the continent, mutating countless people into immortal vile creatures of pure evil, known as Manda's. The virus also altered the planet's climate, causing destructive storms, forests to burn, lakes and rivers to try up, blizzards to freeze entire settlements, and terrible floods. And lead by a Manda who's original names was lost to history and had crowned himself as their God-King, the Manda's waged a terrible genocidal war to seize Patria for themselves and mold it to their likeness. But the people of Patria refused to give in, and a great war began.\
The war lasted for 128 years and countless Kingdoms were destroyed and countless people died. Finally, as the Manda's neared final victory, a group of nature spirits took mortal form and lead the remaining defenders in their final stand. In the end, the Spirits sacrificed themselves to cast a powerful spell that sealed the Manda's, and their God-King inside a hell like dimension known as "The Death". Additionally, the Spirits channeled their power through magic stones, one for each of them. And these stones survived their masters sacrifice, and kept their power in tact. The war was won, but the cost was heavy. Many lands were ravaged and the Kingdoms were all shells of their former selves. Many also feared the return of the Manda's. And indeed, shortly after victory, the Kingdoms sages and priests fortold that one day the Manda's would return. But they also fortold that the Nature Spirits would become incarnate again, in the form of mortals, and either be Patria's salvation, or damnation. But Patria's troubles were far from over. For new visitors arrived... humans.
The humans were colonists and immigrants from a far away land that ruled a vast Empire, and they sought to bring Patria under their rule. Their first settlement, was built on the battlefield where the lock on The Death was sealed, and the Patrian Kingdoms, too weakened from their war, were powerless against the new invaders. Entire Kingdoms were wiped out and non-humans killed or enslaved as the humans built new settlements. But that was not the worst of it. The humans exploitation of Patria's land and resources caused the lock on The Death to weaken. As time went on though, the wealthiest of the human Patrians grew resentful of the taxes and limitations their Emperor imposed on them. They desired more wealth and power.
Soon, the human Patrian nobles delcared secession from the Empire, and after 145 years of bowing to an unseen Emperor, the nobles rebelled. But the revolution quickly turned against the rebels, and the Empire closed in for the kill. Sensing the nobles fears from his weakened prison, the Manda's God-King entered their dreams and offered to provide limited aid from his leaking cage... in exchange for the nobles to build a new Empire that would rule in the Manda's interests, mold the entire world into the Manda's likeness, and free them, even though it would still take centuries. Too greedy and desperate to say no, the nobles agreed. And armed with new dark magic, they drove the Empire out, and founded the Empire of Patria.
Over the next 238 years, the Empire of Patria conquered all the remaining nonhuman Kingdoms, and killed or enslaved their inhabitants. Soon, the prophecy of the Manda's and the Spirits return was lost to all but a few. Those few took the Spirit Stones, and hid them in a ruined temple where they believed they would never be found until their masters reincarnated. The humans build their settlements on the ruined ashes of the settlements of the old races. Ironically, most of the Empire was built on the backs of slaves. While slavery was eventually outlawed, systemic racism is still present. This injustice, lead to the birth of the Elder Wolves movement, who initially were a militant faction created for protecting the other Races from systemic oppression.
Hampered by Imperial propaganda, the Wolves soon became demonized as fanatics and terrorists trying seize power or special privileges, who pillage and burn civilian homes. And while in the past the Wolves have taken action, any pillaging or burning has mostly been done by greedy independent individuals seeking a little cheddar cheese. But though most humans distrust the Wolves… they key word is “some”. Over the years, a number of humans, for often different reasons, have supported the Wolves. Some do so because for all of Patria's talk of “freedom”, it does not walk the walk. The only people who seem to have true “freedom”, are the royalty, nobility, gentry, and some of the magic guilds. For their influence on the government keeps the needs of the common people second to the needs of the higher ups.
Additionally, women are often seen as less than men. And are often subjected to systemic sexism of the worst kind… and pleas for help are usually ignored or dismissed as hysteria, or as defamation. And even if a woman actually DOES do something bad, it’s often used as an excuse as to why women should not be trusted. The LGBT of the Empire need no explanation.
And even outside its boarders, the Empire makes its presence known. It has waged wars of economic interests, or assassinated leaders of other nations who opposed their interests, and installed puppet rulers who would serve the Empire’s interest. Many lands and nations have been pillaged and exploited by the Empire in the worst ways imaginable. This forces refugees to travel to the Empire seeking asylum, but all the real world nightmares that real world refugees face, happen in this world. Few are let in, often out of fear of tipping the scales, like how humans did when they invaded the continent.
But while the rich and wealthy keep their power, they distract people by playing them against each other. Indeed, the Empire is divided by many things. Race, religion, political belief, competition for jobs… as long as this division continues, the rich will stay in power... and appease their dark overlords.
By the time of the campaigns start, The Death is on the verge of breaking, and the entire world is on the verge of being turned into a mordor like planet where only the Manda's and their pawns can live. But last week, a group of individuals all had the same nightmare multiple nights in a row. The world being flooded or on fire. Monstrous creatures slaughtering without remorse, and an image of a farm with a golden rooster on the farm door and harvest area, and chicken area, in the Western farmlands, and of the other heroes They’ve all decided that these are too consistent to be simple dreams, these are omens or warnings. So, they’ve decided to make their journey’s to this place. Unbeknownst to them, they are the reincarnations of the Spirits who gave their lives to save the world so long ago. And the farm they have seen... the owners have dug up something, possibly a map or a piece of the prophecy.
But the Empire has also learned of the prophecy from the farmer's discovery, and they fear the heroes will jeopardize their plan. They have sent their servants to hunt them down and kill them. There is not a moment to waste. These heroes must find out what these nightmares mean, who they are the reincarnations of, recover their stones to recover their lost powers, topple the Empire, ensure the Manda's stay banished forever, and save the world. Phew!
How much you want to give your players is up to you. I've run campaigns where I give my players no real starting information, other than questions they ask for backstory generation, and I've run campaigns where the players were given an 82-page in-universe travel guide letting them know a little bit about the major features on the map. For a one-shot, I would err on the side of giving them less, but not zero--you want them to know enough about the world that you do not spend a bunch of time in the single session explaining it.
Since you also asked for a critique of your backstory, using "women are mess than men" as a campaign theme, and whatever you meant with your dismissive "no explanation" comment about the LGBT+ community, can be extremely alienating to your players if you have anyone who is either female or LGBT+ (and you never can be quite sure that you do not have someone who might be in the closet in your group). This is a fantasy game; no need to force your players to relive the very real systemic problems they deal with on a regular basis.
Well, perhaps I could start by just informing them that their nightmares have lead them to the farm where the quest begins. I added the women and LGBT themes in as social commentary about systemic injustice against women and LGBT. And I happen to be a transwoman.
druid are you looking to bea dm? m8 me and my friends would pla withyou if you dont mind
Rey
Fraid this setting still has work ahead. I still need to create NPC's encounters, and the various stages, and find multiple routes for players to take to achieve objectives.
alright, welyou have any other stories that are complete?
Rey
Sorry, but no. I'd love to play, but I can't.
Well, do you know any other dms? that could beuseful info..
Rey
Try Roll20.
Alright ty.
Rey
Makes sense. I've seen this kind of in-game representation of real world repression go both ways (being a smart, well-considered part of the campaign or being a disaster that makes someone at the table feel uncomfortable), so always like to warn folks that might be considering this as an option to at least be careful--which it sounds like would happen based on your response. You might not have much time to get too in-depth into any themes if just doing a one-shot, so just be prepared to perhaps miss the message depending on your time constraints (which isn't necessarily bad, just a factor to take into account when thinking about planning).
Otherwise, I think just giving them the basic call to adventure of nightmares would work pretty well. It gives them a quick reason to get interested and nightmares are a solid initial hook that tends to tickle the fancy of players and encourage them to investigate and follow the story prompt.
Thanks.
I'm currently running a homebrew campaign where the world's backstory touches on some of the same colonialist themes yours does, albeit from different angles, and the best piece of advice I can offer is to listen to your players. If they're interested in exploring that aspect of your world, they'll let you know with their decisions, from character creation on up, and you can let them dive in as deeply as they want to. If they're not, don't force it -- give them little pieces of the story as needed to keep them pointed (more or less) in the right direction, but if they don't want it to be more complicated than "evil empire bad, must save world", that's cool too
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I thin
I think what I'll just do is establish that life on this continent and life under the Empire is hell, give them a few reasons why it is hell... and then the players have their nightmares that kick off the quest.
Yeah, I'd just tell them what it's like now. Things are sexist, homophobic, etc etc. Then give them a very brief overview of the history- what the characters would probably know. Say that the Empire had previously defeated an ancient evil. You could either reveal it at the beginning that there are whispers that it might return, or you could drop that in during one of the sessions, where you expound a bit more on the events. For the start though, they should only have a very rough idea of the history. That has a few advantages:
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
You know, part of the fun of playing a game like this is decided for yourself how you feel about the world. If you make it too obvious, your players might not enjoy it as much as if you give them something to think about and express how they (or their characters) feel about the issues at play. Being a DM is less about telling a story and listening to the story your players want to tell.
This is a LOT for a one-shot. I appreciate that you've put a lot of thought and energy into developing this world, but for a game that only lasts a few hours you want to spend as little time as possible on exposition. I love diving deep into my own settings too, but I've noticed over the years that when I'm reading about someone else's setting, my eyes start to glaze over by the second paragraph. And it's not because it's not interesting, it's because I'm already thinking about my character in the world you've begun to describe. I want to play. Hook them and then show them what the world is like instead of telling them.
I don't know what your playing situation is like, but this would be a good teaser for a long-term campaign. Drop them in the world knowing just enough to get started, let them see how that world is through their immediate surroundings, and let them know additional stuff as they ask for it.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Yeah. One shots really need to be more lean. A one shot vs a campaign is like a two hour movie vs a series of novels, or even just one really meaty novel. You need to be more mindful of the limited time frame in a one shot. The players can't really be expected to memorize a ton of lore for a one shot since their characters will only see a few hours of play, and the session itself needs to be a bitmore tightly paced unless you're willing to let it drag on past a single session.
It's a one shot campaign.
Good luck Druid, I hope it goes amazingly for you :3