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Chronomancers, time spheres, grand conjunction, sundering and uchronies.
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<blockquote data-quote="Angel of the Dawn" data-source="post: 7573067" data-attributes="member: 6805459"><p>Aha! Okay, I understand what you mean, now. Something that allows for WotC creative license in the face of canon, that gives them a solid metaphysical justification for taking the tangled mess that are the official campaign settings and doing something cool and new with them.</p><p></p><p>This... is tricky. Not shooting down your ideas, because if they're going to do something like this, that would be a fun way to do it. It provides a solid "why" for the changes, and time travel and alternate realities and so forth are a fantasy/sci-fi staple. </p><p></p><p>But I'm going to tell you why it possibly might not work, and it's not because your ideas are bad ones. It's because your good ideas may run into certain realities.</p><p></p><p>First of all, I don't think that DMs absolutely need anything like this. You change things, I change things, and so do most DMs. I know very few DMs that run settings out of the box. I knew a DM that ran Dark Sun plus drow. (I didn't say all the changes were good ones!) I knew another one that ran FR as if the Time of Troubles never happened. And I know plenty that just take elements from settings without so much as a nod to the settings themselves, like me. So on the consumer side, we already have the imagination to do stuff like this. Sometimes we justify it with weird metaphysics and alternate timelines and so forth, but sometimes we just don't bother. So I'm concerned that giving people tools to do what a lot of us are already doing will be of limited value.</p><p></p><p>But you're intending this for WotC, I'm giving them the freedom to do what they want with the settings instead of having to conform to what has come before. And that's laudable. </p><p></p><p>However, as I'm sure you're aware, there are fantasy fans that approach canon in very much the same way fundamentalists approach religious scripture. Any change people makes to a setting's canon, even if it's an improvement or well-justified or done with good intentions, will be met by screaming hordes of Canon Gibbons declaring them anathema. (Sometimes the Canon Gibbons yell at the setting creators themselves for changing their own creations.) But let's be fair, here: it's not like the varied D&D teams have always treated these settings very well, or have been respectful stewards of the settings they've inherited. There were changes made that the majority of fans, even setting creators, didn't appreciate. So a certain defensiveness is understandable, even if people are sometimes stupid about it.</p><p></p><p>So, WotC giving themselves free license to violate setting canon, even if they don't actually do anything bad with it? That can go over poorly. I understand this isn't a <em>good</em> reason to not do it. Having to tiptoe around people that won't tolerate any kind of change, even if it's for the better, has to suck. But these people are an unfortunate reality in our community, and I believe WotC is choosing the side of conservatism when it comes to settings. And I can understand that. Even if I think your idea would be cool. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> </p><p></p><p></p><p>I honestly think these are cool ideas. But for reasons I explained before, I'm not sure how much traction it would gain. But I might be wrong! I would definitely suggest you continue to explore and expand your idea, maybe eventually release it to us as an ebook or something.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Angel of the Dawn, post: 7573067, member: 6805459"] Aha! Okay, I understand what you mean, now. Something that allows for WotC creative license in the face of canon, that gives them a solid metaphysical justification for taking the tangled mess that are the official campaign settings and doing something cool and new with them. This... is tricky. Not shooting down your ideas, because if they're going to do something like this, that would be a fun way to do it. It provides a solid "why" for the changes, and time travel and alternate realities and so forth are a fantasy/sci-fi staple. But I'm going to tell you why it possibly might not work, and it's not because your ideas are bad ones. It's because your good ideas may run into certain realities. First of all, I don't think that DMs absolutely need anything like this. You change things, I change things, and so do most DMs. I know very few DMs that run settings out of the box. I knew a DM that ran Dark Sun plus drow. (I didn't say all the changes were good ones!) I knew another one that ran FR as if the Time of Troubles never happened. And I know plenty that just take elements from settings without so much as a nod to the settings themselves, like me. So on the consumer side, we already have the imagination to do stuff like this. Sometimes we justify it with weird metaphysics and alternate timelines and so forth, but sometimes we just don't bother. So I'm concerned that giving people tools to do what a lot of us are already doing will be of limited value. But you're intending this for WotC, I'm giving them the freedom to do what they want with the settings instead of having to conform to what has come before. And that's laudable. However, as I'm sure you're aware, there are fantasy fans that approach canon in very much the same way fundamentalists approach religious scripture. Any change people makes to a setting's canon, even if it's an improvement or well-justified or done with good intentions, will be met by screaming hordes of Canon Gibbons declaring them anathema. (Sometimes the Canon Gibbons yell at the setting creators themselves for changing their own creations.) But let's be fair, here: it's not like the varied D&D teams have always treated these settings very well, or have been respectful stewards of the settings they've inherited. There were changes made that the majority of fans, even setting creators, didn't appreciate. So a certain defensiveness is understandable, even if people are sometimes stupid about it. So, WotC giving themselves free license to violate setting canon, even if they don't actually do anything bad with it? That can go over poorly. I understand this isn't a [I]good[/I] reason to not do it. Having to tiptoe around people that won't tolerate any kind of change, even if it's for the better, has to suck. But these people are an unfortunate reality in our community, and I believe WotC is choosing the side of conservatism when it comes to settings. And I can understand that. Even if I think your idea would be cool. :) I honestly think these are cool ideas. But for reasons I explained before, I'm not sure how much traction it would gain. But I might be wrong! I would definitely suggest you continue to explore and expand your idea, maybe eventually release it to us as an ebook or something. [/QUOTE]
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