Does Metaplot ever work? Forked Thread: Greyhawk 4e

[Quickleaf]

Thanks for starting this thread, S'mon! I've been trying to update Al-Qadim to 4e while staying true to the source material and original setting. So, I am interested in how to do meta-plot right (and believe it can be done).

I've noticed some interesting trends in discussing meta-plot...

Static v. Dynamic
Shemeska argues that a setting without meta-plot can become static & stale.
Nymrohd argues that a setting doesn't need meta-plot to be dynamic & vibrant.

Expansive v. Incompatible
Triskaidekafile argues that meta-plot has the potential to expand a setting and provide more options to the DM.
Klaus argues that meta-plot renders past supplements incompatible with newer ones.

Vague v. Detailed History
El-remmen argues that meta-plot works if the timeline is advanced with little explanation of the events that lead to the current state of the setting, in order to allow DMs room to create.
I'll take up the devil's advocate position and argue that meta-plot fails when the timeline is advanced without detailed expalanation because the fan base is unable to connect the new setting to the old familiar one.

 

[Obryn]

I actually loved Arcana Evolved's 'metaplot' for what it was worth - in fact, the dragon/giant conflict really helped me frame up a campaign. I think the key was that Monte Cook only sketched stuff out, but didn't advance the storyline past the initial setup.

FASA occasionally descended into metaplot hell. SR had an extensive metaplot. Earthdawn's was prominent, too, and greatly influenced later releases. On the plus side, Earthdawn's metaplot had an attached campaign module which let you run through the whole thing with a huge amount of latitude. Still, I wish they would have just set stuff up, maybe set the ball in motion, and let me fill in the blanks from there.

-O

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I wasn't around when this happened, but as I understood, the Torg adventures all became part of the "metaplot" of that Universe.
Apparantly (at least that's how my resident original Torg players explained), WEG then produced their modules and asked for player feedback on how they turned out, and went with a "majority" vote to advance the plot according to these experiences.

The story seems to work pretty well as such - and it definitely brings some important changes to the setting, without ever removing the core premises.

The Maelstrom Bridges are built, and Core Earth is attacked by the Realities. The Gaunt Man that coordinated the various attacks was "beaten" by the first Storm Knights (as was also novelized - I am not sure if this was also part of the modules itself). The PCs venture to recover the Destiny Map and find the Possibility Chalice, fighting various major figures in the Possiblity Wars, and a further Reaility eventually managing to build their Maelstorm Bridg, and eventually they confront a returned Gaunt Man. The major turns in the major plot seems to be the defeat of the Gaunt Man and the arrival of the Tharkoldi and the Space Gods, without ever changing the settings major concepts.

 

[Nifft]

My favorite metaplots have been mutually exclusive (incompatible with each other) and incomplete (gaps and inconsistencies, so none was the obvious truth). I like myths that require some faith on the part of the PCs.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Minicol]

I love metaplots, (if they make sense to begin with).

I can understand the frustration of some people getting their home campaign thrashed after the new supplement, but I don't have this problem : I usually run adventures years after they are published. With this, I have enough time to check the potential problems and correct them before they become an issue.

I love the metaplots of Living Greyhawk and Living Arcanis for instance, at least, what little I know of it.


Some change to the world should definitely come from metaplots : look for instance at how life can change for a country when it loses a war...

 

[Minicol]

Hey, what the ... ?

Why I am suddenly called a 2nd level goblin sharpshooter ?

Not that I object to being a goblin, but why ONLY 2nd level ?

Cheers

 

[Fallen Seraph]

While I quite adore metaplots like in oWoD I prefer them to be separate to most of the gameline. One thing I like about Cthulhutech is they seem to be keeping the metaplot separate, with their own books.

 

[Wild Gazebo]

I've never understood the problem. This just gives me more of a timeline to choose from. I've never felt compelled to advance one of my games because of the choices of a publisher...but I have choosen to start my games in a different era.

A good example, for me, is that I never used any of the info or changes from the novels in the Dark Sun setting. I simply used a timeline ten years before the Death of the Tyrian king.

I look at it as similar to the modern games I play: I choose a time line of near future, far future, current, or even past.

Meta plots just seem to add more options for me to play in...and are mostly just scenery anyhow.

 

[S'mon]

OK, I have a couple of ideas about how metaplots can be beneficial:

1. Expanding the setting into unexplored corners - but this could presumably be done by regular area sourcebooks, without timeline advances etc.

2. Making the setting better/more interesting /exciting - as the result of a major event. This is what something like From the Ashes or Traveller's Virus attempted to do. Apparently from responses above it worked for WHFRP and for Battletech (the Clans) at least for some. And certainly I can see how the rather staid original Battletech universe could only benefit from an incursion. (Conversely, the Yuuzhon Vong(sp?) extra-galactic incursion in the expanded Star Wars universe looked like a terrible idea to me).

3. This is the big one - a series of metaplot events adding excitement and interest to an ongoing campaign. This is different from a simple one-time reboot like From the Ashes, which affects everything. Shemeska has hinted at this, but I have never actually seen anyone describe a campaign functioning in this manner, where ongoing metaplot events successfully feed in to ongoing tabletop play. Can anyone give me their experiences?

 

[Nymrohd]

3. This is the big one - a series of metaplot events adding excitement and interest to an ongoing campaign. This is different from a simple one-time reboot like From the Ashes, which affects everything. Shemeska has hinted at this, but I have never actually seen anyone describe a campaign functioning in this manner, where ongoing metaplot events successfully feed in to ongoing tabletop play. Can anyone give me their experiences?

I think self-contained module driven metaplot would serve this the best. A number of modules that follow each other and drive the metaplot forward through events that the players partake in. It makes all changes intimate to the campaign and it does not have to be canon but just one of many possible ways to handle the timeline. The planescape modules for instance were self-contained yet interlocking and advanced the plot without railroading it (up until the bitter end at least). The downside is horrible modules like the ones in the FR Avatar trilogy that basically castrate the PCs so as to cater to the real heroes of the setting (and possibly one of the greatest reasons epic NPCs get so much hate in FR by the community).

As far as Al-Qadim goes, I always found that setting extremely history-lite. A nice concept with interesting locales and rule subsets but without any metaplot whatsoever. I'd keep it that way.