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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kae'Yoss" data-source="post: 3656789" data-attributes="member: 4134">The appeal to that idea, that you can enter a new game (whether a new campaign started by your group or when you join a new group) and already know your way around the place, is great. I, too, prefer the setting to adher to "canon" as closely as possible, with changes that have a reason and are not done on the DMs whim. Mind you, "I don't know about the canon parts of this because I don't have that book" or "I really hated how canon turned out to be in this case" are perfectly good reasons in my opinion. "Couldn't be assed to read those 4 lines in the write-up of the region I base my campaign around", of course, isn't.The most important thing, in my opinion, is not to adher to canon at all costs, but tell the players about the changes and possible changes. You didn't like how that one guy is now king? Fine, let him be drawn and quartered by an angry mob - but tell the players you did it. You haven't read this sourcebook or that novel and might get things wrong because of that? Okay (though if someone in the party has, you might ask him to give you a short summary of the important parts), but tell your players.If they want to visit king Karl II, and when they ask about him at the palace and everybody laughs at the characters and tells them "Haven't you heard? He was drawn and quartered, Queen Nellie's in charge now!", you're being a jerk. A useful thing is to start small. You don't have to treat the whole game world as your playground. Only an area of it - one village, one area, one realm. That way, it won't matter whether King Karl II or Queen Nellie reigns in far-off Monarchia, because the players don't have anything to do with that place. That gives you some time until you have to confront these things, if at all.The "player knowledge vs. character knowledge" angle can work well, too: If the characters do not have any knowledge about Monarchia, you never need to mention that there's now a Queen reigning there. But make sure that as soon as they have reason to know these things - they are on a mission in Monarchia and the recent coup is still a matter of public talk, so they can't help but overhear it in the tavern's common room. Bottom line is: The DM does have the right to change the canon. In fact, he can change whatever he wants, but a good DM won't just change stuff just for spite, or will withhold that information. And the players do have the right to be informed about changes, especially if their characters have reason to know it.The DM who changes stuff on a whim and doesn't tell the players is as much wrong as is the player who insists on 100% canon material in someone's personal campaign.</blockquote>

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