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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grendel_Khan" data-source="post: 8449251" data-attributes="member: 7028554">I loved loved loved me some metaplot back in the WoD and Shadowrun 2e days, but if you weren't playing those games at exactly the right time (meaning those times, as specific books were coming out) it was just terrible.Spire is, I think, a great example of what happens when you fully set aside metaplot. Fantastic, rich setting, but it's so devoid of metaplot it doesn't even have a timeline for you to memorize. The game's designers have said that they want to provide "hooks, not history," which seems like a real evolution.Only other thing I'd note, though, is that some other indie games have done a good job (imo) with providing more of a tight plot, rather than metaplot, for games whose campaigns aren't intended to be open-ended in length. Band of Blades gives you a clear beginning (on the run from the undead army) and end point (last stand against them at a specific location). Brindlewood Bay also suggests the GM set up a final mystery that the entire game is leading up to, and that's a big shift in tone and lethality. Again, I'd call those something like plots, or framing for plots, than metaplots, and their success (if one thinks their successful) is based on the idea that they aren't part of an ongoing story, but one with a pretty well-defined and narrow timeframe.ETA: Couldn't resist fixing a dumb (minor) typo</blockquote>