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<blockquote data-quote="Pseudonym" data-source="post: 1270164" data-attributes="member: 4479">I run two games, one in Kalamar and one in the Forgotten Realms.&nbsp;Kalamar's lack of a metaplot is refreshing, and in a way provides a sense of security and stability. For example, I don't worry that I'm going to pick up the next Kalamar supplement to find that Emperor Kabori was assassinated, throwing all of Kalamar into a civil war, like the situation that fubared Traveller years ago.&nbsp;To go with the hypothetical Kalamar/Traveller analogy a bit more, I could just ingnore it, assuming Kabori is still alive in my game and continue along as I was, but if Kenzer assumes the assassination and civil war as a base line, then future supplements become of less and less use as the core world shifts from the world I DM. Less use in the &quot;fluff&quot; sense, in that the backround material pertains to things unrelated to my game; and in the &quot;crunch&quot; sense if the mechanics end generates feats or PrCs related to organizations that don't exist pre-civil war. Sure I could adapt the new material to the Kalamar I am running, but before I know it, I'll be a grumbling old grognard, clutching my dog-eared and scuffed Kalamar setting guide and ranting about the good old days on RPG.net.&nbsp;In some sense metaplots can be positive. It could provide commonality to different campaigns set in the world. I can chat with other Forgotten Realms DMs and say &quot;So, how did you deal with the return of the Shades in your game?&quot; as even though they may be running a game in Sembia, and I in the Silver Marches, according to Realms &quot;canon&quot;, each campaign local is impacted to some degree.&nbsp;And on the plus side, I had abandoned the Forgotten Realms for Kalamar completely, but I started running a new Forgotten Realms game set in the Silver Marches when that material came out for 3E. The formation of the Silver Marches was itself a metaplot, but one that is generally better recieved by FR players and DMs.&nbsp;I guess when it comes to metaplots, having them be destructive is more of a problem that having them be constructive, or changes in a &quot;positive&quot; sense. So the formation of the Silver Marches and the end of the Retreat are &quot;good&quot; metaplots, in that they don't cause any undue amount of chaos to an established game; while the destruction of Cormyr and the return of the Shades and their subsequent Fearûn-wide weather manipulation are &quot;bad&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Pseudonym, post: 1270164, member: 4479"] I run two games, one in Kalamar and one in the Forgotten Realms. Kalamar's lack of a metaplot is refreshing, and in a way provides a sense of security and stability. For example, I don't worry that I'm going to pick up the next Kalamar supplement to find that Emperor Kabori was assassinated, throwing all of Kalamar into a civil war, like the situation that fubared Traveller years ago. To go with the hypothetical Kalamar/Traveller analogy a bit more, I could just ingnore it, assuming Kabori is still alive in my game and continue along as I was, but if Kenzer assumes the assassination and civil war as a base line, then future supplements become of less and less use as the core world shifts from the world I DM. Less use in the "fluff" sense, in that the backround material pertains to things unrelated to my game; and in the "crunch" sense if the mechanics end generates feats or PrCs related to organizations that don't exist pre-civil war. Sure I could adapt the new material to the Kalamar I am running, but before I know it, I'll be a grumbling old grognard, clutching my dog-eared and scuffed Kalamar setting guide and ranting about the good old days on RPG.net. In some sense metaplots can be positive. It could provide commonality to different campaigns set in the world. I can chat with other Forgotten Realms DMs and say "So, how did you deal with the return of the Shades in your game?" as even though they may be running a game in Sembia, and I in the Silver Marches, according to Realms "canon", each campaign local is impacted to some degree. And on the plus side, I had abandoned the Forgotten Realms for Kalamar completely, but I started running a new Forgotten Realms game set in the Silver Marches when that material came out for 3E. The formation of the Silver Marches was itself a metaplot, but one that is generally better recieved by FR players and DMs. I guess when it comes to metaplots, having them be destructive is more of a problem that having them be constructive, or changes in a "positive" sense. So the formation of the Silver Marches and the end of the Retreat are "good" metaplots, in that they don't cause any undue amount of chaos to an established game; while the destruction of Cormyr and the return of the Shades and their subsequent Fearûn-wide weather manipulation are "bad". [/QUOTE]

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