Why Do People Care About Canon?

[frankthedm]

But roleplaying games aren't fanfiction--right?

You keep telling yourself that...

 

[jdrakeh]

Uh... because it's canonical. Seriously. By conforming to canon when this sort of question comes up, you're making an appeal to authority, the authority who decides what is canonical in the game setting. The author or publisher.

This is the kind of blind, slavish, devotion to published material that I think the OP was calling into question. Seriously. Why should the author's vision take precendece over the consumer's? If somebody pays money for a supplement, are they not allowed to use it as they see fit?

 

[Treebore]

This is the kind of blind, slavish, devotion to published material that I think the OP was calling into question. Seriously. Why should the author's vision take precendece over the consumer's? If somebody pays money for a supplement, are they not allowed to use it as they see fit?

Definitely. I paid for the setting, so what I do with it is Canon, not the publisher/authors. I'll worry about that if I ever get desperate enough to do tournament play. Because there, it is important for hundreds, even thousands of people, to know what exactly is "canon". In my home game anything goes.

 

[Stormborn]

This is the kind of blind, slavish, devotion to published material that I think the OP was calling into question. Seriously. Why should the author's vision take precendece over the consumer's? If somebody pays money for a supplement, are they not allowed to use it as they see fit?

Of course. The question, however, is not either can you or should you, its why do some people want to follow it and some do not? The answer comes down ultimatelly to a matter of percieved value. Some percieve the value of the published setting to be superior to any modification that a particular GM might make and some do not. Some people like chocolate and some do not. The only issue comes up from the fact that the game we play is a shared experiance and a GM must determine the expectations and desires of his oh her players before making the decision to break with canon or not, in much the same way that a host must decide what to serve his guests. Its perfectly valid to ask someone to try something, but you must also consider what they have expressed in the past. And unlike a single meal, or serving of icecream, violation or adherance to canon in a campaign setting effects long term decisions about what people do with their time.

Therefore, in the end, its a matter of personal opinion, but if you want to have a succeful game you need to consider other peoples' opinion when making a decision and acknowledge that there opinion has just as much validity as your own. Then you can choose to comprmise or play with someone else.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

This is the kind of blind, slavish, devotion to published material that I think the OP was calling into question. Seriously. Why should the author's vision take precendece over the consumer's? If somebody pays money for a supplement, are they not allowed to use it as they see fit?

Sure.

Just don't tell me you're running an Eberron game when there are no warforged, and dragonmarks don't exist, and you're using the FR pantheon.

Where that line is, between "Actually using a setting" and "just using the map," is probably subjective, but that doesn't mean it ain't there.

 

[jdrakeh]

Therefore, in the end, its a matter of personal opinion, but if you want to have a successful game you need to consider other peoples' opinion when making a decision and acknowledge that there opinion has just as much validity as your own. Then you can choose to comprmise or play with someone else.

I totally agree with that and think it's worth mentioning that a blind adherance to published canon without first talking to players is just as inconsiderate of others' opinions as wholesale alteration without consultation is

 

[Sunderstone]

As a former FR fanatic, I like Canon. Hearing legendary tales of heroes of old is fine imho. The problem is too many heroes of old are still around and active in both the novels and sourcebooks.
The other big problem with FR is that the setting sourcebooks keep following the novels too closely making the information in the old sourcebooks fairly obsolete. Alot of material in the older FRCS is now outdated in newer sourcebooks.
Take the recent events in Cormyr and the Silver Marches for example.

Now back to the problem of the super-heroic, ultra-level, god-like NPC's (Elminster, Drizzt, Halaster etc). Now mix that with a good module (even if its a huge dungeon crawl) like City of the Spider Queen. It doesnt feel as epic as it should because its doubtful that the god-like Elminster would allow the dales to fall to such a threat without him and his horde of high-powered friends eventually stepping in. Believability factor that the PCs are the last hope of the dales plummets a little here.
Could I work around that.... yes. Any creative DM can. BUT....
1) How much of FR do I keep having to edit because of tom, dick, or harry's new novel(s)?
2) Why keep altering this setting when some of my sourcebooks are already outdated?

I had enough at that point.
Since then, Ive decided to go back to Greyhawk. Minimal amount of work even with all the rich lore going around.



BTW... the following is a partial list of my alterations (copied and pasted from a txt file Ive made) to FR before I just gave up on the setting....

*The Simbul of Aglarond - Mysteriously catatonic. This kept secret from most of Aglarond.

*Elminster - Out worldwalking. Looking for a cure for the Simbul.

*Lady Alustriel of Silverymoon and Drizzt Do'Urden - Missing upon the last visit by Drizzt. No one has seen her or Drizzt leave Silverymoon. Some anti- Drizzt drow propaganda has circulated quietly.

*Halaster Blackcloak and Undermountain - Removed, neither exists. Undermountain was too silly, Skullport should have also been under a less policed city.

*Zhentarim - Fzoul Chembryl and the Banites maintain firm control over the Black Network. The Cyricists have all but been eradicated from Darkhold. A few Cyricists remain as spies pretending to be Banites. Sememmon and Ashemmi remain deserters and have no plans to return to the Black Network.

*The Shadovar - The events that transpired at Evereska remain. The melting of the High Ice has not happened and the Shades have no plans of staying in Anauroch. The Battle at Tilverton happened but for the simpler reason of Conquest.
Shade had wanted to establish a foothold in the centrally-located Cormyr. Since the destruction of Tilverton, Shade has retreated to Anauroch once more. Currently the Shadowvar are disturbingly quiet as they continue to gather intelligence in utmost secrecy, preferring to kill themselves over capture.

*The Drow - The War of The Spider Queen has not happened. Lolth is still active. The events at Ched Nasad did occur however, with the smaller houses still making a bold attempt to seize power in a coup. Menzoberranzan however, has never been under siege. The Jaezred Chaulssin have always existed in secret and continue to hatch plots (one of which was the recent slave uprising) against the predominantly female menzoberranyr hierarchy in efforts to undermine their control. Lolth continues to watch these events unfold to see if her subjects are worthy of survival and her attention all the while reveling in the chaos of these events.

*King Obould - King Obould maintains a firm grasp of his humanoid hordes in the Spine of the World having lost the Citadel of Many Arrows. He has since set his sights on Mithril Hall as its location is closer and easier than striking in the middle of the Silver Marches to reclaim Citadel Felbarr. The Dwarves of Mithril Hall are largely unaware of the coming storm, but they have noticed increased humanoid and giant activity in the area.

 

[billd91]

This is the kind of blind, slavish, devotion to published material that I think the OP was calling into question. Seriously. Why should the author's vision take precendece over the consumer's? If somebody pays money for a supplement, are they not allowed to use it as they see fit?

But this may be the way some people prefer to play and that's perfectly fine, if that's what they like. It's neither better nor worse that deviating from the canon. It simply fits some play styles better than others.

 

[Rothe]

Uh... because it's canonical. Seriously. By conforming to canon when this sort of question comes up, you're making an appeal to authority, the authority who decides what is canonical in the game setting. The author or publisher.

I think it is the trademark holder who decides what is canon, i.e., what can and canonot be called F.R. or what have you. But I'm biased, I never want to play canon, tell me your setting, your world.

I love Treebore's take, canon is what people think is true, but what is true is for adventurers to find out.