Why Do People Care About Canon?

[possum]

I'm primarily a Star Wars player and GM and I personally like to use as much canon as I can in my games, whether it's keeping continuity tidy in my little microcosm of the universe or changing it subtly to suit my needs. In my opinion, it can add to the game immensely. Imagine your Jedi character has survived Order 66 and is on the run from the Empire. The GM, not wanting to really end the game right then sends a lesser minion of Palpatine's after you: one of the first Inquisitors.

Others have said that the canon of the setting helps the players determine what they should expect, and I agree with that.

 

[der_kluge]

I think Zardoz has it right. Running something "as is" gives everyone equal footing in an understanding of the world/universe.

If I say, "I'm going to run a Star Wars campaign set between Ep. IV and V" you instantly know what I'm referring to. You have access to information about that universe and the people/places/events within it.

Now, if I were to say "I'm going to run a Star Wars campaign set between Ep. IV and V, except that Luke's X-Wing was destroyed in the Battle of Yavin", you still have an *idea* of what that universe is like, but some basic things begin to be questioned - what of the Rebellion? What of the Jedi, etc, etc. With that one simple change, I've altered many, many things. Continue to alter the canon, and you might as well create a homebrew setting from whole cloth.


Now, granted - that's a significant change. But, I think it aptly illustrates the point of why some might view canon as being important.

 

[GSHamster]

Also, sometimes people are not sure what makes a campaign setting special. Sometimes by removing or changing elements, you lose what makes the setting special and worthwhile.

For example, I don't think I could play an Eberron game without Warforged. To me, they're a central symbol of the last war, and their seeking of identity/purpose is an important theme of Eberron. To me, a DM who removed Warforged because he didn't like "magic robots" would be missing the point, and a sign that I probably would not like his version of Eberron.

 

[jdrakeh]

Also, sometimes people are not sure what makes a campaign setting special. Sometimes by removing or changing elements, you lose what makes the setting special and worthwhile.

The problem is that the criteria "special" is entirely subjective (i.e., what you see as special, another person might not see as special or even vital).

 

[GSHamster]

The problem is that the criteria "special" is entirely subjective (i.e., what you see as special, another person might not see as special or even vital).

Exactly. So it's best not to change anything, to guarantee you retain the specialness of that setting.

 

[jdrakeh]

Exactly. So it's best not to change anything, to guarantee you retain the specialness of that setting.

My point was, this is a pretty poor argument against setting customization, given the completely subjective nature of "special" -- you see Warforged as "special" but a lot of other people don't like them. Why should your opinion be held up as the standard?

 

[GSHamster]

My point was, this is a pretty poor argument against setting customization, given the completely subjective nature of "special" -- you see Warforged as "special" but a lot of other people don't like them. Why should your opinion be held up as the standard?

My point was more that "Eberron is special". I think it's because of Warforged, you may think it's because of Dragonmarks. Both of those elements are canon, so not removing either, not changing canon, leads to the best chance of retaining the "specialness" of the setting.

 

[Treebore]

I agree about using canon. I use it by saying, "Yeah, you hear lots of these stories from the Bards, and as rumors in the taverns. If you want to find out what really happened travel there and find out the truth for yourself."

That way, I use "canon", but the "TRUTH" is worked out by adventuring/travelling there and finding out how I decided to incorporate "canon". Which is either totally a "Bards Tale", completely true, or usually something close, but with a lot of facts being wrong.

Like in Faerun I never had the "Time of Troubles" happen. I had Cyric and the new "God of Death" Kelemvor show up, but Mystra, Bane, etc... stayed the same, except Myrkul, and all the "Time of Troubles" were was a Bards Tale offering a possible explanation as to why these deific changes took place.

My "canon" story was that God Wars do take place and the people of Faerun were fortuante enough to be alive to see the results of such a war. Plus it helped that I kept Assassins as an NPC class.

So even when I ignore, or rewrite, canon, I at the very least incorporate "official canon" as a Bardic Tale.

My players accepted it.

 

[billd91]

My point was, this is a pretty poor argument against setting customization, given the completely subjective nature of "special" -- you see Warforged as "special" but a lot of other people don't like them. Why should your opinion be held up as the standard?

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.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Whereas I do not dislike cannon, I try to stay away from it in the sense that I don't like having 'established' characters or people show up in my game. I am afraid that I would not be able to do all the characters justice and it might ruin it for some. If I were running Staw Wars, for instance, I would certainly mention Darth Vadar, Jabba the Hutt and maybe Han Solo but I would do my best to have the characters NOT meet them. The same can be said for if I was running a modern game, I would not want to have the characters meet famous actors or politicans (for a bunch of reasons - "hurr, hurr, I punch Tom Cruise in the face. Then I want to go give a wedgie to Dick Cheney . . . hurr").

So real life 'celebs' are kind of the same for me as famous/major characters in an RPG. Its best to make your own story without any baggage from the others.