Living with Canon

Over on the RPG Blog II, Zachary is weary of canon fiends wrecking his fun with 're-imagined' settings. A problem that I've heard about online before, but never really encountered in my campaigns.

Given that I run Middle Earth, I suppose the odds should have been good that I'd encounter players like that. But no. The closest I've gotten is people online who attempt to claim (foolishly I may add) that humans were incapable of magic in Middle Earth.

But then again, I picked a time and place in Middle Earth long before the War of the Ring in a 'blank' spot of the timeline- the middle of the Third Age around a millenium and a half previous. So I suppose I've dodge the worst of it by that one single fact.

For my other 'based upon X' setttings, I'm always clear up front that they are 're-imagined' versions. Be it Year One in my Marvel based superhero campaign or Shadowrun.

I've been doing this for decades, but the new Battlestar Galactica helped make it an easily understood choice even if it was a horrid show. If Starbuck can suddenly become a woman, there's not much point in whining about the incorrect number of bathrooms on deck 15.

Still, none of that will help if you have players who insist on playing in the 'real' version of the setting however they define 'real'. IME no two people will be able to agree on just what is 'real', so the desire is stillborn no matter what. In such a case one can only make it clear that the setting is re-imagined, and that you're not willing to run a 'real' version. If they can't live with that, then they have a decision to make- accept it or find a different campaign.