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Varl
Learned Scribe
USA
284 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Dec 2011 : 16:45:52
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Canon matters to the game because if the games and novels are separated, people who enjoy both will either want to play in novel events, or they'll be affected by them, or they'll wonder why something in the books isn't in the game.
I might be showing my naivete, but am I in the minority to consider novel canon as merely another story that happened in the Realms, and quite possibly, not in my Realms?
I imagine there are quite a few Realms fans that completely tie in Realms novel lore into their games somehow....but I've never met one or ever even heard of someone doing so. Novel canon is a story of someone else's adventures. I suppose a DM could inject that story lore into the ongoing story of the player characters if he felt inclined to do so. I consider novel lore to be on the level of Ed's Everwinking Eye articles in Dragon; interesting stories and lore told to make my game better if I ever choose to incorporate it into my game. They're basically adventures of other people that could become adventures for us, or even simply the concept of the adventure within the novels could be used to create new adventures.
My players have never met Elminster. Quite probably, they never will, but his novels are his adventures, and they either happened in my game, will happen, or never will. The fact that they exist only serves me insofar as what I choose to use them as. Sometimes, a novel is just a story, read for entertainment and possible sparks of imagination for the DM, and doesn't necessarily need to be injected into one's campaign in order for the game to be canon. Just my humble opinion on this Xmas eve.  |
I'm on a permanent vacation to the soul. -Tash Sultana |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36910 Posts |
Posted - 24 Dec 2011 : 18:19:50
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quote:
Originally posted by Varl
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Canon matters to the game because if the games and novels are separated, people who enjoy both will either want to play in novel events, or they'll be affected by them, or they'll wonder why something in the books isn't in the game.
I might be showing my naivete, but am I in the minority to consider novel canon as merely another story that happened in the Realms, and quite possibly, not in my Realms?
I imagine there are quite a few Realms fans that completely tie in Realms novel lore into their games somehow....but I've never met one or ever even heard of someone doing so. Novel canon is a story of someone else's adventures. I suppose a DM could inject that story lore into the ongoing story of the player characters if he felt inclined to do so. I consider novel lore to be on the level of Ed's Everwinking Eye articles in Dragon; interesting stories and lore told to make my game better if I ever choose to incorporate it into my game. They're basically adventures of other people that could become adventures for us, or even simply the concept of the adventure within the novels could be used to create new adventures.
My players have never met Elminster. Quite probably, they never will, but his novels are his adventures, and they either happened in my game, will happen, or never will. The fact that they exist only serves me insofar as what I choose to use them as. Sometimes, a novel is just a story, read for entertainment and possible sparks of imagination for the DM, and doesn't necessarily need to be injected into one's campaign in order for the game to be canon. Just my humble opinion on this Xmas eve.
I'm not saying a novel has to be injected into a campaign... But if your players have read the Rogue Dragon books, and your campaign is set at the exact same time, they're going to expect to hear something about rampaging dragons. Ditto for the Reclamation of Myth Drannor or the Time of Troubles. On the flipside, though, unless they are well-informed Harpers and/or in the area, they're prolly not going to know anything about what Arilyn did in Tethyr.
What I'm saying is that I want the novels to happen in the same setting described in the rulebooks -- not the same setting with changes, or to have one be an alternate universe of the other. Obviously every DM's Realms is going to be different from straight canon, but that straight canon makes a good starting point for the players to know the setting and what to expect. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 24 Dec 2011 : 20:24:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Kris the Grey
5) it is okay with us if WoTC serves as the needed quality control agent (Lucas style)
The main reason for the time-jump was to eliminate the need for designers and authors to do TONS of research to write every single sentence (which was quickly becoming the case). They nuked the canon to streamline things.
Then, when the RPGA started creating tons of new canon - that they had to approve and keep track of - it made them have to 'work hard' all over again. Solution: Get rid of the RPGA as canon (which they did). Now there is plenty of time for kick-boxing and novel-writing again.
I really need to get the heck out of this thread before I get myself in hot water, but seriously, they have absolutely NO WISH to keep track of anyone else's writings - they can't even be bothered to read each others stories (and several authors have admitted that - that they haven't read every single Realms novel out there, which I would think should be a pre-requisite for a shared world).
You are saying the guys in-charge should work harder to make us happy, AND risk discovering 'new talent' that could turn-out more popular then themselves. It would be self-defeating - why would they ever agree to such a thing? I sure as hell wouldn't. What you are proposing would be good for everyone - Hasbro, the IP itself, the fans - except the people who would be making the decision to move in this direction. No-one gives up power lightly (and this has nothing to do with 'good & evil' - its more of a "I know what they need better then they do" type of thing).
Using the fans to build an IP is the Paizo way; ignoring them and force-feeding whatever you feel like is the WotC way. This thread is a pipe-dream. sorry.
I seem to have the grognard demon back on my shoulder - excuse me while I thwack him with a newspaper. Apologies all around - Have a good holiday folks, Markustay Out. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 24 Dec 2011 20:28:17 |
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Caolin
Senior Scribe
769 Posts |
Posted - 24 Dec 2011 : 23:25:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
quote:
Originally posted by Kris the Grey
5) it is okay with us if WoTC serves as the needed quality control agent (Lucas style)
The main reason for the time-jump was to eliminate the need for designers and authors to do TONS of research to write every single sentence (which was quickly becoming the case). They nuked the canon to streamline things.
Then, when the RPGA started creating tons of new canon - that they had to approve and keep track of - it made them have to 'work hard' all over again. Solution: Get rid of the RPGA as canon (which they did). Now there is plenty of time for kick-boxing and novel-writing again.
I really need to get the heck out of this thread before I get myself in hot water, but seriously, they have absolutely NO WISH to keep track of anyone else's writings - they can't even be bothered to read each others stories (and several authors have admitted that - that they haven't read every single Realms novel out there, which I would think should be a pre-requisite for a shared world).
You are saying the guys in-charge should work harder to make us happy, AND risk discovering 'new talent' that could turn-out more popular then themselves. It would be self-defeating - why would they ever agree to such a thing? I sure as hell wouldn't. What you are proposing would be good for everyone - Hasbro, the IP itself, the fans - except the people who would be making the decision to move in this direction. No-one gives up power lightly (and this has nothing to do with 'good & evil' - its more of a "I know what they need better then they do" type of thing).
Using the fans to build an IP is the Paizo way; ignoring them and force-feeding whatever you feel like is the WotC way. This thread is a pipe-dream. sorry.
I seem to have the grognard demon back on my shoulder - excuse me while I thwack him with a newspaper. Apologies all around - Have a good holiday folks, Markustay Out.
I'm not so sure that it is laziness on WoTCs part. It's probably Hasbo taking a super corporate approach to one of their many many IPs. Maximize profits with minimal money input. LucasFilm has realized where their cash cow is and they put maximum effort in nurturing that cow and making sure it keeps funding ILM and George's different ventures. So they dump a lot of money into maintaining the Star Wars IP. Hasbro on the other hand will most likely only ever invest enough into DnD to make sure it turns a profit. |
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A modest proposal...for a many platformed Realms
