Metaplot in general

[Slagheap]

I was just wondering how much everyone else uses the metaplot in their games?  The primary Trinity game I've played in ran pretty close to the metaplot and then glanced of sharply as the cast change and we ran "spin-off" games.

In my Adventure! game I am planning on referencing the Metaplot a bit (tho butchering it horridly) but I can't divudge these things now as the game is still running...I hope.

-Slag

[CHILL]

For Trin I run two campaigns, alternating between them both - the first also being pretty close to meta plot until recently, with the second (and longer) campaign being set on Absolute Zero.

Certain areas of the ongoing meta plot (in Terra Verde with P418 fr ex), I'm not using, as they don't gell with my idea of the Trinity setting, but that's just me

[harlequin]

heh! come to think of it, i only ever ran one trin campaign and it only lasted a week or two...  ::whatsthat

anyways, sudden realizations aside, no i didn't go anywhere near the metaplot, i probably stomped it into the ground come to think of it... in fact, none of my games ever follow the meta plot, i tend to go off on my own little tangent which i find to be more fun for myself and i like to believe, my players... half the time i don't think i even manage to follow my own plot thanks to the players...

(ask joe or pax about the trinity dugeon crawl ::hehe i think they're still in shock, ah holographic reality, how i love thee...)

[Psiborg]

I tend to use the metaplot, Coz it does add to the unique flavour of Trinity and Aberrant, the two games I own out of the Aeon-o-verse.

But if I don't like something I just change it, having said that, there is little I actually changed for Trin and almost nothing for Ab.

I had a few more planets and colonies (mainly as abbie bases) and that was about it for Trin, some of the worlds were in the Tucanae globular cluster as worlds the Qinn had reached via slower than light ships, I reckoned them having been spacefaring for a few thousand years and having extensive settlements in their own system.  After all where did they learn their terraforming techniques? There's only so much you can learn engineering your own homeworld.

I tend to have fun rationalising the background as it is. It gives me loads more story ideas usually. ::devil  

But I don't blame anyone for changing the background, I did for Cyberpunk, err and Cthulhu/Stormbringer crossover thing, err and definitely, definitely for Wampir, the arsekerade.  Oh and then there was that ####### son of the last Cyberpunk campaign mixed with Traveller 2300. and, and...

[Joseph]

I change little for Trinity. I like it as is. Though I prefer to run everything I do away from the main part of the plot, focusing more on what the PC's want to do.

Aberrant... I ignore almost every bit of the metaplot. Doesn't matter whose game it is, mine or otherwise. I have a personal dislike of the way the game's development was handled.  ::sneaky2

For Adventure we upped the tech slightly, but left most of everything else alone. It's the group's plots that we muck with instead.  ::sly

-Joseph

[VictorHFrost KSC]

in my games i've done a fair amount with the metaplot, but i always always put my own bend to it. while i like the overall story i prefer some of the characters i make (and those that my players make) over some of the prewritten ones in the book, so i make my pcs and my npcs exploits more important than those of canon characters. in reallity i don't mean for them to be more important, but i don't like the focus being completely on the story that the books tell so i use my npcs as a way to create added interest (most of my players at this point know the metaplot in its entirety, so running it alone would be like preaching to the chior) i use the new chars motivations and goals as supplements that continue alongside those of say, the proxies and the psi orders. there are little extras, tidbits and sideplots. i still keep the metaplot intact, but i don't force my players to run through it alone ad nauseum, that would just get tedious.

as for my aberrant game, i intend to keep the metaplot thread, but sidestep it for the most part. until the aberrant war my players really shouldn't be picking those kinds of allegiances. and by then, they'll have enough built in prejudices and misconceptions about so many different things that the real truth behind it all wouldn't matter to the characters proper.

jake

[Psiborg]

Joseph & Victor,

You've hit the nail on the head with that one, it IS vitally important to let the players do whatever they want, the metaplot and cannon characters, if you use 'em, is just the backdrop.

In Trinity, coz it's a sci fi game, I like to include a sci fi story feel. The best (or most cliched depending on your POV) sci fi books and movies focus around big issues that have a profound effect.  

I'm thinking here of things like, utterly alien contact, asteroid impact, dystopia's, utopias (no pun intended), rampaging black holes, lost civilizations with wundertek etc. etc.

Trinity and Aberrant allows me to explore that with storytelling against an interesting backdrop. Rather than try and iron out all the inconsistencies like I did when I first started running games, I now use practically every bit of background in every game system as a spring board for my imagination.

Maybe that's because I've run games for 16 plus years though, if I changed the plot on everything, I guess I'd end up repeating myself. The plot elements in Aeon-o-verse games make it easier for me to avoid running what would essentially be the same game over and over. But as I've said I've run plenty of games where I've completely changed the background or mixed systems together and there's nothing wrong with that its a matter of taste, storytelling style and what you think the players are gonna dig.

[Joseph]

Well said Psiborg. ::withbeer

I'm right there with all of those reasons you gave for loving Trinity. It's easy for the players to choose their own path and let the ST just run with it, tossing in the reactions of the universe. Equally, it's a cinch for an ST to craft up a wiley plot that the characters must custiously navigate.

Basically: it's flexible. To me, moreso than most other games. Fortunately, I see Adventure in much the same light. It encourages the players to come up with their own stories, giving the ST an almost free ride.

Man I love this stuff!  ::smokin

-Joseph

[Pax's_Pimp]

I like to change only enough of the meta-plot necessary to make it so the characters have a hand(albiet a small one) on the  major flow of the storyline. I think it is really cool for people to see their name in print so why not have that apply to their characters as well. Even if their names are never mentioned, it is still the response of "hey I did that"

::xmas Pax's Pimp

[BillionSix]

Sadly, I rarely get to play or run games, for lack of a gaming group. But here's my thought.

I promised myself if I ever ran Aberrant, I'd throw Trinity out the window. Not that Trinity's a bad game (far from it) but the central theme of Aberrant is supposed to be "What if you had godlike power and could change the world?" That's hard to do if the future is carved in stone.

As for Adventure!, I'm not sure. I considered the idea of letting the world develop into something similar to the comic book Terminal City, which I really liked.

[Psiborg]

Yeah, I kind of put Trinity on hold when I got Aberrant so I could possibly work some of the players ideas into the metaplot.

That's if they ever get round to doing anything that would be remebered enough to survive the Opnet's destruction   ::smiley8

Anyway it was fun to watch the players eyes light up when I told them they could play Abberants.

It would probably have made sense to release Adventure first then Aberrant followed by Trinity last, but then what do us mere mortals know of the marketing genius that is WW

[Pax's_Pimp]

I actually think that Trinity doesn't need to be thrown out the window when one plays Abberant. Because of the OpNet crash and the resulting Comm Crunch I feel that the players can change the world and it still won't necessarily be know 100 yrs in the future. Just an idea though...

::chillbeer Paxs Pimp

[VictorHFrost KSC]

a very good idea pax, cheers ::withbeer

jake

[Defender]

Ah, metaplot shmetaplot, when I buy the game that world becomes mine to do with as I please. Which means if I want the Legion of Doom in Aberrant or the Vorlons in Trinity. . .well, actually I'd never want either. . .but you get my drift. My opinion of RPGs is that they're book-sized toyboxes to rummage around in, find something cool and then zoom it around the playroom in caffiene-induced mania until you pass out on the floor for naptime. But hey, I'm kooky like that.

-Defender.

[Psiborg]

::smiley1  ::smiley1  ::smiley1

[Pax's_Pimp]

Good Point Defender  ::thumbs-up

excuse me now it is nap time  ::sleeping

Paxs Pimp

[Defender]

Not a bad idea. . .

*settles down onto his mat and snoozes happily*

 ::sleeping

-Defender.

[harlequin]

joe, chill, you guys were talking about babysitting?

[Defender]

Hey, I maintain the world would be a safer and more productive place for all if naptime were brought into the mainstream. A good little mid-day snooze to flip over the circuit breakers is all ya need to feel content and productive. Wouldn't you like an hour or so at work to be able to relax for a change, rather than having to sneak your snooze?

-Defender.

A visionary in his own time. Or is that mind?

[Pax's_Pimp]

I fully agree Defender... I have always believed that nap times would greatly improve the productivity of people in the work place... so if you will excuse me.  ::sleeping

Paxs Pimp