Points of Light vs. Established Settings

As the GM of my IKRPG group (think steampunk D&D based in the Warmachine universe), the burden falls on me to know the story. When I've run D&D games in the past I've always used a "point of light" setting, where the setting was either entirely made up or loosely based on an existing setting like the Forgotten Realms or even Middle Earth. However, the IKRPG has challenged me by having my players be familiar with the world of the Iron Kingdoms, thus making the story come more alive for them if I based it in the world they know. It's the first time I've done this, and I never imagined how difficult it would be.

You'd think it'd be easier. I mean the setting is there, I just have to make up a story that fits the setting. The problem I'm having is that I like my players to take an active role in the world's conflicts, and witness all the big stuff that shapes the campaign. In a game like D&D where players can kill gods that's not so hard. But IKRPG only lets them off the leash a little bit, and so the thought of these heroic characters killing a monstrous dragon like Everblight is laughable because despite the fantasy influences, the Iron Kingdoms doesn't have room for nearly omnipotent heroes.

And that presents another problem. When working in an established setting you are restricted by timelines. My players can't kill Goreshade because he's still alive in the fiction. I can't have the Cryx start invading Llael or Five Fingers because they invaded the Thornwood first. If I'm going to stick to the fiction, I'm also allowing myself to be handcuffed by it. Sure they can take part in things that may have happened behind the scenes, or they can go on adventures that don't clash with facts, but my creativity is more invested on making it fit the story, rather than letting my players take it anywhere they want.

That's what I love about a Point of Light campaign setting. The second campaign I ran went off the rails from an adventure book, and my players had no idea what to expect. They were invested in the world because they knew nothing about it. It had influences of the Forgotten Realms, but I could reflavor a god, kill a hero, overthrow a kingdom, and it woudn't matter because it was our world and not the world of R.A. Salvatore. We weren't just visiting, we were carving out the story with our own hands. I gave them something to do for week 1, and what they did gave me something to do for week 2. It was immersive because everyone was invested in the world.

When I get them together in a few years and make them play one more game with me, you can believe that they will be fighting a deific Kobold Slinger because that's the sort of story they were crafting. In my IKRPG setting, I could have them storm the shores of Cryx and kill Toruk... except that midway through our campaign, a piece of fiction may be released that has Sorscha and Feora taking him down. Then what? We either have to make a choice to go off the rails and ignore the established world we stuck to, or change some story bits and try to keep going.

The good-ish thing about the IKRPG setting is that it takes place in the recent past, so you know what you can and can't do. While that works, it again asks that the campaign story run quietly alongside the official lore, only interfering when it makes sense. It's a hard line to toe - on one hand it lets you take things in lore that are barely mentioned and make them relevant and exciting. At the same time you know that your story simply can't impact the world.

And yes, I realize that GMs have creative liberty. I'm bogging myself down by sticking to "the rules" of the setting. I know other GMs can handle it perfectly well, but I have a hard time making a flexible story without having a flexible world in which it takes place.

That's what I've been struggling with as I've been coming up with story elements. I'm already running off the rails which you can read about if I ever get our last campaign story written up, but I'm trying to tread cautiously because I have some lore buffs in our group that may not appreciate too much deviation from the story. Not that I would fault anyone for feeling that way - if I'm working in an established setting, it's important not to bend the world out of shape and make it unrecognizable. It's just a simple matter of learning how to make an interesting story in a world full of interesting stories.


See you tomorrow!

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