Divergence from Canon

Howdy folks!  Thanks for dropping by the ol 'gate for a short chat with your buddy, Dave Bone.  I have some things to say today about how we're going to be approaching an issue that's plagued gamers for as long as there have been games.  I'm talking about that scourge of the plotline, that eater of good ideas - canon!

For those that aren't sure, canon is defined by Wiktionary as "Those sources, especially including literary works, which are generally considered authoritative regarding a given fictional universe."  Of course, in the context of Middle-Earth, that means pretty much anything that Tolkien (either one) ever published is accepted to be true.  At the Wargate, we extend this canon to most works that involve Middle-Earth, including the rpg's by Iron Crown and Decipher, and also the wargames by Games Workshop.

However, we're going a further step with our divergence from canon.  We're going shy away from canon, for the most part.  We can do this by telling stories that are "allowed" to exist within the auspices of the established works.  We can even use characters from the canon to fight our battles and explain away what has happened to exist within the canon.  Take Elrond in our Goblin King campaign last summer.  He was slain by a horde of goblins during a battle near the borders of his kingdom.  The ages are long, this totally could have happened sometime during the "downtime" presented in the novels as a minor event.  Obviously, Elrond was not killed, but wounded perhaps.

In other cases, we intend re-write the history of Middle-Earth as we go.  Consider the Wargate's Middle-Earth to be a parallel dimension to Tolkien's Middle-Earth.  We'll keep careful track of what changes, much the same way we keep track of things happening in our Old World or Mardannon Sector.  Quite a lot can change, but there are other questions to ask also.

The Age of Middle-Earth that we decide to inhabit will probably remain the Wargate's "official era".  I'll talk about the different opportunities and challenges the particular Ages present in a later post, but for now do consider that even with sweeping changes, in certain ages the effects of particular events may or may not have as much meaning as in an earlier or later age.  I hear that time paradoxes tend to work themselves out.

As the stewards of the many realms of the Wargate, it's our duty to look after the folk of this Middle-Earth as well.  Our armies gather, and a very different world and story can emerge that we can enjoy just as much as the original works, because we get to be a part of it.  It's time to embrace divergence from canon.