Canon or original plots?

[Valiant 9]

When you base your RP off an existing story world, would you go with canon or original plots? Canon means following the canon story to a certain point, and then developing your RP based on events before that. Original means creating a totally new story based on the world. Original plots makes it easier to remove canon characters. Canon plots tend to get compared to the canon story or end up being influenced by it.

[Shades 676]

I personally like the "20 years later..." route. It gives me (and the other writers) a solid foundation on the plot we all know and love,  but it gives us a lot of room for movement and changes - removing characters, adding new ones, changing some things in the world (a lot can change in 20/10/30/100 years) while still keeping the taste of what made people fall in love with the setting.

 

Looking forward to hearing what others have to say!

[Blondie 98]

I am a huge sucker for AU or as @Shades said, the '20 years later'. Also, something set in the world of,  but not canon.

[Valiant 9]

6 hours ago, Shades said:

I personally like the "20 years later..." route. It gives me (and the other writers) a solid foundation on the plot we all know and love,  but it gives us a lot of room for movement and changes - removing characters, adding new ones, changing some things in the world (a lot can change in 20/10/30/100 years) while still keeping the taste of what made people fall in love with the setting.

 

Looking forward to hearing what others have to say!

 

Ah yes! I've tried that 10/20 years later method. It is a good way to detach from the original story but it still gives players room to work with the original characters, unless you switch them out too. Can be good or bad depending on the how things turn out.

[Dun 68]

I feel like the sweet spot is a balance of incorporating the events of canon with new plots and independent spins. That way you aren't restricted by what's already in canon, your game isn't boring as all heck (just regurgitating the story that has already been told), and you have enough of the source material to appeal to and entertain fans of the canon.

 

Figuring out how to make that work totally depends on the canon you're working with. Some canon's easier to work with than others. If the canon story is closely tied to the canon characters and specific events, it's a harder task. If the canon's more about the setting and broader plots/conflicts you can work with, that's a lot easier-- especially if you can distance your story from the canon by placing it in a different timespan.