Editing Canon (section)

== Roleplaying Games and Canon ==
When an [[RPG]] is made, the creators of the game almost always include a '''setting''': a canon which players and their [[gamemaster]]s can use like a sandbox. The game master is generally seen as the arbitrator of a story which both the game master and players tell together (generally aided by dice, rules, and snacks). If the role-playing group is telling a story within the scope of the canon of the RPG, that begs the question of whether or not the story told by the game they play is canon to the world or not.

Pretty much everyone says no, because that would be silly. It would be insane and completely fun-ruining to force players and GMs to abide by the events of other games being played half-way across the world. This would only work against the GM's ability to guide the story, and work against the player's agency in the world that the GM is orchestrating for them. Where roleplaying games are concerned, canon is reset between campaigns, and rarely are characters or events carried over between any two arbitrary games. If someone is demanding that a game or character they played is canon in your new game, they can almost always be assumed to be [[That Guy]].

The one exception to this rule is [[Vampire: The Masquerade]]. This game is well known for having a huge density of [[LARP]]ers within it's player base, and they would gather in huge nation-wide conventions to make their games, characters, and in-game-events canon going forward. It was a huge experiment in role-playing games, and there are still debates today as to whether this experiment was a success or a failure, given it's recent decline in popularity.

Sometimes events in certain games become so legendary among traditional gamers (or just /tg/) that the creators of the game declare it's characters and events to be officially canon.