Anti-canon, also written as anticanon or anti canon, is an approach to setting that requires input from gaming groups and rejects the idea of imposing a canon that must be adhered to. Because the setting is customised for each table, each gaming group is expected to use a different interpretation of the setting.
Anti-canon settings are distinct from wholly homebrewed settings because they do present information and details about the game world, which are often high-level and may be designed to be evocative and inspirational rather than prescriptive. On the other hand they are also different from detailed settings about which only incomplete infomation is presented to the players, because anti-canon settings explicitly avoid having a correct setting (even one that is known secretly only to the game designers).
There are several ways of making an anti-canon setting. For example, Ultraviolet Grasslands uses random tables to establish rumours about factions in the setting, but the results on these random tables are mutually inconsistent.[1]
Anti-canon settings and games[]
- Ultraviolet Grasslands by Luka Rejec, used in the game The Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City[1]
- Mnemonic by Dee Pennyway, used in games including Beyond the Rift and Carved in Crystal[2][3]
- Troika! by Daniel Sell[4][5]
- Pentola by Michael T Lombardi[6][7]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Luka Rejec (2019-03-05). "Anti Canon Worlds and the UVG". WizardThiefFighter. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- ↑ Dee Pennyway (2020-07-02). "“OK so what’s this about a setting guide, I thought Mnemonic was anti-canon, wtf Dee”
Mnemonic is an anti-canon setting, meaning that players are explicitly permitted to create new details or remove old ones if something doesn’t fit.". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-07-03. - ↑ Dee Pennyway at itch.io
- ↑ Zedeck Siew (2019-03-16). "TROIKA!'s introduction to RPGs". itch.io forums, OSR. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- ↑ Troika at the Melsonian Arts Council
- ↑ Axe for the Frozen Sea at DriveThruRPG.
- ↑ Pentola: City of Shards at Leanpub