Society for Aesthetic Deletions

Do you think that retroactive continuity is a good or bad thing in games? Is it a valuable GM/player tool or a cheat? Are there appropriate places for using it? Inappropriate places? How have you successfully used it or seen it used in a game? How about unsuccessfully?

I have only experienced it in its good form, so I must say it's a great tool, and a great cheat. And sometimes, it's a way for the backbrain to get things out into the game, if you don't stop and think too hard on it.

A perfect example of retconning came from WEF, back when I was running it. Oberon showed up, after being thought dead/missing for some time. He started to put all his children through interviews about what they thought about Amber, what Amber meant to them, what they'd be willing to do for it, etc. It was sort of an heir test.

Well, Benedict got very upset with his questioning, stormed out of Oberon's office, and tore apart his room, and left Amber for a long time.

Then, he returned at a PC's birthday party, and made a big show of pledging himself to another NPC, who was trying to resurrect House Barimen in the Courts.

The NPC, Cybele, managed to get Benedict, another NPC named Samuel (former assassin), and a PC (Brennan, and one of the more dangerous of the PCs) to pledge to her, all for various reasons (Brennan was her consort).

And then later, I realized that this had all (obviously) been a maneuver by Oberon. He had picked Cybele as his heir, and managed to get her surrounded by top-notch people who had pledged themselves to her, to protect her and see that she got the training she needed to run Amber.

I didn't plan it this way; originally, Benedict was just pissed at the powerplay Oberon was attempting. But then I thought about it. What if the act was a sham? What if he wasn't REALLY pissed, but Oberon and he planned it?

And it took off from there. Everything that I had planned fit perfectly with this new take on it. Samuel was the first to figure it out (as an NPC, he had access to a number of PCs who told him various things, and he put two and two together) and then presented it to Brennan. Who agreed with him, and then they agreed to not speak about it to anyone. Definitely not Cybele!

Of course, by the end of the game, everything happened as Oberon wanted. It was such a retcon, though. I've had smaller ones...usually where I do something and wonder why (usually an NPC says something) and then later it makes sense.

I may end up doing it in my ATF game, but again, only if it fits. I just killed off a PC (player wanted to switch characters, and I couldn't think of a valid reason (nor could he) for his PC to not stay with the group), and if circumstances warrant it later, I may retcon the death. It was only witnessed by an NPC, and maybe something messed up his recall of events.

But only if it works for the plot. Or if my backbrain tells me what was really going on much later.