Game Master Guidance: Not Everything Needs to be Connected

A storyteller will often find themselves tempted to create elaborate, overlapping stories. The current popularity of “cinematic universes” and other interconnected settings shows there’s a demand for them. However, it’s very difficult to pull off. Only a handful of settings manage to create a true mythology, Lord of the Rings probably being the best example. Even the more competent “linked” settings end up bogged down by confusing storylines, absurd retcons, and inconsistent mechanics. A regular lament of Star Wars novel and comic fans is that every other person across the galaxy apparently knows Han Solo. The simple answer is that having dozens of writers handling the same setting over the course of decades is going to cause some consistency problems. But the deeper issue, and the one that GMs should be wary of, is the urge to connect everything.

               As in any form of storytelling, that doesn’t mean nothing can be related. If the events of your campaign are entirely isolated, there won’t be a real narrative arc. Even worse, the game will feel like a Three Stooges-esque procession of isolated incidents. The inverse is just as bad. If every little thing the party does ends up being directly connected, it can quickly become contrived. Additionally, it will make the game’s world feel small and cramped. If everything the party encounters circles back to the main storyline, then it will quickly seem like nothing exists outside of the player characters’ own narrative. As with most things in storytelling, extremes are to be avoided. For a GM, that means being able to tell when to hold on to something and when to leave alone. A good rule of thumb is that the more removed something is from the main plot, the more likely it is that it should stay away from it.

               A story being long or elaborate doesn’t automatically make it good. Ray Bradbury might be best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 but most of his greatest works are his short stories. Similarly, the self-contained “monster of the week” episodes of the X-Files are more fondly remembered than the tangled, alien conspiracy focused “mythology” plotline that incorporated the entire show. There’s something to be said for a story that can offer a satisfying resolution in a relatively short timeframe. That brevity can lend it an impact a longer story might just lack. That’s why so many writers argue it’s harder to write a short story than a “regular” one. But that shouldn’t intimidate a game master. You have the players to help carry the story forward. In my personal experience, my group have most the “one and done” sessions the most.

On a more practical note, GMS of any experience level can attest that it’s much easier to plan a session than a campaign. Even the loosest groups will have to keep track of all sorts of elements, whether they be characters, events, enemies, or anything else. By letting certain plotlines end or fade into the background, you’ll save yourself a whole lot of time. It’s easy for storytellers to get caught up with crafting endlessly self-referential narratives. That’s doubly so for a medium as interactive as RPGs, where a GM fears removing something that the group might want to interact with later on. It arguably takes more skill and more effort to step back and decide what needs to be left alone or cut out altogether. It’s even harder for a GM, who likely has their “audience” seated nearby. Or at the very least, in the same groupchat as you. But a GM should realize that no matter how difficult it might be, they can’t let their campaigns turn out into an impenetrable Gordian knot. It will save everyone a lot of trouble in the long run.