Headcanons about your favorite settings

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
Warhammer 40K: I always set things back in the time line and never forward. I stay somewhere between the 13th Black Crusade and the 12th (+ or - a bit). Also the T'au are not a thing, but the Necron are.

Before my second kid I was on the edge of looking more closely at the Horus Heresy, but I am told madness lies down that path.
 
Yeah... Both of those were impossible to keep track of. :smile: To be honest I had most of the Vamp books and a few of the Werewolf books. But then they just kept flinging out the other games which didn't really interest me. I wanted the WoD to be mainly dealing with Vamps. Plus, the supplements just got worse as time went on. :sad:

I actually loved the matchup of all the different types of monsters and otherworldly creatures, and Mage was my favorite cuz I like magic in general and their system looked awesome. In my headcanon they would've been all part of the same world if I ever got to play them.
 
Warhammer 40K: I always set things back in the time line and never forward. I stay somewhere between the 13th Black Crusade and the 12th (+ or - a bit). Also the T'au are not a thing, but the Necron are.

Before my second kid I was on the edge of looking more closely at the Horus Heresy, but I am told madness lies down that path.

Yeah, T'au are just a pain in the arse. Their mechanics are always the most frustrating, everything has a name that's nothing but fish references and random numbers/letters, so it's hard to keep track of the drones and weapons.

Fluffwise, they remain the absolute least interesting addition to the setting, really offering nothing of value other than being " another xenos army", which the game could admittedly do with more of.

I've ran into then while playing Deathwatch. But the referee found them annoying, so despite it being a large front in the ongoing wars, we only saw the T'au for two sessions and never again.
 
Generic Fantasy: Elves and Dwarves are just human ethnic groups, not separate species from humans.

Marvel: All the stories are true. All of them. Every comic, including from imprints like Star Comics and comics about characters Marvel lost the rights to. Every TV episode, every movie, every published RPG adventure. All true. Especially those which are mutually contradictory. All true. How? I don't care. They just are.
 
... and random numbers/letters...

Just like modern military equipment.

I'm not judging you by the way, I have the same problem. It's one of the friction points for me in running modern-setting games, the names suck.

Consider the following:
 
Just like modern military equipment.

I'm not judging you by the way, I have the same problem. It's one of the friction points for me in running modern-setting games, the names suck.

Consider the following:

Oh, I know it's very much the case, as ever military/gun-obsessive can bore me to death explaining. But when I'm listening to a T'au player drone (ha!) on about whatever all his troops are carrying, it's just gibberish to me.
 
I have two major and several minor headcanons for Dragonlance. The two major variations on the setting are either a simple "Good is Good, Evil is Evil, and the High God is God" or a counter-subversive "almost everything you know about Krynn's history is a lie, the 'gods' are just ancient dragons playing at godhood with a strong Vorlon/Shadow influence, and the High God is still God." :smile:
 
Last edited:
  • Delta Green, Eldritch Horror, Hyperborea, Carcosa, Robert E Howard's Hyborian Age, and Fomalhaut all share the same universe along with the work of other creators such as HP Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith,.
  • The greys are a strain of humanity after 100,000+ years of evolution as spacefarers.
  • Most primitive fantasy planets were initially inhabited by the Snake Men who brought humans as lab rats and slaves before the collapse of their star-spanning empire.
  • Daemons are just another flavor of alien.
  • Dragons are just a strain of degraded Snake Man
  • The Elder Things created humanity
  • Magic is not supernatural as traditionally understood. Rather, it draws upon alien science, extradimensional mathematics, and cosmic forces beyond mortal understanding.
  • The largely extinct Snake Men laid the foundations of sorcery. Sorcery, as practiced by humans, is largely derived from scarcely understood work of the Snake Men.
  • There are no gods as traditionally understood. Instead they are powerful alien beings, constructs, sorcerers, etc. who may be indistinguishable from gods from the perspective of puny man.
 
Just about any pre-modern fantasy setting: the world-picture of modern science is not true. Infectious diseases are not the result of bacterial, viral, or other living pathogens, but disease spirits/miasma/environmental 'poisons' etc. as appropriate. People do not need oxygen (which does not exist) but do need air. Conservation of mass may not hold. And so on.
 
Just about any pre-modern fantasy setting: the world-picture of modern science is not true. Infectious diseases are not the result of bacterial, viral, or other living pathogens, but disease spirits/miasma/environmental 'poisons' etc. as appropriate. People do not need oxygen (which does not exist) but do need air. Conservation of mass may not hold. And so on.

Somewhat at odds with this, yet also reaffirming it for most fantasy settings: the world and the observable universe as conceived of by our understanding of science is mostly true (even in ancient fantasy worlds), but that's not the whole picture. Beyond the world we see there is a vast collection of different realities, layered over our own, known as "The Otherworld". The Otherworld is separated into multiple realms where spirits, magical creatures and things like demons, angels and fey (including elves and maybe dwarves), etc. originate from. And everything from our world is reflected upon it at the nearest layer that most directly overlaps with our world--creating an otherworldly counterpart with disease spirits hanging around plague filled areas, ghosts hanging around cemeteries, etc.--with realms like fairy worlds, heavenly or hellish realms, etc. existing at deeper levels.
 
Just about any pre-modern fantasy setting: the world-picture of modern science is not true. Infectious diseases are not the result of bacterial, viral, or other living pathogens, but disease spirits/miasma/environmental 'poisons' etc. as appropriate. People do not need oxygen (which does not exist) but do need air. Conservation of mass may not hold. And so on.

I find this admirable, but personally it has been very difficult for me to consistently hold that frame when I've tried it. Rational science just keeps creeping back in unconsciously.
 
I find this admirable, but personally it has been very difficult for me to consistently hold that frame when I've tried it. Rational science just keeps creeping back in unconsciously.

Part of the reason I tend to do a hybrid of it. Unless there's a compelling, setting specific reason to frame the world as different from how science conceives of it*, I have a hard time not thinking about it in terms of modern assumptions.

*like for example, Spelljammer's crystals spheres and traveling through the phlogiston (which, coincidentally, I never featured in my games back in the day, but totally would now if I were to run a SJ campaign).
 
Classic World of Darkness: The core rulebooks for each line are the only canon. Nothing else exists.

Chronicles of Darkness: The core book (includes the God Machine arc) and the mundane mortal-centric source books books are the only canon. Supernatural beings are better as antagonists here, not protagonists. Playing one of the supernatural beings is not a thing.
 
Last edited:
Exalted 2E: The celestial incarnae are not addicts. The games of divinity are the means by which their commands filter down to the terrestrial gods, and also the final trap laid by the primordials. If they stop playing too long, the relationship between gods and their domains begins to break down.

And the deathlords are empowered by the neverborn, but not controlled by them. They have their own plans, which are generally evil or at least misguided, but they're often at odds with their masters and each other.
 
Exalted any: Epic motivations are just megalomania. As long as the person has the correct drive, even if it's as simple as "Keeping my Home Safe" can allow one to Exalt.
 
Warhammer 40K: I always set things back in the time line and never forward. I stay somewhere between the 13th Black Crusade and the 12th (+ or - a bit). Also the T'au are not a thing, but the Necron are.

Before my second kid I was on the edge of looking more closely at the Horus Heresy, but I am told madness lies down that path.

The Horus Heresy is three pages of story that appeared in Realms of Chaos stretched out into over a hundred novels. If you are so into 40K that you want sixteen chapters on what Magnus decided to order from a restuarant menu two weeks before the Emprah died, then it''s for you.
 
The Horus Heresy is three pages of story that appeared in Realms of Chaos stretched out into over a hundred novels. If you are so into 40K that you want sixteen chapters on what Magnus decided to order from a restuarant menu two weeks before the Emprah died, then it''s for you.
Lobster Thermidor btw.
 
The Horus Heresy is three pages of story that appeared in Realms of Chaos stretched out into over a hundred novels. If you are so into 40K that you want sixteen chapters on what Magnus decided to order from a restuarant menu two weeks before the Emprah died, then it''s for you.
What a restaurant!! I bet they had side options for days and days!

The only novel I read was the one about the betrayal on Istvaan III.
 
Star Trek

+ All Star Treks are holodeck recreations of RL adventures. Some of them are wildly inaccurate.

+ The Orville is a Star Trek series set in the 26th century but the names were changed due to the "reality" treatment of its personnel that Starfleet denied its stamp of approval on.

+ The Star Trek universe is a Lovecraftian place of sanity-bending horrors, incomprehensible creatures, horrific death around every turn, and alien intelligences. Humanity's Conan the Barbarian-esque existentialism combined with science hero "make your OWN meaning" has really messed with most races who often spend thousands of years poking the rest of the galaxy very slowly and carefully.

+ This is actually why counselors are bridge crew. Its not something they like to discuss but basically they were assigned due to the history of Starfleet captains going mad like Garth of Izar, Captain Tracey, and Captain Decker. They are actually meant to not only keep them sane but have the duty to remove them or other crew members who go off the deep end. Troi actually can relieve the captain or order him arrested or put down if necessary.

+ Klingons took to the stars the exact sort of opposite way of the Federation and treat it like an epic fantasy. They killed their gods (who were advanced aliens), seek mystical insights via time rocks, and other ridiculous over the tops compensations for the inherent mad chaos of the Star Trek universe.

+ For example, why is the bat'leth so common? Because all of those bat'leths are mad of a special meteorite iron that can kill incorporeal beings. They're also all blessed by Khaless JUST IN CASE.

+ Romulan culture is normally very passionate, colorful, and not that dissimilar to Andorians. The use of deception and trickery is due to their cultural beliefs it is better to outthink your enemies than destroy them. TNG's Romulan culture with its mass conformity and drab nature is actually an anomaly where a totalitarian government overthrew them after the alliance with the Klingons collapsed. The destruction of Romulus actually resulted in the return of its more emotional passionate-driven ways.

* Ferengi actually have a strong culture of piracy and swashbuckling heroes. Basically, like Starfleet, Ferengi's Daimons are an outlet for nonconformist as well as adventure-seeking overachievers. It's actually part of the reason Starfleet had such a WILDLY INACCURATE view of the Ferengi. After all, most Ferengi do not look at a Galaxy-class starship and go, "Yeah, I can take that."

+ There is no Section 31. It is not an organization. It is, in fact, just a classification for "highly illegal operation that we think is necessary." You put on your Section 31 jersey and act all mysterious and promote a lie about it not being authorized (because it isn't). The classic, "We will deny your existence if you are caught."
 
Last edited:
My headcanon is that every Star Trek tabletop game will inevitably turn into this.

FRSpxZaVcAAFjv-
 
Ravenloft: Dominic d'Honnaire is Harvey Weinstein. Witches (warlocks) are charming morons (high CHA and dumped INT) who almost always deserve their damnation and I play them mostly as edgelady/edgelord jokes.
...I actually like that approach a lot:thumbsup:!
With 7th Sea I always translate the nations made up names into their historic names. :smile:
Same. Though I was only able to suggest it to a guy who wanted to run a campaign, and he denied it. So I made myself a cheat sheet:grin:.

  • Delta Green, Eldritch Horror, Hyperborea, Carcosa, Robert E Howard's Hyborian Age, and Fomalhaut all share the same universe along with the work of other creators such as HP Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith,.
  • Magic is not supernatural as traditionally understood. Rather, it draws upon alien science, extradimensional mathematics, and cosmic forces beyond mortal understanding.
  • The largely extinct Snake Men laid the foundations of sorcery. Sorcery, as practiced by humans, is largely derived from scarcely understood work of the Snake Men.
  • There are no gods as traditionally understood. Instead they are powerful alien beings, constructs, sorcerers, etc. who may be indistinguishable from gods from the perspective of puny man.

I thought these are more or less canon? I mean, REH was corresponding with HPL for a reason...

  • The greys are a strain of humanity after 100,000+ years of evolution as spacefarers.
  • Most primitive fantasy planets were initially inhabited by the Snake Men who brought humans as lab rats and slaves before the collapse of their star-spanning empire.
  • Daemons are just another flavor of alien.
  • Dragons are just a strain of degraded Snake Man
  • The Elder Things created humanity
These, OTOH, are prompting me to take notes...:shade:
Just about any pre-modern fantasy setting: the world-picture of modern science is not true. Infectious diseases are not the result of bacterial, viral, or other living pathogens, but disease spirits/miasma/environmental 'poisons' etc. as appropriate. People do not need oxygen (which does not exist) but do need air. Conservation of mass may not hold. And so on.
I tend to add them, instead of replacing, but yeah, same here... the four humours exist, there's a fifth humour that must be cultivated and guided (called Essence:angel:) and possibly a sixth one as well, and so on!

Exalted any: Epic motivations are just megalomania. As long as the person has the correct drive, even if it's as simple as "Keeping my Home Safe" can allow one to Exalt.
I think that's pretty much canon at least since 2e, and always was canon in my games.
Also, a character of mine once got force-Exalted into Solar for being too insolent. (I was hoping Lunar or Sidereal, BTW).

Exalted 2E: The celestial incarnae are not addicts. The games of divinity are the means by which their commands filter down to the terrestrial gods, and also the final trap laid by the primordials. If they stop playing too long, the relationship between gods and their domains begins to break down.

And the deathlords are empowered by the neverborn, but not controlled by them. They have their own plans, which are generally evil or at least misguided, but they're often at odds with their masters and each other.
*scribbling notes*
 
I actually had the opposite Exalted one regarding The Games of Divinity.

The Unconquered Sun and company spend all of their time playing Dungeons and Dragons and Human: The Mortal because the Unconquered Sun and other Incarnae made a MASSIVE mistake: believing in humanity.

Humans were given SELF-RULE by the Incarnae with the Exalted meant to show their infinite awesome potential of mankind. The gods wouldn't dictate their fates (at least among Exalted) and gave them all the benefits they needed to go their own way.

And...wow, did humanity fuck it up.

Utter fucking disaster.

Part of this is the Great Curse but the sheer nastiness which humanity has descended to and barbarism makes the argument the Incarnae REALLY SHOULD HAVE ruled over us directly. The Unconquered Sun as the embodiment of good, though, believes we WILL turn it around.

The Sidereals have taken up the slack and genuinely find the Unconquered Sun's belief in human freedom INSANE.
 
I actually had the opposite Exalted one regarding The Games of Divinity.

The Unconquered Sun and company spend all of their time playing Dungeons and Dragons and Human: The Mortal because the Unconquered Sun and other Incarnae made a MASSIVE mistake: believing in humanity.

Humans were given SELF-RULE by the Incarnae with the Exalted meant to show their infinite awesome potential of mankind. The gods wouldn't dictate their fates (at least among Exalted) and gave them all the benefits they needed to go their own way.

And...wow, did humanity fuck it up.

Utter fucking disaster.

Part of this is the Great Curse but the sheer nastiness which humanity has descended to and barbarism makes the argument the Incarnae REALLY SHOULD HAVE ruled over us directly. The Unconquered Sun as the embodiment of good, though, believes we WILL turn it around.

The Sidereals have taken up the slack and genuinely find the Unconquered Sun's belief in human freedom INSANE.
I actually had a similar headcanon, except it was more of a "fascination of their potential as expressed in the Exalted":shade:.

The part about Sidereals however was spot-on, at least among many of the more experienced ones:grin:!

And something that I just posted in another thread, but I often forget that this is my headcanon, actually:thumbsup:!

See, in AsenRG's Creation, the sun is an avatar of the Unconquered Sun, or often, a spirit who got the task delegated*, since avatars take Too Much Work for the US. Either way, the Delegated Sun is riding the Sun Chariot across the sky, spreading the sun's rays and warmth!

Rumours that Solars Exalt most often on the rare days when the US himself deigns to take the role are entirely unfounded and should be dismissed, Sidereal loremasters assure, after conducting an in-depth statistical analysis. Any deviation is within the statistical error, they say!
(They are right. It's only true for the Zenith-aspected Exaltations! And Nights Exalt less often when the US himself is running the chariot himself, not more. So the analysis was entirely correct, but nobody asked them about the results per particular castes...:tongue:)

*Lots of paperwork is involved, and the pay has been driven down by the bureaucracy, so it's not seen as a prestigious or gainful task for any spirit strong enough to fit the role. As a result, there's bureaucratic wrangling to saddle a rival with it, and some illicit liaisons have made use of it...:grin:
 
Last edited:
Terminator -- there is only one possible ending to the war between humanity and the machines, because every other possible outcome loops back to another iteration of the war. Like other contributions to this thread... everything is canon, either leading to this outcome, or leading to a loop that leads to this outcome.

Founder's Day, John mused. I wish Mom were here to see it. An aging model 101 turned the corner and started walking towards John's house; John held his breath, as he always did, and let it out again. "Morning, Dennis."

The Terminator offered John an exaggerated wave of his hand. "Good morning, Mr. Connor. I have mail for you today."

"Anything good?"

Dennis held the stack of envelopes up and looked at them. "No."

"Never is." John's words ended in a coughing fit that went on, and on, and on...

"Mr. Connor, you are experiencing severe respiratory distress. I will call you emergency medical services."

John's cough lightened up, and he waved Dennis away. "It's fine, it's fine!"

Dennis almost conceded the matter. He laid the junk mail next to John on the porch swing. "Have a nice day, Mr. Connor," he said, and walked away.

"Hey, you didn't say--" John let the thought trail off as Cameron came out the front door and tousled his hair. "Dennis thinks I'm--"

"You are dying, John. You should allow--"

"It's fine. It's okay." He reached up and brushed her cheek. His fingers came away surprisingly wet. "Huh."

She took his hand. "I don't want you to die, John."

"It's okay, Cameron. It's okay. I love you."

The machine paused. "I... I love you too."

And he knew that she meant it, and he knew that everything was going to be okay.
 
Alien/Aliens

My headcanon is that xenomorphs are not in fact actually super-hunter killer predators and the ultimate lifeform that people assume they're meant to be. They are, in fact, aggressive wildlife that you should not violate quarantine with. The reason that they keep getting people killed is because they are routinely up against untrained workers and people who are prone to making catastrophic mistakes in dealing with them.

Generally, they're about as dangerous as a seven foot long spider-ant (which is pretty fucking dangerous) with acid blood (moreso).

The galaxy, it turns out, is actually full of horribly dangerous wildlife too as the "Bug Hunt" comment suggests.

Also, rather than the future of Blade Runner, Alien/Aliens is the future of Robocop and Total Recall.

The world is still ruled by the same catastrophically stupid looter capitalism of the Eighties and OCP-like military industrial contractors that are controlled by idiots.
 
Terminator -- there is only one possible ending to the war between humanity and the machines, because every other possible outcome loops back to another iteration of the war. Like other contributions to this thread... everything is canon, either leading to this outcome, or leading to a loop that leads to this outcome.

Founder's Day, John mused. I wish Mom were here to see it. An aging model 101 turned the corner and started walking towards John's house; John held his breath, as he always did, and let it out again. "Morning, Dennis."

The Terminator offered John an exaggerated wave of his hand. "Good morning, Mr. Connor. I have mail for you today."

"Anything good?"

Dennis held the stack of envelopes up and looked at them. "No."

"Never is." John's words ended in a coughing fit that went on, and on, and on...

"Mr. Connor, you are experiencing severe respiratory distress. I will call you emergency medical services."

John's cough lightened up, and he waved Dennis away. "It's fine, it's fine!"

Dennis almost conceded the matter. He laid the junk mail next to John on the porch swing. "Have a nice day, Mr. Connor," he said, and walked away.

"Hey, you didn't say--" John let the thought trail off as Cameron came out the front door and tousled his hair. "Dennis thinks I'm--"

"You are dying, John. You should allow--"

"It's fine. It's okay." He reached up and brushed her cheek. His fingers came away surprisingly wet. "Huh."

She took his hand. "I don't want you to die, John."

"It's okay, Cameron. It's okay. I love you."

The machine paused. "I... I love you too."

And he knew that she meant it, and he knew that everything was going to be okay.

Hm. cyborg River Tam - what's not to like?

action_movies.png
 
Last edited:
Alien/Aliens

My headcanon is that xenomorphs are not in fact actually super-hunter killer predators and the ultimate lifeform that people assume they're meant to be. They are, in fact, aggressive wildlife that you should not violate quarantine with. The reason that they keep getting people killed is because they are routinely up against untrained workers and people who are prone to making catastrophic mistakes in dealing with them.
First, the line between "super hunter predator*" and "dangerous wildlife that you shouldn't violate quarantine with" is unclear to me. Would you violate the quarantine containing a super-hunter parasite/predator:tongue:?

And second, that's really uncharitable towards the Earth Marines that were sent to deal with the infestation in the second movie...:grin:

All that said: I totally agree that some people are fetishizing the abilities of xenomorphs. Yes, they should be quarantined...but when we know what they are, we can deal with them. Which, I believe, was your more general point:thumbsup:.


*Leaving aside for a moment that they're in actuality, parasites, not predators:devil:.

Hm. cyborg River Tam - what's not to like?

action_movies.png
So basically, Serenity: the movie:gunslinger:?
 
Last edited:
Ravenloft: Dominic d'Honnaire is Harvey Weinstein. Witches (warlocks) are charming morons (high CHA and dumped INT) who almost always deserve their damnation and I play them mostly as edgelady/edgelord jokes.
As a high CHA / low INT edgelady witch who is probably on her way to at least one hell, I feel personally attacked by this post.

SLA Industries: Mr Slayer is fully aware that he exists in an RPG, and what that means (Incidentally, tabletop RPG's are banned in Mort, except for the officially-licensed SLA Industries games). BPN's, cash, promotions and XP are his tools to keep players interested, because his universe depends on them. He hasn't worked out how to break out of his game yet.
 
Nobby-W Nobby-W, as funny as the comic is, the use of River Tam really dates it. Purely anecdotal of course, but I feel even Firefly superfans don't make a big deal out of her anymore.

I do like how the hypothetical poster resembles the grim reaper knocking meme.

FmEYFE9.jpg


As a high CHA / low INT edgelady witch who is probably on her way to at least one hell, I feel personally attacked by this post.

You're not going to hell for being a witch. You're going to hell for maining Felicia.

fQuC5Pb.gif
 
First, the line between "super hunter predator*" and "dangerous wildlife that you shouldn't violate quarantine with" is unclear to me. Would you violate the quarantine containing a super-hunter parasite/predator:tongue:?

And second, that's really uncharitable towards the Earth Marines that were sent to deal with the infestation in the second movie...:grin:

All that said: I totally agree that some people are fetishizing the abilities of xenomorphs. Yes, they should be quarantined...but when we know what they are, we can deal with them. Which, I believe, was your more general point:thumbsup:.

Not to speak ill of the dead but Lieutenant Gorman really crippled the Marines before we could see what they could do as did Vasquez disobeying orders. The Marines were mostly wiped out by going into a closed corridor where they couldn't make use of their numbers and were in a bottleneck (plus damaged the reactor). Even Ripley didn't do a great job because she didn't do much of a presentation that warned them.

The story becomes very different if they'd all gone in with flamethrowers and torched the hive from the beginning.

:smile:
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top