Meta Lore
Meta Lore is the foundation of the world in which you play in. It determines what forces are moving in the background, and what themes exist within the game. Meta Lore informs general thoughts like which setting the world take place in (ex. High fantasy, political thriller, dark horror, etc.). Meta Lore provides direction for the Campaign story the players will tell when they play a game.
Meta Lore should be determined before the first session of your game is played. It may be entirely generated by the Game Master, created between all players in the game, given in an adventure book, taken from the Lore section within this book or replicated from a story you enjoy. However the Meta Lore of the game world is established the goal of creating and using Meta Lore is to create the foundation that will guide the generation of a Campaign and inform improvised story elements that might arise.
What is Meta Lore?
Specifically, Meta Lore within a game setting are the elements that exist beyond the tangible parts of your Campaign. Meta Lore could also be referred to as world building, however, it is the initial and surface levels of it. Meta Lore is the concept produced in the brainstorming stage of worldbuilding.
Meta Lore is where we pull apart pieces to turn into Campaign threads. They’re often general and leave way for many elements to attach themselves at any point in the time spectrum of the world. Whether fact recorded within the setting or legend shared by the wise of the setting, Meta Lore informs everyone what the bounds of reality are within the world you play in.
How Do I Create Meta Lore?
We recommend using the Meta Lore within the Echelon core book. If you don't like it, then maybe just use it as an example for the cool stuff you’ll create. Either way, we’ll reference sections of the Meta Lore in Echelon when describing how to create Meta Lore.
In general, Meta Lore is broad and should have multiple interpretations. By keeping it short and simple you allow yourself vague interpretations. The more interpretations you can pull from it, the more opportunities you leave for Campaign hooks to use in your game. For this reason, Echelon takes the Top Down approach to Meta Lore. This means we start at the highest level idea(s) and loosely define them to leave way for interpretation at later stages.
For Echelon, Meta Lore takes shape in the form of three steps. Below, you’ll find examples using Echelon’s Meta Lore
- First, imagine an event that happened in the past.
The mortal beings shared a home with the immortal beings, where they were used as pawns in a war to fight for influence and power at the behalf of immortals - Then, guess where that idea ends.
The god of all, despised with what their creations have become, destroyed themselves to separate the mortals from the immortals. - Last, assume where that leaves us now.
Traces of their infinite power linger in the space between the two worlds, where mortals and immortals can tap into from their distant homes.
From here you have the chance to fill out larger details as specifically or vaguely as you choose. You may even choose not to do so at all. The simplest way is to work through your five W’s. Whether you do this last bit or not you’re ready to begin the Campaign phase of the story. Again, Meta Lore is the intangible elements that exist in the world. Its purpose is to provide concept to the setting and not context.
In these examples, we’re only looking to frame the concept, not develop context. We’ll take elements of the five W’s and put names to them where necessary, or expand on concepts that we would like to cement into the world.
Who(s)
The mortals, immortals and god of all, Navash.
What(s)
Separated the mortal beings from the immortal beings.
When(s)
At the War of Immortals’ end and the beginning of the Font of Arcanum.
Where(s)
The Physical Realm, where the mortals, including humanity, exist. The Venerate Realm, where the immortals exist.
Why(s)
Navash abhorred the abuse immortals posed upon their mortal counterpart.
