GURPS Classic: Time Travel

130 Pages·1991·6.101 MB·English

by  Steve Jackson, John M. Ford

flURPS'
Adventures Across Dimensions and in the Past
By Steve Jackson and John M. Ford
Timeline research by Chris McCubbin
Additional material by J.M. Caparula, Walter Milliken, David Pulver,
Daniel U. Thibault and Dale F. Reding
Edited by Loyd Blankenship
Cover by John Zeleznik; Illustrated by Dan Frazier
Additional illustrations by Michael Barrett, Timothy Bradstreet,
Topper Helmers, Karl Martin, Doug Shuler and Dan Smith
GURPS System Designby SteveJackson
Loyd Blankenship, Managing Editor; Carl Anderson, Production Manager
Page Layout and Typography by Monica Stephens; Productionby Carl Anderson and Manuel Garcia
Printbuying by Andrew Hartsock
Playtesters: PhilipBardaville, TimCarroll, LeeGraham, DavidGross, RobHenderson, StefanJones, StephenKaye,
DavidLadyman, Jay Linnell, Roger Linnell, Scott McClureandfamily, ChrisMcCubbin, WalterMilliken,
SteffanO'Sullivan, Greg Porter, JohnPost, Chris Repchik, BrettSlocum, Lowell Stouder, Daniel U. Thibault,
TonyWinkler, RichardWuand theusersoftheIlluminatiBBS.
Theauthorswouldlike tothumb theirnosesattheStopwatchagents who,foroverthreeyearsofourpersonaltime,
havefrustrated ourattemptstofinish this book. It'sfinally done. So there.
GURPS, IllumifUlti, Roleplayerandtheall-seeingpyramidareregisteredtrademarksofSteveJacksonGamesIncorporated. Allnamesofotherproducts
publishedbySteveJacksonGamesIncorporatedareregisteredtrademarksortrademarksofSteveJacksonGamesIncorporated,orusedunderlicense.
GURPSlimeTraveliscopyright© 1991 bySteveJacksonGamesIncorporated. Allrightsreserved. PrintedintheU.S.A.
ISBN 1-55634-115-6 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STEVE .JACKSON GAMES
COITEITS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Time TravelandSpace Travel ...............•. 43
AboutGURPS 4 Yesterdayfrpress . .. 43
About the Authors 5 CommunicationandObservation 44
Alternate Worlds in OtherCampaigns 5 Geometrodynamics 44
TheObserverEffect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45
1. THETIMETRAVEL CAMPAIGN ••••••.••• 6
DegreesofObservation, and Loopholes 46
MissionTypes 7
Oscillating Time 46
TheBad OldGoodOldDays 7 No Machines! 46
Magic in History 8
WorkingAroundthe ObserverEffect. . . . . . . . . . . .. 47
MissionControl 9
Parallel Worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 47
Time Travel in the Magical Campaign 9
4. THETIMECORPS .•....•...•••••••••••48
TheHardware Dilemmaand theSoftwareMismatch:
or, Why theBiggestProblemIsn't So Big 10 Mechanics 49
ThroughtheRabbit-Hole 10 Time Travel Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
AccidentalTransport 10 AgentSlang 49
Turning aHistorical Campaign Into Time Travel 10 GameMechanics 50
Gates 11 Crunch TimeandSlack Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 51
CrosstimeRecruitment: Horror 11 The Windows 51
Unstuck in Time 11 Eddiesand Uncenainty 51
SpaceTravel 13 TheEnemy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 52
The Scam 13 TheHive 52
Things to Invent 13 OtherRealitiesand DoubledAgents . . . . . . . . . . . .. 53
Cross-TimeInventors 14 TimeAgents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 53
Raising LocalTech Levels 15 StopwatchAgents 53
Gadgeteering 15 FieldAgents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 54
BlackPowder 15 DetectingInterventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 54
Duplicating StrangeGadgets 16 TimeAgentEquipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 54
OtherWeapons Technology 16 ChangingHistory 56
Medicine 16 Long-TermEffects 57
QuickGadgeteering 17 TypicalMission 58
Packingfor a Trip to thePast 17 VisitorsFrom TheFuture 58
OptionalRule: "Gizmo" Gadgets 19 Record-Keepingandthe ObserverEffect 58
OtherSources:A ShamelessPlug 19 The ObserverEffect vs. Changing History . . . . . . . .. 59
Gross Changes:A BadIdea -. . . . . . . .. 59
2. CHARACTERS. ••. . . •. . . . . •. . . •••••.. 20
Revival:MedicalHelp atABET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60
TypicalCharacterTypes 21
5. PSIONIC TIMETRAVEL •.•••••....•••.•61
Advantages, DisadvantagesandSkills 26
Advantages 27 PhysicalProjection 62
Disadvantages 27 The TimeDraft 62
Skills 28 Equipment ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 63
New Advantages 29 Retrogression:SpecialDifficulties 63
NewDisadvantages 33 Mental Projection 64
NewSkills 34 Past-TimeCharacters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 64
ThePlayersasThemselves 36 OtherPsiAbilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 64
Re-Creating Historical Characters 36 DeathandReturn 65
FootnoteCharacters 36 Psi in OtherCampaigns .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 65
"I Didn't Know YouWere Real!" 36 6. OTHER CAMPAIGNS •••••••...........66
Purely FictionalCharacters 37 In theCube. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 67
Ancestors 37 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 67
OriginalCharacters 37 Mechanics 67
StayinginPeriodCharacter 38
In the Cube: PhysicsandParadox 67
3.TEMPORALPHYSICS ••••••••. •••••••• 39 AdventuresinthePresent 67
ThePhysicalSetting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 TheIlluminati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 68
Changing thePast 40 Variations 69
TheLinearityPrinciple 40 Eternity's Rangers 69
Beacons 40 RanksandPromotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 69
MessagesfromthePast 41 Discipline 70
Magical Time Travel 42 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 71
ParallelWorlds 43 Characters 71
TalkingTo Yourself .. , 43 CrosstimeSoldiers: Variationsona Theme 71
Contents -2-
MechanicsofTravel 72 Infinity Development 99
Unifonns 72 MiracleWorkers 99
PortShanghai 72 TheInfinity Patrol .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
EquipmentandMedicine 73 Enigma 99
Missions 74 DeadWorlds 99
Limitations 75 World.Jumpers 100
TheFree-Timers 75 PenetrationMissions 101
Rest and Recreation 76 The Worlds ThatBreak TheRules , 101
TheOrderofthe Hourglass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 OutsideOrganizations 102
Overview 76 TheUnited Nations 102
Carrying ItemstothePast 76 Governments , 102
Mechanics 77 Research Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 102
Equipment 78 Keepingthe Secret , 102
TheEnemyCircles 78 Corporations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 103
PortalDimensions 78 Keeping theSecret: EraserDrug. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 103
TheHoratioClub 79 CrosstimeColonies 104
But What's thePoint? 79 Centrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 104
OtherScenario Hooks 81 Keeping theSecret: ExtremeMeasures 104
7. ALTERNATE WORLDS ..••••••.•..•..••83 Language 105
Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 105
TheInfiniteWorldsCampaign 84
Characters 105
Infinite Worlds Glossary 84
Keeping theSecret: Coventry , 105
Interview Questions 85
CrosstimeConflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 106
Policy 86
TimelineShifts: Changing "History" 106
An Infinity ofWorlds 87
EffectsofTampering With Echoes , 106
ClassesofAlternate Worlds 88
Results ofaTimelineShift , 107
Technology 89
TimeBeforeaShift. and Time toFinda
TheParachronicViewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
"Lost" Timeline 107
TheParachronic Projector 90
TimeTours, Ltd. (or, IfIt'sTuesday ThisMust Be 1066) 108
FieldGeneratorsand Conveyors 90
Mysteries 108
Close Parallels 90
RulesandRegulations 109
Operationand Accidents 92
TheBoinger 109
FartherParallels 92
Marooned! 112
WeirdParallels 94
The "Myth" Parallels 96 TIMELINE •••••••••.•.........•...... 113
TheHellParallels 97 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............•.....•. 122
Infinity Unlimited 98
INDEX •..•••.••.•................... 125
Parachronic Laboratories .....................98
WhiteStarTrading 98 TIME TRAVELCAMPAIGN PLAN •........ 127
The1STWorld 98
ALTERNATE WORLDS CAMPAIGN PLAN .. 128
-3- Contents
INTBODUCTION
Themovingfinger writes, andhaving writ,
Moves on: norallthypietyorwit
Shall lure itbackto cancelhalfa line,
Norallthy tears wash outa wordofit.
- OmarKhayyam
Everybody Talks About The Past, ButNobody Does AnythingAboutIt
AboutGURPS Time travel is an intellectual game with overtones ofwish-fulfillment, and
Steve Jackson Games is committed to tying it too closely to the mechanics ofthe real world is neither productive nor
full support of the GURPS system. Our very useful. This is not a criticism of anyone's imaginings, just a practical
address is Box18957, Austin, TX 78760.
observation.
Please include a self-addressed, stamped
Now, before the physicists in the audience can protest, we do indeed know
envelope (SASE) any time you write us!
Resources nowavailableinclude: about relativistic effects, Tipler cylinders, and lots ofthe other proposed ways
Roleplayer. This bimonthly newsletter aroundthe "timebarrier." Butit'sjustaseasytoarguethatthereisno "barrier";
includes new rules, variants, new races,
there is no place where Alexander and Shakespeare are stillphysically alive and
beasts, information onupcoming releases,
scenario ideas and more. Ask your game available for conversations. Icertainlycan'tsaythattimetravel isforever impos
retailer, or writeforsubscriptioninforma sible. ButIrespectfully suggestthatone'sattitudetoward its possibility(my own
tion.
included) says more aboutone's own philosophy thanaboutthe real world.
New suppleme1lts a1ld adve1ltures.
We're always working on new material, So everything that follows is, to one degree or another, fantasy. IfI knew
andwe'llbehappy toletyouknowwhat's how to build atime machine, I'd be onmy way backto 1450, to putacouple of
available. Acurrentcatalogisavailablefor
gold double eagles in the Medici Bank. When I got home, compound interest
anSASE.
would have made me the richest rules writer on earth.
Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, in
cludingus - butwedo ourbesttofix our Thatsaid, time travel is a great fantasy, probably as universal as the dream
errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all offlying. IwouldtradeaverygreatdealtovisitSamuelJohnson's London, even
GURPS releases, includingthis book, are
though Iknow very well that itwas crowded, filthy, plague-ridden, and stankto
always available from SJ Games; be sure
toincludeanSASEwithyourrequest. highheaven; Iwouldjumpatthechanceto ride the OrientExpressofthe 1920s;
Q&A. We do our best to answer any I would not hesitate to strangle Hitler and Stalin intheir cribs.
gamequestionaccompaniedbyanSASE.
And great fantasies are what roleplaying is all about.
Gamer input. We value your com
ments.Wewillconsiderthem,notonlyfor - John M. Ford
new products, but also when we update
thisbookonlaterprintings!
ReelingIn The Timeline
BBS. Forthose ofyou who havecom
This book has been a long time in appearing, for several reasons. The
puters,SJGarnesoperatesamultilineBBS
with discussion areas for several garnes, greatest ofthese, as JMF points out above, is that the whole idea oftime travel
including GURPS. Much of the playtest fails the reality check. And if you make assumptions that give a chance of
feedbackfornewproductscomesfromthe
avoiding paradox, you either get unplayable complexity ("Sorry, guys. Come
BBS. It's up 24 hours a day at 512-447
4449, at300, 1200or2400baud. Giveus back tomorrow after I resolve this causal loop'') or unplayable simplicity
acall! ("Whoops. You created a paradox. You don't exist any more and neither does
the world you came from").
PageReferences
Rulesandstatisticsinthisbookarespe Sothe project was not a quick one. We all got very tired ofthejoke "Why
cifically for the GURPS Bask Set, Third don'tyoujusttraveltothefuture andpickup acopy?" Butatlonglast, it'sdone:
Edition. Any page reference that begins
a choice of campaign backgrounds to fit any taste. The PCs become Time
withaBreferstoapageintheBaskSet
Agents, fighting to save their history, with a playable treatment ofparadox and
e.g., p. BI02 means p. 102 ofthe Bask
Set, ThirdEdition. history-changing. Ortheycanjustromp throughhistorywithgunandcamera(or
maybejustwith very big guns) in one ofthe other backgrounds.
This book isalso aimedat the GM who wants to designaunique time travel
campaign. There's a detailed discussion oftime travel "theory and practice,"
with several alternative treatments ofcausality and paradox, "rubber physics"
thoughthey be. And there arealternativecampaign frames, too, includingsome
suitable for lower-tech campaigns.
Finally, the bibliography describes several dozen importanttime-traveland
Introduction -4-
alternate-world stories (out of thousands that have been written), as further
sources for inspiration.
But there's more. There's a closely related genre that offers all the fun of
time travel with none of the paradoxes: parallel worlds. You can travel to a Alternate Worlds
parallel 1905 Germany and strangle little Adolfwithoutcreating any paradox at in Other Campaigns
all; it's not your past. So this book also includes the "official" GURPScross
Pasttimesandalternateworldscanalso
universecampaignbackground. Thiscantakethecampaign, notjusttohistorical beusedfora"changeofscenery"inother
worlds, but to not-quite-historical worlds and outright weird parallels. (And, campaigns that have begun to get too fa
miliar. When powerful characters have
because the "Keep Them From Changing History" adventure is so popular,
conquered everything in sight, saved the
we'veworked inavariationonthattheme: enemieswhoaretryingtochangethe
world against all comers, and have more
flow ofhistory on the parallel worlds. Who says you can't have your cake and wealth than they can spend ... flip them
eat ittoo?) intoanalternaterealitywheretheyhaveno
assetsbuttheirskillsandwhatthey'recar
rying, and "everything they know is
Finishingthisprojectmeantalottous. GURPSTime Travelisthebookthat wrong." Homeline allies could be ene
fulfills the original potential ofthe system! Ifyou like, you can create a super mies, and vice versa; there mightevenbe
alternateversions ofthePCsthemselves
team from across history and fiction (say, Merlin, Conan, Miyamoto Musashi,
whomightnotbeheroes!
Erikthe Red and Flamin' Jane) and send them on any mission from any period Some ways to do this are discussed on
orany genre. pp. 10-12. It is entirely up to the GM
whetherthePCscaneverreturn,orwheth
So one way oranother, I'll see you last week.
erthey'llhave tocarveoutanewnichein
- SteveJackson
thenew world.
The farthest-out possibility is travel to
alternate worlds in which actual physical
About the Authors
laws aredifferent; thestandardexampleis
Steve Jackson has been devouring time-travel and parallel-world science the group ofmodern-daypeople whofmd
fiction sincehewasaboutsevenyearsold, andjumpedatthechanceto inflicthis themselvesinaheroic fantasy world. This
isvery muchamatterofpersonaltaste(the
owncontribution on the field.
idea of machine-gunning dragons seems
He is the founder andeditor-in-chiefofSteveJacksonGames, but, as shown ratherunfair, oncethe novelty wearsoft).
by the presentbook, occasionally still manages to write something. He hopes to Butitis oneofthethings thatGURPSwas
designed tomakepossible.
do itagainsoon.
Steve lives in Austin. He enjoys science fiction conventions, gardening,
computers, tropical fish, and - oh, yes - gaming.
John M. Ford is the
author of more than a
dozen books, including
the alternate-history
novel The Dragon Wait
ing, the multiple time
track story Fugue State,
and two "Star Trek"
novels, The Final Reflec
tion and How Much For
Just ThePlanet?His next
book will be the hard (or
maybe semirigid) SF
novel Growing Up
Weightless. His short fic
tion has appeared all over
the place, including Omni, the Liavekanthologies, The Space GamerandAuto
duel Quarterly. Hisadventureforthe Paranoiagame system, The YellowClear
anceBlackBoxBlues, was considered odd even by the standards ofParanoia.
He has won the World Fantasy Award twice, the Rhysling Award for SF ''..
poetry once, the Game Designers' Guild Award twice, and has been nominated
for a Nebula Award.
He lives in Minneapolis, where the fabric ofreality has been worn thin in
numerous places.
-5- Introduction
TBE
TIIiI TaAVIL
CAIIPAIGI
Atime-travel or alternate-w ..
definition, the most free h l?rld campaign IS, almostby
~ng
Whatever the bounds ofr:l,ee sort of game there tihs~
heroes canalways GoS a Ityh m any particular world,
' omew ere Else
StIll, suc.hacampaign' whatever I'ts'deta'l
answer certam questions Th ,I s, mustalways
right how dl'd ,e most basIc ofthese are "All
, we get here')" - d' .
Temporal Physics _ and "Wh lscussed m Chapter 3,
here?" at shall we do now that we're
The Time Travel Campaign
Roleplaying is about solving problems and taking actions inside a frame
workofrules. Sothis book has rules fortime travel, ofseveraldifferentflavors.
But it's very importantto understand that the "laws oftime travel" we provide
are designed to be (we hope) reasonable and consistent, like any good science
fiction. But they're imaginary, intended to get the players to use their heads to
accomplish their missions. Ifthey don't suit your game or your group, tweak
them to fit.
Campaign Plans
On the last two pages ofthis book are Campaign Plan forms - one for a
time-travel campaign, one for an alternate-worlds campaign. The GM will find
these very useful. The process offilling out the campaign plan will make sure
thatall the most importantquestionsareconsidered inadvance. And by givinga
copy ofthecompleted planto each playerbefore the first game session, the GM
answers all theirmost important questions atonce.
Mission Types
Timetravel adventures fall intofour general categories. The first three may
be actual "missions" in the sense that someone assigned them to the party. But
the characters may also find themselves caughtup inevents by accident, oreven
tricked by NPCs into performing some sort ofdangerous task.
The BadOld GoodOldDays
Research Missions "The past is another country; they do
things differently there." There are many
Research missionsare sentto find something out: who was Jack the Ripper?
everyday details of historical life that we
Who really wrote the Zinoviev Letter? What happened to the crew ofthe Marie
would find distasteful, barbaric, horrify
Celeste? Researchers are usually not supposed to change the past; they are ing. Description of such details - the
supposed to observe, measure, photograph, perhaps even conduct interviews, crowding and smell ofacity streetbefore
modernplumbing, forinstance- isneces
and then return, without having any effect on the timestream.
sary and useful in making the players ac
By itself, researching isn't very adventurous. Getting into a fight usually cept the environment as "the past," and
means things have gone very badly wrong. Buta research mission doesn't have notjustaHollywoodimitation.
Unpleasantdetails are also useful plot
to be dull. The suspense and excitement come, not from a string of combat
and characterization devices. A group of
encounters, butfrom meetingobstacles (someexpected, someby surprise) inthe travelers confronted by a bullying not-le
path ofgettingthe data and getting back with it. man might follow their natural impulse to
teach him a lesson - only to fmd them
Often, the PC party will notbe castin the role ofresearchers, butofguards
selveship-deep in trouble for it. Someone
and guides to the researchers. The scientists themselves may have hidden goals
wholoveshorses mightgainpointsforde
or personalities thatendangerthe mission. manding that a drunken coachman stop
Cross-timeorcross-world espionage is aspecial category ofresearch which whipping his animals - and even more
pointsifhefound awaytodoitthatwould
can quickly become dangerous, since the spies may be opposed, not only by
notoffendthecustoms ofthetime.
"native" securitytroopsandcounterespionage,butalsoby opponentsfromtheir But, as with any other device, don't
owntime or world. overdoit. Alittleofthegriminessofmedi
eval towns, or tlle horrors ofthe Inquisi
tion, or the mistreatment of one class or
RepairMissions
raceby another, goes alongway, nomat
Repair missions have the specific objective ofmaking changes to the time terhowhistoricallycorrectitis. IftheGM
constantly describes cruelty and abuses
stream. Assuming the characters are the "good guys," this usually means that
thatt1lecharacters cannotstopwit1louten
the past has already been altered, by enemy action or accident, and has to be
dangering their mission, the players will
returnedto normal. Thereare otherpossibilities, however. Thetravelers may be quite rightlystartto t1link t1lattheyare the
presentatahistoricalevent- say, oncampaignwithJulius Caesar inGaul - in ones being provoked. Just say something
like, "There's acrowd gathered to cheer
whichthe outcome ofthe largercampaign is known, but individual, unrecorded
t1le public flogging - but you're profes
skirmishes may have unknown results. Or the team may be "agents in place," sionals; you just look past and keep on
guarding a historical divergence point such as the Normandy invasion against walking."
interference by enemy agents.
Or the status quo may be intolerable to the time travelers - say, a small
group ofresearchers discovers a time-gate, and hopes to use itto overthrow the
oppressive regime.
-7- The Time Travel Campaign
In the alternate-worlds background presented in Chapter 7, a party may be
Magic in History sent on a "repair mission" to undo sabotage by the agents ofCentrum. This is
nottime travel - in that background, they can'tundo the past - butan attempt
In the past, people believed in magic.
Somestilldo.Thereareseveralapproaches to re-directthe events ofthe present into the kind ofsequence they would have
to including magic in a time-travel cam taken withoutthe original interference.
paign:
00 Assume that magic is very secret,
butreal, and availabletoplayercharacters Recovery Missions
with the right connections, as in GURPS Recovery missions are sent to bring something back (forward?) from the
Horror.
past,eitherfortemporarystudy(inwhichcaseanother missionmaybenecessary
00 Assume that mana, the energy be
hind magic, has become depleted in mod to replace it) ortosave itfrom destruction. The agents may need to plantacopy
em times; butcenturies agoitwas strong, of the item, or otherwise create a diversion from the burglary; sometimes,
andwizards' powers(somewizards', any
history itself- the eruption ofMt. Vesuvius, the ChicagoFire, the bombing of
way) were real. The pes mayor may not
Berlin - may covertheir tracks.
be able to learn magic; its reality may
comeas aterribleshockthefIrsttimethey Time thieves, ofcourse, are also on a "recovery" mission! They may face
encounterit. the additional hazard of law enforcement from their own world, especially if
00 Magic does not in fact function in their thefts have the potential to change history.
"our" world, but the time machine can
reachparallelworlds whereitdoes. A specific and challenging type of recovery is the rescue ofan individual
00Magicisandwasfake: eitherconjur who history says is dead. Time-travel organizations recruit some oftheir best
ingtricks doneby alocal pretendingtobe
agents this way. Rescues work equally well in a historical "echo" world (see
a wizard, or other time travelers using
high-tech gadgets to simulate magic pow Chapter7) where someone's deathcanbe predictedaccurately.
ers(usuallyfornefariouspurposes).
COlltillued011lIextpage. ..
The Time Travel Campaign -8-
Inan alternate-worlds campaign, actual trade and exploration missions will
becomepossible.
Survival Magic in History (Continued)
Afourth type ofadventure is the non-mission, in whichthe travelers had no
Using "real" magic requires a magic
intention of visiting another time or another world (at least, not the one they system, either "limited" (as described in
arrived at). Their problem is simply to survive. There may be a hope ofrescue, GURPS Horror) or "full" (as in GURPS
Magic). Formaximum"realism,"ifmagic
orthey may be doomed to live their lives in the past.
is a surprise to the characters, theplayers
Depending on the physics of the situation and their particular resources, should not know the magic rules in the
theirbeststrategy mightbetoblend inand notmake waves, ortosetthemselves beginning!
Onelastnote: ifpes arethrownallun
up as teachers, magicians or gods. See Expatriate, p. 22.
knowing into a situation where magic
works, it can make the game much more
interestingifone or more ofthemhas, all
Mission Control
unknowing, the advantageofMagical Ap
titude! Themoresoifthereisachancethat
Remember The TIme Tunnel? While the two heroes were lost in the past, magic will still work "backhome." Ifthe
trying to prevent stock-footage disasters, the Tunnel technicians were digging GM does this, then, to be fair, he should
consider giving each ofthe other charac
through their files and throwing switches on their blinking consoles, trying to
ters some advantage the player doesn't
help them out. (Well, it was twotechnicians and a General. It wasalow-budget know about.
show.)HowaboutSearch?Thefield agentcarriedan implantradioandabutton
sized TV camera that kept him constantly wired into a roomful of database
analysts, language experts, medical monitors, and so forth; at least, as long as
nothing went wrong with the equipment.
Time Travel
Handled withsome restraint, the idea ofMissionControlworks very well in
in the Magical Campaign
a roleplaying campaign. In fact, it solves one major background problem: the
agents no longer have to know absolutely everything about all ofhistory. They Ofcourse, if the campaign starts in a
magical world, there's no question that
still have to have basic area knowledge - especially ifthe link goes out - but
magicexists. Thequestionis "Doesitalso
Control can provide on-the-spot information.
exist in other worlds and times, and in
The suggested limits are: whatform?"
Onlyinformationmoves, notobjects. Control canreceive pictures, and pos The simplest answer is to say that
magic does exisi on some worlds, and
siblytransmitthem(useful for sendingmaps), butiftheagentsrunoutofbullets,
doesn't on others, depending entirely on
they're outofluck. their mana level. Where it does exist, it
Establish search times. However long ittakes Controlto find the answer to alwaysworks aboutthesameway, though
differentspells may beknown indifferent
the agents' question is the amount of time that passes in the field before the
worlds. Andmanacanchangeovertime.
answer is received. The limiting factor is then not whether the information . . a medieval wizard might be disap
exists, butwhether it can be recovered intime to be any use. pointedtoseehow littlemanaisleftinthe
20thcentury.
Some information isn't available. Ifno one drew floor plans ofa building,
A more complex but more interesting
and the building no longer stands, the team will just have to search it the hard
answer, especially in an alternate-worlds
way. campaign,istosaythatmagiccanbecom
pletely different in some worlds! This is
especially good for the GM who likes to
ControlandResearch in aParallel-World Campaign experiment with variant systems - see
In a campaign in which, instead of time travel, the agents are traveling GURPS Magic, the upcoming Grimoire
and back issues of Roleplayer for some
betweenparallelworlds, thejob ofControlbecomes different. Ontheonehand,
ideas.
nobody can be sure what will happen next in the parallel world. It may seem In thatcase, magic-using travelers will
similarto our history, but nobody really knows for sure. have to adaptquickly. Maybe their magic
is validin thenew world- in whichcase
Onthe other hand, ifthere are lots ofsimilarparallel worlds, sometypes of
they will attract a lot of attention. And
researchbecome mucheasier. Ifthe agents must free acomrade held in tightly maybe it doesn't work at all - in which
guardedCastleWolfram, Controlneed only dispatchateamtoasimilartimeline case, to remain wizards, they'll have to
starttheirtrainingalloveragain.
where Castle Wolfram lies empty. Presto . . . complete and accurate maps
See p. 47 for a magical Time Travel
they hope. (Of course, this only works when there are lots of very similar
spell. Magic "Gates" to parallel worlds
timelines. Inthe cosmos ofInfinity Unlimited, described in Chapter 7, this kind can be created by a similar spell, orjust
oftrickcould beused for researchonthe "echo" timelines, butyery few ofthe allowedbyGMfiat.
othersare similarenoughto make itworthwhile. And theechoes have theirown
hazards!)
-9- The Time Travel Campaign