Time traveling campaign


Advice and Rules Questions


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I want to work on a time traveling campaign. I am not really sure exactly how I want to pull this off though. Right now I'm thinking of having everyone make characters at 1st, 6th, 12th, and 18th level. I will run the characters through an adventure and then send them backwards or forwards through time. They will retain all of their memories, but their class abilities will be based on level as normal.

Any ideas of how I can flesh this out? I don't even have an idea for a villain yet.


In my opinion, the most important thing to decide for a time travel game is the rules of time travel you'll use. Here are a few standard frameworks to show different issues.

Rigid time - nothing can be changed from the past because the timeline is set in stone. Safe from paradoxes, but not very satisfying in play.

Destined time travel - the characters aren't disrupting the time line, they're actually fulfilling it. The things they do had already happened, because the present they lived in was the future created by their actions in the past. Again, safe from paradoxes, but implies no chance of the heroes failing.

Causal time - all actions have repercussions, and any change no matter how small will ripple through the future. This is probably the harshest and most paradox likely approach, because the characters will suffer the consequences of any change, so they could disrupt world systems, accidentally erase themselves from existence, or try to do the same to any future villain.

Wild west - no rules, no consequences. This is the simplest, but least believable. Characters could assassinate their ancestors and still exist without further complication.

Edit: I realised that examples might be helpful. For rigid time, the Pledge of Anya episode of Metal Hurlant Chronicles, or many of the "time travel to kill famous historical figure" stories. For destined time travel, Chrono Trigger. For Causal time travel, Back to the Future. For Wild West, the Futurama time travel episode.


I plan on using time travel rules akin to Quantum Leap (you can only travel in your own time line) and comic-book-esque. You can make changes (and you will have to), but only big things will change. The minor events will not really be affected much.

They won't be doing a lot of time travel, but they will do some. It will be into their own bodies, but they will not bring their abilities with them. They will be locked into the abilities of the body they are in.


Good, sounds like you've got that figured out then. :)

As for a villain, how about a being who hops bodies throughout time because its own body is sealed away somehow. It arises in different eras, with some evil plan, but the evil plan is to hide other actions (it's true goal is to unseal its real body). To keep up with the time theme, perhaps if the spirit and body are united, it gains immense power, and becomes a being who exists in all points of time simultaneously (making it nigh impossible to overcome). Maybe some ancient god-king who made a Faustian bargain to gain immortality, but was tricked because the immortality split soul from body.


Use one of THEM as final villain. A future self who is evil, for some as yet unknown reason.


I think I can work with both of those ideas.

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