This is an interest check for a time travel / time-hopping PbP adventure using Starfinder rules--think Travellers, Timeless, or, if the PCs really mess up, 12 Monkeys. The adventure I have planned starts off with a trip back in time to investigate a blip in the timeline, circa 1968. The PCs are sent back to find out who is manipulating the timeline and why.
I tried to get something going once, but it didn't seem to get off the ground. You can check it out here if interested. Perhaps it's not the kind of thing people want in a PbP, but I envision a game combining role-playing and combat. I'm really thinking of something that is story and character driven. I know where I want the story to go at first, but once things get rolling, the story will adapt to the PCs.
I prefer a pace of game in which players check the thread daily. I'm open to suggestions on how to make the game more interesting. I aim to work with each of the characters.
Characters:
Perhaps it is best to stick with human or androids or others that could 'pass' on Earth historically.
PCs could be historians, soldiers, tech-wizards, pilots, mechanics, and spies.
The PCs could be any alignment, but their histories must be such that a gov't agency would trust them with a time machine (perhaps unwisely?).
Interest? Thoughts?
Hmmmm, color me interested.
This sounds very interesting I’m in, I have a built android soldier that I would wanna play that has the main idea of the background done that could be used to plug into this.
Any questions? Thoughts about characters? Favourite time travel series?
The characters are from the future of our world?
Pretty much. The adventure starts out about 200 years in the future. Humanity survived some pretty nasty s&*%, but not without the help of a handful of 'ambassadors' from the stars. Aliens are extremely limited in number, but so are opportunities for time travel.
Does magic exist (or "psionics", at least)? Ie, what classes are allowed?
Magic exists and has always existed, but it has always been part of rare and secret disciplines. Knowledge of magic advanced more quickly after 2120. Psionics certainly exists. As for classes, a Solarion might feel out of place, but could be reskinned as an advanced telepath. A technomancer could work, but if the time travel takes the PCs to a past with less tech, a technomancer could be less useful. Soldiers, operatives, envoys, mystics, mechanics, are the classes that came to my mind.
Do the PCs work for some kind of "temporal police" agency?
They work for a gov't agency of some sort, such as law enforcement, researcher, academic, soldier, etc.). At the start of the adventure an agency called TAROT (Temporal Anomaly Recognition & Observation Team) has you pulled from your current assignments and requests your immediate presence.
Its an interesting concept, definitely interested.
Oh, can I play a Flerkin? :-) :-) :-)
Ummm ... That would take some skillful roleplaying and the character would be shut out of a lot of conversations, when undercover.
Astrazoan Operative would be fun. Able to disguise self within six seconds and able to squish themselves into a small space. And when the going gets tough, go starfish form to freak people out before running.
I remember seeing the other recruitment post, just didn't have a solid concept at the time and had just started looking at Pathfinder and Starfinder again. Now I've familiarized myself once more, I've got some concepts cooking. Probably a mechanic here, possibly a soldier. I'll do some digging and check back.
EDIT: This almost certainly wouldn't work unless you're potentially going for a somewhat oddball game here, but figured I'd ask. Is there any possibility I could play an uplifted bear, pretending to be a normal bear when necessary in the past? I'd be fully willing to deal with all the roleplaying repercussions of this choice. I also completely understand if this is well outside of what you would want in the game.
Love the organization name.
I'm thinking Human Operative.
I remember seeing the other recruitment post, just didn't have a solid concept at the time and had just started looking at Pathfinder and Starfinder again. Now I've familiarized myself once more, I've got some concepts cooking. Probably a mechanic here, possibly a soldier. I'll do some digging and check back.
EDIT: This almost certainly wouldn't work unless you're potentially going for a somewhat oddball game here, but figured I'd ask. Is there any possibility I could play an uplifted bear, pretending to be a normal bear when necessary in the past? I'd be fully willing to deal with all the roleplaying repercussions of this choice. I also completely understand if this is well outside of what you would want in the game.
In the Starfinder setting behind a two of the adventures I've written, uplifted bears are a thing: "Designed to mimic the mannerisms of ‘bears’ prior to their awakening at the hands of Dr. Moreau, Osprey’s ‘Big Exploding Artillery Robot’ lopes through the woods, ...".
Characters should be able to PASS as human for the adventure I'm proposing. An uplifted bear might not be able to go undercover at a university campus, for example. I think the amount of time the bear would be forced to 'stay on the boat' might make it less fun for the player.
Seems interesting. Feeling on the playtest classes?
Is a Lashunta acceptable? Either as an alien or as some kind of mutant?
If it is would I basically need a holoskin?
Definitely thinking operative here
I allowed a lashunta in the previous attempt at this. Aliens are still rare in this setting, but not unheard of. Humanity would not have survived without the help of alien ambassadors, heroes, and scientists coming to their rescue in the 22nd century. Some aliens won't let humanity forget that. Others are cool. Most humans in the time period you come from will not have seen aliens except on screen. Your colleagues are not most humans.
Seems interesting. Feeling on the playtest classes?
All of the playtest classes appeal to me. Witchwarpers and Vanguards are definitely the future of TAROT if it survives its first few missions in timeline maintenance and begins to recognize there's an entire multiverse that needs policing.
Love the organization name.
I'm thinking Human Operative.
Human Operatives would be very useful. We could have a whole team of human operatives and they could all contribute.
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This sounds very interesting I’m in, I have a built android soldier that I would wanna play that has the main idea of the background done that could be used to plug into this.
An android soldier could work well. Lots of fun roleplaying as they can 'fit-in-but-not-quite'.
I remember seeing the other recruitment post, just didn't have a solid concept at the time and had just started looking at Pathfinder and Starfinder again. Now I've familiarized myself once more, I've got some concepts cooking. Probably a mechanic here, possibly a soldier. I'll do some digging and check back.
EDIT: This almost certainly wouldn't work unless you're potentially going for a somewhat oddball game here, but figured I'd ask. Is there any possibility I could play an uplifted bear, pretending to be a normal bear when necessary in the past? I'd be fully willing to deal with all the roleplaying repercussions of this choice. I also completely understand if this is well outside of what you would want in the game.
In the Starfinder setting behind a two of the adventures I've written, uplifted bears are a thing: "Designed to mimic the mannerisms of ‘bears’ prior to their awakening at the hands of Dr. Moreau, Osprey’s ‘Big Exploding Artillery Robot’ lopes through the woods, ...".
Characters should be able to PASS as human for the adventure I'm proposing. An uplifted bear might not be able to go undercover at a university campus, for example. I think the amount of time the bear would be forced to 'stay on the boat' might make it less fun for the player.
I fully understand, no problem. Wanted to ask because the concept struck me as a fun one, but it would be tough to do much in the past with the party. I think an android will do nicely as well for an oddball technician type, if a touch cliche. I'll try and get something interesting together.
Seems interesting. Feeling on the playtest classes?All of the playtest classes appeal to me. Witchwarpers and Vanguards are definitely the future of TAROT if it survives its first few missions in timeline maintenance and begins to recognize there's an entire multiverse that needs policing.
Sorry, does that mean that the playtest materials are allowed? I'd very much like to put forward a Biohacker if it's an option.
Given that playtest classes are likely allowed, I'll probably go for a Vanguard.
I allowed a lashunta in the previous attempt at this. Aliens are still rare in this setting, but not unheard of. Humanity would not have survived without the help of alien ambassadors, heroes, and scientists coming to their rescue in the 22nd century. Some aliens won't let humanity forget that. Others are cool. Most humans in the time period you come from will not have seen aliens except on screen. Your colleagues are not most humans.Is a Lashunta acceptable? Either as an alien or as some kind of mutant?
If it is would I basically need a holoskin?
Definitely thinking operative here
Why am I picturing the lashuta wearing a head wrap to hide their antennae?
I am really, really, really tempted to try to justify playing an uplifted bear in this game
Edit: oops, just read some of the previous conversations.
Why am I picturing the lashuta wearing a head wrap to hide their antennae?I allowed a lashunta in the previous attempt at this. Aliens are still rare in this setting, but not unheard of. Humanity would not have survived without the help of alien ambassadors, heroes, and scientists coming to their rescue in the 22nd century. Some aliens won't let humanity forget that. Others are cool. Most humans in the time period you come from will not have seen aliens except on screen. Your colleagues are not most humans.Is a Lashunta acceptable? Either as an alien or as some kind of mutant?
If it is would I basically need a holoskin?
Definitely thinking operative here
That's kind of what we came up with in the false start game. A big floppy hat and, maybe, a claim to be a fan of Star Trek, then in its second season if caught.
For a PbP, I would think 6 players is the maximum.
I've mentioned the setting and the challenges of some character concepts fitting in there. I think one goofily odd character would the most a game like this could handle before every other encounter becomes about "quick, hide the bear!" :-)
I'm loving some of the ideas and energy, but I'm counting more than 6 people interested.
I'm hoping for players who are okay with checking in daily, reading what others have written, and making sure, at the very least, you're not holding up the game. Absences happen, but sometimes the whole game waits on one character and the energy starts to dwindle.
I'm also hoping for players who understand this is kind of an experiment with time travel adventures for me and who will be patient.
I think the best play-by-posts happen when characters respond to other characters thoughtfully.
I'm wanting to start this out at level 1, partly because as powers scale up, 1968 won't pose much of a threat to Starfinder heroes. Part of the problem is going to be holding back from showing off you're amazing powers and threatening the timeline sometimes.
For abilties, I was just thinking of the point buy rules on p. 18 of the rule book, (1) starting with 10 in each ability, (2) modify for race, (3) add for theme, (4) spend 10 points customizing on a 1-1 basis.
For character wealth, 1st level, each character has 1,000 credits to spend on armor, weapons, and other supplies. Considering the 'trying to blend in' element of this, it may be a challenge to spend that wisely. You can always buy gear that you leave on the time machine while trying to blend in.
The time machine will be provided by TAROT.
Given those thoughts, who is interested for sure and what character do you propose (race, class, role in a time travel group, etc.)?
I’m extremely interested! Here is the android soldier build I have just waiting to be used hahaha. Long story short he’s on the run from som seedy people and is a mercenary looking to hide, what a better place than the past. He’s a flat no nonsense ranged damage dealer, probably a similar attitude to a high tech terminator.
M'ilo, Astrazoan Operative: History buff and disguise expert. Team role, knowledge about different time periods, as well as how to dress and different slang/phrases that should be used (like Nate Heywood from Legends of Tomorrow).
Why should a government agency trust him? After an incident impersonating a government official (yes, Youtube and Twitter were involved), M'ilo was given a choice to either work for the government or do prison time. Choosing the former, M'ilo took up bodyguard work, legally impersonaty government officials that were under threat. The arrangement worked out, and the government preferred having a troublemaker like M'ilo within arm's reach as opposed to wandering the world.
Still very interested. I'm thinking Human Operative (Gadgeteer) code named: Troubleshooter.
I'm still very down and will work up an android mechanic. What time traveling squad is set to go without the resident technical supervisor to make sure all the gear works? It's not like they've got someone with my expertise where we're going--or rather, when we're going.
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Definitely still interested. My original thought overlaps far too much with Generics M'ilo above so I'm changing it to a Mystic (flavoured as psionics and not magic).
Dithering as to which race. Which leads to one key question.
How available are batteries going to be and how easy will it be to recharge them? If I go with a Lashunta with disguise skill and a holoskin backup battery charges may become a huge deal.
I would imagine that TAROT allows a small generator be brought along. One that's easily concealed and capable of charging a couple batteries at a time for such instances. Or, quite possibly, Temporal Dead Drops with emergency supplies for there Agents. Cause you never know.
Hells, they may even have safe houses in various points in time for their Agents to crash in during missions.
A generator will be on the ship to recharge items. It is a legit concern though, if you get separated from the ship.
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Brass-4 -- android soldier -- on the run from som seedy people and is a mercenary looking to hide, what a better place than the past.
M'ilo, Astrazoan Operative: History buff and disguise expert. Team role, knowledge about different time periods, as well as how to dress and different slang/phrases that should be used (like Nate Heywood from Legends of Tomorrow).
Trouble-shooter: Human Operative (Gadgeteer)
Unnamed Mystic
Unnamed Android Mechanic
This is a fun start. TAROT knows that if its operatives are successful, they may restore a timeline in which they don't exist. They know that the agent may survive, but their families may have disappeared or not recognize them.
Characters with few connections are good picks for TAROT, but, most of us would miss something or someone if our entire lives went missing.
To generate few role-playing possibilities....
(1) Choose something your character would miss.
(2) Choose someone your character would miss.
(3) A reason having your past erased might be a good thing.
Something M'ilo would miss: Shamrock Shakes. Their comeback in the year 2190 has led to a near corporate takeover as McDonalds began dominating the market over their competitors. If not for the invention of the Mint Chocolate Frosty at Wendy's, the fast food industry would have been dominated by the Golden Arches.
Someone M'ilo would miss: M'ilo has a friend, an old professor a community college that helped ignite M'ilo's passion for historical anthropology. M'ilo even had the opportunity to go with Professor Jenkins on a field study of an old abandoned transportation node (bus terminal).
A reason having his past erased would be a good thin: M'ilo is tired of having the government breathing down his neck. A chance to have the slate wiped clean would help him sleep a little easier at night. And he could pull off some more hijinks while he's at it.
Something brass would miss- though he doesn’t have the same sensations as a normal sentient being. He loves to read and use the internet as he is always trying to better himself and read. The lack of an internet in 1964 is what he dreads the most, the primatives as he refers to them are in a dark age of information.
Someone brass would miss- he has very little for personal connections, after being used and manipulated for so long. But he misses the other members of his old mercenary crew and always wished to see them again, even though they were forced to work together.
Why he wants his past erased- he worked as a slave mercenary as apart of a squad of other androids built for war but sealed away due to the change in law. When they eventually killed and escaped from their captor, his employers were very displeased with the loss of such a successful team. His former employers have been on his tracks ever since, wanting their property back. He’s not worried about never seeing his time again if it goes wrong since androids don’t age and he has no plans to ever give up his life for a new consciousness.
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Does the following work for you?
Vonash is a Damaya Lashunta Xenodruid Mystic Wild Warden.
On earth, would definitely pretend to be a tree hugging hippie sort. Would have some disguise skill for the "usual" stuff and almost certainly a holoskin for when he is likely to be closely observed.
Note - I have no idea if Lashunta as a planet is part of the "present" or not. Maybe he is a Venusian (lets face it, Lashunta is really Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar :-))? At any rate, really doesn't matter much
From his point of view, he is fascinated at the opportunity to go back in time and see the Earth before it was almost destroyed by the various ecocatastrophes of the 21st and 22nd centuries. A great deal of information has been lost in the Great Crash of 2276.
Obviously, he also hopes to get genetic samples from various now extinct creatures. The extinction of all Felidae is still seen as a tragedy, a tragedy that he can hopefully remedy.
From TAROT's point of view, they (perhaps somewhat misunderstanding how 1968 REALLY works) see the value of having somebody who is capable of living in the wild and interacting with animals. It will give the team some unusual and perhaps unexpected possible approaches to the problems they encounter.
And having a medic along is NEVER a bad thing.
His role in the group will basically be a support character capable of getting some information via unusual means (partly as a Lashunta, partly by being able to actually communicate with animals).
His character would really miss the small wilderness area where he is the Game Warden. An area where he knows many of the animals and many of the animals know him as a friend and protector.
He would especially miss Ursol, his best friend and confidante, an uplifted bear who actually owns the wilderness area that he is the game warden for. There are only a few Lashunta and humans that he considers friends and there are none that he would truly miss.
He is on Earth for a reason. He is wanted on his home planet for murder. When he discovered a hunter leaving live, maimed creatures in his wake he snapped and killed him. Unfortunately, according to the law that totally reasonable act of justice is murder. He fled to earth and isn't sufficiently important for the authorities on <home planet> to go after him. But it would be nice to at least be able to go home.
Edit : Oh, if he had the opportunity to do something to TRULY change the future for the better (which he largely interprets as better for the Planet, not for humans) he'd definitely take it. Better make that clear up front
@Tarren - Question: About the Gadgeteer's +4 to Engineering Trick Attack when using a custom built device for distractions. What do you feel the appropriate amount of credit cost would be for crafting purposes? I feel 25 credits per distracting unit would be accurate with a Light Bulk.
This is Fallen_Mage's submission. Well, the crunch at least. Still working on the fluff.
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@Tarren - Question: About the Gadgeteer's +4 to Engineering Trick Attack when using a custom built device for distractions. What do you feel the appropriate amount of credit cost would be for crafting purposes? I feel 25 credits per distracting unit would be accurate with a Light Bulk.
I couldn't find any answer on this. 25 credits sounds reasonable.
Does the following work for you?
Vonash is a Damaya Lashunta Xenodruid Mystic Wild Warden.
On earth, would definitely pretend to be a tree hugging hippie sort. Would have some disguise skill for the "usual" stuff and almost certainly a holoskin for when he is likely to be closely observed.
Note - I have no idea if Lashunta as a planet is part of the "present" or not. Maybe he is a Venusian (lets face it, Lashunta is really Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar :-))? At any rate, really doesn't matter much
From his point of view, he is fascinated at the opportunity to go back in time and see the Earth before it was almost destroyed by the various ecocatastrophes of the 21st and 22nd centuries. A great deal of information has been lost in the Great Crash of 2276.
Obviously, he also hopes to get genetic samples from various now extinct creatures. The extinction of all Felidae is still seen as a tragedy, a tragedy that he can hopefully remedy.
From TAROT's point of view, they (perhaps somewhat misunderstanding how 1968 REALLY works) see the value of having somebody who is capable of living in the wild and interacting with animals. It will give the team some unusual and perhaps unexpected possible approaches to the problems they encounter.
And having a medic along is NEVER a bad thing.
His role in the group will basically be a support character capable of getting some information via unusual means (partly as a Lashunta, partly by being able to actually communicate with animals).
His character would really miss the small wilderness area where he is the Game Warden. An area where he knows many of the animals and many of the animals know him as a friend and protector.
He would especially miss Ursol, his best friend and confidante, an uplifted bear who actually owns the wilderness area that he is the game warden for. There are only a few Lashunta and humans that he considers friends and there are none that he would truly miss.
He is on Earth for a reason. He is wanted on his home planet for...
This works for me. The fact he's lashunta makes him appealing to TAROT. Anything that happens in Earth's past would leave him fairly unaffected, so he's an agent that's available to them when they detect a shift in the timeline.
Medics are useful in many time periods. You are heading to 1968, but how long you stay there depends on how long you take to get the info you need.
Hmmm ... looking at this band of ne'er-do-wells, the most implausible part of this story's premise isn't time travel, it's that a government agency trusted you lot with a time machine, but we'll make it work.
M'ilo may or may not have a chip implanted in him by the government so that they can track him and deliver a painful shock that forces him back to his starfish form. Lighter version of suicide squad sort of thing. Or maybe they just told him that to make him behave.
(1) Choose something your character would miss.
Carson would probably miss readily available access to the higher tech of the present the most. A lot of his personal devices need the miniaturized components of modern industry to make them truly portable and easy to hide.
(2) Choose someone your character would miss.
If there were one person in all the world he would miss, it would be Tali. The high priced escort that he visits from time to time after some of his freelance missions. She really knows how to get in his head and make his troubling memories go away.
(3) A reason having your past erased might be a good thing.
Over the course of his career, the Troubleshooter has made an enemy or two. Disappearing wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to him.
Submitting Jade for consideration!
(1) Brass-4 -- android soldier looking for a better place to hide
(2) M'ilo, Astrazoan Operative, History buff and disguise expert
(3) Trouble-shooter: Human Operative (Gadgeteer) also
(4) Vonash is a Damaya Lashunta Xenodruid Mystic Wild Warden wanted on his home planet for murdering a hunter
(5) Unnamed Android Mechanic
(6) Jade Essex Android Biohacker 1, remembers the failed revolution, has someone she'd miss
Is this right? Did I miss updating someone?
Ok, character built
Note - gender changed to female
Would it be possible to swap from Operative to Envoy? Keeping everything else the same regarding M'ilo.
Would it be possible to swap from Operative to Envoy? Keeping everything else the same regarding M'ilo.
Having a shapeshifter as the 'Face' of this team makes sense. Lots of possibilities there.
Especially one that can hold their shape indefinitely.