Hi,
I've been kicking about an idea in my head on how to make an encounter where the PCs get caught in a time loop.
My main problem is simply the how to do it without having them stuck in a groundhog-day like scenario where they just have a reset button if they mess up and I don't want it to be tedious either.
One option I was considering was to have the PCs gone through the loop without realizing they've already gone through it a number of times already. From their perspective each new instance of the loop seems new to them, then have the aforementioned mage meet them and try to help them out, like he's done several times before as he frustratedly tells them things like "This is the seventh time I've explained it to you!" and "You always said that!"
Perhaps the PCs come across their own bodies from previous failed attempts to get them out of the loop. Perhaps previous versions of themselves have been driven mad and try to kill the "impostors".
I'm just having difficulty translating it into a narrative that someone can experience in the first person without giving the players a massive info dump or knowledge that is usually reserved for an audience.
Things I was drawing inspiration from:
Time Crimes, Primer, Lost, How to live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe and Triangle.
Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
even though you said you don't want the groundhogday, I would suggest just that, they have to really hurry to find the thing that stops the infernal circle.
If you really want some "creepy" in there, start the day as any other, thus covering the fact that it's the very same and give them some cumulative penalty for every day in the time loop.
Perhaps Wisdom damage, perhaps ghosts turn up, more and more every "day", everything turns more nightmareish until they wake up in a zombie filled town from hell ruled by a demon lord, if they aren't fast enough. The demon lord could for example hold the obvious key that loops time.
How about stealing from the classics? Remember Star Trek:TNG? One episode had the crew going through a loop like this with their memories reset each time. They had the crew experience deja vu, heard strange whispers of their own conversations from earlier loops, weird coincidences at a poker game etc.
You could slip each of the players a message that their characters are having a touch of deja vu and let them play it out. Creepy thing is, how could they all be having it?
Did I post this before?
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Ok here is a start. Let's think of the characteristics of the loop and then fit the fluff to fit it.
1) If they don't fix the problem they die just before the loop resets itself. If you want to give them reason to be careful have their CON score drop by one every time they reset. When they break the loop you can restore it for free, but don't tell them.
2) Just before the loop resets itself it kills everyone in the area of effect. (sorta like that one Star Trek where the Enterprise kept blowing up)
3) They start over but the PCs know they are starting over (it will be kinda obvious after the first loop).
4) The wise mage is a projection into the time loop. He can't die but his message is always garbled by the vortex. As the PCs learn more the less of his message is garbles. Set five or six goals for them to accomplish and when they complete one goal the next part of the message becomes clear.
5) The mage is placed in time at the start of the loop. i.e. He knows what caused it but is not totally clear on how to fix it. He also can't help them after the initial reset.
6) The entity that caused the time loop is at the end. It is trying to avoid an inescapable fate. If it does so it can break the time loop but takes the world with it (or just destroys a large area...maybe near a city or even inside a city so you have people there)
7) The entity can change events in the time loop as it tries to adjust the timeline to result in one where it still lives. This way the players don't get a reset as the entity can account for that when they die.
Thanks for the ideas!
I've done a "groundhog day" type adventure once and it's that experience that tells me: NO GROUND HOG DAY!
It might be fun to WATCH that but to play the same thing over and over again gets players frustrated and uninterested rather quickly. ALSO there is a huge difference between a character not remembering the day and the player having to do it allover again.
I do like the idea of "ghosts" though.
The people and creatures from the previous loop might appear as echoes (i.e. ghosts) and when the usual ghost busting tools do not work that would definetly tip the players that something is askew.
The "garbled message' idea is also very good, sort of like the end of "Prince of Darkness" where the message from the future is transmitted through dreams. In fact that might be the way to do it. PCs go through day #1 then go to bed, have a strange dream, wake up the next day to see "ghosts" and find themselves teleported to where they were yesterday...
This sounds like it would be really fun to play and figure out, but the way it will go is going to strongly depend on how well and willingly your players will disregard player knowledge in making their characters decisions.
A couple questions for you that might get your brain cranking.
How much of a past loop is remembered?
Does everyone remember what happened or only some?
What triggers the loop, and how far back does it go?
Does it always trigger at the same point and does it always go back to the same point?
Do changes/actions taken in one loop have an effect on subsequent loops? (or previous loops? talk about brain-wrinkling)
Is the rest of the world looping, or is this some sort of pocket-effect?
Another good source for inspiration you might want to consider is an episode of Stargate SG-1 called "Window of Opportunity" where Jack and Teal'c get stuck in a loop. It's more akin to Groundhog Day but you might see something you like in it.
There is a dungeons and dragons webcomic that is doing exactly what you are trying to do now.
Edit. More info in spoiler.
See Goblinscomic.com
The exact pages of the comic are the current arc and about 100 pages back probably.
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Thanks for the ideas!
I've done a "groundhog day" type adventure once and it's that experience that tells me: NO GROUND HOG DAY!
It might be fun to WATCH that but to play the same thing over and over again gets players frustrated and uninterested rather quickly. ALSO there is a huge difference between a character not remembering the day and the player having to do it allover again.
That was the reason for the creature that caused the time loop. It changes the time loop every time. So day one you have a fight in a city with some thieves. Day two those the city is now populated by orcs and is partially ruined. You have an encounter with some ogres who like to cause trouble. Day three you are in the ruins of the city and have an encounter with some undead. etc. You use the same basic setting but change what is going on.
One idea I've had in the past when dealing with time travel adventures. Is perhaps the loop isn't very small at all instead of a day or two maybe the loop is a year or a decade. And the PCs are not the cause, they are just caught in it, but for some reason (which will lessen the player frustration) the PCs can remember everything they did during the loops, but sometimes things are vastly different. Sometimes the city they are in is a vibrant metropolis, other times it's a ruined necropolis. The PCs can be near unique that they are able to remember every time and thus they are the ones that must stop the (insert cause of time loop here, I suggest a specific creature, or group of creatures. And the creatures may or may not realize they are stuck in the time loop either.)
This allows for a lot of really good roleplaying.
How do you convince a paladin that fighting an evil sorcerer causes the time loop, when the sorcerer is razing towns?
Or
A wizard cabal summons a vast being of temporal energy and cracks the very foundation of time, but they have no knowledge of the ritual required to summon the being until the PCs suggest it was them that broke time in the first place.
Or
A righteous knight was fated to become a new minor deity, however the knight is killed in his youth and never gets the chance to ascend to Godhood which causes a tear in time and causes the loop.
Another fun note, is give the PCs a little consequence. Make it a time spiral. Let the PCs remember each time loop, but have the time that they are able to affect before it is reset be getting shorter. That way they may have had a tenday before, and now they only have week. If going that route I would definitely have the amount of time the loop shortens be the same, like 6 hours or 12 hours. Something where they notice but have time to accomplish the task, especially if they have to hunt down the cause.
Just some quick ideas I had with interesting ways to run a time loop. Good luck and happy DMing.
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One idea I've had in the past when dealing with time travel adventures. Is perhaps the loop isn't very small at all instead of a day or two maybe the loop is a year or a decade. And the PCs are not the cause, they are just caught in it, but for some reason (which will lessen the player frustration) the PCs can remember everything they did during the loops, but sometimes things are vastly different. Sometimes the city they are in is a vibrant metropolis, other times it's a ruined necropolis. The PCs can be near unique that they are able to remember every time and thus they are the ones that must stop the (insert cause of time loop here, I suggest a specific creature, or group of creatures. And the creatures may or may not realize they are stuck in the time loop either.)
This allows for a lot of really good roleplaying.
How do you convince a paladin that fighting an evil sorcerer causes the time loop, when the sorcerer is razing towns?
Or
A wizard cabal summons a vast being of temporal energy and cracks the very foundation of time, but they have no knowledge of the ritual required to summon the being until the PCs suggest it was them that broke time in the first place.
Or
A righteous knight was fated to become a new minor deity, however the knight is killed in his youth and never gets the chance to ascend to Godhood which causes a tear in time and causes the loop.Another fun note, is give the PCs a little consequence. Make it a time spiral. Let the PCs remember each time loop, but have the time that they are able to affect before it is reset be getting shorter. That way they may have had a tenday before, and now they only have week. If going that route I would definitely have the amount of time the loop shortens be the same, like 6 hours or 12 hours. Something where they notice but have time to accomplish the task, especially if they have to hunt down the cause.
Just some quick ideas I had with interesting ways to run a time loop. Good luck and happy DMing.
That would be cool if you ran a campaign all the way through and then started at the beginning again. Except you switch around the players of each character.