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I think most of the cheese can be avoided by not giving players control over the time travel. In other words, not allowing them to decide exactly when they are jumping to.
As others said, one-way trips to the future aren't very problematic. It's the same as just going into stasis, or temporary retirement.
Travel to the past is less problematic if it's very far back.
Gotta ask yourself: what's the mechanism for time travel? An artifact? A magical anomaly? A ritual? Are players intentionally time-traveling, or doing so because of third parties? Did they plan for it, or get thrown into the effect by accident?
For example, it can be a rod that, by waving into the air three times, brings you 50 years into the future. Or a ritual which, according to the ingredients you gather, bring you 50d6 years into the past or the future. Or a cavern which, every time you leave, brings you back to some precise point in time (just gotta think of a mechanism to avoid a billion time travelers arriving at the same place and time, such as being single-use, or it killing prior users, or creating a new universe for each, etc.).
What happens when you time travel? Does it create new universes or just bring you to a lagged identical universe (multiverse theory)? Do you have to worry about continuity? Maybe it creates a second material plane only? Can the world handle two material planes? Maybe the new one just "exists" for a mile radius around the time travellers, but eventually sucks in the original material plane, literally killing everyone there, likely forcing the PCs to make some hard decisions. Maybe it's instant? "Time-traveling" just created a younger doppelganger universe, ripping the original one to shreds in the process instantly.
One thing to be careful about, though, is that if you want to run a plot where the PCs scrap the time-line in a predetermined way, it's that, well, you are predetermining their actions, removing agency. It will become clear to them that they really had no say in how events would turn out once they finish the arc and find out that the things they "just did" explain things that you said way earlier. How players react to things like this is table-specific. Some would enjoy it, others would not. Know your players.
I think most of the cheese can be avoided by not giving players control over the time travel. In other words, not allowing them to decide exactly when they are jumping to.
As others said, one-way trips to the future aren't very problematic. It's the same as just going into stasis, or temporary retirement.
Travel to the past is less problematic if it's very far back.
Gotta ask yourself: what's the mechanism for time travel? An artifact? A magical anomaly? A ritual? Are players intentionally time-traveling, or doing so because of third parties? Did they plan for it, or get thrown into the effect by accident?
For example, it can be a rod that, by waving into the air three times, brings you 50 years into the future. Or a ritual which, according to the ingredients you gather, bring you 50d6 years into the past or the future. Or a cavern which, every time you leave, brings you back to some precise point in time (just gotta think of a mechanism to avoid a billion time travelers arriving at the same place and time, such as being single-use, or it killing prior users, or creating a new universe for each, etc.).
What happens when you time travel? Does it create new universes or just bring you to a lagged identical universe (multiverse theory)? Do you have to worry about continuity? Maybe it creates a second material plane only? Can the world handle two material planes? Maybe the new one just "exists" for a mile radius around the time travellers, but eventually sucks in the original material plane, literally killing everyone there, likely forcing the PCs to make some hard decisions. Maybe it's instant? "Time-traveling" just created a younger doppelganger universe, ripping the original one to shreds in the process instantly.
One thing to be careful about, though, is that if you want to run a plot where the PCs scrap the time-line in a predetermined way, it's that, well, you are predetermining their actions, removing agency. It will become clear to them that they really had no say in how events would turn...
Thanks so much for you ideas!! I hadn’t considered how to control access to time travel for/to the PCs! Wonderful ideas!
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the trick to changing things in past time travel is to do the side loop.
as the main problem of any time travel to fix\change things will tell you, once you do change them there is no reason to go back in time so then the original travel to the past didn't happen and the thing wasn't changed and you go into a loop here.
what you do is a side loop:
you plan to go back in time to fix X (say by killing Z), so after making sure that Z'z death can not stop the time travel itself (as for example Z is not the one who made the time machine). then when you go back in time, make sure to have a note (plan later etc) addressing you in the future telling you to go back in time to kill Z no matter what, no reason asked for and then leave a note to do so for future you.
i call this the side loop since the first time you kill Z is for saving the world etc. but then when the time comes to go back in time to kill him you still going to do it and this way the cycle keep on going (only now the reason for killing Z is different, the outcome stay the same).
note, part of making sure Z's death (or what ever you change) doesn't effect the time travel can also be done in part of the time travel itself. as in go back with Z's machine but make sure some1 else make a new one (not relating to Z's life\death) for you to go back with.
the original idea of a side loop was not mine, i got it from the web comic 'Dragon Mango' ,were Dug the gnome after saving himself by time traveling order himself to go back and save himself..
i actually had and adventure hook starting with a note to go somewhere and kill some1 the party never met, left to themselves by themselves . and when they were done it also was telling them the way to leave the 1st note for themselves.
it included a non magical way of communication with a prisoner in an anti magic field who was (will be) in a future prison. he had a book to write in, and made sure they had the same book in the past and the future book after he finished also transported to them. so anything he wrote appeared in the future book they had and anything they wrote in the1st book was also in the book he had.
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'Invaders from the past', with greater knowledge of magic possibly, can be an interesting twist on the more typical 'invaders with future tech'.
Most worlds are littered with great and powerful empires from eons ago. What if one of them had happened upon a portal to the futhre, at the height of their power? What if seeing themselves absent from the future, they decided to extend their empire by invading it? They might have primitive tech (which pathfinder poorly emulates though imo), but if they come from an era where they had control over an entire continent or more and they arrive at an era where the states are divided and worn down, their lack of tech might not be a huge handicap.
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As I recall the sceptre of ages is meant to be the main means of time travel in pathfinder.
I having had experience with players use the branching time line theory. If you travel back or forward in time you create a branching time line off the main one (where you didn't time travel) and any changes you make are in there. You can still reach the main one via dimensional travel but in there your killing the lich king as a child never happened and you still need to fight him.
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Fringe was an interesting series involving time travel. Haven't watched it in a while, but it had the benefit of dedicating a lot of screen time to the idea, as opposed to shows like Star Trek who just slip in one self-contained episode here and there or who just reboot the franchise with a single move, either way not really having to concern themselves much with ramifications. Could be inspiring to watch, if you want to center a campaign on time travel.
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As I recall the sceptre of ages is meant to be the main means of time travel in pathfinder.
I having had experience with players use the branching time line theory. If you travel back or forward in time you create a branching time line off the main one (where you didn't time travel) and any changes you make are in there. You can still reach the main one via dimensional travel but in there your killing the lich king as a child never happened and you still need to fight him.
I think I found that artifact in my research. I think it was broken up into 3 pieces, all lost/hidden in time. Thanks for the reminder!
Fringe was an interesting series involving time travel. Haven't watched it in a while, but it had the benefit of dedicating a lot of screen time to the idea, as opposed to shows like Star Trek who just slip in one self-contained episode here and there or who just reboot the franchise with a single move, either way not really having to concern themselves much with ramifications. Could be inspiring to watch, if you want to center a campaign on time travel.
I’ll have to check that show out, thanks!