In the early 21st century, there is a corporation called Timeworks Incorporated. Timeworks, as the company’s name would seem to indicate, sends people back in time to alter the history of the 20th century, for a fee. However, time travel isn’t as simple as getting in a machine and flipping a switch. There’s the problem of paradoxes. To avoid paradoxes, Timeworks has come up with a process called “displacement”. Through displacement, a person’s quantum field is disentangled from the rest of the timeline, and they no longer become part of time. In essence, they don’t exist. No one remembers them, not their parents, not their friends, not their lovers, but they keep the memories of their own life, a life that never was. Once you’ve been displaced, changes to the timeline no longer affect you. You could go back in time and kill your mother before you were born, and you would still exist, because, as far as the timeline is concerned, she never gave birth to you. In essence, you came from nowhere.
Once someone’s been displaced, it is impossible to give them back their previous life, so Timeworks makes sure everyone understands the risks before they undergo the procedure. Timeworks recruits it’s agents from any time and place in the 20th century. The greater of an impact someone’s life had on history, the harder it is to displace them, so Timeworks recruits people who have useful skills, but who’s lives have affected as few people as possible. Essentially, people who’s lives are going nowhere. If they agree to work for Timeworks, they are brought forward in time from their time of origin to the Timeworks facility, displaced, and then offered a 5 year contract. After serving with Timeworks for 5 years, they have the option to renew or retire. If they retire, they are placed anywhere in time and space within the 20th century, given a brand new life, and some sort of financial arrangement that will allow them to live out the rest of their days without having to work. If they choose to renew their contract, Timeworks will find some way to sweeten the pot in order to persuade them into working another 5 years.
You will play newly recruited Timeworks agents on their first mission. Recruits can come from any time and place in the 20th century, but they will have a few things in common. Number 1 : Timeworks operates in English, so all recruits will either know English or have been taught it shortly after they were recruited. Number 2 : All agents must have useful abilities. The nature cards should give you an idea of what type of people Timeworks recruits. Number 3 : They must have had a life that was basically going nowhere. They could have had friends and family, but since all that is getting erased, the fewer attachments they have, the better. Since Timeworks wants skilled people who never amounted to much, they tend to recruit people who have been discriminated against, or otherwise prevented from reaching their full potential. Finally… Number 4 : All Timeworks agents must carry an anchor. This is something portable and meaningful that connects you to your former life. It can be anything, but it must be small enough for you to carry around with you at all times. Your anchor is part of the displacement process, and without it, your memories would begin to fade away, and Timeworks HQ would not be able to retrieve you from the past.
That’s about all I want to say before we get started. I’m not saying exactly when and where you’re going on your first mission, I want it to be a surprise. The cards I’ve come up with are just guidelines, if you come up with something you like better, feel free to create a new card. That’s it! Hope you enjoy my game!
P.S. The player @mcbeard is someone I know in real life, and someone who tends to go a bit overboard when it comes to backstory. He is basically writing an epic novel about his character, Sigfried Heydrich, which is fine, but I want to make sure other players know, I DO NOT EXPECT EVERYONE TO SUBMIT SUCH A HUGE BACKSTORY. A paragraph or two will be fine.
Hosted and narrated by:
Perry
Started 06/15/14.
Scenes played: 7
License: Community License
