Comments on: Your Past is Their Future: A Time Travelling Campaign Theme for D&D

By: Nstar

Nstar — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:55:08 +0000

The campaign frames you outline seem to be a variation on “The Mobius Trippers,” in DM 1. My campaign has the heroic tier set in Athas, and as the PCs advance, they go back in time, not forwards. The climax comes when they can set the universe right as epic characters by becoming the gods and defeating the Primordials to prevent the Athas scenario from happening in the first place. That arc has some good rules to follow regarding time paradoxes, and introduces a story element that a cult develops over time to thwart the PCs, i.e., God-Killers. As you likely know, the Planescape lore has a faction in Sigil devoted to that precise outcome.

By: Editor-in-Chief

Editor-in-Chief — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:36:35 +0000

@Svafa & Nicholas – I think that’s what makes this campaign appealing to me – seeing how the players choose to react when confronted with the end of the world scenario, then being sent back with the chance to avert it. I think the mind games you could play with your party would be tremendously fun as a DM, making each action they take to change the outcome of the future have serious effects in other ways. It’s the “Butterfly Effect” campaign, and it’s a real role-playing mess for the players to have to deal with!

By: Nicholas McDowell

Nicholas McDowell — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:36:24 +0000

Have them play the big bad then and be at each other’s throats. Have them fighting people that are presented as the good guys, and be sure to present them the idea that this can all be changed.

Near as I can figure, the events of Terminus were undone by capturing the fire squirrels in Freemarch. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

By: Svafa

Svafa — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:28:10 +0000

I would be terribly tempted to become the Big Bad… >.<

By: Siliconwolf

Siliconwolf — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:06:51 +0000

While I didn’t think to have the players start out Epic and go back, the idea of witnessing the end of the world and going back, I hadI kind of a similar idea with my current campaign when Dark Sun came out. The PCs would during the Paragon tier go into the far future, in one way or another, to the post-apocalyptic world using the Dark Sun setting. They would then learn about how their absence allowed the big bad to destroy their world bringing about the blasted desert, deadly magic and dead gods of Dark Sun. But as the PCs passed into the Epic they would find a way back to the past just after they left and then the Epic would be trying to stop what they know will happen using the knowledge they gained in the future to change events and prevent it from happening, or just taking advantage of the situation as as the case may be.