[IW] Looking for Lost Loves

[Dr. Beckenstein]

This could be the reason for a weird "groundhog day" adventure - one unlucky homeliner jumps from timeline to timeline, trying to encounter the girl of his dreams at a certain moment and "make it right" this time.

Could be run from romantic to tragic, or comedy to creepy.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Tomsdad

How about a particularly narcissistic person looking for just the right younger version of themselves to be their own heir

And this is interesting, because they kidnap narcissistic versions of themselves who don't mind being the heir to a bigger pile of money on a world-line that has more possibilities than their own. Who is the crime against? Is it fraud? Does the patrol actually oppose this? or does it just raise the ire of those who see out timers as "less real"?

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by ericthered

And this is interesting, because they kidnap narcissistic versions of themselves who don't mind being the heir to a bigger pile of money on a world-line that has more possibilities than their own. Who is the crime against? Is it fraud? Does the patrol actually oppose this? or does it just raise the ire of those who see out timers as "less real"?

Or how about the perspective heir isn't narcissistic but looking at their rather miserable "ancestor" decide to play along and planning to when in place give it all away to charity (or what ever*). Both as a middle finger to their 'ancestor', and because they think it's a positive step rather than just remaining the caretaker of some living legacy.

The dilemma for the initial narcissist is that while they want a version of themselves they'll want one that they think will stay true to their original ideals etc. But at the same time a complete doormat version of themselves may not be able to maintain their legacy as they would like. I.e. if you are a narcissist you don't want to be eclipsed by your 'descendant', but neither do you want your legacy to be diminished by an incompetent one. And of course once you are dead** you can't fix it. So cue lots of tests (possibly unknowing ones) etc.




*possibly not even a positive thing, maybe they're into funding some extreme thing but need funds and resources for it.

**Possible twist the initial narcissist doesn't die but instead disappears off to do something else (but this may not fit well with stereotype of not being able to leave their legacy alone if they are still active).

[AlexanderHowl]

You could even have a situation where an unmarried wealthy business person decides to retire but, as they are worried that their heirs are useless and will ruin the business that it took them a lifetime to build, decides to recruit and train a younger version of themselves to take over the business. With plastic surgery, the younger version and the older version can be made to look the same age (an older look for the younger version and a younger look for the older version) and, since they presumably have identical biometrics (otherwise they are not very convincing alternatives), it would be impossible to tell the difference between the two versions. The older version takes twenty percent of their fortune and goes off into retirement while the younger version takes over for another twenty years. You could even have the cycle repeat itself a couple of times before people start to get really suspicious about the longevity and vigor of the business person.

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

You could even have a situation where an unmarried wealthy business person decides to retire but, as they are worried that their heirs are useless and will ruin the business that it took them a lifetime to build, decides to recruit and train a younger version of themselves to take over the business. With plastic surgery, the younger version and the older version can be made to look the same age (an older look for the younger version and a younger look for the older version) and, since they presumably have identical biometrics (otherwise they are not very convincing alternatives), it would be impossible to tell the difference between the two versions. The older version takes twenty percent of their fortune and goes off into retirement while the younger version takes over for another twenty years. You could even have the cycle repeat itself a couple of times before people start to get really suspicious about the longevity and vigor of the business person.

Or for another adventure seed, an alternate is recruited by a crosstimer to replace someone else, non-consensually. Need a useful patsy, or want to turn a neutral into an ally? Is the mistress of the Burmese dictator your ticket to wealth and power, but she just won't cooperate? Just replace them with themselves, from another timeline, carefully turned to your own ends. You could have a whole campaign based on Patrolmen trying to end a ring of crosstime criminals committing this caper on multiple timelines... and endangering the Secret no end.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by Dr. Beckenstein

This could be the reason for a weird "groundhog day" adventure - one unlucky homeliner jumps from timeline to timeline, trying to encounter the girl of his dreams at a certain moment and "make it right" this time.

Could be run from romantic to tragic, or comedy to creepy.

I was thinking of this scenario as 50 First Dates, but similar principle. Instead of making it right, he or she just wants to relive certain moments, such as their first meeting, either by standing-in or observing from afar. You'd have to take care of the in-time version of yourself somehow though.

On the use of time-clones sub-thread: using a time-clone would be one way to fake your death.

[ericthered]

One thing to remember about the "Lost Love" Scenario is you've got a limited supply of worlds to steal people from. Earth-Beta is probably your most notable example.

Patrolmen on these worlds are probably very concerned with this particular type of crime, likely to the exclusion of all others.

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

I was thinking of this scenario as 50 First Dates, but similar principle. Instead of making it right, he or she just wants to relive certain moments, such as their first meeting, either by standing-in or observing from afar. You'd have to take care of the in-time version of yourself somehow though.

On the use of time-clones sub-thread: using a time-clone would be one way to fake your death.

Huh. Another variant. Person X has horrible thing happen to their relationship/loved one, and wants to make sure that their alternates don't suffer the same fate. So they try to act as a guardian angel for their alternate(s), making sure they don't screw up the relationship, their loved one doesn't die, etc. Maybe they recruit the PCs to help?

[JMason]

I see this the sort of thing that a criminal organization might be involved in. Kidnapping whoever you want from a close parallel for all sorts of reasons.

It might play more interesting from the other end of things. Person meets the love of their life, who then vanishes, or was seen being taken by people with some sort of strange technology. This leads to discovering about cross-time and the Patrol show up for damage control....

I think I have my next IW character backstory.

[thrash]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

Person X has horrible thing happen to their relationship/loved one, and wants to make sure that their alternates don't suffer the same fate. So they try to act as a guardian angel for their alternate(s), making sure they don't screw up the relationship, their loved one doesn't die, etc.

If the original locates their own alternate and coaches them through saving the loved one, you could have (Hollywood-style concept pitch) Cyrano de Bergerac meets the Terminator. Extra points if the loved one falls (vicariously) for the older, more considerate original instead.