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Old 10-13-2020, 07:45 PM   #1
Bruno
 
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Default Outside Time And Space

We all know Elder Things are from Outside Time And Space. They end up in Time And Space in a number of ways, deliberately or accidentally, but tears in reality and eerie gates are definitely a thing that hangs around. And players fall into them, get knocked into them, or critically fail while using a Gnomeco™ Microtool, and fall Outside Time And Space.

Ramexes (Dungeon Fantasy RPG Monsters 2) show that mortals spending too long Outside Time And Space end up warped beyond recognition, but what about shorter term, when PCs have an accident? And what are ways to get someone back, if you have something an incident that doesn't leave an open gate?
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Old 10-13-2020, 07:59 PM   #2
WhiteLily
 
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Default Re: Outside Time And Space

They take a trip to the dreamlands.

Time to get really trippy.
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Old 10-14-2020, 02:48 AM   #3
johndallman
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Default Re: Outside Time And Space

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
. . . what are ways to get someone back, if you have something "like" an incident that doesn't leave an open gate?
The Gnomeco™ Opener of the Ways will do this. It looks like a large can opener, mounted to a portable wooden door and frame. It works, but you have to keep the door closed and in place for at least 24 hours for each minute the door was open to let The Way seal up again.
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Old 10-14-2020, 11:43 AM   #4
Polkageist
 
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Default Re: Outside Time And Space

I have to say "too long" in a place that's outside of Time and Space is a bit of a tricky measurement. A 1-second absence in the grounded world could easily be a couple centuries in the outer realms, and vice-versa. They could even show up before they left! How's that for a wacky turn of events?

Actually, that could be a strange and interesting twist if you can count on them getting sucked into the BT&S place at some point.
You could give the player a sudden option to control a 'clone' of their character that suddenly enters into a fight, or pass them a note with some points about what just happened a few minutes into the future.

I think it gets a bit easier to figure out the 'how do they get back' problem if the whole party goes through, since then they're all there and able to work the problem together rather than leaving Bob to have a solo side-adventure, at least at a live table. PbP could easily support that kind of individual focus. Also, that there's a affirmative ability to exit, otherwise it's just a drawn out TPK and nobody likes that. But I digress. Ways back I think fall into two categories: things there and things players have.

Things there would be things like other portals. Place Beyond Time & Space (PBT&S) could very easily have portals that open and close at (un)predictable times to (un)predictable places so the way out is just a matter of waiting (but not too long!) for the right portal to open to take you home-ish, or taking one that'll get you out of PBT&S and into somewhere decidedly not home-ish.
Perhaps there are objects like standing stones, pools, or alien plants that can be arranged to 'tune' them to a particular exit.
PBT&S could even just spit them out like a sour grape, not liking the taste of these alien interlopers. Roll some dice to see when they get spit out, and how long they need to endure. Be careful not to let bad rolls slow-kill a player though.
Among all the local things, the players can choose to wait it out and thus enduring the environment and threats of PBT&S or take action to save themselves.

Things players have, those methods are like the GnomeCo tool, cracking open a new portal out.
PBT&S could have tools littered around that can re-slice open reality, or perhaps some bit of equipment or material the party has can do the same. A gemstone on Earth may just be a pretty rock, but in PBT&S it can actually unlock doors and cut open windows.
Ramexes may just be poor people who are trying to rip through the fabric of reality without a proper tool!
Magic can be very useful, if the party has a wizard spec'd for interdimensional travel then it could just be a matter of holding out until they prep their spells necessary to transport to somewhere safe.
If the players have some inkling of where they're going or what they're dealing with, then drop hints about what kind of junk they ought to stuff in their pockets just in case they end up zapped away.
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Old 10-14-2020, 11:58 AM   #5
Dalin
 
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Default Re: Outside Time And Space

I can't imagine writing an adventure without time and space, but I have run adventures before that were intended to be metaphors for an unimaginable extra-planar. As WhiteLily suggested, this allows for some surreal adventure possibilities.

One interesting possibility, especially later in an ongoing campaign, would be to fall back on memories that the characters carry with them. You could thus recycle old adventure locations, weaving them together in bizarre and unexpected ways. Plenty of opportunity for strange monsters, tricks and puzzles, and the use of unusual skills. The first part of the quest might simply be to figure out what the quest is.

Riffing off of the Membrane idea from the Ramex, there might be a number of challenges that involve cutting through things: performing surgery, digging through a wall or floor, burning away webs, finding doors concealed behind curtains or tapestries, squeezing through small spaces, diving into a pool, cutting through a sheet of ice, etc.

I might use something like this for either the group in the Outside or the ones who stayed behind and want to rescue their lost companion. In the latter scenario, for a particular wet horror vibe and riffing off the surgery idea above, perhaps the quest is to rebuild the person's body that is no long contiguous.
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