Quantum Leap???

-SIN- · Sep 8, 2007

It came to me last night.

I thought, "Why not try playing a unique kinda game, loosely based on the TV series 'Quantum Leap'?"

A bunch of characters ('Norms') who, I dunno, come across a time-hole (Momentarily appears an' snatches a handful of people from a tube-train or something??), and get sucked in, and dumped out somewhere in the past - Ancient Egypt, Battle of Waterloo, WWII. Any time and place where there's a major event.

The characters would all see eachother as themselves, but in the good old 'Quantum' style, they'd appear as the people who were there at the time. It could be any event where the 'characters' failed in there task, or died, or possibly even lived, or a combination of all three? The characters may not even be transported to the same place in the specific time. They could even be enemies - imagine 2 players being American and the others Korean during the Vietnam war! LOL

When they 'win', they transport somewhere else. Cash in on EX. Simple.

Maybe even zip to the future - Aliens? Nuclear Fallout? The Anti-Christ?....

But I'd have to devise a way dealing with things like proficiencies and alike.

Would anyone be game?

Shayuri · Sep 8, 2007

That sounds pretty interesting!

One spinoff idea, that might address the issues with proficiencies and languages and so on (without resorting to the handwaving that the series does

), is to make the concept of 'leaping' a sanctioned one. Instead of being guided by apparently celestial forces and shepherded by a saucy hologram, we could be agents of a futuristic organization that acts to preserve continuity of the timeline.

Since time travel exists, small perturbations caused by even the most careful travelers can have additive effects that threaten history (this is the 'go back to the dinosaurs and ruin the future by stepping on a bug' effect). Because the cat can't be put back in the bag, so to speak, an agency was assembled to repair the timeline damage when and where it becomes serious enough to change the course of recorded history. There's probably some temporally shielded archive of all recorded historical events as they ought to be up to the present somewhere, the 'Bible' from which they work.

When projecting back, the agents' memories are modified. They retain knowledge of who they are, and what they do, but most of their 'future knowledge' is suppressed, to avoid further contamination. Communication can take place via some kind of wormhole that allows energy and information to travel, but not matter (the hologram from the future). The agents, with analysis and aid from the future, determine the precise deviation from the history Bible, and take what action is required to put things back on track. Normally it doesn't have to be EXACT. If Lincoln decides not to go to the play, the obvious fix is to convince him to go...but as long as he dies, that's the important thing. Of course, the small ripples of effect caused by the differences in how and where he died (if a-historical) could have additive perturbations of their own! It's entirely possible that a good deal of time is spent fixing issues stemming from incomplete repair jobs from other times.

...

That's a bit more involved than I intended. And potentially more complex than is warranted.

Just brainstorming.

Oh, and I'm interested.

Jemal · Sep 8, 2007

this sounds mega interesting, and reminds me of a game I've tried running before.. Sliders..

SO, I have to say I'm interested.

-SIN- · Sep 10, 2007

Hmmmm, not as much interest as I thought there would be??...

But I'm happy nonetheless! Two of enworld's finest are interested, so the game shall go on!

In fact, it's probably going to be a hell of a lot easier with just 2 of you, but I may throw in an NPC as a substitute for 'Al', a sort of 'get out of jail free card', just incase I drop you into an era you are not overly familiar with, the NPC can possibly throw a helpful hint your way. A metaphoical safety-net.

I'm surprised that there is a lack of interest simply because of the diversity available. In modern games you're stuck in the here and now, fantasy games stay fantasy, horror - horror, and so forth, with maybe the exception of future where time travel is possible. In this game you could 'awaken' anytime, anywhere: A Viking longboat, just putting into foreign lands. Surrounded by tigers in a gladatorial arena. In a house, standing over a body with bloodied hands. Pulling the sword 'Excalibur' from 'the stone'?..... It's all possible, and none for getting bored with a specific genre.

I will probably not follow the futuristic aspect, as I'd rather the characters experience more of a shock on arrival, combined with a subtle and constant state of trepidation. As the path they walk becomes clearer, they'll realise that once they do what's necessary, once again they take a 'leap' into darkness. A terror unknown.

I've got some really cool ideas floating around in my head, and some evil ones too!! Man, I'd love to tell you! I'm not a history nut, but I'd say I have a very broad knowledge on the subject and probably deeper knowledge than average, thought more so in ancient history than modern, but I do take specific interest, so hopefully there shouldn't be too many inaccuracies.

What may be easier is if I use something like wiki for information, so we all have the same available reference, if it becomes necessary.

I'll jot down some more ideas and hopefully here from you guys soon.

Oh, I found this too... here

Moggthegob · Sep 10, 2007

I ,being a history buff and major, think this sounds incredible. I dont check this subforum everyday so I didnt notice this until just now. Sounds really cool. Count me in.

Relique du Madde · Sep 11, 2007

I think it might also help to know what system/ruleset you plan on using.

-SIN- · Sep 11, 2007

Relique du Madde said:
I think it might also help to know what system/ruleset you plan on using.

Well, that's why it's listed as a discussion. D20 more than likely as it has enough scope to cover such a broad period in history, all of which is compatible, more or less.

Jemal · Sep 11, 2007

d20 what though? D20 modern makes the most sense to me..

Also, one other thing... your description of Quantum leap sounds like a combination of the Sliders premise AND the Quantum leap thing.. us being a group caught traveling between different times, trying to fix thing and (Presumably) find our way home.

Hmm.. I have a proposal which may open us up to more players..
Combine the two.
Sliders has an even MORE broad spectrum of possibilities, b/c you can just make stuff up for the alternate universes, OR send us back through time..

Sorry, I just really like Sliders, and I've only ever GM'd it b/c nobody else would... I'm er.. uh.. definitely NOT (yeah sure) trying to make you do that... *innocent whistle*

-SIN- · Sep 11, 2007

Yeah, that's how I was gonna do it anyhow - i.e. any mistakes I make - like introducing a firearm 20 year prior than it was - would be passed off as a 'dimensional deviation'. The other thing to bear in mind is the fact that many histories are forged by the rulers/victors, as I'm sure we all know - like Ramesses II slaughtering armies singlehandedly, LOL!..... Or did he???...

You'll have to find out!

D20 modern is what I meant, though I warn, I'm not too familiar with it and haven't really played it in quite some time, but I do own many, many mods/access/supp's for it.

SO, the tally is up to four, a nice, neat number. I'm gonna go through my list of 'destinations' to see whether 4 or 6 people would work best for each of them, then see whether it would be best to recruit more.

More than likely I'm gonna have to wing it most of the way, as I don't want to make it too obvious what you've got to do to trigger your next jump, so even before we start I ask for your patience. The problem I can see is that you could go off on a completely different tangent to what's planned - what if you are soldiers that are being sent on a mission that you are 'meant' to fail, but succeed, etc, etc. If I plan too much, things could go very wrong.

Any more suggestions? D20 modern cool with y'all?

Oh, and start thinking about character backgrounds - pretty much anything is good. You'll probably start at about 3rd lvl - but DON'T start making them yet!

Shayuri · Sep 11, 2007

d20 Modern is fine. Are you allowing unusual stuffz0rs like psionics/magic, or are we gonna be using good old fashioned moxie to be solving these conundrums?

Also, things like attribute point-buy points and stuff would be good. Maybe some suggested occupations/backgrounds so we don't come up with wild, inappropriate things.

As for your concerns about us getting off course, I can pretty much promise you we will...having a "Ziggy" character to feed us hints and keep us on track isn't a bad idea.