D&D General The Mysterious Isle & Eye of Xxiphu - Time Travel Query

[AnotherGuy]

For those not familiar with the 5e AL 2-part module - the party is meant to travel from Waterdeep to a mysterious island, which island is under the effects of powerful disruptive magic. At the end of the first part, party is forcefully transported via portal back to Waterdeep, but a whole tenday (FR week) earlier. The portal is kept open with assistance for approximately 12-hours. What is known is the portal transports you immediately to the current timeline (where no meaningful time has passed since you left).

My situation
Party squabbled, Two PCs made it through before the 12-hour cut off, Two PCs waited a whole tenday and followed the (new) original party when they first travelled to the mysterious island (trailing 1+ hours after them), hoping to find the Two PCs that used the portal a tenday earlier.
I had the 4 meet up, after a few interesting encounters on both sides.

The culmination of the 2nd-part of the adventure sees the party in combat with quite a force (trolls, wyverns, cloud giants, airship etc). We are in the midst of this combat.
I'm of the idea that if any (or both) of the two PCs that used the portal die, which is a possibility, the surviving PCs will find their doubles alive, bound and unconscious on the airship.
i.e. The Two PCs who waited a tenday actually met up with the Two later selves and not the Two PCs whom they had travelled with.

Does it work?

 

[Stormonu]

Not a plot I would use, that sounds completely contrived. Dead characters are dead characters, get a revifify or get a new sheet.

 

[jgsugden]

Are you actively planning on killing the PCs just to pull this off? It seems like something unlikely to take place - certainly not likely enough that I'd go to people to advice should it happen. You're talking about two specific PCs out of the party being the ones that die.

 

[Ancalagon]

I think if we strip away all the story and portals and whatnots, you have 2 fundamental questions to resolve

1: The party is splitting apart in significant ways because they can't agree on what to do. This issue could re-occur and can pose tremendous challenges to the GM (see what it did to your game!). You have to discuss this with your players and ensures it (almost) never happens. This is a "table/social" problem.

2: You need to think how you deal with character death, especially when it is a consequence of player choice/action. D&D is a pretend game with pretend danger. If the pretend danger turns out to be pretend pretend (your imaginary character may die - oh look at that, they are alive!)... 5e is very survivable already, and if you take away character death entirely, then the pretend danger "dies"....

 

[el-remmen]

If I am understanding this correctly, each PC now has two versions of themselves, so finding doubles to replace the two who may die makes sense to me, but I am confused by the order of events.

So if we have four PCs, (let's call them A1, B1, C1, & D1), all four go back in time a week to before they originally left Waterdeep. PCs A1 & B1 go back through the portal to the original timeline. PCs C1 & D2 follow their younger selves (let's call them A2, B2, C2, D2) to the island.

Now you said that C1 & D1 meet up again with A1 & B1, but my question is, what happened to A2, B2, C2, and D2? Did they go through the portal becoming Team 1 in the process?

It makes more sense if C1 & D2 end up with A2 and B2 somehow, and if the latter two die then A1 & B1 could be found as prisoners since they were the ones tackling things on their own for. . . how long?

See, I am also confused about the amount of time it takes to get to the island, because it makes it seem like A1 & B1 along with Team 2 instantaneously get there from your description. In other words, does Team 2 and C1 and D1 arrive at the island at the same time as A1 and B2 do through the portal, or do they leave from Waterdeep after a Ten-Day and thus A1 and B2 are on the island by themselves for the amount of time it takes to travel there (in addition to the ten-day distance already between them)?

 

[Ancalagon]

I too don't quite understand the time travel bit - but it seems that all of it would be avoided if the party had stuck together.

 

[el-remmen]

I too don't quite understand the time travel bit - but it seems that all of it would be avoided if the party had stuck together.

Sure, but despite his problematic choices in other areas, I am of the school of thought that agrees with Justin Alexander to "Always Split the Party"

 

[FarBeyondC]

For those not familiar with the 5e AL 2-part module - the party is meant to travel from Waterdeep to a mysterious island, which island is under the effects of powerful disruptive magic. At the end of the first part, party is forcefully transported via portal back to Waterdeep, but a whole tenday (FR week) earlier. The portal is kept open with assistance for approximately 12-hours. What is known is the portal transports you immediately to the current timeline (where no meaningful time has passed since you left).

My situation
Party squabbled, Two PCs made it through before the 12-hour cut off, Two PCs waited a whole tenday and followed the (new) original party when they first travelled to the mysterious island (trailing 1+ hours after them), hoping to find the Two PCs that used the portal a tenday earlier.
I had the 4 meet up, after a few interesting encounters on both sides.

The culmination of the 2nd-part of the adventure sees the party in combat with quite a force (trolls, wyverns, cloud giants, airship etc). We are in the midst of this combat.
I'm of the idea that if any (or both) of the two PCs that used the portal die, which is a possibility, the surviving PCs will find their doubles alive, bound and unconscious on the airship.
i.e. The Two PCs who waited a tenday actually met up with the Two later selves and not the Two PCs whom they had travelled with.

Does it work?

Wait.

Did the two PCs that didn't go through the portal change the events the original party went through? If so, you have a time paradox on your hands (to be resolved in whatever fashion makes the most sense). If not, then the people who were sent back in time ten days wouldn't be able to meet up again until after that happens.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Are you actively planning on killing the PCs just to pull this off? It seems like something unlikely to take place - certainly not likely enough that I'd go to people to advice should it happen. You're talking about two specific PCs out of the party being the ones that die.

Actively planning? No.
I'm more asking about does it work in the timeline or if there is something I've missed in this timetravel escapade.
@Stormonu had the right of it - that this is just a fail safe should it happen.

The reason I thought of it - is because a player mentioned that these two characters are weaker in that they never got a full rest (homebrew is 24hrs) and said I should think about going easier on them in this epic fight.
And it is always fun to surprise players.

 

[AnotherGuy]

I too don't quite understand the time travel bit - but it seems that all of it would be avoided if the party had stuck together.

I very much dislike using DM force for that. I let players play their characters and offer advice or info as they ask/request but to "manage" them so that they never split is not something I'm likely to do.