Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A question about time travel
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 8113383" data-attributes="member: 177"><p>I don't, in general. As I laid out, maybe that exists, maybe it doesn't.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So, if you are using (1) above, then this just does not happen.</p><p></p><p>There are some variations to this in fiction.</p><p></p><p><strong>Variation 1: The universe does not allow you to make changes that result in you not existing, or not being able to time travel. </strong>You were born in 1979. In 2020, you step into a time machine and go back to 1970, and try to kill your father... and fail. The gun jams. the car you planned to hit him with breaks down. Whatever. The idea being that the fact you exist means that you <em>didn't</em> eradicate yourself. In fact, you <em>already tried</em>! Your Dad may have this story he never told you where, back in 1970, some psychopath followed him around for a week, trying to hurt him, but luckily didn't manage it....</p><p></p><p>In this variation, in a game, so long as you aren't directly interacting with your personal events, the GM can handwave it. You were born in 1979. If you go back to WWII and change stuff, fine. Your parents still end up existing, meeting under remarkably different circumstances, maybe, but they still have you as a kid. No big deal.</p><p></p><p><strong>Variation 2: You <em>can</em> make changes you <em>think</em> should end you, but don't. </strong> You were born in 1979. In 2020, you step into a time machine and go back to 1970, and kill your father. Time rolls forward... and you're still born in 1979. The guy you thought was your father... wasn't. Maybe, in fact, he <em>never was</em> your father, and your mom didn't tell you about the guy she had a one-night stand with. Maybe she never even told your dad. Or, your Mom meets some other guy, and a genetic combination just like yours happens to result anyway. The universe manages. There is a backstory.</p><p></p><p>Now, when you come back, there is a question. You left one timeline, and changed it. You hop back into your time machine. And the timeline rolls forward. You get born in 1979. You grow up. You have some history appropriate enough that you get into a time machine in 2020. And then the original you comes back... possibly with a different memory of history. If you killed Hitler as a baby, you come back and the WWII you expect... didn't happen. You come back and think that the Red Sox broke the curse, but in the new timeline they never did. If you talk about breaking the curse, or talk about this guy Hitler, everyone looks at you funny. Maybe you different body scars, or tattoos, or whatever. There's a discontinuity. What do you do with it?</p><p></p><p>Well, there's no actual answer to that in physics. So, as a game designer, what do you want to do with it? Maybe it just sucks that you don't know the new timeline - perhaps after repeated trips, you don't know what you should change, becuse your knowledge of history is out of date. Maybe in the act of travel, your old character memory is lost, repleaced with the new memory - perhaps, depending on how big the change is, you get to rewrite and restat your character? You can, in the act of travel, layer new memories on the old - perhaps until after repeated trips time travelers go insane, not knowing what history is what? </p><p></p><p>What's most fun for you?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 8113383, member: 177"] I don't, in general. As I laid out, maybe that exists, maybe it doesn't. So, if you are using (1) above, then this just does not happen. There are some variations to this in fiction. [B]Variation 1: The universe does not allow you to make changes that result in you not existing, or not being able to time travel. [/B]You were born in 1979. In 2020, you step into a time machine and go back to 1970, and try to kill your father... and fail. The gun jams. the car you planned to hit him with breaks down. Whatever. The idea being that the fact you exist means that you [I]didn't[/I] eradicate yourself. In fact, you [I]already tried[/I]! Your Dad may have this story he never told you where, back in 1970, some psychopath followed him around for a week, trying to hurt him, but luckily didn't manage it.... In this variation, in a game, so long as you aren't directly interacting with your personal events, the GM can handwave it. You were born in 1979. If you go back to WWII and change stuff, fine. Your parents still end up existing, meeting under remarkably different circumstances, maybe, but they still have you as a kid. No big deal. [B]Variation 2: You [I]can[/I] make changes you [I]think[/I] should end you, but don't. [/B] You were born in 1979. In 2020, you step into a time machine and go back to 1970, and kill your father. Time rolls forward... and you're still born in 1979. The guy you thought was your father... wasn't. Maybe, in fact, he [I]never was[/I] your father, and your mom didn't tell you about the guy she had a one-night stand with. Maybe she never even told your dad. Or, your Mom meets some other guy, and a genetic combination just like yours happens to result anyway. The universe manages. There is a backstory. Now, when you come back, there is a question. You left one timeline, and changed it. You hop back into your time machine. And the timeline rolls forward. You get born in 1979. You grow up. You have some history appropriate enough that you get into a time machine in 2020. And then the original you comes back... possibly with a different memory of history. If you killed Hitler as a baby, you come back and the WWII you expect... didn't happen. You come back and think that the Red Sox broke the curse, but in the new timeline they never did. If you talk about breaking the curse, or talk about this guy Hitler, everyone looks at you funny. Maybe you different body scars, or tattoos, or whatever. There's a discontinuity. What do you do with it? Well, there's no actual answer to that in physics. So, as a game designer, what do you want to do with it? Maybe it just sucks that you don't know the new timeline - perhaps after repeated trips, you don't know what you should change, becuse your knowledge of history is out of date. Maybe in the act of travel, your old character memory is lost, repleaced with the new memory - perhaps, depending on how big the change is, you get to rewrite and restat your character? You can, in the act of travel, layer new memories on the old - perhaps until after repeated trips time travelers go insane, not knowing what history is what? What's most fun for you? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
A question about time travel
Top