Wild Talents in Timeship

According to page 12 of the Timeship rule book, “One of the more pleasing aspects of Time Travel is that Voyagers gradually become more expert as their experience increases.”  Although the Voyagers, of course, are the players themselves, author Herbie Brennan is referring to game mechanics, not player skill.  Successful completion (i.e., survival) of a Time Capsule entitles a Voyager to points of PERMANENT ENERGY.  Whenever a player determines PERSONAL ENERGY before beginning a Time Capsule, any PERMANENT ENERGY previously gained is added to the total.

“[T]he more dangerous the capsule,” we are told, “the greater the quantum of PERMANENT ENERGY which accrues to surviving Voyagers.”  A Voyager who successfully completes the 'Murder at the End of Time' Capsule receives one point of Permanent Energy.  However, a Voyager killed in the Capsule “must deduct FIVE points of Permanent Energy.”  So, it's possible for a Voyager to have negative Permanent Energy and thereby deduct points when determining Personal Energy.  'The Destruction of Gomorrah' Capsule offers 3 points of Permanent Energy; however, this seems applicable only if the Voyagers deactivate a certain device and find an EXIT to the Capsule.  No provision is made if the Voyagers don't find the device; which seems strange since it's an Adventure Capsule and not a Task Capsule.  Dying in Gomorrah causes a loss of three points of Permanent Energy.  A Voyager successful with the 'Assassinate the Fuhrer!' Capsule gains four points of Permanent Energy but a Voyager who dies in the Capsule loses two points of Permanent Energy.

Other than PERMANENT ENERGY, Voyagers can obtain Wild Talents.  According to the rules, “Wild Talents are extremely rare, but it is well to recognize the possibility of their appearance, especially as their use does not invariably involve ENERGY expenditure.”  The rule book does not provide much information about Wild Talents.  However, Voyagers have an opportunity to gain a Wild Talent in 'The Destruction of Gomorrah' Capsule, specifically “FIRE RESISTANCE.”  There is a 21% chance that a Voyager in that Capsule will gain that Wild Talent “when entering a fire.” So I guess they really are rare.  FIRE RESISTANCE is also conveyed to whatever possessions the Voyager is carrying.

The 'Timelord Screen' supplies a “sampling” of Wild Talents as well as the following information:  “In some cases the Timelord may...determine the Wild Talent to only be useable with the expenditure of Personal Power in addition to the passage of a dice check.”

• TELEPATHY – “This ability may range from picking up an occasional strong thought to the ability to completely read another's thoughts.  A negative aspect of this ability is the receiving thoughts from many people at one time, causing great confusion.  This ability is limited to reading only the thoughts of humans.”
• PSYCHOKINESIS – “This ability may range from the ability to control extremely small objects for short distances to objects weighing up to ten pounds for several dozen yards.  A negative aspect of this ability is the uncontrolled and undesired movement of articles at inopportune times.”
• PYROKINESIS – “This ability only works on flammable items. The negative aspect of this ability is the occasional, uncontrolled use of the ability when the possessor is either disturbed or frightened.”
• PRECOGNITION – “This ability is rarely ever controlled and occurs most frequently while the person possessing the talent is dreaming.  Often the person experiencing it will not be able to tell if the event seen pertains to him or herself, or to another known, or unknown, person.”
• EMPATHY – This Wild Talent should more properly be named psychometry.  “The negative aspect of this ability is that the person empathizing will actually experience the feeling obtained from the touched object..  For example, depending upon the mood of the subject, the player may feel extremely depressed, rejected, untrusting, drunk; even homicidal of (sic) suicidal.”

Interestingly, all Voyagers are capable shape shifting.  The rule book and the Timelord Screen contradict one another regarding the Personal Energy costs involved with shape shifting.  According to the rule book, “A full sex change...requires only” three Personal Energy points whereas changing “skin colour, hair colour, general racial characteristics or height (within normal limits)” has a cost of two Personal Energy points per change.  According to the Timelord Screen, “slight changes in appearance such as changing the color of the eyes, hair, or slight alterations to skin tone”...each cost one to three points of Personal Energy.  Note the spelling of 'colour' in the rule book but 'color' on the Timelord Screen.  We must assume the contents of the rule book represent the opinions of Herbie Brennan while statements on the Timelord Screen are likely from Stephen Peek.  According to the Timelord Screen, the “drastic alteration of skin tone, physical changes to the facial structure, and changes in height and weight” cost between five and fifteen Personal Energy points each.

The rule book suggests that “major shape shifting should be discouraged” but, when implemented, should cost 75 - 150 Personal Energy points (or more).  In any event, “such shifts do no more than create an appearance.”  This means...“Intelligence, speech, speed, strike capacity and general abilities are not affected unless the new shape renders them physically impossible.”  For instance, forms without hands cannot operate telephones, but “a human shape shifted into a mouse retains human strength.”  Yet...

Some advantages may be gained provided these are inherent in the new shape.  A human shifted into an owl would, for example, have the power of flight, since the ability to fly is inherent in the structure of a bird.  But a human shifted into a cobra would not have a venomous bite since poison is a characteristic of the reptile, not something inherent in the shape of a snake.

Finally: 

Shape shifting is one of the most intriguing aspects of TIMESHIP – and one that in certain circumstances, can be vital to a Voyager's survival.  But it needs to be kept under careful control, otherwise the entire game will degenerate into cloud cuckoo land. 

Remember, there is only a short distance between time travelling shape shifters and cloud cuckoo land.

Killing Hitler

(SPOILERS)

Time Warp #1; 2013, DC Comics; Art by Ian Culbard

If anyone deserves an abbreviated lifespan, it's the “Greatest Fascist Dictator.”  Widely reviled as one of the most evil people in history, Hitler is often the subject of time travel hypotheses.  Remove him and prevent the horrendous volume of murder and misery he caused – so logic would suggest.  Of course, killing him after he perpetrated his evil would defeat the purpose.  Killing him beforehand isn't exactly fair and brings into question free will and predetermination.  Also, there's a paradox to worry about.  If Hitler is removed, then there's no motivation to go back in time to remove Hitler; therefore, Hitler isn't removed.

Anyway, with Hitler out of the way, we can't be certain how history would have changed.  Would there still be atrocities?  Would they be as extensive?  One argument against killing Hitler is that the alternative would be Something Worse; that we live in the best of all possible worlds.  Having endured his evil, perhaps we – as a civilization – have learned to be more tolerant.  Perhaps if Hitler didn't exist, we would be forced to invent him.

The third 'adventure' for Timeship is the most detailed of the three 'Time Capsules' included with the game.  “This is one of the most complex and difficult Capsules,” author Herbie Brennan writes.  It is a TASK Capsule and according to the Capsule, “It is the task of the Group to reach Hitler in those fearful, final days of April 1945 and ensure his death by assassination.”  Unless and until they kill Hitler, the Voyagers cannot return to their present.  By this time, Hitler has perpetrated his evil, so there seems little sense in disposing of him.  However, Brennan suggests that...

...the Fuhrer made good his escape, travelling secretly through Spain before sailing to South America, there to lay the foundations of a Fourth Reich destined to grow in secret for several generations before making its bid for world domination.

The back of the box posits a slightly different scenario:

On June 7th, 1956, World War Three began when the Nazi government of Argentina, led by Adolph [sic] Hitler, invaded Brazil.  Hitler had escaped capture at the end of World War II and begun the Fourth Reich in South America.  It is now April 30th, 1945 and you are stalking Hitler through the bunkers beneath a city in flames.  Your mission:  find him, then make it look like suicide.

Not only is the threat more immediate, but the party must make Hitler's death “look like suicide,” probably to maintain history as we know it.

Normally, Voyagers enter a Time Capsule through a Gateway that shows the destination.  However,

...times of war produce great stresses on the timestream.  Thus the Gateway is unstable.  Inform your Group there can be no absolute guarantee of their arrival.

Brennan uses the 'unstable' Gateway gimmick to subject the Voyagers to a montage of historical scenes:  the '36 Olympics, Neville Chamberlain's “peace in our time” speech, and the Nuremberg Rally.  This sequence takes up nearly a page.  Afterwards, the Voyagers do not appear at Hitler's bunker, instead they find themselves “materialized in Zone Red” (or Red Zone as it is referred to also).  The Red Zone is a ring area 3.7 km to 7.7 km from the bunker.  (These distances are an estimation since the provided sketch map has no scale.)  Exactly where in the Red Zone is at the discretion of the Timelord.  Within the Red Zone, there is the Orange Zone, then the Yellow Zone, and finally the Green Zone, the center of which is the bunker.  The Red Zone represents the area with most the most intense “Allied shelling and bombing” with interior zones subject to lesser and lesser activity.

In essence, the Voyagers must find the bunker, enter it, kill Hitler, and then find the EXIT.  If the back of the box is to be believed, the death must seem to be a suicide.  The Voyagers are left to their own devices to accomplish these goals.  Attempting to reach Hitler through violent means is not likely to be successful; subterfuge is necessary.  Even if the Voyagers manage to get close to Hitler and kill him, they must escape retribution long enough to get to the EXIT, the presence of which won't be known until after Hitler dies.  Making his death seem to be a suicide is a practical impossibility.  The 'Publisher's Note' concludes “that this Capsule will, if carefully handled, provide a Voyager group with an experience of exceptional interest and challenge.”  Realistically, there would be a time limit imposed in this Capsule; however, nothing of the sort of is mentioned.

Brennan includes an impressive amount of information with the Capsule, such as a description of documents German nationals were required to carry at the time.  Several personages are described including Martin Bormann, Hans Krebs, and Hanna Reitch.  However, with regard to game terms, Brennan provides only THN for the appropriate weapon, SPEED FACTOR, and damage capacity.

What Happens in Gomorrah Stays in Gomorrah

(SPOILERS)

All except the poor are welcome.  No soldiers bar the gates excepting to an army.  No police patrol the streets.  In Gomorrah, it is said, you can go anywhere you wish, commit whatever crime you wish, subject only to your own strength.  There is no law, save the law of the sword, no punishment save that which your victim may attempt to inflict.

The second 'Time Capsule' presented with the Timeship role-playing game is 'The Destruction of Gomorrah'.  The phrase, “There is no law,” indicated above, refers only to moral law.  There is, indeed, an inviolable law in this Capsule – Gomorrah will be destroyed.  The Capsule states, “[T]he destruction of the city is inevitable and total and those who fail to find the EXIT must perish with it in the long dead past.”  Although this is an 'Adventure' Capsule – meaning the player characters have no set goal – locating an EXIT within a given period of time becomes a de facto goal.

I won't divulge the amount of time, but I will mention the clock starts ticking as soon as the party ventures through the Gateway to the bazaar scene (shown above).  As the party enters the Gateway, “an automatic pulse of energy” starts the timer of an atomic bomb.  (Of course, the players have no way of knowing this.)  The bomb has been placed in a particular location by extraterrestrial operatives who have decided to impose their alien values upon a developing culture.  They judged that the cities of Gomorrah and Sodom were “without evolutionary potential” and must therefore be destroyed.  In other words, an 'advanced civilization' uses extreme violence to 'solve' a problem that has nothing to do with them.  Is this supposed to be a lesson?  Why did they go through all of the trouble to hide an atomic bomb in Gomorrah as opposed to using a more direct solution?  Why did they arrange for the bomb to be triggered by time travelers?  Anyway, since the Voyagers don't know about the atomic bomb, they can't look for it; but, if they come across it, they can disarm it.  However, even if they manage to disarm the bomb, the alien Mother Ship will send “a disc which will release an explosive device of great power in the atmosphere above these cities.”  The “missile” takes an hour to reach its detonation point, giving the Voyagers time to find an EXIT.

One minute before the destruction of Gomorrah (whether from bomb or missile), “the party will hear a voice booming out across the city.”  This functions as a (literal) last-minute warning for the Voyagers to split the scene.  This “peculiar metallic” voice explains the aliens' rationale for mass murder...to their victims who will cease to exist in a matter of seconds.  “You will be unaware of your end,” the aliens helpfully inform their audience.  I guess this somehow makes sense to the aliens.

Let's set aside the doom and gloom and look at the opportunities that present themselves to the Voyagers as they explore this 'sandbox of sin' (so to speak).  I have it on good authority that the denizens of Gomorrah did not speak English.  This, however, should not daunt intrepid Voyagers.  A mere two units of PERSONAL ENERGY...

...will allow everyone who hears you in your travels to hear you speak in his or her native, or common, language.  By the same token, you shall hear all that is spoken around you in your native or common language.

At one point, author Herbie Brennan uses the phrase “Universal Translator.”  Doubtless, he is referring to this ability.

For the reader's edification, below is the map of Gomorrah provided in the Timeship box.  An astute observer will note that the map is not keyed.  This is because a random DESCRIPTION TABLE is to be consulted for each building in the city with the exception of certain areas:  the bazaar, the parkland, the palace, the ziggurat, and the guard stations.  Even so, some locations described in the table are meant to be unique and the Timelord is advised that “If [a particular description] does not appear to you to fit the prevailing circumstances, ignore it and roll again.”  Also, “as Timelord, you are not bound by any table.”

The Voyagers arrive at the bazaar.  Aside from slaves, a variety of merchandise is sold; Brennan spends a paragraph listing examples.  The guard stations house guards that have no concern for crimes other than (a) attacks upon a guard and (b) riots.  In the ziggurat, ten girls (“ages ranging between seven and eleven”) are about to be sacrificed to Moloch.  Don't even bother going to the palace; as soon as any Voyager enters the area, “the entire complex will [become] an explosive inferno.”  In the parkland, one is apt to encounter various combinations of persons indulging in carnal activity.  However, it's possible to meet a Hebrew prophet as well as a card-carrying “Time Traveller from the Twenty-Eighth Century.”  Also, watch out for snakes. 

The DESCRIPTION TABLE lists twenty-three establishments.  Often, a “percentile roll” is used to determine the number of occupants of a structure.  I think Brennan means for a Timelord to roll one of the percentile dice, thereby generating a number from one to ten.  Along with the various dens of iniquity, one may encounter a “Sorcerer's Lodge” wherein a demon is being summoned.  A patron of the “Prostitute's House” has a 76% chance of contracting body lice.  (There is no chance of contracting body lice at the “Brothel.”)  Relief from the body lice requires an expenditure of three PERSONAL ENERGY units.  Try to avoid getting leprosy.  (There is a “Leper Colony” location as well as a possible leper encounter on the street.)  Leprosy “will eat away four points of ENERGY for each hour's play subsequent to contracting it.”  Also, “within half an hour (real time) the player will have lost the use of his sword arm.”  For a Voyager, leprosy “will terminate its course once the victim has passed through an EXIT.”

When the Voyagers “enter a new street or district,” the Timelord is instructed to roll on the ENCOUNTER TABLE which offers twenty-two distinct encounters (and a 9% chance of 'no encounter').  There is a 30% chance of encountering a streetwalker of either gender or inclination.  Other encounters include thieves, pimps, pushers, and drunks.  Among the special encounters there is an “Angel...dressed in a vaguely luminous, skintight silver suit of metallic appearance,” a 3' 6" dwarf (who “will offer his services as a fighter to the males of the party and his services as a lover to the females”), and a homicidal hermaphrodite who “has stained his/her skin bright green.”

Murder at the End of Time

(SPOILERS)

Diana: Warrior Princess is a role-playing game by Marcus Rowland that posits how a future era might treat our time period considering how we treat ancient history.  To put it another way, “Imagine [our era] converted into a TV series by a production company with the loving attention to historical accuracy we have come to expect from such series.”  (e.g., Xena: Warrior Princess)  'Murder at the End of Time' – first of three adventures Time Capsules included with Timeship – was crafted with a similar, light-hearted perspective.

Before discussing 'Murder at the End of Time', I should disclose some information about Time Capsules.  Voyagers enter a Time Capsule via a Gateway; the processes involved were covered in previous posts.  Voyagers are unable to use the Gateway to return to their point of origin.  “Entrance Gateways are strictly one-way,” Brennan informs us.  (Presented above is the illustration of the 'Murder at the End of Time' Gateway; however, according to the text, “nothing may be seen” beyond the pillars.)

Voyagers depart from Time Capsules via EXITS.  Brennan states, “So far, experience has shown that every Time Capsule has a built-in EXIT.”  Well, if there were Time Capsules without exits EXITS, we wouldn't know about them because no one could have returned from one.  Anyway...

EXITS will usually manifest as shimmering Doorways, or, sometimes, as rather ominous Black Holes in the fabric of reality.  As such, they are generally easy to recognize, but not always easy to find.

There are two types of Time Capsules, Adventure and Task.

In Adventure Capsules, Voyagers “are bound to no specific purpose other they may determine for themselves.”  Adventure Capsules have at least one EXIT, “each permanently located in a specific place.”  However, Brennan tells us, “random factors in the timestream will cause an additional EXIT to appear at least temporarily in the Voyagers' vicinity.”

In Task Capsules, Voyagers are obliged to achieve a particular goal before an EXIT manifests.  “This naturally adds greatly to the dangers of a Task Capsule,” Brennan warns.  'Murder at the End of Time' is a Task Capsule.  Specifically,

The first murder in 300,000,000 years has been committed at the End of Time.  The Task of the Group is to solve the mystery.

There is an option for this Capsule requiring that the solution to the mystery be written down and submitted to a suggestion box.  Only the correct solution “will cause the activation of the EXIT.”  Submission of “an incorrect solution will cause the box to emit a silent burst of lethal radiation which will kill instantly the Voyager...”  There is no provision for activating the EXIT if the above option is not implemented.  The Time Capsule plays as a light-hearted romp, so the activation of the EXIT shouldn't be a concern – When the mystery is solved, the EXIT activates.  However, things aren't that simple; there's more than one mystery.

So, in the future, beings which are the results of “ultimate human evolution” have “discovered how to tap the basic power of the universe, hence anything is possible for them.”  Brennan explains, “Their greatest enemy is boredom” and “One of the few novelties remaining is archaeology.”  One of the terms used for these beings is “Superiors,” which is how your humble host shall refer to them.  The Superiors “decided it would be amusing to create a murder mystery for 20th Century detectives to solve.”  Based on their imperfect knowledge, “they set out to create as authentic a setting as possible...”  Brennan gives us an interesting bit of information:  “They then made application to the Time Traveller's Guild to have their work incorporated in a Time Capsule.”  Essentially they created a tourist attraction; that is, an attraction for temporal tourists.

The “setting” exists on “a rectangle of land 270' × 380'” which “is surrounded by an invisible Forcefield” that “will...ignore inorganic matter.”  Within the setting, the Voyagers encounter a variety of entities such as Little Red Riding Orphan Annie Oakley and “the Large Evil Wolf, a massive animal which walks erect on hind legs and dresses somewhat like Uncle Sam.”  The murder victim, by the way, is Count Dracula who is quite animate and “is intensely curious about the identity of his murderer.”

The Superiors have inserted themselves incognito into the setting and most of the other entities are either clockwork automatons or products of biological engineering.  However, the Superiors have kidnapped two humans from the timestream to make the setting seem more authentic.  If they can kidnap people, why bother making an application to the Time Traveller's Guild?  If the whole point is to design a setting that would seem authentic to “20th Century detectives,” abducting people to include in the setting hardly seems fair.

For Voyagers who may need assistance in solving the mystery (such as it is), a computer in Dracula's Castle can answer questions “truthfully, but only in terms of YES and NO (or INFORMATION UNAVAILABLE.)”  However, the computer requires “an input of of 15 ENERGY points per question.”

Far be it from your humble host to post the actual solution to the 'Murder at the End of Time'; however, after the fashion of the Information Matrices that appear in the Time Capsules, here is an Information Matrix of statements that may or may not be clues:

1. There is a butler named Jeeves.
2. Don't believe the parrot.
3. The “rocky outcrop” is edible.
4. Little Red Riding Orphan Annie Oakley is packing heat.
5. Mr Trenchcoat can pass through the Forcefield.
6. Underneath the sand, at a depth of three feet, there is a flat, metallic base.
7. Do you really want to kiss someone who sleeps on a golf course?

Time Travel in Timeship

Salvador Dali     The Persistence of Memory (detail)     1931

As with many games, the back of the Timeship box provides a description of what the box includes.  In brief, the stated contents are a rule book (with “THREE Time Capsule Adventure Episodes”), a set of maps, a pad of character sheets, and a Timelord Screen.  Dice are not mentioned, although two twenty-sided dice (numbered 0 – 9) are included.  More specifically, they are “coloured spheres of many facets” says Brennan's translation of the TIMESHIP techniques.  They are the “Greater Sphere of Color” and the “Lesser Sphere of White.”

According to the translation, “By our arts we have embodied in the Spheres energy sufficient for each time trip.”  Voyagers (i.e., players) must “engage upon the Rolling of the Spheres” prior to traveling in time.  Results of the Spheres indicate “units of the ENERGY.”  Each Voyager rolls the Spheres three times, generating 3 – 300 ENERGY quanta.  This is the Voyager's PERSONAL ENERGY.  (PERSONAL ENERGY is generated anew prior to each time trip.)  Expenditure of PERSONAL ENERGY is necessary to transport personal equipment through time, to engage in physical activity once you've reached your destination, and – according to page 7 – to “[r]eturn from a Time Capsule.”  (However, there is no further mention about ENERGY costs for returning.)  Additionally, if your PERSONAL ENERGY falls to zero, you die.

The PERSONAL ENERGY scores of all Voyagers in a party are added together to determine GROUP ENERGY.  Although GROUP ENERGY is calculated from PERSONAL ENERGY, they form separate stores of energy ENERGY.  Use of GROUP ENERGY does not diminish PERSONAL ENERGY and vice versa.  Voyagers travel through time via Gateways; each Gateway opens upon a distinct time and place.  Before Voyagers can travel through a Gateway, it must be “activated” through the expenditure of GROUP ENERGY.

What happens when a party lacks sufficient ENERGY to activate a Gateway?  Voyagers simply re-roll their PERSONAL ENERGY until they have enough!  Duh.  In fact, Brennan implies on page 21 that Voyagers can re-roll their PERSONAL ENERGY anyway.  So, how much ENERGY is required to activate any given Gateway?  The Timelord makes up a number.  The rules speculate as to how Voyagers might prepare themselves differently when faced with a high cost Gateway as opposed to a low cost Gateway, but there are no examples from which a Timelord might learn to calculate a reasonable amount.

(I would have given each Voyager an amount of PERSONAL ENERGY equal to 100 plus the result of a percentile dice Sphere roll, maybe even allowing a player Voyager to transpose the tens and units in order to get a higher amount.  I would have made the activation cost for a Gateway equal to 100 multiplied by the number of Voyagers, optionally increased or decreased by as much as 25% depending on the Timelord's estimation of the difficulty of the adventure Capsule.)

The Voyagers may acquire collective equipment with any GROUP ENERGY remaining beyond the Gateway activation cost.  There is an ENERGY cost for acquiring equipment Voyagers wish to have on their expedition.  There may be further costs involved for actually using equipment.  For instance, the Gateway ENERGY cost for a Cadillac is 50; it consumes an additional 25 ENERGY “per base unit of movement.”  (Don't bother asking what a “base unit of movement” is.)  Weapons have a BASIC ENERGY cost which is multiplied by the number of centuries difference between the weapons' century and the Gateway destination.  Therefore, taking a bazooka to the Battle of Hastings would cost 1,350 ENERGY (each shell would cost 225).

“Voyagers may take through a Gateway, without PERSONAL ENERGY expenditure, any item of equipment they may have, physically, in the TIMESHIP.”  Stated another way, whatever a player brings with him or her to the game gets a free pass through the Gateway.  Otherwise, there is an ENERGY cost for equipment.  A club has a cost of 3 ENERGY, a dagger has a cost of 2.  A chain-mail tunic costs 40 ENERGY while a “Viking horned helmet” costs 10.  Although Voyagers can wear their own clothing through a Gateway at no cost, PERSONAL ENERGY can be used to obtain “specialized clothing.”  A complete outfit of period clothing suitable for the ruling class has a cost of fifty PERSONAL ENERGY; an outfit suitable for peasants costs only three.  Additionally, Brennan provides a list of items that cost 2 PERSONAL ENERGY each.  Among them are:  a blanket, flea powder, a 5-day pack of provisions, a fire extinguisher, a pencil, and period money equivalent to one ounce of gold.

Every attack that a Voyager makes costs one point of PERSONAL ENERGY.  Also, whenever a Voyager “travels a certain number of feet, one point of PERSONAL ENERGY is expended.”  (I assume the Voyager is traveling under his or her own power.)  Apparently, movement rates vary “from Capsule to Capsule; and will be calculated by the Timelord in advance.”  Running doubles “the normal movement rate” and also doubles the PERSONAL ENERGY cost.  Voyagers with a greater than average Speed Physical Ability can spend more ENERGY to go faster.  On page 20, Brennan suggests that a PERSONAL ENERGY cost may be levied when Voyagers attempt other sorts of activity.  Specifically, he reveals an “unwritten rule” which, as a result of being revealed, becomes a written rule.

In point of fact, when I'm running a TIMESHIP session, my unwritten rule is:  'If it's physically possible, they can do it.'  Especially if they're prepared to expend PERSONAL ENERGY doing it...

To assist in determining probabilities, the following 'Anything Table' is presented on the Timelord Screen.

There Are No More Barriers!

So reads the first line on the back of the Timeship box – in a type larger than any other save for the title of the game.  “You are free to roam the ages,” reads the copy...

Journey from the days of the dinosaurs, to the mystics of the ancient world, to the glory of Napoleon.  If the past is not enough, adventure in the present with its political intrigue, and brushfire wars; or, for those more adventurous souls, you may transcend the present and visit the future where man's home is the universe, populated with all manner of strange and alien beings.

The Timeship makes all of this possible, but what is the Timeship?

The Timeship rule book has 48 pages, including covers.  Author Herbie Brennan uses fully three of those pages to disclose the 'background' of the Timeship.  Seeing as that the adventures (or 'time capsules') encompass half of the book, those three pages represent a significant amount of space that could have been used for rules or advice.  Instead, Brennan constructs a conceit that the Timeship is a method of time travel derived from earlier sources – much earlier.  (Note that in the book, 'Time Travel' is capitalized and TIMESHIP is spelled thus, with all capitals.)  Brennan presents himself as a translator of ancient scrolls (originating “somewhere between 5,800 and 5,600 b.c.” according to carbon dating) that are at “the centre of one of the greatest archaeological controversies of the present century.”  Written in “a particularly archaic form of Sumerian cuneiform,” Brennan supposes that the scrolls were copied from Sumerian tablets which may have been “as much as 40,000 years old.”

“There can be very little doubt,” Brennan states, “that the content of the TIMESHIP scroll manuscript points toward an extra-terrestrial origin.”  Brennan imagines that the alien Timeship culture launched an object into space with the intent of preserving the Timeship technique they developed.  This object eventually found its way to Ancient Sumer.  Brennan writes...

How the Sumerians came to understand these techniques, I do not know.  Perhaps some form of mechanical telepathy was involved.

So, the Timeship is not a physical object, it is a set of 'techniques'.  Presumably, the Sumerians chose to refer to these techniques as 'Timeship'.

Brennan does not claim that his 'translation' is entirely accurate.  Indeed, he takes care to mention that the scrolls are damaged and incomplete, the archaic nature of the script precludes definite interpretation, and the alien Timeship culture would likely have psyches different from humans.  Brennan provides a “practical approximation” and includes “certain additional material” resulting from experimentation.  Ultimately, he concedes that the Timeship techniques may not result in actual time travel (at least with regard to human perception) but nonetheless result in “an experience which many find fascinating, educational, virtually addictive and quite unique.”

Brennan sustains the conceit to the point of claiming that the presentation of the Timeship as a game is intentional.

Our experiments have shown that the best possible approach to the TIMESHIP is within a game context.  Such an approach avoids the initial tensions of other routes and establishes a frame of mind in which the central techniques have the greatest opportunity of operating effectively.

As discussed previously, engaging the Timeship necessitates a ritual.  Of course, a game – any game – is a ritual of a sort; some are more formal than others.

*** *** ***

Product placement in role-playing games?  The image to the left is one of the borders used on the front and back of the Timeship game box as well as the cover of the rule book (although not in color).  It demonstrates a progression from the ancient to the futuristic, indicating the variety of settings available in the game.  Our present, materialistic culture is represented by four readily recognized trademarks.  Kodak seems out of place among consumable products, but it fits within the theme of the entire border image which includes other information preservation artifacts such as cave paintings and hieroglyphics.

Rather than trademarks, I would have used an automobile, a television, a mushroom cloud, and a lunar lander.  I think my choices better represent our era (as of 1983) in terms of historical significance, but perhaps that wasn't the point.  Perhaps the point was to engage the audience.  Sure, a mushroom cloud and a lunar lander are symbolic, but they are not part of our daily lives.  The trademarks are emblems of our media-saturated civilization; they are embedded in our consciousness.  The viewer identifies them as his 'reality' – a single portion of the panoply of history.  Other times are no less real, merely apart.  However, with the Timeship, there are no more barriers – all times are 'real' and accessible.

Alternatively, I may have thought too much about this.

The Great Ritual of the Timeship

In a room illuminated only be candlelight, four youths sat around a modest, square altar.  In a voice of grim determination, one of them spoke...

“I am the Maze Controller; the god of this universe I created; the absolute authority. Only I know the perilous course you are about to take. Your fate is in my hands...[setting description]...Thus warned, shall ye enter?”

“Aye!”

“Let the journey begin...”

This is a scene from the TV movie Mazes & Monsters, broadcast near the end of 1982.  (Interestingly, this scene does not appear in Rona Jaffe's book upon which the movie is based.)

When I first played D&D, it was in the lunch room of my elementary school.  The only associated ritual was the Liturgy of the Pudding Cups.  (Admittedly, we performed the ritual with less than pious solemnity and, occasionally, ignored it altogether.)  The way role-playing games were presented in the media was embarrassing, but I was young.  For all I knew, some people actually played the game in candlelit rooms, reciting strange phrases, wearing robes and/or funny hats, and perhaps even roaming through tunnels.  No one I knew played that way and the adults who worked at the game store scoffed at the notion.  Still, there had to be some basis in truth, right?  Like I said, I was young.

While some role-playing game rulebooks provide mood-setting advice for sessions, Timeship – published the year after Mazes & Monsters was broadcast – actually incorporates a non-optional ritual as a component of play.  Among the preparations for the Great Ritual of the Timeship, lights should be dimmed and a lit candle placed on the players' side of the Timelord's screen.

Scenarios in Timeship are called Time Capsules.  Players (i.e., Voyagers) enter a Time Capsule via a Gateway.  Each Time Capsule has a drawing (approximately 8½” × 11”) that represents the Gateway and displays the scene in which the Voyagers will appear.

After the preparations are complete, the Timelord and the Voyagers engage in the following litany.

Timelord: Now begins the Great Ritual of the Timeship. Is it your will to travel through the timestream?

Voyagers: It is!

Timelord: Are your preparations made to your utmost satisfaction?

Voyagers: They are!

Timelord: Is your equipment ready?

Voyagers: It is.

Timelord: Are your souls at peace?

Voyagers: They are.

Timelord: Are you ready?

Voyagers: Aye!

Timelord: By my authority as Timelord, by the arts of the TIMESHIP, I hereby bind you within the timestream, subject to its laws!

Voyagers: We are so bound.

Timelord: Behold the Gateway!

The Voyagers now stare intently for a moment at the Gateway, then, closing their eyes briefly, attempt to imagine the scene depicted on the Gateway as if it existed before them in literal reality.

Timelord: Let the adventure begin!

Here ends the Great Ritual of the Timeship.

Timelord: Step through the Gateway!

Herbie Brennan, the author of Timeship, stated that he based the Great Ritual of the Timeship on “an esoteric technique known as pathworking.”  Is such a ritual necessary to play Timeship?  Technically, no; however, Brennan devotes one of the forty-eight pages of the rulebook to describing the ritual.  For Brennan, the ritual is an essential part of the game; it effects the transition from the reality of the players to the experience of the Voyagers.  Since the players are the Voyagers, this transition is perhaps more useful in Timeship than it would be in games where players adopt the roles of fictional entities.

*** *** *** 

Bonus Thoulish Trivia:  The television production of Mazes & Monsters was “fully sponsored” by Procter & Gamble.  In 1985, P&G 'retired' its logo (shown below) because they were unable to dispel rumors that it was a satanic symbol.

Coincidence?  I think the reader already knows the answer.

*** *** ***

Adventures and Random Encounters in Man, Myth & Magic (Spoilers)

Book III of the Man, Myth & Magic set is The Adventures Book, containing a 'basic' adventure, an 'advanced' adventure, advice on being a Lore Master, and some random encounter tables.

The basic adventure is a simple 'infiltrate and destroy' mission.  The advanced adventure does not have a title per se, but consists of four 'linked' episodes.  Each episode is divided into game-time periods called segments.  Surviving a segment allows a character a POWER roll and at least some damage recovery. 

To be blunt, the advanced adventure is a railroad; in fact, the Lore Master's advice (four pages under the modest heading 'How to Become the All-Time Greatest Lore Master of the Known Universe') includes a section titled 'Getting Players Back on the Rails'.  In fairness, Brennan states that players – not the Lore Master – should “control the action” and that Lore Masters should not “break their necks to try and make sure players follow a particular pre-determined sequence.”  In other words, players should be allowed to leave the “rails” but the Lore Master should “get his players back on the real track of the adventure without their suspecting anything is amiss; and without their getting restless or bored.”  To assist the Lore Master with accommodating the players' impromptu peregrinations, the book provides a few “standard” maps.  (At the end of this post I provide scans of the “standard cave complex” map and the “standard underground complex” map.)

The first episode (less than two-and-a-half pages of text) is called The Dragon Loose in Rome.  Essentially, players must develop a strategy to defeat a “dragon” that is practically invulnerable to weapons.  In the second episode, Apollo's Temple, Emperor Caligula summons the player characters to his presence.  Because of their success defeating the “dragon,” he assigns the characters a “special task.”  Caligula wants the characters to learn the secret of Apollo's Temple (i.e., Stonehenge).  The reward is great; however, if they fail, the Legions of Rome will seek them out and bring them back to Rome for an “extremely painful” fate.

The party goes to Britain and, en route to Stonehenge, there are three 'Road Encounters'.  Two of these encounters can provide clues regarding the episode's climax.  At Stonehenge, the party confronts a group of evil druids about to engage in human sacrifice.  Once the druids are defeated and the clues deciphered, the party can perform a ceremony that 'activates' some of the stones.  Different stones – distinguishable by color – generate distinct effects when touched.  Some effects are beneficial, such as healing or “granting the single item each [party] member desires most at that present moment.”  Some effects are bad, such as being disintegrated or sent to hell.  One stone summons a “Ban Sheed.”  What is a Ban Sheed?

This fearsome creature appears in the form of a very tall, white robed and dark haired woman, but is, in fact, the sexless representative of an alien race of beings who once inhabited the Celtic Islands during an era of almost unimaginable antiquity.

It is revealed that the Ban Sheed is the basis of the banshee legend.  Anyway, the party can only progress to the next episode by being sent to hell.  The adventure was designed for six characters; since there are five stones, it is reasonable to expect that someone will touch the 'hell' stone.  However, there are psychic abilities that can provide characters with information about possible future events.  Also, the Ban Sheed can tell the party the effects of a given stone.  Alternately, the Ban Sheed can also destroy Caligula, thereby dispensing with the party's motivation.

Assuming the party goes to hell, they are given a scroll by some old guy in robes and informed that “the fate of your planet now rests squarely in your hands!”  The party returns to Stonehenge after being subject to a poem of fifty-six lines.  The old guy's scroll indicates that the party should go to Hibernia and the next episode, The Witches of Lolag Shlige, assumes that they do so.  It just so happens that, in Hibernia, there is a “prediction” that “a party of strangers” will find and rescue the infant nephew of the king.  The party is supposed to discover that the infant was kidnapped by the titular witches and then go to the House of Lolag Shlige to effect a rescue.  The 'house' is presented in the style of a dungeon; there are two levels and a description of the various rooms.  One of the denizens is a “Pollyrotten” which is “a peculiar breed of paranoid parrot...indigenous to Hibernia in prehistoric times.”  The episode ends in a confrontation with the aforementioned witches.  If the party loses, I guess they die.  If the party wins, the witches cast a spell that transports the party to “an eerie, moonlit shore.”  The only way to leave the location is via a boat piloted by a “robed and hooded boatman.”

In the boat, the characters lose consciousness; when they wake, they find themselves in Egypt and thus begins the fourth episode, The Great Pyramid Revealed.  The party finds a scroll that leads them to a fishmonger who informs them that Caligula “has issued a Death Warrant for members of the party.”  (Given that the characters can reincarnate, this doesn't seem like much of a threat.)  The fishmonger also lets the party know that they must go to the Great Pyramid of Giza because of a dream he had.  The interior of the pyramid (for purposes of the adventure) is displayed in the graphic at the beginning of the post.  Compared to the real thing, it is only slightly embellished.  In Location 10, there is “a rare subterranean plant...that feeds directly on energy.”  The plant will cause a character to become “a shattered, unconscious husk of 6 Life Points.”  The plant can be avoided by edging along the sides of the chamber; however, contact with the side walls “leads to a total sex change by the current segment.”  At the end of the episode, the characters find themselves in Hibernia, but ten years have passed since the second episode.  There are actually five more episodes to this adventure, but they were sold separately.

Random encounter tables are provided only for the regions where the adventures take place:  Roman Britain, Roman Italy, Egypt, and Hibernia.  It would have been nice to have tables for other regions, like Greece or Gaul, but I suppose one can't have everything.  For each region, there is a table for the following terrains:  Open Road, Wilderness, Forest, Village, Town/City, and Underground.  (There is no Forest table for Egypt.)  Using a table requires a percentile roll. The Lore Master has a choice of using the indicated encounter or any of the preceding encounters on the table.  For the sake of example, here is the 'Open Road' table for Italy:

With a roll of '44', a party may encounter a foreign traveller, a merchant, a peasant farmer, or a formation of Legion soldiers.  Note that the first encounter requires a minimum roll of '20'; anything less than that means “the Fates have decided your party encounters nothing at that time.”  The table above is rather tame compared to many of the other tables.  Most tables have a '100' listing with a suitably rare encounter.  For instance, the 'Wilderness' table for Italy allows for a 1% chance of encountering “the god Jupiter.”  Brennan uses this result in an example of how to 'present' encounters to players.

You might present him sitting on a rock throne hurling thunderbolts to wipe out the party, but this, surely, lacks a certain subtlety.  He might equally well be presented as a naked youth with amazing powers, who may even aid the party if they are nice to him...

Other '100' results include a talking bulldog, a giant weasel, Caligula in fancy dress, and “Pharaoh's cousin (so he claims).”  Other, more common, encounters include a funeral procession, up to one-hundred village idiots, a bear, a brass golem, bugs, and a sandstorm.  However, Brennan saves the most colorful encounters for his native Hibernia.  Eight Hibernian encounters are explicitly described as “drunk” and only one encounter is listed as “sober.”  Some examples of Hibernian encounters include:  beautiful colleen (with mother hidden in trees), intelligent shamrock, fake Leprechaun, vampire pig farmer*, two-headed calf, and “Drunk Hibernian Lore Master who fell into his own scenario and couldn't find his way out.”


*  We are left to ponder which is vampiric – the farmer or the pigs?  Or both?

Interview: Stephen Peek

J. Stephen Peek was a game designer for Yaquinto.  He is credited with several board/war games, but more importantly (for purposes of this blog) he was the developer of Man, Myth & Magic and co-developer of The Egyptian Trilogy.  Recently, he was gracious enough to answer a few questions...

Thoul's Paradise:  MM&M was Yaquinto's first RPG.  What was the impetus for entering the RPG market?

Stephen Peek:  During this period Role Playing games, (read as Dungeons & Dragons) were rising to dominate the hobby gaming industry.  War games required each player to read and fully understand tedious and long game rules.  Role playing required one player to understand the rules and be the game master.  The rest of the players in the group only had to understand the aspects of their character for the adventure.  Other companies were beginning to compete with Dungeons and we needed a game that allowed us to jump into the market.

TP:  Why did Yaquinto go with MM&M as its first RPG and not some other game/genre (Timeship, for instance)?

SP:  Herbie approached us with Man, Myth and Magic.  We loved the idea that it was rooted in history and ancient mysteries instead of pure fantasy.  Herbie offered us Timeship sometime later.

TP:  You have a “developed by” credit.  In collaborating with Herbie Brennan, how did you influence the game?

SP:  Herbie had created a great game system.  What I tried to do was expand the world in Man, Myth & Magic so that it had a better chance of competing with D&D which had, by that time, an enormous world for gamers.

TP:  The setting for the original Man, Myth & Magic rules was circa AD 41.  The Egyptian Trilogy allowed for campaigns in 1375 BC.  Were there any long range plans to adapt the rules for other times and/or places?  Were there any times and/or places you would have liked to address?

SP:  Eventually Man, Myth & Magic would have allowed players to play in any historical period through the middle ages.  Targets would have been:  The Hollow Earth, Mu, Incas, Maya, a Lost City series and a few others were on the drawing board.

TP:  I doubt you would remember this from thirty years ago, but the nerd in me is compelled to ask.  Page 14 of MM&M Book II states:

Distant Memory is a very important concept in ADVANCED MM&M. It is the key to the ultimate character – a skilled, experienced amalgamation of all classes; and the ONLY character entitled to strive toward the final goal of ADVANCED MM&M.

What was the “final goal”?

SP:  The premise was that once an advanced character died there was a Distant Memory role for his next incarnation.  Only high level characters had a chance of achieving the Distant Memory roll.  If the player did then his next incarnation possessed his own newly created skills plus a percentage of skills from the previous character.

TP:  Several Yaquinto games (including your own Mythology) command respectable sums on E-Bay.  What is the feasibility of reprinting some of these games?

SP:  Zero from me.  Yaquinto was purchased a few years ago by Carte Mundi and I don't think they have an interest in these old games.

Thanks you for your interest.

Character Classes in Man, Myth & Magic (part II)

Art by Angus McBride

Doubtless, the cats pictured above are leopards.  The Man, Myth & Magic livestock table does not list leopards – an unfortunate oversight – but it does list trained cheetahs, the minimum price of which is 300 gold libra.  Although MM&M provides no bestiary, we gain some insight into the capabilities of leopards via the Witch-Doctor spell 'Leopard Man'.  A leopard (or a Witch-Doctor who has turned into a leopard) gets five attacks per turn and causes damage equivalent to a dagger wielded by a human being.  Some other Witch-Doctor spells include:  Pointing Bone (“kill any single mortal enemy” at a cost of 100 POWER), M'Gumbo Sickener (causes 1-100 opponents “to become too ill to fight”), Voodoo Doll, and Zombie.  The special ability of Witch-Doctors is healing; at no POWER cost, a Witch-Doctor has a 31% of restoring 25 Life Points and a 4% chance of re-attaching severed limbs.  According to the class description, “the Witch-doctor is something of an Apothecary” and “Any poison or death magic compounded...is exceptionally potent.”  However, there are no other details in the rules about this.  Similarly, the description states that the Witch-Doctor “is something of a Warrior,” but there is nothing that elaborates upon this.

Aside from the Witch-doctor, the other class exclusive to the African 'nationality' is the Wisewoman.  Like the Sibyl, only a female character can be a Wisewoman.  The prime ability for Wisewomen is 'healing'.  They can form a healing compound with only “the flower of any plant” and “the root of any other plant.”  The compound takes five minutes to prepare and it must be applied immediately afterwards.  One Life Point is restored for each point of POWER the Wisewoman invests.  Due to “the very ancient Feminine Tradition of Prophetic Lore,” a Wisewoman has an 11% chance of issuing an accurate prophecy “only in [a] segment following consumption of the yarrow herb.”  Also, Wisewomen can craft charms like the Apothecary classes, including a charm exclusive to Wisewomen – a Love Token.

In MM&M, the primary ability of the Druid is something called “The Four Strange Arts.”  According to Herbie Brennan, “No-one is quite sure whether the Four Strange Arts are strictly speaking magical, or purely scientific.”  The Four Strange Arts are:

Stone Lore – “This enables the Druid to set fire to stone which will then burn fiercely until all immediately available stone is consumed” or until the Druid wants it to stop.
Tree Lore – For ten POWER points the Druid can receive a truthful 'yes or no' answer to a question put forth to a tree (which must be at least six feet tall).  This assumes, of course, that the answer is “within the tree's knowledge.”  If the tree is an oak (and the Druid spends a total of 25 POWER points), a response not in excess of twelve words is possible.
Stellar Lore – “A form of astrology” which allows the Druid to obtain a 'yes or no' answer about the future.  This costs fifteen points of POWER per question.
Mekhenesis – Apparently, this “is the old term for hypnosis.”

Regardless of their magical or scientific nature, Druids lose “all abilities in the Four Arts for three segments following a solar eclipse.”

The prime ability of the Philosopher class is 'information retrieval'.  At a cost of fifteen points of POWER, a Philosopher “can attempt to gain information on the essential nature of an artifact, strategy, environment, situation, etc.”  I guess the information comes from the Philosopher's own mind, specifically a combination of memory and deduction.  Yet what does “essential nature” mean?  Of course – since this is philosophy – we may as well ask what does anything mean?  But what does it mean in terms of in-game knowledge?  What – beyond the obvious – does a Lore Master tell a Philosopher's player once the player makes a successful roll to gain information?  I fear this class may not be well-suited for adventuring.

Slightly less useless than the Philosopher are the Scribe classes.  While scribes were an important part of the ancient world, their potential for thrilling RPG action is rather limited.  The Egyptian Scribe has “a 40% chance of getting the basic gist of any written language.”  The rules specify “one try only.”  Is this one try per language or per writing sample?  The Babylonian Scribe has a chance of memorizing conversations verbatim.  Otherwise, over a period of months, either type of Scribe can attempt to learn to read and write or speak any foreign language.  If you are easily excited or have a heart condition, this may be the perfect class for you.

The primary ability of the Roman Senator class is 'bribery'.  At a cost of five points of POWER, “a Senator is entitled to offer a bribe to any Character.”  The amount of the bribe is determined randomly:  one thousand gold libra times 1d100.  If you don't have the money do you still spend the POWER?  Even with the money, the Senator must succeed with a roll; if failed, the unsuccessfully bribed “Character will immediately attack the Senator.”  Senators also have a 71% chance of obtaining “any reasonable item required by the party.”  The item appears in the segment following the segment in which the roll was made.  Finally, for 25 POWER points, “a Senator may take charge of a friendly party and lead them in a given direction whether they wish to go there or not.”

The Hibernian Harper class has 'music' as its prime ability.  A Harper has four special abilities, all of which require the Harper to have a working harp in his or her possession.  First, once per segment, a Harper has a 36% chance of sending a message of no more than twelve words to any other Harper.  Second, once per segment and at a cost of twenty points of POWER, a Harper may attempt to send a message of no more than six words to any character regardless of distance.  Third, at a cost of twenty-five points of POWER, a Harper may attempt to transport any character “physically to another dimension of reality” until the end of the segment.  Although not stated, I suppose the target character must initially be in the Harper's presence.  Fourth, a Harper can play a “LOVE SONG.”  Each character within fifty feet has a 45% of being well-disposed towards the Harper “and will not attack him [or her] under any circumstances.”  However, there is a 45% chance that “any affected Characters...will fall in love” with the Harper.  Such are the perils of being a musician.

Perhaps the oddest class in MM&M is the Leprechaun.  According to the rules, “There is still considerable controversy about whether or not this Character Class is actually human.”  Their prime ability is 'magic', so they have access to spells common to all spell-casters but they also have access to their own exclusive set of spells:

Fairy Path – The Leprechaun instantly travels in a straight line up to a distance of one mile, “passing through any obstacles, without harm enroute.”
Grant Wish – At a cost of 201 POWER and subject to the approval of the Lore Master, the Leprechaun can grant the wish of another character.
Magic Milk – The Leprechaun can create a “fluid” that can provide combat bonuses to three characters for an undisclosed period of time.
Rainbow Gold – The Leprechaun creates 100 x 1d100 gold pieces that turn into “dried leaves at the end of the segment.”
See in Dark – Self explanatory.
Tinker's Dam – The Leprechaun can block any portal of no greater than ten feet in radius with a metal disk (including a coin).
Luck of the Irish – “Allows the Leprechaun to win any nonphysical wager.”
Shamrock Sleep – The Leprechaun can “turn willing subjects into Shamrocks until the end of the segment.”
O'Brian's Key – The Leprechaun can open any non-magical lock.
The Wee People – The Leprechaun can shrink “any willing person to one-tenth their normal size.”

Abilities that technically are not categorized as 'magical' include the power to sense gold or danger and the Gift of Gab, which gives the Leprechaun a 21% chance to convince a character “to believe any single proposition, however fantastic, for the space of one segment.”  Unfortunately for their players, Leprechauns can disappear from the game for one segment at a time.  At the beginning of a segment, there is an 11% chance that the Leprechaun will disappear.  The Leprechaun will return at the beginning of the next segment and will not have a chance of disappearing again until the following segment.

The Ultimate Philosophical Question

Art by Ephraim Moshe Lilien

What's the purpose of it all?

Why are we here?

What should we do with our lives?

Profound questions, certainly, and ones not usually addressed in role-playing games.  Characters – particularly player characters – are not burdened with existential curiosity.  By definition, characters exist as “roles” and for every role, there is a reason.  Player characters are – of course – vicarious avatars of the players.  Non-player characters fulfil whatever role the game master requires of them.  Set dressing?  If needed.  Distraction?  Possibly.  Important plot element?  Could be.  Random encounter?  Perhaps.  If nothing else, the setting/circumstance can impose a role.  A new player generates a character to join the party's dungeon expedition at the last moment.  What would be the 'in game' reason for a reasonably sane person to tag along with a bunch of strangers into some dark and dank tunnels likely infested by monsters and traps?  Such a question need not be addressed; of more practical importance is what spells has he conveniently memorized for this escapade.

In Man, Myth & Magic, the purpose for every (player) character is expressly stated.  Page 13 of Book II poses the question, “What is the purpose of life?”  The answer follows immediately:  “In ADVANCED MM&M, the purpose of life is the pursuit of POWER.”  Well, that's unequivocal.  No self-actualization or getting in touch with one's feelings or any of that namby-pamby stuff – just get POWER.  (The rules consistently spell POWER with all capital letters.)  Even for the Greek Philosopher character type, it's all about the POWER.

This answer, naturally, begets the question:  What is POWER?  Herbie Brennan explained in this interview that POWER is “a way of combining the EXPERIENCE points with spell drivers like MANA.”  There are two types of POWER:  gold-related and adventure-related.

For every one thousand gold libra a character accumulates, one point is added to the character's POWER total.  However, “you retain gold-related POWER only so long as the gold remains in your possession.”  Spend (or otherwise lose) the gold and you lose the POWER.  Note that the rules specifically refer to gold, not wealth.  Maybe you have gems and jewels worth 10,000 gold libra, but do they confer any POWER?  If you bury a chest filled with gold, does that gold count as being “in your possession”?  I doubt it. The gold-to-POWER ratio seems to be more trouble than it's worth if you need to keep all that gold at hand; gold is heavy.

Scenarios in (Advanced) MM&M are divided into segments.  At the conclusion of a segment, each (surviving) character is entitled to a POWER roll; the result of d% is added to POWER.  A character that contributed significantly to a segment can wind up with a measly one point of POWER while a character who did nothing can gain 100 POWER.  Well, no one said that the universe is fair.

Every thirty points of POWER a character currently possesses (beyond the first hundred) increases his or her chances of success by one percent (or as the rules have it, “deduct 1 from your personal Failure Rate”).

Adventure POWER (but not gold POWER) can be used to cast spells (or use 'psychical abilities') and activate magic items.  For instance, an 'Astral Projection' spell requires 50 POWER while a 'Lucky Cork' needs 5 POWER per round of combat to be effective.  Such POWER expenditure is not permanent; characters recover POWER spent in this way “by a natural, automatic process at the rate of 10 POWER points per segment.”  However, if a character should “lose a limb” before his or her POWER is fully recovered, then the remainder is lost permanently.

Just how long is a segment?  Knowing the length of a segment would be conducive to budgeting POWER effectively.  Alas, segment length “is relative to scenario content” and is something players are not meant to know.

Finally, POWER is essential for the reincarnation process, but that is a topic for a future post.  Until that time, be good to one another and try not to lose any limbs (whether or not you are at peak POWER).

A Role Playing Game of Man's Greatest Adventures

Art by Ephraim Moshe Lilien

Man, Myth & Magic is a fantasy role playing game set in the ancient world.  A world not seen from our modern perception; but rather through the eyes of the people who lived it.  A world filled with magic and sorcery, demons and monsters, and incredible powers and forces that hold the key to the domination of mankind.

The game is Man, Myth & Magic and it's a “role playing game of man's greatest adventures.”  This does not mean that MM&M is misogynistic – two character classes are available only to female characters – but that player characters may only be human (with one arguable exception).  The setting is not some fantasy realm populated by elves, dwarves, and whatnot; it is the ancient world seen “through the eyes of the people who lived it.”  (I feel that RuneQuest did a better job of evoking the ancient world paradigm, but that hardly invalidates MM&M.)

An important aspect of the 'ancient world paradigm' is magic – perhaps the most important aspect with regard to RPGs.  (After all, it is Man, Myth & Magic.)  Book II devotes a half-page to an essay on magic which states “...some magic worked, at least some of the time...Why magic worked is another question; and one that doesn't have a single answer.”  The essay then discusses five 'reasons' why magic worked:

• Magic as Coincidence

Somebody laid a curse and the next day the victim walked over a cliff.  The fact that the victim was blind drunk at the time cut no ice with anybody; it was the curse that did it.

• Magic as Science

“Magical” swords made from Damascus steel were a case in point.  You forged as good a blade as you could, then heated it until it was red hot then plunged it into the body of the nearest human being.  According to the theory, the victim's soul passed into the sword and made it work better in battle...Swords treated this way were harder and stayed sharper longer.  (The reason was the absorption of carbon molecules by the heated steel.  When it was finally discovered you could get exactly the same effect by plunging the blade into a water barrel full of old cow hides, people became a lot less wary of blacksmiths.)

• Magic as Psychic Phenomena

The human mind has always been full of odd powers which surface now and then...

• Magic as Trance State

If a person in a trance state – perhaps augmented by “psychedelic mushrooms” – believed he was flying, then “the experience was valid enough,” especially if other mushroom consumers imagined he was flying.

• Magic as Lost Knowledge

...it has to be admitted the Ancients knew a thing or two that we've forgotten.  Those old Egyptians, for example, knew how to grow multicoloured cotton...Maybe in that body of lost knowledge there were more dramatic discoveries.

The essay neglects to touch upon the power of suggestion as a 'reason' for why magic worked.  Even in our enlightened age, believers in such practices as Santería and Vodou feel the effects of magic because of their belief; magic is part of the cultural construct in which they live.

Thus we have a rationale for the 'why' of magic, yet the 'how' of magic eludes us.  Perhaps that's the point; if it didn't elude us, it wouldn't be magic.  Regardless, we have a better appreciation of the ancient 'mindset' toward magic – not as a rubric of duration, effects, and saving throws, but as mysterious circumstance, awesome and frightening.

The Gallicus School for Prospective Gladiators

          The historian Daniel P. Mannix tells an interesting story about the Roman Games.  During the reign of Nero, the Empire's economic troubles got so bad that there was two weeks of uninterrupted rioting in the city streets.
          While this was going on, the Captain of the Shipping had a crisis meeting with the First Tribune.  He had the Merchant Fleet from Egypt ready to land.  But there was a choice of cargo; corn for the starving people or sand for the Circus arena.  Which, asked the Captain, was it to be?
          “Are you mad?” shouted the harassed Tribune.  “The situation here is out of control.  The Emperor is a lunatic.  The army is on the edge of mutiny.  The people are dying of hunger.  For the gods' sake, get the sand!”

– Man, Myth & Magic Book I (p. 18)

The boxed set of Man, Myth & Magic contained three rule books; Book I – 'The Basic Rules' – was intended for people who “have never played a role playing game.”  People “already familiar with role playing games” were directed to go to Book II after reading the sections on “Combat, Reading the Dice, and Basic Characteristics.”  Man, Myth & Magic started out as a game called Arena, according to Appelcline's Designers & Dragons.  We see evidence of this in Book I, the introductory version of MM&M wherein all player characters are gladiators (prospective gladiators really) in ancient Rome.  The back of the box reads, “It is summer, 41 A.D.” but the actual year – as we shall see – is not fixed.  Beginning players are not coddled with pre-generated characters, they create characters by rolling (percentile) dice to determine the prime characteristics of Strength, Speed, Endurance, Intelligence, and Courage.  A sixth characteristic – Skill – is left undetermined because the characters have not yet received training.  Characters are required to have names; a couple of dozen sample names are provided.  Players also roll percentile dice to determine the number of gold pieces (libra) each character has as an inheritance.

The party of player characters begin the game en route to the Gallicus gladiator school where they are expected to arrive by a certain time.  The way is blocked due to a military procession which will take hours to pass.  In order to reach the school on time, the party must travel through a violent and unsavory section of town called 'the Warren'.  The players are presented with a goal, then a complication.  Various establishments exist in the Warren for characters to encounter, among which are an apothecary that sells healing potions, an amulet & charm shop, and the requisite tavern.  As the characters travel through the Warren, the players become acquainted with the rudimentary RPG 'skills' of observing the environment and interacting with non-player characters; of course, they are also exposed to the essential rules of MM&M combat.

Book I isn't arranged merely for the benefit of the players; it also instructs the novice game master.  On page 5, author Herbie Brennan explains:

          The prime function of a GM is to describe to players what their characters are seeing and experiencing.  Just that and nothing more.  His secondary function is to act out those non-player characters the gladiators meet; and to decide, by dice rolls, on the outcome of any conflicts.
          It is no part of the GM's job to compete with players or direct their movements.  Each gladiator character is free to behave in any manner he sees fit.  The GM's sole concern is to calculate and describe the consequences of any action.

Of course, these are fundamental tenets of RPGs, but rarely have I seen them explained so succinctly and clearly.  There are no 'gray box' read-this-out-loud passages in Book I, but Brennan provides examples of what a GM could say and emphasizes the importance of dramatic effect.  He says on page 6, “...Game Mastering is about drama, atmosphere, mood, fascination and excitement – not about rules and regulations, although the rules and regulations are a necessary evil.”

The Gallicus school is mapped out (see below) and its various locations described “[s]hould the party elect to explore.”  The main point of interest, however, is the training labyrinth – in effect, a 'micro-dungeon'.  “Training” consists of players learning about the different gladiator types, their weapons, and an expansion of the combat rules.  (In MM&M, the gladiator types are retiarius, secutor, thracian, samnite, sagittarius, and thrax.)  For training purposes, each player is allowed to choose a type for his (or her) character.  Upon choosing a type, characters are expected to enter the training labyrinth.  As might be expected, the training labyrinth takes the form of a maze; at various points there are pit-traps, opposing gladiators, and even a lion encounter.  Opposing gladiators will have 'Life Point' totals equal or similar to that of the player characters.  Characters may enter the training labyrinth individually or as a group.  Opponents of individuals will be singular while groups will face groups of equivalent size.  Survivors of a group expedition get to roll percentile dice to determine their 'Skill' characteristic and they add 10% to Strength, Speed, and Endurance.  Individual survivors roll twice for 'Skill', choosing the better roll; they also add 15% to Strength, Speed, and Endurance.

Having 'graduated' from the training labyrinth, characters are ready to participate in the gladiatorial games.  “Each Games session concludes when every gladiator character has fought once in the arena,” we learn on page 18.  Perhaps the most important aspect of any Games session is which Emperor will preside; 1d6 is rolled:  1-2, Tiberius; 3-4, Nero; 5-6, Caligula.  That's right, Nero can preside over one session, Caligula the next, followed by Tiberius, then back to Caligula.  It is for this reason I said above that the year is not fixed.  MM&M Rome essentially exists in a timeless realm where different reigns overlap one another.  Some may find the irrationality of this (non-)continuity to be a game-breaker, but those who can accept it are more likely to tolerate the irrationality to be found in the advanced rules.

Anyway, if Tiberius is rolled, players may ask for a re-roll.  If Tiberius is rolled again, the players are stuck with him; otherwise, players may choose between Tiberius and the second Emperor rolled.  Under Tiberius, players can decide to have their characters fight one another ('competitive combat') or against NPCs.  Nero requires competitive combat while Caligula requires competitive combat or animal combat (50% chance of either).  Monetary awards to victors tend to be small when Tiberius presides, but he is more apt to permit a loser to keep his life.  Nero is generous but will never issue a Gladiator Pardon.  Caligula, being the original poster-child for crazy, is unpredictable.

Supposedly, “When Tiberius presides...experience adjustments are less than those arising from combat under other Emperors.”  However, page 20 makes no distinction among Emperors with regard to combat experience.  Every successful arena combat improves a characters 'to hit' score by 5 and adds ten percent to “basic statistics.”

1 – Legion Barracks
2 – Legion Barracks
3 – Legion Mess Hall
4 – Gladiator Mess Hall
5 – Cookhouse
6 – Arms Store
7 – Food Store
8 – Communal Jail
9 – Administration Building
10 – Chief Trainer's Villa
11 – Gladiator Barracks
12 – Gladiator Barracks
13 – Training Labyrinth
14 – Latrines
15 – Solitary Confinement Cells
16 – Animal Houses
17 – Whipping Post