MedievalMethods
Saturday Night Dragon-Slayer
Crossing Lines
I. Plot Concept
This sci-fi adventure, fantasy thriller takes you for the time of your life... literally. Join as group of strangers who find themselves aboard a driver less train, on an unknown journey across time and space, occasionally making "station stops" on alternate Earths that range from subtly different to the wildly fantastic. Throughout it all, they must band together if they hope to escape, and meanwhile, survive the ride.
II. IC Intro
"All Aboard me hoppers.."
"Wakey, wakey lovelys! It's another fabulous day 'ere on the LIE. I trust the boardin' for ya wasn't too bumpy that last stop... Might 'ave got some bumps along the ol' grey ma'er catcher I reckon. Right fucked in the 'ead you are... What you say? You don't recall me? I am, my bedazzed mortal son, what I am. Call me the maestro! You see, I call the tune, if you will, aboard this majestic vessel. I, am the Conductor."
A person of extraordinary powers, and mysterious origins, the Conductor, seems to be the one of the only people aboard who knows what is happening, and more importantly why. A bald, middle age man, he is as much a fixture aboard the Infinity Express as the train, as much as his 19th century suit, and cockney accent are a part of him. He is the first Crew Member the New Arrivals happen upon during their awakening. Presenting a helpful, if coarse demeanor, he assists in preparing the Arrivals of the circumstances of their new lives aboard the time-traveling vessel; how best they can help themselves and the Lie. It remains to be seen whether the Conductor is a purely helpful benefactor, or if he is a generous manipulator with machinations of his own design.
"They say that dreams can come true -- except nightmares, are dreams too..."
Ingen is another Crew Member the New Arrivals discover in their travels, and the first child they have seen, since before arriving on the train. Appearing as a young boy, with a dirt-covered face and long tangled blond hair, he can usually be found in the ventilation shafts or maintenance ducks through out the train cars, an area he has claimed for home aboard the vessel. He is a quiet, secretive child, who is very slow to trust. He will most likely flee if he is approached, or believes himself to be spotted; communication is usually one way with Ingen, as he has a tendency to leave notes or messages for the New Arrivals to find throughout the LIE. Speaking directly to others is rare, as is usually done out of sight, through artificial means.
"You know what you and my wife have in common? Long tits, and big legs..."
Coach is an enigma, much like the other Crew Members, leaving many questions unanswered -- or that could just be the dementia talking. One of the visibly oldest Crew Members the New Arrivals interact with, he is a short-statured flagman who gets into many odd and troublesome situations, mainly due to his nearsightedness and age, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem. However, he has an uncanny streak of luck, and always seems to work it out for himself, leaving him no worse than before. Due to this, he has developed the reputation of being a senile lunatic. But those who know him are aware of the good-hearted sentimentality beneath the disagreeable exterior. Originally confined to the Caboose-section, he can be found almost anywhere aboard the LIE, usually in the middle of an accident waiting to happen, if not the cause of it.
III. OOC Backstory
"Next Stop... Everywhere!"
Events leading up to the roleplays story are here. A small, but diverse, group of people awaken. They have no memory of who they are, where they are, or what they were doing before awakening. What they discover is that they occupy a passenger section titled Car E.996., and that it's part of something called the Line Infinity Express, or LIE for short. The LIE, unbeknownst to the characters, is a machine that is on a constant voyage through time and space, dipping in and out of realities at apparently random points of spacetime, called "stations". Around them, the train seems to contain a limitless amount of "cars". Passenger, freight, dining, entertainment, and many more types. Many are empty and bare. Many more are full, each playing host to objects, people, things and environments that have boarded at a "stations" sometime in the past. To the front, one can see the dim, orange light of what must be the engine. Perhaps answers to all of this lie there? Who could know?
IV. Crossing Lines Basic Rules For Time Travel
Rule 0: Don't travel through time
Rule 1: Rules are meant to be broken
Rule 2: Traveling to the future is easy
Rule 3: Traveling to the past is hard -- but not impossible
Rule 4: Traveling through time, is like traveling through space
Rule 5: Things that travel together, age together
Rule 6: Black holes are not time machines
Rule 7: If something happened, it happened
Rule 8: There is no meta-time
Rule 9: You can't travel back to before the time machine was built...
Rule 10: ...Unless you go to parallel universe...
Rule 11: And even then, your old universe is still there.
Rule 12: Don't mess with yourself
Rule 13: Don't mess with your ancestors
Rule 14: Don't mess with VIPs
Rule 15: You can't save them all
Rule 16: Kill sparingly
Rule 17: Don't step on anything
Rule 18: Beware the Chrono Cops
Rule 19: Prove it
Rule 20: Don't do anything
Rule 21: Don't not do anything
Rule 22: Have fun
V. FAQ for Crossing Lines
If the train time travels does that mean some of us are from different time periods?
- Yes and no. For the moment, I believe the starting party of PC's should be from the same time period to make the beginning of the RP easily manageable. Reason being, I've never done a time-travel AND parallel world roleplay-in-one. If players would then like to introduce new PC's from different times, worlds, and dimensions into the original party as we progress through the story, I'd find that reasonable.
How far back and forward will we be going time?
- Technically, there is no limit as to how far back or forward the party will find itself while aboard the LIE. Recall though, that the LIE runs like a train. It doesn't just travel backwards and forwards, but it can cross onto different tracks; separate time lines, if you will. The player group starts off with the handicap of not being in control of the trains ability to time travel. They are simply passengers, along for the ride.
How many parallel worlds can we visit?
- See question one for answer.
Who is playing the "Conductor"?
- The Conductor is an antagonistic NPC entity. It will be played by the GM, and his designated CO-GMs.
Will there be NPCs? If so, who will control them?
- Yes, there will be NPCs. I, and my CO-GMs, will play them.
Will some of us have "powers"?
- "Powers" are tricky business in the RP. While you start off with none, being an average person on our scrub Earth, you may find opportunity to earn them while exploring different times, worlds, and dimensions. The laws of science that rule in one train car, may not be the same in the one next to you. Sufficient to say, magic and advanced technology will be themes visited throughout the roleplay.
What is the endgame of this RP?
- The end game of this RP is an mission-style dungeon. Investigate the LIE, advanced through the different train sections, towards the Train Engine Car, where you hope to find someone or something to get you back to your home in time and space. There is a sandbox adventure aspect present throughout, to give players a break from the plot grind, which include visits to "station" locations, as well as surprise events, NPC confrontations and mini-quests, orchestrated by your GM and Co-GMs. These also serve to help you get farther in your travels to the Engine Car, buy providing opportunities to get helpful items and loot.
Why is time travel not present, known or revealed in history?
- The LIE is on a different plane of existence, a place between spaces, merely dipping into the time-space continuum at seemingly random places. When it appears, at locations known as "stations", it only does so for a small, limited amount of time, before returning to its original environment.
Can you change the present by going backwards in time and causing a difference?
- The possibility exists. But one would need to be able to actively control the time-traveling LIE.
Is there one timeline or time-stream, or more?
- Yes. Acknowledging multi-verse theory, there are a unlimited number of alternative worlds and time-streams.
Can someone from the present or future send messages to someone in the past?
- Again, the possibility exists. But you would need to get lucky in a=sending the message at one of the "station stops", or obtaining control of the LIE.
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