The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Before I get into the "meat" of the review, I want to give the folks at Aetherco some BIG kudos. First, it's obvious that they grok the web... there's a lot of free stuff over there and they have all sorts of other goodies for people who join the CoNTINUUM 'fraternity'. Second, it's obvious that they understand time travel. They've extensively thought through the implications and embedded those ideas in the game. Indeed, the bibliography hints at this research... they even praise the manufacturers of OTHER time-travel games. They struck me as a class act when reading the book and this last section clinched it for me. Lastly, they managed to do all this for $19.99(US)!

Premise

Time travel exists and you can really, REALLY screw up the universe with it. To prevent this, the most organized group (the Continuum) relies heavily on self-control and local intervention by their members to stop Narcissists (their name for people who'd rather reshape reality to match another vision).

As has been mentioned in numerous places, once time travel exists, it exists everywhen and that travellers have access to the best methods ever created. Spanners (those who have the ability to span time and space) simply think about where/when they want to go and *poof*, they are there.

Because the temptation to get great wealth would be an enormous temptation for novice spanners to screw up time, the Continuum sets up circumstances where a new time-traveller is 'instantly' wealthy. In some ways, it seems to be more an objective proof to the newcomer that mere money is mostly irrelevant to their new existence.

Layout and Art

The layout is in a simple two-column format that is easy to read and follow. The fiction and examples are set off in grey boxes to make them easy to distinguish. There's no index (boo, hiss!), but the book is generally laid out well enough to find what you need. The editing on the book is also spotty: there are several instances of missing words, wrong people referenced, and incorrected capitalization and punctuation. Fortunately, none of these missteps affect any critical areas of the game (I think...).

The art is well-executed, but tends to be sparse and out of place for the book. Frankly, more than half the pieces seem to be there just as filler. The cover, though, is bizarrely evocative and has grown on me greatly.

Mechanics and Terminology

Yeah, a weird mix, no doubt, but since these are two areas that novice designers (especially noveau designers) frequently screw up, I put them together.

First, the terminology. In-character slang is pervasive, but not intrusive and quickly become natural as you use it. In fact, the only term that I still wasn't comfortable with after reading the book twice was 'as/as not'. Out-of-character terminology is refresingly familiar. Gamemasters are gamemasters, skills are skills, dice rolls are rolls, etc. [For an example of how NOT to do this, look at Immortal... a game that has a stunning concept but poor execution].

Oh, in case you were wondering about 'The Yet' in the book's title. Yet is what will happen to a character in their own subjective future. This provides a fabulous roleplaying opportunity and a great GM tool. If a character discovers that they will be in the Louvre at 6:16pm on 7July2001 but they haven't done that, then that event is in their Yet and they will have to ensure it comes about or risk Frag (paradox).

The mechanics are simple and almost intuitive (especially for experienced roleplayers). Basically you subtract a d10 from your skill or attribute rating and hope for a zero of positive number. There are occasional modifiers, but that's the main gist of it.

Combat mechanics are, as usual for RPGs, more complex and are the weakest part of the game. They are not BAD, don't get me wrong! But I would've preferred something much lighter so that you can spend less time recording wounds and bruises and more roleplaying and spanning. Damage is determined by the to-hit roll, which is good, but at the cost of looking up the final results in one (or two) charts.

The most complex (and most fun) mechanics are in time combat which I do NOT have time to go into here! GMs should expect to work with this section a lot before they are comfortable with it. Then, of course, one must teach it to the novice players... =) Time combat, while not simple, are a very convincing simulation of how 'real' spanners might fight.

Characters

Character creation is mostly point-based. You get 25 points to spend on your attributes (Body, Mind, Quick), skills, and on Benefits (various advantages). The foolhardy can take a roll on the Limits (diasadvantages) table in exchange for some more character points or another Benefit. The Limits table is a total crapshoot and you can end up with anything from no Limit at all (lucky you!) to Armless, to being a witness of your own death (which puts a serious crimp on your playing style, let me tell you).

The Benefits are what you would expect (double-jointed, eidetic memory, etc.), but you can also choose to have psychic powers (which are apparently very common in the future). Annoying, the power you get is randomly generated but I imagine you can convince most GMs just to let you pick one.

One ability that can't be chosen or improved during character creation is the ability to span. You start as a SpanOne and have to meet both in-game AND out of game criteria to advance (basically, you have to show up for a certain number of game sessions). Each level of spanning ability represents an exponential jump in ability and responsibility so the game takes on a very different tone as characters improve.

The Skills are typical, though Dreaming is a skill that lets you contact people both on your Level (living at the same time as you) and at different times. The whole dreamtime adds another layer of complexity on the game that is alread rife with ideas and potential.

Interestingly, you can pick up a new skill whenever you want (even during a combat!). Just span out, spend a few months learning what you need and then span back. Why doesn't everyone do this so that they know everything? Well, you can, but your body continues to get older, this Age (the amount of time you've been alive whenever) is the ultimate clock. "Waitaminit!" you might say, "Doesn't the future have all sorts of advanced life-extension technology? Why aren't all spanners immortal?" Good question! Technology is reserved for higher level spanners and the very best tech only for those who have proven to be useful and trustworthy. The entire Continuum blocks people from going wily-nily into the far future so you can't even Span Up and buy yourself what you need.

More experienced characters can choose to join a Fraternity. These are organizations that are composed of like-minded individuals of the Continuum. For example, the Foxhorns vocation (and avocation) is the hunting down of Narcissists while the Scribes keep track of what has and will happen to make sure the universe stays safe.

The World

It'd be pretty difficult to encompass even a year's worth of real world events into this review, so how do you encompass 15 MILLION years worth of earth's history? Well, you just hit the high spots, mostly. History books become suddenly useful for things other than propping up the short leg on the sofa! Be warned, however, events before 1000BC are very different than historians, archaeologists and paleontologists would have you believe.

The Continuum is the society of time-travellers that are supported by the Inheritors (what the human race eventually evolves into). As such, the Inheritors have a vested interest in keeping the status quo. Much of the far future (AND far past) is managed by them and they pretty much runs the universe. Of course, while they are OF humanity, they aren't quite human and have given rise to many legends of UFOs, 'greys', and other spooky sightings. They mostly keep out of the way and let regular spanners handle things, though.

Beginning characters can only move about a year per day of rest, so the GM only has to worry about 'local' events at the beginning of a campaign. In addition, low-Span characters aren't allowed past certain dates into the past or future. Still, that leaves thousands of years to play with and a good GM should endeavor to keep players busy with stuff (or else learn to improvise mightily on the fly!)

Between learning the intricacies of spanning (at low levels), helping to mold societies (at high levels) and fighting off Narcissist attacks (all the time), there's plenty to keep the characters busy.

Summary

The Aetherco people have managed to produce a completely new and emminently playable time-travelling RPG. It's flaws are minor and correctable. Though it requires more investment by the GM and the players (keeping track of your Yet can be daunting at times), it's delicious fun for everyone who's want to jaunt through time in an RPG...

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)