This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series The Zener Gate System
The Zener Gate System Series:
  1. Improvising A Campaign: introducing the Zener Gate campaign!
  2. Designing A Game System (for the Zener Gate campaign)
  3. Progressive Modifiers In The Zener Gate system
  4. Finalizing the Mechanics for the Zener Gate Campaign

Based on an Image by Hypnoart via www.Pixabay.com License CC0 Public Domain

This is being written a little under the deadline pump; I’m still playing catch-up from my week away at the Family Reunion / 40th Birthday party for my nephew. So it may not quite live up to my usual standards, but I’ll do my best.

Actually, I’m cheating for a lot of this article, which is clearly a sequel to last month’s “Improvising An Adventure,” which was very well received. As a result of the experience that was discussed in that article, I’m currently looking at doing a campaign that’s all improv. I’ve started work on it, and this article will walk both readers and the players though at least some of the thought processes involved.

Game System

I have to admit that I still haven’t decided what game system to use. In fact, I haven’t ruled out writing a 1-2 page original on which to base the campaign. But I have thought about the selection criteria.

I don’t want the game mechanics to intrude on the game play. That’s the big thing for me at this point. I want simplicity and elegance and a lot of flexibility.

The game system is to be a vehicle for implementing the campaign concept, nothing more.

Campaign Concept

The basic notion is something of a cross between “Sliders” (Wikipedia page, Box Set via Amazon) and “Quantum Leap” (Wikipedia Page, Complete Series Box Set via Amazon). Two, or possibly 4 PCs, two players. The essential idea is that the PCs will be part of the test program for a time machine that goes horribly wrong because temporal theory is all wrong, or at least mutually contradictory. As a result, the characters will find themselves “bouncing” from one time period to another, getting involved in whatever is going on, and then moving on to the next adventure, which will take place in a completely different setting.

Character Fundamentals

My first thought was that the PCs would represent members of a team something like that in “Stargate SG 1” (Wikipedia Page, Complete Box Set on Amazon), but quickly realized that the military foundation would confine the scope of the roles open to the players, so I discarded that concept.

My second thought was that at least one of the characters would be an expert in temporal science, either an engineer or scientist. I definitely didn’t want that. I don’t want the campaign to be about the technology, or about the physics of time travel – I want all of that to be a black box, PCs go in, adventures come out.

So a key part of the Campaign Background will be addressing that restriction, justifying it. My inspiration for handling the issue comes from a relatively unknown TV series that I quite enjoyed (having stumbled across it by accident), “Seven Days” (Wikipedia Page, Box Set – probably unofficial, it has never been released officially according to this thread at GateWorld Forum – , ).

Unfortunately, the restriction in question isn’t described by the Wikipedia article, so I’ll have to do it here for the benefit of anyone who hasn’t seen the show. In a nutshell, not everyone can survive the trauma of time traveling – there’s a complex navigational challenge, the equivalent of flying a jet aircraft on a precision course while being subjected to extreme buffeting, high levels of G-forces, and random electrical shocks causing convulsions and involuntary muscle contractions. Most people, even most test pilots, can’t do it – in fact, at the start of the series, only one person has ever successfully functioned as a Chrononaut. In the second season, a second, backup Chrononaut was identified and the concept was repeatedly eroded thereafter in the interests of heightening the melodrama.

Beyond that, the characters need to be highly self-reliant because they are going to be cut off from home base (at least part of the time, I haven’t decided on the big picture in full yet).

Setting

This is to be pretty contemporaneous with the world around us. I might set it in 2018 or 2019 just to give myself some flexibility, but a key figure in the background and campaign introduction is going to be President Trump – I couldn’t resist the notion of exploring what he might do with a top-secret research project that, if it works, could give him a mechanism to reshape the world as he sees fit (or as he sees it).

At the same time, I don’t want this campaign to be about politics or anything like that – this is to be an action-adventure campaign.

Game Prep

The whole concept of this campaign is that there isn’t going to be any. I want to come up with the day’s adventure and any NPCs on the day, off the cuff. Part of the campaign concept is designed to absolutely minimize continuity.

The Alien Concepts

There are so many concepts involved in this campaign that are completely unlike my usual style and practices, and that’s a large part of the excitement. I don’t have a big finish pre-planned, in fact I don’t have anything planned! Everything exists as a linking element that ties together whatever situation I think of.

Technology Limitations

One of the key concepts required was going to be that each adventure would start with a clean slate, or close to it. Whatever the local technology that was available would be what the PCs would have to use, and they would have to acquire it locally. Time Travel was going to involve several limitations on what they could take with them, and one of the key decisions the players would have to make early on would be what their basic equipment was going to be.

Initially, I was going to be even more extreme in this area than I now plan to be – I was going to have the PCs go through the time warp (or whatever the framing mechanism was called) practically naked. I have retreated slightly from that line – they can now carry anything that makes direct contact with their bare skin or a metallicized uniform provided that it does not rely on chemical reactions of any kind, which behave abnormally during the transition process. No guns, no explosives, not even a match, no batteries or advanced electrical devices, and nothing that protrudes more than half an inch from their persons.

All this restriction has a key impact on the game system, in that an awful lot of most of them won’t be needed.

PC Motivation

Why should the PCs get involved in whatever is going on? This was a key question in Quantum Leap and the answers in that series never satisfied me. In Seven Days the missions were all emergencies or matters of extreme national security, but that doesn’t work unless there’s some communications mechanism between the agents in the field and home base, and the base concept I was working from had no such communications possible.

Again, I have moderated that position slightly as the campaign has taken shape. And PC Motivation is the key. In the beginning of the campaign, it will be all about the PCs coming to terms with their situation. Once that becomes settled, over the course of the early part of the campaign, the PCs are going to gather what they need to restore very limited communications, and their ultimate goal is going to be building what they need in order to stabilize their situation, get them involved in attempts to ‘rewire’ history, and eventually, to get them home at the end of the campaign whenever the players get tired of it, or I run out of ideas.

Fantasy Elements? Sci-Fi elements?

At this moment, I haven’t completely ruled these out, but intend for them to be exceptions and oddities, not the norm.

Game System – again

The last major decision that will be made is the one that I started with – what game system will I use? No decision has yet been made. All my thinking along these lines has been more about what I don’t want.

The current options under consideration (and not all of them seriously) are:

  1. Triumphant
  2. OVA The Anime RPG
  3. Maid The RPG
  4. Star Trek TNG RPG
  5. d20 Modern / d20 Future
  6. Thrilling Tales 2nd ed
  7. Villains & Vigilantes 3
  8. An extremely stripped-down variant on Pulp Hero
  9. TORG (1st Edition)
  10. A custom-written Home System
  11. Something else…

These are all systems that I, or one of the players, have on-hand. I don’t intend to take very long over the decision – I’ll be skimming them looking for a reason to reject them. The last five are the most interesting, and have additional reasons to recommend them, so unless one of the others seems pretty perfect, that’s the most likely choice. So let’s look briefly at those relatively “hot” options.

  1. V&V 3rd Edition is the game system being recommended by one of the players based on what I’ve told him about the campaign. But I haven’t looked at it yet.
  2. A stripped-down Pulp Hero is an option because it’s a system that we’re all familiar with. But it’s likely to be too complex as it stands for my needs, and not quite cinematic enough in mechanics.
  3. TORG is a system that I like a lot. I’ve actually GM’d it before (years ago), and at least one of the players has played it. I also have lots of supplements for it – just about the complete bundle, in fact – but they are all in storage where they will be slightly inconvenient to access. I am also concerned that the whole “possibility energy” concept would be too
    integral to the rules system, but must also admit that renaming it appropriately would be a convenient reflection of why the PCs are able to succeed as “Chrononauts” (a term that I don’t intend to keep, but that is better than nothing for now). So there are pluses and minuses.
  4. An option to which I am giving serious consideration is a simple, custom, game system. This has the advantage that it will be a perfect match for what I want the game mechanics to represent, but the disadvantage that I haven’t written it yet, and it certainly won’t have been play-tested. If I decide to go down this route, I will almost certainly have to publish it here, as turning it into a post at Campaign Mastery is the only way that I will have time to write it. I have two months, so wait and see… if I do, it will probably involve a conceptual tip of the hat to some of the elements of TORG that I like.
  5. Heading the “Something Else” is another story-based system, such as FATE, about which I have heard good things – but the player who is recommending V&V doesn’t like it and has actually tried it, which I haven’t, and I don’t have a copy of it, both strong negatives to take into account.

Campaign Background & Player Briefing, second draft

I wrote this up on the train on the way back from the Family Reunion and offer it here in its final form, for use by whoever wants it.

Who are the PCs?

The Government attracted heavy criticism in the decades after the moon landings for such a heavy military involvement in the space program. As a result, when the Zener Gate was discovered, and a NASA-like project initiated to explore the phenomenon, it was decided that this would be primarily a civilian programme. However, as with the nascent days of the Space Programme, no-one knew exactly what would confront the first explorers to another time; while, in theory, they would be launched and “snap back” seconds later, as had been the case with every test animal sent through the Zener Gate, there were a dozen different competing theories as to how the Gate worked, and not all of them were so predictable. The result was a manhunt for the most able, most self-reliant individuals. They were then tested to within an inch of their lives for resilience in the face of stress, calmness in the face of danger, resourcefulness, trustworthiness (the Zener Gate was a very highly-classified project, after all), and any other quality that anyone thought might make the difference between survival and death, success and failure. Ninety-nine out of every hundred candidates washed out.

Then they began assigning them to groups, according to the best judgments of the behavioral psychologists, and testing the resulting three-man squads for stability, capability, and group functionality. 40% of the candidates who had made it through the first screenings washed out – they simply didn’t play well enough with others – and many of the teams were left incomplete, on stand-by until a complimentary third member could be located.

Twelve three-person “Go” teams were established, 36 men and women were stable and compatible and possessed of complimentary skill-sets, the best 36 that the United States had to offer, code-named Chronosquad Able, Chronosquad Baker, Chronosquad Charlie, Chronosquad Delta, Chronosquad Eagle, Chronosquad Foxtrot, Chronosquad Golf, Chronosquad Halo, Chronosquad Indigo, and Chronosquad Juliet.

Chronosquad Juliet were killed on a routine training mission when their transport aircraft crashed in bad weather off the coast of Florida.

Chronosquad Able were scratched from the programme following a security violation.

Chronosquad Baker were killed in the systems overload the first time an electronic device was sent through the Zener Gate. Investigation of the incident led to the discovery of the Meitner Field Radius.

Chronosquad Charlie were scrubbed when an inappropriate personal bond arose between the two male members of the team.

Chronosquad Delta focused on animal testing of the Zener Gate, and established the existence and parameters of the Meitner Field Radius.

Chronosquad Golf were scratched when one of the team members contracted Malaria.

Chronosquad Eagle were thus the first set of human subjects to transit the Zener Gate. President Trump himself spoke to them via sat-phone to tell them how great he was for ‘making it all happen’ before the gate was activated, enveloping them in it’s quantum-field-shredding energies. As predicted by theory, they were “elsewhen” for 12.3 seconds, verifiable because they drowned in salt water whose chemical makeup had not been seen on earth since the early Cretaceous period. This also verified another operational parameter that had been only theoretical previously – no-one drowns in 12.3 seconds; the duration experienced “elsewhen” by Chronosquad Eagle was hours or days (depending on how long they were able to remain afloat). Whether or not this value was completely independent of the event duration recorded at Zener Control was unknown and would remain so until far more data was collected.

Chronosquad Foxtrot followed; they were absent from local space-time for 13.12 seconds, returned to describe a tremendous ice-field as far as the eye could see and no signs of human activity. Whether the was some long-past ice-age or one yet to come, they could not say. Suffering from extreme frostbite, they stated that they had experienced more than 8 days in the other time, but that the days had seemed to last longer than normal.

Chronosquad Halo departed local space-time for 11.4 seconds, and returned having been mauled by some form of wild animal, dead of blood loss. The directive came from on high – each team was to devise their own personal weaponry, bearing in mind the Meitner Field Radius, and become proficient in its use prior to embarkation.

That directive was issued eight weeks ago; and now, it is the turn of Chronosquad Indigo!

The Meitner Field Radius

The one characteristic that all Temperanauts have in common is that they are possessed of unusually dense Meitner Fields, sufficiently intense that the fields rise about half-and-inch from the surface of their bodies. Meitner fields are something similar to Kirlean Fields, energy patterns created by intracellular electrical activity. Not much is known about them at this point, and much of that knowledge has been bought at the cost of human life.

If an organism does not have such a high-density Meitner Field, that organism suffers complete biochemical breakdown as the chemical processes that create and sustain life go awry, some running rampant, and others coming to an almost-complete halt.

Anything surrounded by an intense Meitner Field can be conveyed through the Zener Gate by a Temperanaut, but there are certain risks and shortcomings that Temperanauts must be aware of when selecting their equipment.

Anything which relies on a chemical reaction in order to function will tend to misbehave, the reactions either inhibited or dangerously accelerated. In a nutshell, they either become chemically inert or explode. It is believed that electron orbits have a Temporal Component through one of the 10 non-space dimensions postulated by Quantum Physicists, but the reasons are ultimately irrelevant – the phenomena happens.

Anything that projects outside the field is sheared off during Zener Transit. Atoms are literally cut in half, as are subatomic particles. This creates a field of radiation (mostly gamma) that surrounds the Temperanaut and can quickly reach lethal doses. Since protection against such radiation requires dense metals such as Lead and the thickness of such materials must be measured in feet or meters, not fractions of an inch, radiation exposure is a constant problem that the Temperanaut must be aware of. Air molecules represent a relatively negligible exposure, about equivalent to 24 hours of television viewing or six hours in space beyond the protection of the Van Allen belts; but the density of material is a factor. Air has an atomic density of 0.02504 x 10^27 atoms per meter cubed. A Meitner Field Surface has an area of approximately one square meter. Only at the edge of the Meitner Field is there atomic disruption, so effectively we’re talking about 85.6 x 10^16 atomic breakdowns. Half of these will be directly away from the organism and another 10% or more will be at an angle that does not intersect with the biological structure, e.g. near vertically. All this reduces the resulting exposure to relatively safe levels. Water has an atomic density 1332 times that of air, and produces a radiation field that is 121 times as intense. This is enough to substantially increase the risk of radiation poisoning with repeated exposure, equivalent to having 121 whole-body x-rays. Diamond (and most other solids) have an atomic density 5 times that of water, which doesn’t sound like much – but it produces a radiation field more than 6000 times that of air, the equivalent of having 605 whole-body x-rays per exposure. Accordingly, Temperanaut uniforms must be snugly fitted, suitable for all climates, completely free of loops and other projections, and anything thicker than 0.25 inches is unsafe.

Electrical Devices, unless hardened against EMP, are completely fried by the process of transition unless protected by a Meitner Field. Batteries and other such power sources are particularly affected because the electron flows are massively disrupted by transition. What’s more, the electron flows in such devices are known to disrupt Meitner Fields even when no current is flowing. Accordingly, no electronic devices of any kind are permitted to be in an actively-powered state and no Temperanaut may carry an electrical power supply of a chemical nature.

This does not preclude the use of solar cells, however some theories of time travel warn against introducing technology foreign to the era, and so these power sources are also prohibited. It follows that power supplies for any electronic devices must be sourced from the local environment without being witnessed by local inhabitants.

Temporal Dangers

Durations experienced on the far side of the Zener Gate are known to radically differ from those recorded at the Zener Control end. To date, no pattern has emerged, it is only known that seconds of absence may translate into hours or days on the far side. Zener Gate openings are uncontrolled, it is not yet known whether or not the degree of durational impact is in some way related to the temporal separation between times. Accordingly, Temperanauts should always remain in close proximity to each other, and local sources of food, clean water, and shelter must be obtained. You may have a long wait.

Paradoxes may be impossible to initiate, or impossible to undo. We don’t know. Interaction with the locals is considered high-risk, but may be necessary. The more important the individual, the greater the risk involved. It is also true that under at least one temporal theory, any attempt to create a paradox or alter history will result in the offender being excised from existence.

Environments may be harsh. Survival precautions should be taken when necessary.

There is much we simply don’t know. Hence selection focused on self-reliance and an ability to improvise.

Adventure Format

It is anticipated that adventures will come to fit a standard pattern or format.

Pre-game: Spend XP and update characters.

Arrival Recap: The PCs will emerge from a Zener Transition and be able to make an immediate assessment of the local conditions and time-frame.

Baseline Resources: The PCs will obtain or identify local resources – food, water, shelter. For the first few times, this will be roleplayed in full, thereafter it will be assumed to have happened and relevant details provided by the GM in between scenes unless a specific challenge is represented.

Engagement: Something will happen that will involve the PCs in whatever the local situation is in a rational and sensible way. Initially, these will involve avoiding situations forbidden by Zener Control Standing Orders; over time, these will evolve into specific objectives that require interaction with the local environment or indigenous personnel. It will become quickly apparent that not all is as it was presented to them in the briefing provided pre-transition by Zener Control.

Impending Transit: A means will quickly be developed of realizing how long a time-span is available for the adventure in game time. This will be an amount sufficient for the PCs to resolve the engagement but still place them under some time pressure.

Resolution: The adventure is completed or time runs out to do so.

Transit: When time runs out, the PCs will involuntarily make a new Zener Transit, departing the local timeline. Care will need to be taken to avoid long-term radiation damage by carrying items they shouldn’t. The decision of what to take and what to leave behind will be a critical one for the players, as they will be strictly limited in this capacity.

Teaser: It is anticipated that most of the time, the adventure will wrap up with a teaser for the next arrival sequence.

Experience/Post-adventure: XP will be awarded immediately based on the success or failure of the characters in achieving their objectives. XP may also be awarded in the course of play. Long-term damage will be tracked and will semi-permanently impair the characters thereafter. From time to time, in-adventure circumstances will permit medical treatment of long-term damage, restoring the characters to partial or complete health.

The ?pilot? adventure will differ from this somewhat as there will need to be some foundations laid. I anticipate starting the game as the PCs from Chronosquad Indigo are suiting up just prior to their expedition through the Zener Gate.

Adding New Players / Replacing Dead PCs

I have some ideas, not yet fully developed, to enable both of these to occur should they become necessary. It is anticipated that PC death with be a rare event and a Big Deal if and when it occurs, and it is not expected that other players will want to join the campaign, but I think it important to prepare for both contingencies.

So that’s the plan

…we shall see how closely the reality measures up! Everything except game system choice and creating the first adventure is now done…

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