Timeless Rules

Introducing Timeless

See “Many Systems, One Campaign” for more context.

The Frame

Players portray the Timeless, reincarnating eternally across space and time. In one incarnation they may fight a brutal war involving other Timeless. Tn the next, they find they are the ones who start it.

The Timeless break consensus reality to perform seeming miracles. Mundane consensus reality, however, is a powerful force. Every time the PCs break the laws of time, space, and parallel worlds, the metaverse has a chance to fight back. And it fights dirty.

The Game

Each session players and Referee potentially play a different role-playing game, under the pretext that their current characters are incarnations of the Timeless. The Referee guides players through sessions at the center of which is one or more Quests, or objectives they must accomplish.

Timeless can break the rules by “bending reality”: introduce abilities of a past Incarnation that the current one does not have, or exploit Karma that the Timeless bears with them between Incarnations, for usually dramatic, even explosive results. This may provoke a Backlash from Consensus Reality, which does not like having its reality bent even a little.

Timeless can also bail out of one reality and into another by finding a Portal that carries them into another World. Only the Referee controls which world they go to next.

Three of the biggest influences of this “metasystem” are West Marches campaigns, the HârnWorld artifacts called “Godstones”, and most importantly John Wick’s “The Flux”.

The Variations

Despite this minimal framework I have written multiple variations on this game, described in future documents. The D20 variant should release with this document; more will come when available.

Game Concepts

These terms apply generally to all role-playing games. Here we relate them to Timeless.

Campaign

A sequence of Timeless Sessions with a recurring but not necessarily constant number of Players, Timeless, and Incarnations set in a succession of Worlds. Each Session may use a different Host System, but usually the group will settle on a stable of preferred Host Systems with occasional excursions into new ones.

Host System

The role-playing game used to play out adventures in a World using Incarnations.

Player

The person portraying a Timeless. The Timeless Sheet serves as a label or cover sheet for a folder of character sheets, one for each Incarnation.

Referee

The “game master”, “dungeon master”, “keeper”, etc. who runs a Session in a Host System. Their responsibilities resemble their counterparts in normal role-playing games, except that they and their peer Referees also plan Quests that link Worlds and Players together.

The structure of Timeless lends itself to West Marches style play with multiple Referees and a large group of Players. Here, however, Referees juggle entire Worlds, not just adventure locations around a central town. Players pursue not treasure but exploration and achievement, reflected both in the circumstances of Incarnations in each recurring World and in the increasing power of the Timeless over those worlds.

Session

A few hours of role-play with a single Referee leading multiple Players, each generally portraying one Incarnation of one Timeless, on an adventure generally in one World.

World

A combination of a setting devised by the Referee or a third party and a Host System usually defined by a third party. For example, RuneQuest’s Glorantha is one World, Numenéra’s Ninth World is a different World, and the Referee’s homebrew Shadowdark setting is a third. If they port that homebrew setting from Shadowdark to Dungeon Crawl Classics, that would be a different World.

To Summarize …

One or more Referees plan a Campaign with multiple Worlds using multiple Host Systems. Players create a Timeless character with many Incarnations, each in a World using its Host System. Each Session a Referee guides these Incarnations through an adventure on their World.

Timeless Concepts

These in-game and out-of-game concepts apply to all Timeless variations.

Backlash

When the consensus reality of a World rejects the unnatural presence of a Timeless, the Timeless suffer a significant setback. Details depend on the World and the Referee, but invariably involve fictional pain and loss for an Incarnation and mortals to which they have become close. The Timeless should survive it; others may not.

Bane

A factor that hinders a Timeless in their attempt to bend reality. We count up Boons and Banes to arrive at a total difficulty for the attempt.

Boon

A factor that helps a Timeless in their attempt to bend reality. We count up Boons and Banes to arrive at a total difficulty for the attempt.

Consensus Reality

The true enemy of the Timeless is consensus reality: the mass of human belief that says something is not possible. Thus the Timeless work in secret, masquerading as ordinary or extraordinary denizens of a World.

The beliefs of consensus reality differ from world to world. In many worlds magic simply doesn’t exist. In others, however, magic is an accepted fact of life … with its own rules and limits. Timeless often have to pass off their ability to bend reality as “ordinary magic” or “new technology” or whatever the prevailing paradigm of that world.

Drama

The narrative flow of a Timeless campaign. In the world of the Timeless, things happen less for logical reasons than for dramatic ones. Timeless think nothing of one-in-a-million coincidences and serendipity.

The term “Drama” may also refer to actions outside a Host System’s rules that have an effect within the Host System, e.g. a “magical” ritual conducted by Timeless that has a concrete in-game, in-world effect. The Referee will point out opportunities to make those happen.

Incarnation

Characters in a Host System created for a particular World. A “character sheet” for a particular RPG represents the Incarnation, while a Timeless Sheet represents the Timeless who has lived as all those Incarnations.

Karma

One or more facts of a Timeless’s existence may persist across Incarnations. Perhaps it’s a technique to focus their Psyche more effectively. Perhaps it’s the favor or ire of another Timeless, or some other entity outside Time, who may appear and affect the current Quest.

Karma Check

A simple Referee procedure to check if a person or thing in mentioned in a character’s Karma happens. Count the number of Karma items revolving around that person or thing, then roll 1d6. If the number on the die is less than or equal to the number of mentions, the person or thing appears in the current World.

Karmic Fetter

The Referee and Player breaks Karma into discrete words, phrases, or short sentences, each referred to as a Fetter. Generally the player will record each Fetter on a separate line, or at least separated by semicolons or periods. Each Fetter that affects the use of Psyche adds either a Boon or a Bane to the Psyche Check. The same Fetter may be a Boon or a Bane depending on circumstances.

Portal

Portals are like Power Spots, but stronger. They allow Timeless to voluntarily exit the current World and travel to another. Which world is a decision for the Referee.

Power Spot

In each World lies regions where the fabric of space and time is thinner. Most are in remote locations or abandoned areas where no one goes. Locals know them as places where uncanny things, usually bad, happen. True Power Spots, in fact, ease the effort of Bending Reality, albeit in that location alone.

Psyche

Psyche represents the integrity and power of a Timeless’s soul, independent of their forms in various worlds. Its game representation differs depending on which variant of the Timeless rules the players and Referee have selected for their campaign. It advances only when players complete Quests¹ in one of their Incarnations.

Psyche Check

In most Timeless Variations, this involves rolling dice: the Timeless’s Psyche score against some resistance factor reflecting consensus reality.

Quest

The Timeless bounce around time and space to complete Quests. These may be as simple as saving a specific life in one world to averting a war or discovering a wondrous treasure.

The Referee can define all Quests, or the Players can define some or all of their own Quests. The individual play group must decide.

Sanctum

The home base of one or more Timeless while in a particular World. Once established as a Sanctum, any Timeless finds bending reality easier there. Each Timeless may only have one Sanctum in a World, even if they share a Sanctum with another.

Timeless

A being whose existence transcends time, space, and reality, and who can break the limits of a World with an act of Psyche. That said, they still experience a linear sequence of events while within an Incarnation, and their memories of those Incarnations create a distinct narrative flow …

From a game perspective, a Timeless “character” ties together the Incarnations of one player and gives them escape hatches from a World that turns against them or a Host System they do not like.

Timeless do not die; at worst they can lose an Incarnation or be “dispersed” and lose temporary access to an Incarnation.

True Name

The Timeless’s mystical “true name” … or not. It is not the player’s name nor the name of any of the characters they play save maybe the first. It describes who and what the Timeless thinks of themselves in the privacy of their own mind.

The Timeless Sheet

To represent the abilities of a Timeless, each player has a Timeless Sheet. It prefaces the accumulation of character Incarnations for specific Worlds. It’s little more than a label or bookmark with room for Player Name, True Name, Psyche, and Karma.

In the default game, the Psyche score represents the number of six-sided dice a Timeless rolls to determine whether they can bend reality. Every Timeless player character² starts with Psyche 3,

Before The First Session

The Referee selects a role-playing game as the first Host System and a setting for that game as the first World that the Timeless encounter. Ideally this is a game the Players truly want to try. Both parties may want to line up future candidates at this stage.

At this stage players may fill out a Timeless Sheet of the Referee’s chosen variant, to represent the Timeless character. They may want to paste it to the cover of a folder or binder for all the characters they will be playing.

The Referee prepares the initial sandbox or adventure for the Host System. They also design a Quest, a starting goal that the Timeless must complete. The Referee may tell the Timeless what the Quest is, or drop clues during adventures that point them there.³ Likewise, the Referee may or may not inform them of Power Spots and Portals in the area, or give them a starting Sanctum.

Each Player makes a character for that Host System and World, according to that RPG’s rules for beginning characters. They should check if the Referee has any house rules or other special requirements, but at this stage it may be better to play Rules As Written.

Finally, Referee and Players gather for a session to play.

Game Play

Normally game play follows that of the Host System for the particular World in which the players’ Incarnations find themselves.

The Timeless, however, have powers that transcend a single World. If reality is not to their liking, they can simply bend it or change it.

Bending Reality

Because Timeless live outside of Time, they can bend the laws of a World simply by focusing their psyche. Details differ with each Timeless Variation, but the basic framework is the following.

• The player describes the kind of effect they want to achieve. The player must cite the Incarnation and ability they want to draw upon, and any other Incarnations of Karma which may be relevant. They negotiate with the Referee to decide on specific effects.

• The player and Referee count Boons and Banes to arrive at a numeric Difficulty Factor (DF) for the attempt and any bonuses to the player’s die roll.

• The player rolls dice. The result determines if the effect occurs or not, and whether the player suffers Backlash.

Assessing Boons and Banes

1. The Referee declares the number of Banes imposed on the attempt to bend reality, according to the following guidelines:

   • One Bane if the effect lies wholly outside consensus reality, as opposed to being a “one in a million” occurrence.
   • One Bane if the effect would appear in front of ordinary people. Two Banes if the effect would appear in front of a large crowd. Three Banes if the effect would appear in front of an enormous crowd, i.e. on national television.
   • One Bane if the effect is a bit one, or two Banes if it is really big.
   • One Bane for each Karmic Fetter that might count against the attempt. The Player may argue against its relevance, but the Referee has the final say.:

2. The player may add a number of Boons equal to the number of Karmic Fetters and prior Incarnations that apply to the attempt. The Referee may veto any proposed Boon.

3. The player may add an additional Boon if the effect will happen in the Timeless’s personal or group sanctuary, or two Boons if they stand in a Power Spot or near a Portal.

A player may choose not to add Boons because in some Timeless Variations the larger the number of Boons the more likely Backlash will occur.

Chance of Success

In the default game, the Referee calculates a Difficulty Factor (DF) equal to 12 + 3 × the number of Banes. The Player then rolls a number of six-sided dice equal to their Psyche plus the number of Boons. The player may elect to roll fewer dice than they’re entitled to, to reduce the chances of Backlash.

If the total on the dice equals or exceeds the DF, the effect works like the Player and Referee agreed. If the total was off by one or tow points, the Referee may allow a lesser effect.

Chance of Backlash

If the dice rolled shows two or more 1s, the Timeless suffer Backlash. The players should brace themselves.

Switching Realities

To voluntarily change realities, a Timeless must first find a Portal. Portals may exist anywhere, but most lie in forgotten ruins or inaccessible wilderness.

Using a Portal automatically succeeds if the Referee so rules. To force the issue, each player may make a bending reality attempt.

Switching Realities usually ends the session, as the Referee goes off to prep another game.

Upon switching back to the current reality, no time will have passed.

Gaining Experience

Each Incarnation gains experience according to the rules of the Host System, and only while the player plays that Incarnation.

Psyche increases after players resolve a Quest. In the default game, each Quest completed by the player increases their Psyche by one point. Other variations use other reward schemes.

Karma accumulates as the Timeless interact with each other and other beings outside of Time. The Referee has final on what constitutes Karma and Fetters.

Appendix: Probabilities for Timeless

Averages and Backlash

Detailed Probabilities by Number of Dice