Introduction
Existence is a privilege, not a right. The multiverse can erase those who now exist for many reasons: a timeline rendered impossible by irresponsible time travelers, a Shadow World already on the bringk of nonexistence falling into the Devourer’s maw, or an entire body of evidence wished away by a cabal of Revisionists manipulating consensual reality.
Whatever the cause, survivors of the vanished timeline, world, or evidence become Phantoms, their own existence gradually fading … assuming Devourers don’t come for the first.
Sometimes the Arbiter sends a Handler to take a Phantom to Timeless City. Sometimes he doesn’t. Phantoms who don’t find such a timely rescue are doomed to become nothing, not even a memory.
Appearance
A Phantom may be a person, place, or thing. He, she, they, or it always looks unusual, out of place, but real enough … at the start. As its time to erasure advances, it becomes more and more translucent, sometimes fading away entirely for a moment. The moments of nonexistence become longer and more frequent, until the Phantom fades entirely from existence and mortal memory.
Tactics
Phantoms desperately want to hang onto existence. Some draw attention to themselves, or try to do great or terrible deeds, so that they are not forgotten. All such efforts prove futile. In the end they gravitate toward those who can still perceive them, like Timeless, and live their final moments simply trying to be remembered by one person.
Phantom Characters
Extra Dice Needed: 1d12
The Referee creates a person, place, or thing from a doomed reality in the Host System, then applies the main Phantom attribute: a ticking 12-segment clock that starts at 1.
The Phantom Sheet
- Name: The name of the person, place, or thing.
- Reason For Erasure: A brief explanation of why the Phantom is being erased.
- Progress Toward Erasure: A twelve-segment clock, with one segment filled in. The other segments will be filled in as the Phantom struggles for existence.
- Notes: Any Referee comments.
Special Afflictions
Lifetime Clock
Whenever a person or creature exerts themselves, i.e. when they throw dice, they also roll the d12. (The Referee should exempt certain dice rolls like damage dice which are part of the same action.) If the d12 value is equal to or less than the number of clock segments already filled in, the action fails as the Phantom suffers a momentary existence failure, and one more segment of the clock gets filled in.
Passive objects and places roll the d12 every in-game hour they sit unused.
As the clock progresses, the symptoms of imminent erasure get worse.
Phasing In and Out
The first symptom of being a Phantom is phasing in-and-out: momentarily becoming invisible, insubstantial, and unconscious of one’s surroundings. No time passes for the Phantom, but others will notice the seconds they were gone. (The number of seconds is the number on the clock.)
Reduced Presence
When the clock reaches six segments, other people (besides Timeless) will have trouble remembering the Phantom: out of sight, out of mind.
Final Dissolution
When the clock reaches nine segments, the Phantom themselves will being to lose memories of who they were, what they were trying to do, and where they came from. As every action brings them closer to final erasure, they will become more passive and introspective.
When all segments are filled in, the Phantom disappears for the last time.