Upload
theartmachine
View
224
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
7/30/2019 Eternity!_Risus RPG
1/8
by Ken MacLennan
A campaign concept usingthe risus rules by s. john ross
Guarding the integrity of the space-time continu-um is a demanding and dangerous task, requiringthe services of agents with truly extraordinary abili-
ties. These elite agents, handpicked from throughout
the tapestry of history for outstanding skills and qual-
ities making them distinctive in their own times and
places, representing the absolute best and brightest
that humanity has to offer. They are the ETERNITY
CORPS, and in their hands lies the safety of Time as
we know it.
Note: Playing in this setting requires the RISUSrules, by S. John Ross, which rules are available (for
free, in the basic version) via the Cumberland Games
website: http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm.
Very little of what follows will make sense as a
game unless you are familiar with the RISUS system
(or can access it for reference purposes).
7/30/2019 Eternity!_Risus RPG
2/8
2
Personages of Historical Significance:Character Adaptation
In ETERNITY!, player characters are not so much created as adapt-
ed. Players take the roles of famous (or infamous) historical figures charged
with guarding the space-time continuum against threats to its integrity.
Characters may be chosen from any era, famed for any field of endeavor,
BUT will ideally be individuals who require little or no explanation to ones
fellow players. Characters may be semi-historical (say, Moses, Robin hood,
or Gilgamesh), but not wholly mythological or fictional (e.g., Hercules or
Miss Marple). An ETERNITY! player character is also known as a Person-
age of Historical Significance or PHS for short (PsHSpronounced peez-
aitch-essin the plural).
Persona and Hidden Talents
The Clichs that define a PHS should, for the most part, reflect theindividuals persona as history and tradition have defined it. Thus, players
really ought to choose individuals who are familiar enough to their fellow
players that the historical/traditional clichs resonate; otherwise, you will
be less entertaining to them and the game wont be as much fun. One Cli-
ch, however, may depart radically from that persona; we call this Clich
the Hidden Talent. It must be a minor Clich, but it can (indeed, should)
be as anachronistic or outlandish as the player wishes. The Hidden Talent
may represent skills picked up since the PHSs induction into the Eternity
Corps (and their death in Earths recorded history), it may represent some
lesser-known (i.e., entirely made-up) aspect of the PHSs persona alleg-
edly overlooked by History, or it can (GM willing) be completely fantastic
(i.e., magical or super powers).
Note that Time Cop is not an appropriate Clich for a PHS, de-
spite the fact that all PsHS in the Corps are by definition time cops. Such a
Clich would take valuable dice away from more entertaining Clichs, and
the Hidden Talent rule gives players the chance to balance out their char-
acters skill sets if the historical personas are weak in abilities important to
the job. Gun Nut, Extreme-Sports Athlete, or even Private Gumshoe,
are examples of Hidden Talents that can help PsHS manage the rougher
aspects of time-stream policing.
Hooks in ETERNITY!
You may assign a Hook to your PHS, if (and only if) said Hook is
drawn from the historical persona of the PHS. (No Hidden Flaws here!) For
example, if you decided to play Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a PHS, you
could use his polio as a Hook; if playing Napoleon I, your GM might allow
a Hook for his obsession with winning.
7/30/2019 Eternity!_Risus RPG
3/8
3
ConfuciusWizened Chinese Sage (4): Dispensing Cryptic
Wisdom, Knowing Ancient History and Classi-
cal Literature, Inspiring the Respect of Ones
Juniors.
Beacon of Righteousness (3): Resolving Moral
Dilemmas, Standing Up to Evil, Keeping People
on the Straight and Narrow.
HT: Improvisational Jazz Genius (3): Playing
Killer Riffs, Laying Down Grooves, Looking
Cool.
Harriet TubmanIntrepid Fugitive Guide (4): Evading Pursu-
ers, Finding the Way, Hiding from People and
Dogs.
Crusader for Justice (4): Confronting Vil-lainy, Speaking Truth to Power, Agitating for
Positive Social Change.
HT: Wuxia Master (2): Martial Arts Blows,
Feints, and Dodges.
Babe RuthBaseball Star (4): Throwing, Catching, Bat-
ting, Running.
Party Animal (4): Holding His Liquor, Eating
Prodigious Quantities, Picking Up Women.
HT: Connoisseur of Ancient Art (2): Identi-
fying Ancient Cultures, Spotting Forgeries, Es-
timating Market Values.
Sample PsHS
Tales in ETERNITY!
Tales, on the other hand, dont really have a place in ETERNITY! Were
playing with the stereotypes of historical figures, and any background be-
yond the level of general knowledge threatens the slapstick quality of the
setting. But if your GM wants to allow em, who am I to forbid it.
7/30/2019 Eternity!_Risus RPG
4/8
4
About the Eternity Corps
The origins and history of the Eternity Corps are so tangled up in
time-traveling paradoxes that it is impossible to say, really, when and how it
was founded. In a sense, it has always existed, for wherever there has been
trouble with the space-time continuum, Eternity Corps agents have been
on the scene to straighten matters out. More prosaically, it would have to
have been established after humanity had mastered the art of time travel,
but honestly, its not that important. Make up whatever backstory suits your
purposes as a game master. However, the Eternity Corps headquarters exists
outside the space-time continuum, in an artificial bubble of existence cre-
ated especially for the purpose of housing the Corps. Members of the Corps
ignore any paradoxes caused by this circumstance, and you should feel free
to do likewise.
Mission teams may be permanent (if you and your players want tokeep using the same PsHS) or ad hoc (if you want to keep experimenting
with new PHS ideas). Each team is managed by a controla senior agent
whose job entails briefing, monitoring, debriefing, and evaluating Eternity
Corps field teams. This control should also be a PHS, although whether you
assign a personage of traditional moral/political authority (e.g., King Solo-
mon) or not (say, Ed Wood-in or out of drag) depends on your tastes and
intentions as GM.
The Corps maintains a large-scale Anachroscanner (q.v.) system
that both identifies dangers to the continuum and enables the Corps to track
its agents. They can send you out, know when youve accomplished your
mission, and then pull you back to HQ when youre done-or when youve
screwed up so badly that they need to send out another team.
In a standard Corps mission the control calls a team of agents in,
briefs them on the problem to be dealt with, then sends them out to their
first destination. From there the agents assess the problem, take whatever
measures they deem appropriate, and signal the Corps if they need to move
on to another set of time-space coordinates to further the mission goal. This
process generally continues until the mission is completed. That standard,
however, is tenuous at best, and Im certainly not going to tell you GMs
how to do your job.
Authentic? The Eternity
Corps thinks not!
7/30/2019 Eternity!_Risus RPG
5/8
5
Equipping Agents
Agents of the Eternity Corps dress in plainclothes; i.e., they wear
what they wore in their earthly lives, and carry the appropriate Tools of
the Trade, except when a case requires incognito. (Then, of course, hilarity
ensues.) The Corps also issues certain standard pieces of equipment to help
agents resolve cases:
AnachroscannerA detector designed to locate objects and entities displaced from
their proper position in the time stream. The device can be fooled, and its
range tends to be short, but it is generally effective. The Corps usually as-
signs one to each team of agents.
StunnerA hand-held, non-lethal ranged weapon firing a particle beam. Each
PHS is equipped with one as a Tool of the Trade, no matter what Clichsshe might have. If the PHS needs to use the stunner, then use an appropri-
ate or Inappropriate Clich for the action as circumstances may suggest. Of
course, there are other ways to subdue bad-guys besides zapping them with
a stunner...
ChronommunicatorEach PHS carries one. Permits contact between team members who
are separated, as well as with Control. Not as reliable as one would hope;
as with cell-phone service, in some areas of space-time reception is poor or
entirely absent.
Synaptic-Mnemonic ReconfiguratorA memory-modification device. As part of protecting the space-
time continuum, PsHS occasionally have to modify peoples memo-
ries so that their necessary and (hopefully) minor anachronisms dont
end up written into the historical record. Each team is issue one, and
they are strictly instructed to use it no more than absolutely necessary.
The device only works at very close rangei.e., within hand-to-hand
combat reach. Excessive or improper use of an SMR can get a PHS
into very deep trouble with the Corps.
7/30/2019 Eternity!_Risus RPG
6/8
6
Saving the Space-Time Continuum:Eternity Corps Adventures
So, what sort of threats does the Eternity Corps guard against?
Space-time is full of people (in the broadest sense of the term) willing to
risk unraveling it in order to have things their way. In addition, occasionally
the fabric of space-time produces its own threatswormholes, time storms,
and whatnotthat threaten to unravel the continuum and put an end to exis-
tence as we know it. Here are some of the types of cases that Eternity Corps
agents handle:
AnarchrosmugglingThe unauthorized transfer of technology to an inappropriate era, for
profit or to influence the outcome of events.
Artifact Forgery
Unscrupulous time travelers bury objects in the deep past in orderto improve their resale value in the future.
DopplegangeringSubverters of History kidnap key individuals from their proper con-
texts and replace them with imposters or duplicates who attempt to change
the course of events to their employers liking.
Time Storm CleanupThe restoration of persons or items dispersed in time storms to their
appropriate contexts.
Wormhole ClosureIf left unsealed, wormholes in the space-time continuum can pull
unsuspecting persons or important objects into wholly inappropriate con-
texts, threatening the integrity of the continuum and/or the safety of any
individuals involved. Wormholes, however, may be difficult to access due
to their tendency to pull people and things through them.
Pick-Up Adventure Design Mechanic
I learned this trick from a friend who in turn learned it from another
friend, so Im not in a position to give due credit for itif its your idea, by
all means claim it. Weve used it in all our ETERNITY! adventures to date
with some success.
Have each player write down one wordany word, within such lim-
its of comprehensibility or good taste that you might wish to setwithout
telling the others. When everyone is done, the GM collects the words. Take
ten minutes to work out an adventure that incorporates all of the words in
some fashion as elements of plot or atmosphere.
7/30/2019 Eternity!_Risus RPG
7/8
7
Shout-Outs and Sources
S. John Ross, creator of the Risus system
Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon
Bill & Ted s Excellent Adventure
John Scieszka and Lane Smith
Time Warp Trio
Steve Purcell
Sam & Max, Freelance Police
Jay Ward and Ted Key
Peabodys Improbable History
Donald P. Bellisario
Quantum Leap
Otto Binder and Sheldon Moldoff
Kid Eternity
I should probably cite David Wassons Time Squadhere,
too, but I must confess Ive never actually watched it.
Oops! almost forgot my playtest crew:
Colin Amato (Jesus of Nazareth)
Adam Boring (Nikola Tesla, Jim Lizard King Morrison)
Becky Steussy-Boring (Florence Nightingale, Cleopatra)
Marcus Clawson (Salvador Dali)
Geneva Clawson (William Bill Shakespeare)
Brent Wolke (Sam Mark Twain Clemens, Rube )
7/30/2019 Eternity!_Risus RPG
8/8
ETERNITY!
Name:______________________________________Cliches:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Tools of the Trade:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hook:
_____________________________________________
ETERNITY!
Name:______________________________________Cliches:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Tools of the Trade:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hook:
_____________________________________________
ETERNITY!
Name:______________________________________Cliches:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Tools of the Trade:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hook:
_____________________________________________
ETERNITY!
Name:______________________________________Cliches:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Tools of the Trade:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hook:
_____________________________________________
` `
``