GURPS - 4th Edition - Infinite Worlds

Building Historical this may not matter in a time-hopping Simply thumbing through a biog-
Characters game of famous troubleshooters. raphical dictionary, or even an ency-
clopedia, gives literally hundreds of
Assign attributes conservatively, Two or three skills are usually possibilities for this type of character –
based on your research. Writers, prominent – these should be set as people who were prominent in their
artists, scientists and the like have a high as possible. Keep in mind that a own day but not well known now.
higher IQ; athletes and warriors, skill of 21+ is the greatest in history: Research into this kind of character is
higher DX. A subject’s longevity can be Shakespeare’s Poetry or Alexander the also very educational, and a great
a clue to setting HT, but remember Great’s Strategy, for example. Skills of source of ideas for adventures and
that longevity must be considered in 19-20 are the “best in the country”: subtle parallel world divergences of
relation to the time period. A score of John Wesley Hardin’s Fast-Draw. A the sort Centrum specializes in.
11-12 still stands out to contempo- skill of 16-18 is still enough for lasting
raries as above average over time; a fame: Mussorgsky’s Musical Compo- “I Didn’t Think
score of 13-14 is noticed immediately sition, perhaps. Then, determine sec- You Were Real!”
and marks the figure as a prodigy; 15+ ondary skills – these should be set
should be saved for “best ever” world- equal to the controlling ability (DX or With the GM’s permission, the
beating types: Newton’s IQ, or George IQ), or perhaps a level or two higher. players can research and create “his-
Washington’s Will, for instance. Use The remaining points can then be torical” characters who never actually
Talents and “aptitudes” such as spent to round out the character. lived, or whose reality is in some
Charisma, High Manual Dexterity, Remember that “period” skills that doubt. In many cases, the “real” ver-
Mathematical Ability, Versatile, and so may seem useless at first may be very sion of such a character is a far cry
forth rather than jacking attributes valuable to an agent in a primitive from the legendary or fictional one.
up. Remember that levels of these world. King Arthur, Robin Hood, and
advantages higher than 3 also lead to Hercules are all examples of charac-
world-beating reputations. Footnote Characters ters who might have been based on a
historical individual.
Advantages are any innate talents Many of the best temporal agents
possessed by the character, or ones are those who might be called “histor- Such people are also very good
gained very early in life. In general, ical footnotes.” They had interesting NPCs, because the first reaction of
keep the point total for disadvantages and distinguished careers . . . but from those who meet them is often “I didn’t
below -40; biographers and hostile the vantage point of the 21st century, think you were real!” Some “real”
contemporaries exaggerate many they are obscure. As a result, they are characters will give the same effect.
character flaws. Quirks are the most easier to “rescue” without distorting a The swashbucklers D’Artagnan and
fun; every great person had them, and world’s history. Playing such a charac- Cyrano de Bergerac, and the gunfight-
they can be roleplayed to the hilt and ter is a good compromise between a ers Wild Bill Hickok and Bat
help bring the character to life. truly famous person, and an Masterson, fall into this category. They
Extreme advantages and disadvan- imaginary nobody. all really lived, but many people know
tages (those worth more than 10 only of the stories based on their
points) are more appropriate for cine- WEAPONS exploits, and assume that they were
matic games than purely historical purely fictional. And the truth about
ones, although narrowly combat- Baker & Alvarez .591 Express Rifle: some of these people may be surpris-
focused advantages (like Combat This is the standard dinosaur-hunting ing . . . Bat Masterson, for instance,
Reflexes) are usually more realistic rifle sold in high-end sporting goods was a New York City gentleman for
even at fairly high levels. Remember stores on Homeline. Adapted from an much of his career, and Davy Crockett
to apply Rank and Status, although anti-materiel rifle design, it is illegal to was a member of Congress!
own in most Homeline nations, and
The arms and accessories potentially even some American states. Hunting weapon of the Centrum Interworld
available to crosstime heroes run the agencies often rent them out to cus- Service. Based on a neural disruptor
gamut from flint knives to planet-bust- tomers. All B&A weapons are very fine technology that defies Homeline
ing explosives. This section concentrates (see p. B280). Fires .591 Express Nitro. attempts at technical exploitation, the
on specific firearms encountered in the Pandar delivers an affliction attack:
Infinite Worlds setting. CF/3 “Pandar” Stunner: This the victim gets a HT roll to resist, at a
“stun pistol” is the standard holdout penalty dependent on the weapon and
FIREARMS a (2) armor divisor (that is, the victim
gets +1 to HT per 2 DR on the location
All TL9+ weaponry incorporates struck). Failure results in paralysis for
advanced electronics (see “Smartgun” a number of minutes equal to the
Electronics, p. B278). margin of failure.

INFINITE CHARACTERS 199

CF/4 “Porpentine” EMW: The walking stick has become a comedy slowed adoption. Fires 10mm Infinity
Centrum Interworld Service uses this staple. Caseless.
electromag weapon as a multi-pur-
pose firearm that can fire a number of Infantry Combat Weapon: Standard Needler: A small-caliber air gun that
specialized munitions, ranging from issue to the United States military in usually fires a small dart using nothing
anti-personnel diamondoid needle Homeline (as the M-23A3), the ICW more then compressed air. The darts
clusters to anti-tank warheads. The features an “over and under” configu- can be tipped with any sort of poison,
ammo chart lists a standard solid ration mating a medium caliber hallucinogen, drug, paralytic agent,
“slug” round; other rounds include: assault rifle with a modular under-bar- tracking microdot, etc. that Centrum
beehive (1d-1 imp, RoF ¥100, Rcl 1, rel mount for grenade launchers, vor- or Homeline ingenuity can devise.
CPS $4.4), HEDP (9d(10) and follow- tex ring projectors, or shotguns. Many needles are biodegradeable, and
up 1d+1[1d], CPS $3.3), Baton Grenades can be fired on four settings: vanish upon striking; the target may
(2d(0.5) cr dkb, Rng 52/156, CPS airburst, delayed impact (for firing not even know he was hit (roll against
$1.1), and HE (7d+2(0.5) and follow- through doors to explode inside a Per). Fires 5mm Airdart.
up 4d-1[1d], CPS $1.1). Fires 20mm C- room), “window” (a delay for firing
Hive. through openings), and conventional StG 03: The Mauser Sturmgewehr
impact. Fires 6.8mm ICW. 03 is the main infantry weapon for the
Electrozap Pistol: The “zat” is a Reich-5 German military, including
high-powered electrolaser carried by Infinity Service Pistol: Replacing a the SS Raven Division. It is well con-
Patrol agents and Time Tours guides. hodge-podge of 9mm and 10mm pis- structed and rugged, but requires a lot
Electrozaps are often disguised, and tols, the ISP fires a cutting-edge cased of preventive maintenance and clean-
the hapless crosstime native finding a telescoped round with electrothermal- ing. Like the ICW, it features an under-
lost zat built into a loaf of bread or chemical propellant. It has proven barrel mount for a grenade launcher.
popular, but limited production rates Fires 7.92mm Caseless.
and dodgy ammunition quality have

Ammunition Table

TL: The Tech Level of the ammunition.

WPS: Weight per shot, in pounds.

CPS: Cost per shot.

TL Ammo WPS CPS
9 5mm Airdart 0.035 $0.70
9 6.8mm ICW 0.014 $1.30
9 7.92mm Caseless 0.032 $2.90
9 10mm Infinity Caseless 0.017 $3.00
9 .591 Express Nitro 0.39 $18.00
9 20mm C-Hive 0.054 $1.10

Weapons Table Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC Notes

TL Weapon

BEAM WEAPONS (PISTOL) (DX-4, other Beam Weapons-4, or Guns (Pistol)-4)

9^ CF/3 Pandar, 10mm 2HT-4(2) aff 2 200/600 0.36/0.1 3 104(3) 2 -1 1 $260 4 [1]
1 $12,000 4 [2]
9 Electrozap Pistol, 80mm 1d-1 burn sur 4 80/240 3.6/1 1 87(3) 6 -3

linked HT-6(2) aff

GUNS (PISTOL) (DX-4, or most other Guns at -2)

9 ISP, 10mm 4d+1 pi+ 3 280/3,200 3.4/0.71 10 15+1(3) 8 -2 3 $1,200 3 [3]

9 Needle Pistol, 5mm 1d-1 pi 1 100/390 2.1/1.1 3 25+1(3) 5 -3 2 $200 4

GUNS (RIFLE) (DX-4, or most other Guns at -2)

9 CF/4 Porpentine, 20mm 7d+2 pi++ 2 260/780 22/0.78 1 9+1(3) 4† -6 5 $4,200 1 [4]

9 ICW, 6.8mm 6d pi 5 570/3,700 4.8/0.5 15 30+1(3) 10† -3 2 $430 1 [5]

9 Express Rifle, 15mm 6d¥3 pi+ 5 2,600/11,000 37/0.39 1 1(3) 13B† -10 6 $4,800 2

9 StG 03, 7.92mm 7d+1 pi 4 1,200/5,300 10/1.8 20 40+1(3) 8† -4 2 $1,000 1 [5]

[1] EPS 0.86, C/104 eShots.
[2] EPS 10, D/87 eShots.
[3] EPS 2.3, C/39 eShots.
[4] EPS 19, 2C/9 eShots.
[5] Usually mounts an integral grenade launcher.

200 INFINITE CHARACTERS

CHAPTER SEVEN

INFINITE
CAMPAIGNS

Evening heat shimmer obscured against the violet sky as little as pos- Egyptian desert. The whole century
the bronze flashes on the shields, sible. They crept down the hill, their followed suit, waiting as the plane
and the clouds of choking dust muf- boots tearing up what little furze buzzed overhead.
fled the sound of 100 pairs of hob- clung to its side.
nailed boots striking the arid pan of Just a recon plane, Niger decided,
the desert. The scarlet horsehair Clodius Terentius Niger watched as the optics buried deep in his cheek-
crests were gray with windblown his men move forward, noting with bones pulled a magnified view from
Saharan sand. approval that each man kept his the sky and threw the resulting
mates in his eyeline but kept his eyes schematic against his retinas. An Me-
Even the glint of the spearheads pinned on the next ridge. We don’t 109 F-5, fitted with cameras instead of
was tamed, although by carefully want to get surprised by another guns. In some ways, of course, that
smeared black oil rather than by rust machine-gun nest. At the thought, would be more deadly to his men, if
or dust. Niger reflexively massaged the old the cameras could find them, and if
scar on his throat and jaw. One of the the pictures got to the right people in
As the soldiers crested the rise, men below hissed, and his maniple Rommel’s command.
they spread out in professional fash- dropped to the ground, mere unmov-
ion, staying low and bounding over ing lumps against the rocks of the And Rommel would have such
the ridge, exposing themselves people, or the Last Century wouldn’t
have been sent after his southern
flank. That was how the Rules
worked. That was how the Game

was played.
“Quick-time.” Niger
hissed to his second, who
passed the word down
the ranks. At the next
ridge, the men leapt
over and kept moving,
some silence sacrificed
for much speed. We don’t
have to outrun the plane,
Niger thought. We just
have to outrun the news.
The implants in his
thighs poured catalysts
into his blood, oxy-
genating his muscle
fibers and making his
palms itch for combat.
His legs pistoned and
again his men leapt
forward, keeping up
almost effortlessly.
We’ll pay for this
tomorrow, came the
wry knowledge amid
the euphoric rush of
speed. But Rommel
will pay for it tonight.

INFINITE CAMPAIGNS 201

A crossworld or time-travel cam- To me, all the past is alive with alternatives,
paign is, almost by definition, the and nobody can show, nobody has really
most freewheeling sort of game there attempted to show, that they were not real
is. Whatever the bounds of reality, alternatives.
whoever the bad guys are, however
harsh the local law enforcement in – G.K. Chesterton,
any particular world, the heroes can “On Fate and a Communist”
always Go Somewhere Else.
rules for dimensional and time travel, like any good science fiction. But
Still, such a campaign, whatever its of several different flavors. It’s very they’re imaginary, intended to get the
details, must always answer certain important to understand that the players to use their heads to accom-
questions. The most basic of these are “laws of time travel” or “quantum uni- plish their missions. If they don’t suit
“All right, how did we get here?” – for verses” provided are designed to be your game or your group, tweak them
which see Interdimensional Travel, on (we hope) reasonable and consistent, to fit.
p. B529, or Temporal Physics, on p. 153
– and “What shall we do now that
we’re here?”

Roleplaying is about solving prob-
lems and taking actions inside a
framework of rules. So this book has

CAMPAIGN ASSUMPTIONS

The first step, then, is to decide on Because of this imbalance, most (though problem-solving gets some-
the rules, or at least some guidelines, game approaches to time travel have what more attention in this book than
for your campaign. In freewheeling tried to come up with some mechani- gunfights). It is an argument that the
genres like time travel, or even (slight- cal limitation on the firepower that GM and his players need to agree on
ly) more constrained settings like the time-tripping characters may carry the sorts of things they want to hap-
Infinite Worlds, it’s important to get into the past. (One rarely sees contem- pen in the game, before launching into
your players to buy into these guide- porary characters going into the adventures.
lines, too, before the first die gets future and being mown down by com-
thrown. Otherwise, you’re setting bat lasers.) Sometimes the travelers PARAMETERS
yourself up for a game full of picky are forbidden to carry metal, or an
exceptions, intentional near-paradox, arbitrary “energy scale” (like the Scale
and generally avoidable irritation. Dupuys’ numbers) is imposed.
Scale is the level at which the char-
THE HARDWARE But this misses the point: the diffi- acters are interacting with the world,
DILEMMA AND culty is not one of controlling hard- and the results of their actions upon it.
THE SOFTWARE ware, but matching software – making Are the heroes acting on a prosaic
MISMATCH certain that the GM’s intentions suit scale, living day to day, hoping to sell
the expectations of the players. (or intercept) a rookie Fidel Castro
Or Why the Biggest baseball card on Gernsback? Or are
Problem Isn’t So Big If what the players really want to they acting on an epic scale, saving the
do is face off with panzers against continuum and twisting histories like
The future can hit the past pretty Roman legionaries, then any arbitrary taffy?
hard. Imagine the effects of a squad of rules designed to prevent the slaughter
modern NATO infantry, with their are going to be resented and dodged. Normally, scale maps to character
assault rifles, grenade launchers, Conversely, if the players are interested power. Of course, the GM can create
Kevlar body armor, and so on, against in solving historical mysteries with as compelling, gripping adventure or
a Roman legion. Add in some mortars little violence as possible – and when light-hearted comedy by hurling
or medium machine guns, never mind it’s necessary to fight, meeting the underdogs into big fights. Or a very
vehicles, and it gets even grimmer. opponents on their own terms, high-point game can still have a pro-
Military analysts Trevor and Ernest sword to sword, rather than simply saic scale, such as an ISWAT version
Dupuy, attempting to calculate the blowing them away with futuristic fire- of Hill Street Blues.
“absolute lethality” of weapons, have power – then a lot of restrictions aren’t
concluded that a rifle is hundreds of necessary; the Time Service (through The default Infinite Worlds setting
times more deadly than a sword. its loyal representative, the GM) sim- is somewhere between prosaic scale
ply says “it’s important that you pos- and epic scale; a Patrol team might
sess or do nothing that would give you rescue a tourist one day, and sabotage
away as time travelers,” and that’s an SS invasion next week. This is by
that. design; playing change-up with the
scale helps prevent the monotony of
This is not an argument that one “another day, another world.” For a
sort of play is “better” than another

202 INFINITE CAMPAIGNS

prosaic–scale game, swagmen or petty The default Infinite Worlds setting Division, or present the Duncorne
criminals, Time Tours guides, or aca- has pretty broad, fuzzy boundaries. Foundation and the Cabal’s contest to
demic historians make decent protag- Almost anything is somewhere, and decipher the mysteries of reality as the
onists (or antagonists). A fully epic the GM can make any of it the center only important question. The GM can
game calls for really skilled for an adventure or a whole campaign. even leave whole elements of the set-
Patrolmen, ISWAT operatives, or Conversely, the GM campaign can ting aside; remove the Cabal, Reich-5,
Centrum Unattached agents. trim the boundaries down to whatever or ISWAT, or magic, and it still func-
he’d like. He can essentially ignore all tions. Or just never mention them, and
Scope the “sideshows” and focus purely on assume that they’re off on Quantum 3
the contest between Infinity and doing something terribly exciting but
Scope is what the PCs can see, Centrum, or make the game a pulpy somehow not very crucial to the
touch, influence, and kill. Where scale rumble between the crew of the USS business at hand.
refers to why they step through the Eldridge (p. 163) and the SS Raven
time gate (To save a life? Or to save
humanity?), scope deals with what, Adding Worlds
who, and (sometimes) how. A cam-
paign that only deals with one village, The basic assumption of the Infinite Worlds setting is “whatever it is,
one decade, or even one worldline is it’s out there, somewhere, even if nobody knows it yet, unless that would
smaller in scope than a campaign with wreck your game.” Introducing the Infinite Worlds into an existing game
ramifications throughout a civiliza- world is as easy as having the Scouts show up and ask directions from
tion, all of history, or the Infinite your PCs – or having the Interworld Service show up and try to kill them!
Worlds. Increased scale usually maps Introducing an existing game world into an Infinite Worlds campaign is
to increased scope, but not always. A just as easy: any game world can exist somewhere in the Infinite Worlds
campaign of vast scope can chase as a parallel on a seldom-visited quantum, as a pocket universe created
across two quanta for the prosaic by the Cabal, or as the result of Centrum tampering with an echo! If your
stakes of one kidnapped woman’s game world depends on some Vast Cosmic Evil That Transcends Mere
life . . . or a Paralabs researcher and Worlds, it can be tied into the reality quakes (or the Cabal) with minimal
his assistants can prevent a massive stress. If your game world has weird magic, or strange technology, rest
reality quake with a single day trip to easy; it’s no weirder or stranger than Merlin, and you can always rule that
a nexus portal in the Turkish desert. such weird strangeness only works on its home world if you’re worried
about the Wand of Centrum-Vanishing unbalancing the campaign.
In the default Infinite Worlds set-
ting, the scope is fairly broad. Future Earths
Characters are assumed to do a lot of
world-hopping, and the Patrol has Most existing SF settings, and most potential ones, take place on a
wide-ranging responsibilities, with future Earth set well past the 2027 “present day” of the Infinite Worlds.
similarly wide-ranging authority. Part There are three basic ways to connect such a future Earth into the
of the fun of the Infinite Worlds set- Infinite Worlds setting:
ting is its broad scope, and the key
part played in it by the Patrol – which Another Anomaly: This future Earth has some odd feature that makes
is to say, the likely PCs. it “safe” for the GM to break the general “no futures” rule of the setting.
If the world is on an out-of-the-way quantum, it won’t even affect the set-
Boundaries ting too much, as long as it doesn’t get parachronics on a large scale, and
as long as nobody can steal its technology very easily.
Boundaries are the edges – implic-
it or explicit – to the setting, and to the Parachronics Plus: Add parachronics to the future Earth, and an anal-
action. If scale answers why, and ogous organization to the Infinity Patrol. This Earth’s Van Zandt discov-
scope answers who and what, then ered parachronics 30 years ago, in 2198, and the whole setting moves up
boundaries are all about where (or, in a few notches. This is a huge amount of work for some aspects (Reich-
a time-travel game, when). Where is 5), and fairly transparent for others (the Cabal and Centrum).
the action, and where is “off-screen”?
Boundaries also constrain the possi- Future Branch: The future Earth is the future of some echo, parallel,
bilities: how many sorts of time or or other alternate. Perhaps this is the only such worldline with a defined
dimension travel are there? Do magic “future,” and all the others are chaotic potentials (p. 170). Perhaps all
and psi work, and do the PCs have worlds have futures, but most of them are inaccessible. A Gate of Thoth,
access to either? This is not a bad wandering timenapper, or banestorm can shift PCs into the future of any
thing – an infinity of stories can seem Earth with no real harm done to the setting, and similar handwaving can
awfully imposing to a GM, and even- shift them back. A permanent, or recurring, Gate of Thoth is probably
tually less interesting to the players the most plausible way to handle multiple commutes if necessary.
than a mere “whole lot of
stories” joined by some underlying
assumption or theme.

INFINITE CAMPAIGNS 203

PARAPHYSICS and 200 points; an average soldier run drug rings and slaughter out-
with the same is about 90 points; a timers without a qualm. Hopefully,
In a sense, the question of the cam- special forces soldier is around 220. A players won’t mind a few restrictions
paign’s underlying physics is a bound- skilled civilian with rather more expe- on their actions, but they almost
ary question. Who can get where, and rience varies, but hovers between 100 always want to understand them up
how? Examine the options under and 150 points. The GM can move front unless the nature of the restric-
Temporal Physics on pp. 153-165; they these scores around; for example, tion is supposed to be a puzzle in the
shape the stories you can tell. The key special forces can be still more com- game.
is to keep the rules transparent to the petent, or the Patrol can scrape the
players, and to get them to agree to bottom of the barrel in its desperate The default Infinite Worlds cam-
accept them – or to make the quest to quest for manpower. At the standard paign is prejudiced toward characters
undermine them an acknowledged levels, this gives a fairly reliable result with at least some moral qualms; even
part of the game so that you can pre- for Patrol skills; the troubles they face Centrum has a strict code of conduct
pare for it. One method of setting the are mostly from the outside, not from and a not entirely contemptible ideol-
paraphysics can be the touchstone their own incompetence. This privi- ogy to back it up. However, cheerful
rule. Describe your paraphysics in leges player tactics over the dice some- amoralists can always find a home
terms of a setting already familiar to what, but leaves a large dollop of with the swagmen; less cheerful ones
your players: “Time travel is like chance. might work with the Cabal. “Blow
Terminator; one way only, and you stuff up for the hell of it” types may
have to arrive naked.” Make sure you Niche find a socially approved outlet in
know your touchstone better than Alternate Outcomes, at the cost of a
your players do, though – you don’t This parameter might also be tighter T.O.
want to be trapped into “Star Trek time called “role” or “habitat.” Who are the
travel” with players who watched PCs, and why do they hang out togeth- Edges
Voyager. er? Were they all kidnapped by time
travelers, recruited by Alternate Do the PCs have access to anything
The default Infinite Worlds cam- Outcomes, hired by White Star, or out of the ordinary – magic, psionics,
paign sets up some fairly ironclad (un)lucky enough to be in the path of secret TL10 equipment? In some cam-
rules: conveyors can only travel along the banestorm? paigns, of course, a crossworld gate,
the same quantum without a projector or a Zippo lighter, may be their only
(i.e., without the GM’s permission);
there isn’t really reliable time travel; The default Infinite Worlds campaign is
the quantum structure keeps trouble- prejudiced toward characters with at least
some worlds away from your home some moral qualms; even Centrum has a
base. It then sneaks around hinting at strict code of conduct.
loopholes, should the GM wish to
explore them: nexus portals, Gates of The Infinite Worlds setting pre- edge. In others, the players can pick
Thoth, and banestorms blowing sumes some sort of connection to anything they’d like, in the name of
Communist penguin mana and Infinity Unlimited, ideally the Patrol, infinite options. One key question the
Argentine Nazis everywhere, for but it hardly mandates it. No matter GM should consider, and perhaps get
example. what the players’ preference, there’s player input on: do their standard foes
someone in the Infinite Worlds who have such edges, too? Time travelers
CHARACTERS can suit them, or who can be may have the only time machine in
retrofitted with little bother. existence, but nothing else special to
Once the campaign foundations keep them alive. Psis may attract the
are laid, it’s time to think about the Freedom attention of evil psis looking for
characters. Here, even more than the recruits, or for competition. It can be
earlier parameters, consulting with What can the PCs do? Who stops fun to smack the locals around with
the players can pay big dividends for a them, or what? Some of the answers an unbeatable edge once or twice, but
GM seeking to avoid software mis- to this question are inherent in the it can get old. Make sure there’s
match and the ensuing “assumption campaign metaphysics: if time travel enough competition – even with dif-
clash.” is impossible, the PCs can’t travel in ferent edges entirely – to keep the
time. Others are inherent in the adventurers challenged.
Power Level group’s niche; Infinity Patrolmen can’t

At its most basic, this is “how many
points are the characters?” In compa-
ny with scale and scope, this deter-
mines much of the feel of the game.

In the default Infinite Worlds cam-
paign, Infinity Patrolmen with about a
year of experience are between 180

204 INFINITE CAMPAIGNS

In the default Infinite Worlds cam- Historical SF: This subgenre takes er-than-life heroes, because otherwise,
paign, like tend to fight like. Infinity the SF emphasis on extrapolation and they might lose!
battles its ideological opposite “What if?” questions and applies it to
Centrum using nearly identical history. A game like this focuses on the Dark: There is no morality, and
parachronics. The Cabal has magic, parallels, especially those with only a power corrupts. Infinity is filthy,
but tends to attract magical foes from minimum of magic or psi to distort Centrum is ruthless, and UNIC is
the cracks in reality. This keeps tacti- things. The point of this game is to power-mad. The only people PCs in a
cal decision-making fairly rapid, and encounter strange new histories, seek dark game can count on are each
more importantly, lets players build out new cultures and new civiliza- other . . . maybe. Doing the best you
focused, effective characters without tions, and watch (or direct) their inter- can for a world is its own reward, and
having to load up on Mental Shield play. Changing history may be an stopping the power-hungry from mak-
and Magic Resistance all the time. If objective for players of historical SF ing it a meal is a close second.
magic or psi show up in the Patrol’s games.
life, they are restricted to one world as Gritty: A gritty game is cynical and
a special obstacle . . . they don’t dog Technical SF: This subgenre con- “realistic.” (But not realistic enough to
them across the quanta. centrates on the questions of physics give up parachronics, of course.)
inherent in time or crossworld travel. History is dirty and smelly; heroes
GENRE If the GM has a cosmic turn of mind, have feet of clay, and bullets kill you in
AND MODE the large questions about the origin of lingering agony crying for a mother on
the Infinite Worlds, or the nature of a world you’ll never see again. There
Genre reality quakes, might take center can be good guys, but not shiny ones.
stage. Players might want to set up
Essentially, genre is the general paradoxes on purpose, or have fun Hollywood History: When the leg-
kind of story you’re telling, and it indi- outwitting the Observer Effect. end outlives the truth, roleplay the leg-
cates the broad run of story elements, end. Heroes are heroic and noble and
scenery, and obstacles the players are Fantasy: Fantasy games are about good-looking. There is always a good
likely to encounter. While the various the unreal, about magic and things side and a bad side, and the good side
worlds of the Infinite Worlds encom- that simply can’t exist. Power and is the PCs and their allies. If Infinity
pass all sorts of genres, the campaign wildness range widely. To a large isn’t the good guys, beat it with the
as a whole can rest within one. An extent, the Infinite Worlds is already a help of Joan of Arc or Robin Hood.
Infinity Patrol- or Centrum-centered “science fantasy” setting. Don’t bother
game is likely to be an SF campaign, with extrapolation; just ride the Investigative: The focus is on solv-
with details of dimension travel theory, banestorm wave to the next parallel ing puzzles. What happened on
technical whizbang equipment, and and marvel at it. This genre has a lot in Enigma? What exactly are reality
applied cliodynamics sharing roughly common with supers, which is really quakes? Why is Centrum killing the
equal billing. A Cabal-centered game its own topic. great chefs of Europe? A variant of the
tends toward fantasy (if it emphasizes investigative mode is the exploratory,
the magi) or horror (if it emphasizes Mode or “travelogue” mode; the mystery
the monsters). A game set entirely on becomes a pretext to visit new worlds
Lenin-6 (p. 132) is likely to be a war The mode is how you approach the and play in them.
story, dealing with tactical choices and genre; if the genre is the searchlight,
psychological stress. the mode is the filter on the lens that Pulp: A blend of the Hollywood his-
gives it color. You can combine them, tory and cinematic modes, with a dose
An alternate worlds campaign but too many modes leave the game of campy dialogue and vile, vile vil-
depends less on genre than most, murky, not multi-colored. lains. Pulp blends Time Nazis,
although some GMs want the extra Confederate airships, and Martian
thematic unity a single genre supplies, Action: All adrenaline and big heat rays into a game of pace, narra-
to counteract the unfocusing effect of explosions, in action mode the story tive thrust, and cliffhanging suspense.
the wildly various settings. Still, is just the reason to have fight
boundaries between genres are fluid scenes, chases, and escapes. Silly: This mode plays things for
at best. Alternate Outcomes campaigns, or laughs; it probably works best with
commando ops against the Raven freelance heroes. Maybe they’re an all-
Conspiracy: Conspiracy games are Division, or jumps through alternate star team of History’s Second-Greatest
about uncertainty and paranoia. Trust Second World Wars, feed the action Heroes, or resolutely in-genre private
no one; nothing is what it seems. In beast. eyes traveling the cosmos in an AI-
the Infinite Worlds setting, this can be piloted black 1957 Buick.
a “hall of mirrors” type espionage Cinematic: In this cousin of the
game with uncertain agendas in action mode, the fight scene always Technothriller: God is in the
Infinity Tower, or a straightforward lets the villain escape until the last details. Whether it’s the perfect
attempt to unravel the tangled works adventure, the bad guys always dis- crosstime caper thriller or a loving
of the Interworld Service (or the cover the hero next to a rank of speed- description of alternate submachine
Armanen Order) across the quanta. boats, and the escape is always at the guns, it matches narrative thrust and
last second. Drama is sacred, well suspense with tactical planning.
above realism. This mode implies larg- Anything with a “mission” structure
works best for technothriller, from
Patrol sting operations to straight-up
Nazi hunts.

INFINITE CAMPAIGNS 205

CAMPAIGN ELEMENTS

A strong overlap exists between to perform some mission. Maybe it’s through one side of the gate comes out
alternate-world and time-travel cam- fairly trivial (the wizard just needed in the other time – and possibly in
paigns. Not only are parallel worlds a hirelings with specific talents). Maybe another place as well. A gate might
great way to dodge the restrictions of it’s apocalyptic (only they can save the come into being, say, between
time travel (p. 156), but thinking universe). Chartres Cathedral in 1850 and the
about the past (or future) is very simi- bathroom of a Chicago tenement in
lar to thinking about a primitive (or This works well with a crosstime 1990. It lasts 20 years, until the tene-
advanced) alternate Earth. In this sec- recruitment gimmick. The campaign ment is torn down. During that time,
tion, consider much of this material to is based in any familiar genre – fanta- anyone can step through that closet
be advice from both perspectives, sy, space, whatever – but the charac- door and be in Chartres precisely 140
options for both sorts of games. ters may be drawn from anywhere! years, 19 days and six hours earlier,
Whoever brought them together want- and vice versa.
THROUGH THE ed certain specific talents, and got
RABBIT HOLE them. A party might consist of a World Gates: A world gate is simply
Roman legionary plucked from a ran- a connection between two parallel (or
Assuming you don’t have a cross- dom battlefield, a Victorian mathe- not-so-parallel) worlds. Depending on
time galleon, or a handy conveyor, or matician, a Roaring ‘20s private eye, a what worlds it connects, it can be
an Infinity Patrol to show you around, cop from the streets of New York in incredibly valuable, a mere curiosity,
how do you get from world to world? 2010, and an android artist from 2200. or totally worthless. Any worlds can
One important subgenre of cross- Or, for a game in which the recruiters be connected. The heroes of a pulp-
world or crosstime adventure is that in are groupies or snobs, the PCs might era campaign could explore an
which the heroes have access to a be Cleopatra, Wyatt Earp, Merlin, ancient temple and find a gate to the
“gate” between two worlds – and only Miyamoto Musashi, and the Comte de prehistoric world, or the Golden Age
two. Sometimes they don’t even con- Saint-Germain! (See Locals, p. 198, for of Piracy, or medieval Japan, or fan-
trol the gate . . . they just fall (or are some notes on building such charac- tastic Yrth . . . or to all of them, in a
pushed) into another world. That’s still ters.) A lot of the playing time can portal dimension like the Horatio
enough for high adventure! be spent just letting the characters Club on p. 229.
interact!
Accidental Transport A world gate can be used to make a
Gates permanent change in a campaign, or
The party is pulled across time or it can open once, for a single
into another world by forces beyond Gates can create a special and lim- adventure, and then close again. The
their control. They’ll probably never ited kind of cross-universe campaign. travelers can keep whatever items,
be able to get back, because they’ll A gate is a portal to . . . somewhere knowledge or companions they picked
probably never understand what else. One or both sides may be up on the other side. Or, if they’re on
happened to them. portable. A gate may work all the time, the other side when the gate closes,
or only part of the time, or only when they’re stuck in a new world.
In the default Infinite Worlds set- someone says the code-word . . . Gates
ting, the easy way to do this is with a may be technological, magical, natu- VISITING
banestorm (p. 75), or a conveyor or ral, or just there. The nexus portals, THE WORLD
time machine accident (p. B531 and Gates of Thoth, dimensional high- NEXT DOOR
p. 165). The PCs might wind up “oz ways, and shiftrealms from the
charged” by the banestorm’s ball light- Infinite Worlds setting only scratch So once you’ve got a gate to
ning, crackling between worlds over, the surface of the possibilities. another world, or a stolen conveyor, or
and over, and over . . . whatever, now what? Parallel worlds
Since world-spanning gates imply are likely to inspire the same sorts of
Alternatively, the heroes could very high tech, very strong magic, or travelers as any strange new land:
receive a warning that they are about better, it is usually best for the cam- explorers, missionaries (religious or
to be taken to another time or world, paign if the gate, or gates, simply exist, just humanitarian), and those out to
perhaps never to return. What do they with no real explanation. The PCs make a fast buck.
do in their last day on Earth? What stumble onto, and through, a gate,
should they pack? (see p. 207 for some and what they do next is up to them! The last is probably the largest
possible answers.) group, and may be PCs or their adver-
This device works well with the saries. Large-scale business ventures
Summonings “players as PCs” gimmick from p. 184. might involve mining an alternate
If you found an alternate dimension in timeline for raw materials. Arabia’s
Perhaps the party’s transport was your closet, would you go in? Who petroleum is too close to civilization, if
deliberate . . . but not on their part. would you tell about it? What would there is any – even paratime corpora-
They’ve been snatched from their own you take? tions that don’t care about revealing
time, by magical or ultra-tech means, themselves are hesitant about “native
Time Gates: A time gate exists in
two times at once. Anyone who travels

206 INFINITE CAMPAIGNS

trouble” that involves full-fledged The past is a foreign country: they do things
armies. The mines of southern Africa differently there.
are a more likely target. (See p. 37 for
some reasons why.) Colonization is – L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between
the biggest project of all, probably
focusing on uninhabited or uncivi- or artificially “worn” coins that look powder if you plan on visiting the trop-
lized worlds, though the Americas and like they might once have had pictures ics. Make sure your own shots are up
Australia may be viewed as fair game on them. Failing that, a selection of to date; thinking of the past, or many
in a broader set of timelines. plain gold rings is easy to carry (and parallel worlds, as a Third World coun-
hide) and easy to turn into cash. try isn’t a bad habit to get into. See The
Trade is another way of making a Bad Old Good Old Days on p. 210 for
profit (pp. 37-41), and it may shade For both initial and later visits, specific notes on squalor in the game.
into theft and looting. Many types of probably the most useful modern tool
interdimensional travel make stealing you can have is a small computer, What to Pack for
far too easy to be interesting – a GM hand-held if possible, with a historical, an Extended Visit
has to provide complications among geographic, and linguistic database. A
the victims, the law, or both. digital camera (no film needed) is very If you’re planning to emigrate and
Parachronic crime might also involve useful for retrieving information. Don’t have time to prepare, get all the infor-
stealing people (see Timenappers, emphasize weapons: you should be mation your home timeline offers
p. 72). We can all agree that someone avoiding combat. The stunner is the about your destination area. Load
wanting to kidnap Marilyn Monroe, or perfect “quiet” weapon if your TL per- down that computerized database
even Nikola Tesla, is probably fooling mits it; otherwise you’ll have to make with maps, climate data, and a profile
himself if he tries to justify his crime do with dart guns, crossbows, or of the local ecology as well as basic
as “providing the victim with more silencers. science. Don’t neglect guides to low-
opportunities” than he or she would TL medicine and chemistry. The Way
have had at home. But what to do Don’t neglect antibiotics: the odds Things Work, A Barefoot Doctor’s
about the person determined to kid- are very good that a random parallel Manual, and Henley’s Formulas can
nap all the alternate Hitlers from the world is full of diseases your immune start you off. If you have data on the
streets of Vienna and stash them system has never encountered. GMs human inhabitants, take that too –
somewhere they can’t do any harm? who don’t want to be bothered with although many alternate histories,
Obviously, a parachronic police force disease should make some sort of including some in this book, have
like the Infinity Patrol has its work cut Immunity to Disease (p. B443) avail- changed so much that such
out for it. able. Add a snakebite kit, penicillin, information may not be very useful.
and good old aspirin, plus quinine
What to Pack for a Visit

Assuming you don’t know anything
about the new timeline, but have the
chance to pack, treat it as exploration.
Start with standard camping and sur-
vival gear: you’ll probably be starting
some distance from civilization. Bring
a Swiss army knife; actually, as many
as you can carry, if you plan to trade
for a living. Bring a reliable pen and a
few blank journals. Don’t forget binoc-
ulars. Bring a radio: if the locals are
advanced enough for broadcasting
you can find out a lot about them
before setting eyes on one. If not, com-
municators for the entire group. It
shouldn’t be necessary to point this
out, but your cell phone won’t work on
another world, unless it’s a very close
parallel indeed.

Once you are ready to meet the
inhabitants, you’ll need to acquire
local clothing, at least outer garments
(hope for cloaks). Carry your goods in
a “timeless” leather satchel. Silver is
the most common coined metal: bring
small ingots with a good sharp cutter,

INFINITE CAMPAIGNS 207

In this situation you’ll also want to one synthetic dye could make you very Worldline Conquest
give serious thought to achieving fame rich in the textile business. Made (Relatively) Easy
and fortune by “inventing” something
the locals haven’t yet devised. The It is unwise to introduce new The most extreme adventure in
options are legion for hard-headed weapons – gunpowder, atomics, what- another timeline is outright conquest,
engineer types (see Things to Invent, p. ever – to a timeline without them, though PCs are probably more likely
below). Other products you might also unless you are prepared for the ensu- to fight a would-be conquistador
consider include cosmetics, recipes, ing military revolution. On the other group than to be one, unless they
and ceramics. Even without con- hand, it can be very comforting (and work for Centrum’s Uplift Service
sumerism, there are possibilities. For potentially lucrative) indeed to be the (p. 54). Still, you never know what
instance, the only really color-fast dye only person in the world who knows Alternative Outcomes (p. 31) might
for most of history was indigo: even how to make gunpowder. (See Black do, and infinite worlds mean you
Powder, p. 209.) can’t rule anything out.

Things to Invent

There are a number of simple devices, processes and work easier. Each of the creations below certainly
compounds that can make a traveler rich at the right seemed obvious after it was developed, and made its
time in the past, or in a primitive alternate world. (Note inventor a lot of money.
that if temporal contamination is possible, the intro-
duction of any of these things will do it. By definition, Paper clip (Test yourself. Can you draw it exactly
anything that is enough to make its inventor rich is right, from memory?)
enough to change history.)
Hole punch
Of course, many other things can easily be re- Window envelopes
invented . . . by some people. An electronics technician Adhesive tape (For this and the following items,
might well be able to build a radio in the year 1400. you’d have to hire a chemist to develop the invention
This box lists things that could be created by anyone, from your description, unless you possess Chemistry
or things so easy to explain that a skilled person could skill at 16 or better, or are a Gadgeteer.)
create them from any layman’s explanation. To re- Carbon paper
invent a specialized device using your own technical or Self-sticking note pads
scientific skills, use Gadgeteering (p. B475). Correction fluid
Pencil eraser
Simple Machines
and Basic Concepts Simple Comforts of Home

If any of these devices aren’t in use yet, you can raise These innovations may not change the entire
the local technology in that field by a whole TL in about society – at first – but they’ll still be useful and make
20 minutes. their creator wealthy if they are properly exploited.

Fire Fermentation, to turn perfectly good grape juice or
Wheel grain into (gasp) alcohol.
Lever
Container (could be pottery, but could as easily be Distilling (the most obvious use is to make strong
hollowed-out wood, or even a bag made of leaves) alcoholic beverages from weak ones, but there are
Writing or written mathematics many industrial applications).
The zero
Domestication of animals Glass lenses. These require the existence of glass, of
Agriculture course. Glass itself is relatively easy to create if sand,
The bow soda, and fire are available. Lenses are valuable first for
The printing press, adding movable type as soon as improving vision, then for telescopes and binoculars,
possible and eventually for microscopes and other scientific
The steam engine applications.

Office Supplies Don’t Waste Your Time . . .

Don’t underestimate the historical impact – and the Some devices, though, are very hard to get right.
financial value – of simple inventions that make office Only a very skilled mechanic or gadgeteer should
attempt to build (for instance) a clock of any kind, a
typewriter or typesetter, or anything else involving a
great number of precisely machined moving parts.

208 INFINITE CAMPAIGNS

Black Powder For guidelines on conquering a
large but more primitive empire, there
At any time before its historical appearance (perhaps the 10th is no better source of advice than the
century in China, and the 13th century in the West), black powder is one real-life conquistadors. A large cen-
of the most spectacular introductions a traveler can make. Superstitious tralized empire (TL1 minimum, and
natives can be overawed with nothing more than fireworks. Simple gun- TL2 is better) is a better target than
powder bombs and mines could probably break most medieval armies, lots of little groups, perhaps harder to
and even the Romans or Huns might not stand up to actual cannon. But take but easier to hold. Finding local
remember that the secret of gunpowder is so simple that, once allies to multiply your forces is criti-
introduced anywhere, it spreads. cal: if everybody loves the local
empire, seek your fortune elsewhere.
See H. Beam Piper’s Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen and its sequels for the In fact, work through native rulers as
classic treatment of this situation. much as you can until you have a firm
grasp of local politics.
The Formula
Assuming everything goes right, a
If you, the reader, ever expect to be dropped into a primitive time or paratime conquistador could decapi-
timeline, memorize this . . . tate an empire in just a few decisive
battles. Cortés overthrew the Aztecs
To make black powder, combine 10% sulfur, 15% charcoal, and 75% in three years. Conquering an entire
saltpeter. Mix well and powder carefully without producing sparks. This timeline would take far longer,
produces “flash powder” – it primes a gun but won’t explode. depending on how long it takes to
modernize the military of your new
Wet the flash powder to form a paste. Air-dry in kernels of the desired empire.
size for the job (you’ll have to experiment, based on your desired appli-
cation). Use local talent but modern
organization. You probably know
Finding the Ingredients more about strategy and tactics than
the locals, and are almost certain to
Sulfur is an element, a yellow powder. In nature, it occurs near hot have a better grasp of logistics. If you
springs and gives the water a bitter flavor. have time to train a military force of
your own, proper discipline is even
Charcoal is produced by burning wood. Different woods and different more important than weaponry.
burning methods give different results. Experiment. Military science also develops. With a
good grasp of military history, you
Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) is a crystalline white compound. In a have dozens of tactical innovations
primitive milieu, the easiest way to find it in small amounts is to remove to offer, even with native weapons, if
a well-aged pile of manure. The saltpeter is leached out of the manure by you can train your army to follow
rainwater and collects on the ground. them.

Using Black Powder This is not to say that weapons are
unimportant: as your basic firearm,
Now that you have it, what do you do with it? Sadly, the warlike appli- consider the Sten gun, a submachine
cations outnumber the peaceful ones. Fireworks and civil engineering gun that can be produced by fairly
are very nice, but the main impact of black powder is for weaponry. primitive workshops. You may also be
able to bring a few other ideas into the
Almost no skill is required to create “mines” and simple “shells” – local arsenal. Many weapons – fuel-air
powder kegs to be lobbed at the foe with siege engines. Mortars and can- explosives, for instance – could have
non are more difficult, requiring skill in metalwork and advances in met- been built long before they were
allurgy; handguns are harder still. But any general who sees what black actually invented.
powder can do will be motivated to help your research . . . or to have you
destroyed.

INFINITE CAMPAIGNS 209

The Bad Old character creation: the “Mission
Good Old Days Control” option. While our two
heroes were lost in the past, trying
There are many everyday details of life in many historical eras that to prevent stock-footage disasters, the
we would find distasteful, barbaric, and horrifying. Description of such Tunnel technicians were digging
details – the crowding and smell of a city street before modern plumb- through their files and throwing
ing, for instance – is necessary and useful in making the players accept switches on their blinking consoles,
the environment as “the past,” and not just a Hollywood imitation. trying to help them out. (Well, it was
two technicians and a General. It was
Unpleasant details are also useful plot and characterization devices. a low-budget show.) Handled with
A group of travelers confronted by a bullying nobleman might follow some restraint, the idea of Mission
their natural impulse to teach him a lesson – only to find themselves hip- Control works very well in a roleplay-
deep in trouble for it. Someone who loves horses might gain points for ing campaign. In fact, it solves one
demanding that a drunken coachman stop whipping his animals – and major background problem: the
even more points if he found a way to do it that would not offend the agents no longer have to know
customs of the time. absolutely everything about all of his-
tory. They still have to have basic Area
But, as with any other device, don’t overdo it. A little of the grimi- Knowledge – especially if the commu-
ness of medieval towns, or the horrors of the Inquisition, or the mis- nications link goes out – but Control
treatment of one class or race by another, goes a long way, no matter can provide on-the-spot information.
how historically correct it is. If the GM constantly describes cruelty
and abuses that the characters cannot stop without endangering their Some suggested limits are as
mission, the players may quite rightly start to think that they are the follows:
ones being provoked. Just say something like, “There’s a crowd gath-
ered to cheer the public flogging – but you’re professionals; you just Only information moves, not
look past and keep on walking.” objects. Mission Control can receive
pictures, and possibly transmit them
Use machines that you can repair can keep your allies and break up (useful for sending maps), but if the
and keep running with local tools: a P- coalitions against you. If your new agents run out of bullets, they’re out of
51 Mustang is about as advanced a empire has a traditional enemy – one luck.
plane as you should consider, for that you haven’t already enlisted as an
instance, and it’s probably overkill at ally, and perhaps even if you have – Establish search times. However
that. It need hardly be said that any air crushing them is often a good way to long it takes Control to find the
power, even a balloon, gives you a win support and gives you a larger answer to the agents’ question is the
tremendous advantage in timelines empire in the bargain. amount of time that passes in the field
that aren’t accustomed to it. Similarly, before the answer is received. The lim-
if the other side doesn’t have radios, Never make the mistake of iting factor is then not whether the
you should pack them: instant com- underestimating the natives: if a information exists, but whether it can
munications can let you defeat an charismatic leader and/or military be recovered in time to be any use.
enemy many times your size. (Not to genius appears among your enemies,
mention the many non-military uses, you must eliminate him by any means Some information isn’t available. If
of course.) Unless you have a lot of necessary, and as soon as possible. no one drew floor plans of a building,
backup, we don’t advise invading Primitives aren’t idiots, and man for and the building no longer stands, the
worlds less than three tech levels man they’re better suited for survival team just has to search it the hard way.
below yours. How well technological in their world than you are. The last
“miracles” work to overawe the thing you need is for some local Control and Research
natives is really a GM’s call – barbar- Geronimo (or George Washington) to in a Parallel-World
ians claiming to be gods, no matter pull guerrilla jujitsu on your paratime Campaign
how showy their trinkets, will not mercs, capture some assault rifles,
impress the very sophisticated and and possibly reverse-engineer them. In a campaign in which, instead of
nearly agnostic Roman aristocracy. time travel, the agents are traveling
MISSION between parallel worlds, the job of
Once well started at empire-build- CONTROL Mission Control becomes different.
ing, shift your model from Cortés to On the one hand, nobody can be sure
that other Renaissance man, The classic Irwin Allen TV show what happens next in the parallel
Machiavelli. The game of power poli- Time Tunnel presented an interest- world. It may seem similar to our his-
tics focuses on understanding why ing take on freedom of action and tory, but nobody really knows for sure.
people are loyal in this culture, so you
On the other hand, if there are lots
of similar parallel worlds, some types
of research become much easier. If
the agents must free a comrade held
in tightly guarded Castle Wolfram,
Control need only dispatch a team to
a similar timeline where Castle

210 INFINITE CAMPAIGNS

Wolfram lies empty. Presto . . . com- the Forbidden City to loot it before it’s the past, either for temporary study
plete and accurate maps – they hope. burned in 1860 is technically a (in which case another mission may
(Of course, this only works when research mission, after all! be necessary to replace it) or to save it
there are lots of very similar time- from destruction. The agents may
lines. For Infinity Unlimited, this Repair Missions need to plant a copy of the item, or
kind of trick could be used for otherwise create a diversion from the
research on the echo timelines, but Repair missions have the specific burglary. Sometimes history itself –
very few of the others are similar objective of making changes to the the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, the
enough to make it worthwhile. And time stream. Assuming the characters Chicago Fire, the bombing of Berlin –
the echoes have their own hazards!) are the “good guys,” this usually may cover their tracks.
means that the past has already been
THE TIME IS altered, by enemy action or accident, Time thieves, of course, are also on
OUT OF JOINT and has to be returned to normal. a “recovery” mission! They may face
There are other possibilities, however. the additional hazard of law enforce-
Time travel and alternate world The travelers may be present at a his- ment from their own world, especially
adventures fall into four general cate- torical event – say, on campaign with if their thefts have the potential to
gories. The first three may be actual Julius Caesar in Gaul – in which the change history.
“missions” in the sense that someone outcome of the larger campaign is
assigned them to the party. But the known, but individual, unrecorded A specific and challenging type of
characters may also find themselves skirmishes may have unknown recovery is the rescue of an individual
caught up in events by accident, or results. Or the team may be “agents in who history says is dead. Time travel
even tricked by NPCs into performing place,” guarding a historical diver- organizations recruit some of their
some sort of dangerous task. gence point such as the Normandy best agents this way. Rescues work
invasion against interference by equally well in an echo worldline
Research Missions enemy agents. where someone’s death can be
predicted accurately.
Research missions are sent to find Or the status quo may be intolera-
something out: Who was Jack the ble to the time travelers – say, a small In an alternate worlds campaign,
Ripper? Who really wrote the Zinoviev group of researchers discovers a time- actual trade and exploration missions
Letter? What happened to the crew of gate, and hopes to use it to overthrow become possible, and the opportuni-
the Mary Celeste? Researchers are usu- ties for theft expand exponentially.
ally not supposed to change the past;
they are supposed to observe, A specific and challenging type of
measure, photograph, perhaps even recovery is the rescue of an individual
conduct interviews, and then return, who history says is dead. Time travel
without having any effect on the time organizations recruit some of their best
stream (or revealing The Secret, or agents this way.
shifting an echo).
the oppressive regime. The travelers Survival
By itself, researching isn’t very may even be soldiers of the regime,
adventurous. Getting into a fight usu- driven to mutiny by their unending A fourth type of adventure is the
ally means things have gone very missions of outtime atrocity. non-mission, in which the travelers
badly wrong. But a research mission had no intention of visiting another
doesn’t have to be dull. The suspense In the Infinite Worlds campaign, a time or another world (at least, not
and excitement come, not from a party may be sent on a “repair mis- the one they arrived at). Their prob-
string of combat encounters, but from sion” to undo sabotage by the agents lem is simply to survive. There may
meeting obstacles (some expected, of Centrum. This is not time travel – in be a hope of rescue, or they may be
some by surprise) in the path of get- that background, they can’t undo the doomed to live their lives in the
ting the data and getting back with it. past – but an attempt to redirect the past, or some inhospitable parallel
events of the present into a preferred dimension.
Often, the PC team isn’t cast in the future.
role of researchers, but of guards and Depending on the physics of the
guides to the researchers. The scien- Recovery Missions situation and their particular
tists themselves may have hidden resources, their best strategy might be
goals or personalities that endanger Recovery missions are sent to to blend in and not make waves, or to
the mission. bring something back (forward?) from set themselves up as teachers, magi-
cians, or gods.
Crosstime or crossworld espionage
is a special category of research which
can quickly become dangerous, since
the spies may be opposed, not only by
“native” security troops and coun-
terespionage, but also by opponents
from their own time or world. Casing

INFINITE CAMPAIGNS 211

CHAPTER EIGHT

ALTERNATE
INFINITIES

This chapter presents some alter- frame includes notes on character extended campaigns, but they can
nate campaign frames for GMs and design and campaign parameters host one-shot scenarios with some
players interested in a changeup from based on the discussion in Chapter 7. sacrifice of detail.
the Infinite Worlds setting. Each These frames are designed to support

THE ORDER OF THE
HOURGLASS

The time is the 1920s. All over the world, daring adventurers are pushing back the boundaries of the explored world:
Darkest Africa, lost cities in Central America, the
polar caps. But in the centers of
the world’s great cities, small
groups of people are
exploring an entirely
different frontier.

These “circles”
have discovered a
kind of mental time
travel. Many, like
our heroes, are sim-
ply curious about
their ability, and
about the past.
Others are intent on
using the power for
conquest . . . and that
may mean eliminating
all the temporal
competition.

This frame com-
bines time traveling
with Roaring Twenties
pulp adventure. The
adventurers can get
into all the usual trou-
ble visiting the past,
but their real enemies, both past
and present, are other time travelers.

The Coming of Gakuji

The ritual of the Time Circle was brought to the West by explorers who did not fully believe what they had discovered.

Though they breathed the herb Gakuji, joined in the chant, and saw the visions of the past, they believed – because they had

to believe – that they were only visions . . . hallucinations induced by drugs and hypnosis.

212 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

Dr. Albert Wesker Finch, physician sometimes a few years from the target, dialects – and in a time when few peo-
and adventurer, brought Gakuji back never more. ple traveled far from their birthplaces,
to America, and began to grow the odd dialects stood out even more
herb at his Long Island estate. His rep- Returning to the present does not prominently.
utation already damaged by his exotic require the herb, only that the mem-
research, Dr. Finch dared not experi- bers of the Circle concentrate together Equipment
ment . . . in public. He brought a and be in reasonably close physical
group of friends together, and, under proximity. This takes about 15 min- As is usual in Twenties adventures,
observation, recreated the Ritual. The utes if everyone is conscious and close money makes the world go ’round.
members of the Circle went back to (in the same room, or equivalent); if Either one adventurer is wealthy
the Finch estate grounds before the the separation is wider, or some mem- enough to bankroll his Circle’s opera-
house was built; they found an oak bers are unconscious or dead, it takes tions, or the PCs need an eccentric
sapling and carved their initials into a more time. millionaire Patron who can do so.
root, then covered it with earth.
All living Circle members must Naturally, the GM does not have to
When they returned, Finch led the return together, conscious or not. allow the eccentric millionaire to buy
party to the oak, 200 years older. Dead members may be abandoned, anything he desires. Some things can-
They exposed the roots. The initials though their bodies return if they are not be acquired for any price. Others
were there. Finch’s guests believed, in proximity to the living. Those with require time, and flashing money only
and with a few like-minded Circles a proper Sense of Duty to their com- worsens certain legal entanglements.
they founded the Order of the rades must always try to bring their
Hourglass. At first a mere club for friends home, even though this can Gakuji is extremely rare and expen-
time tourists, it slowly evolved into a create legal problems in explaining the sive. A quantity sufficient for one
mutual aid society. Some Circles seek death. time-trip (for up to a dozen people
to turn the Hourglass into a weapon traveling together) costs $5,000 in
against evil Time Circles and others The Ritual can only reach the past, 1920 dollars (£1,000); this also
who would misuse the past for vile not the future. This is probably due to assumes one has a source, normally
ends, but for now the Order includes the enormous difficulty of visualizing an Oriental Herbalist of Mysterious
the idly curious and the grimly the future. (Think about the 1920s Reputation. Finding such an herbalist
determined alike. and 1930s images of The World of requires a successful Streetwise roll in
Tomorrow, as presented in pulp sci- a city with a substantial Chinatown
The Ritual ence fiction magazines and the New (New York, San Francisco, London’s
York World’s Fair. On the other hand, Limehouse; for someone actually in
This is physical time travel through a parallel-world science fiction adven- the Far East, there is a +2 bonus).
psionic means. No machine is used, ture set in Captain Future’s future, or Naturally, this sort of dealer takes only
and the actual bodies of the travelers Gernsback (p. 126) might be very cash, preferably gold. This purchases
are transported. The mechanism is entertaining.) the prepared herb, which can be
more like a magical ritual than a grown from cuttings but not from
scientific experiment. The travelers can bring only items seed. Cuttings might be acquired by
appropriate to the period into the past an expedition into the wilds of Inner
The Circle begins by discussing the – no Tommy guns in the Middle Ages Tibet, or from a scientist-adventurer
time they intend to visit, and doing – and anyone who can’t get hold of who had made such an expedition.
study to fix the goal in their minds. proper clothing arrives nude. The (Perhaps a PC inherits the greenhouse
This includes library research and vis- more authentic the item, the likelier it from a relative who died under
its to museums to examine artifacts of is to make the trip successfully Mysterious Circumstances.) Even if
the period. Normally the members (p. 169). Time Circles often, given time the travelers can grow the herb them-
spend one to two weeks on this and money, acquire a stock of period selves, gardening and preparation
research. During this time, they usual- costumes and furnishings for just costs come to $1,000 per dose – which
ly acquire relevant and useful period such purposes; They can easily claim is used up even if the ritual fails for
items. that the outfits are for a costume other reasons.
party. They arrive with whatever cloth-
Finally the Circle assembles at ing and equipment they had on when There are other social complica-
some safe place, usually a country they left the present. Travelers can tions of handling Gakuji. Though it is
house or lodge belonging to one of the bring things back from the past, up to not illegal, the police may take an
wealthier members. A brazier contain- their Basic Lift. interest because of the sort of people
ing the herb Gakuji is lit, and its fumes who sell it. Police aside, there are the
fill the room. The Circle begins chant- The Ritual only moves one’s body usual hazards of dealing with such
ing, clearing their minds of everything into the past; it does not enable the people. And any transaction involving
but the ritual and the target. After traveler to speak the language. the herb may attract the attention of
about an hour, if all goes well, the Remember too that dialects and other, savory Time Circles.
present-day images fade. Some mem- accents change, even if a language
bers see only darkness and silence; remains “the same” (see p. 175 for Period clothes can be made to
others have strange dreams. When guidelines). There was more differ- order in two to four weeks, for about
this passes, they are in another time – ence between a 1920 British accent $40 and up (possibly way up, for a visit
and an Elizabethan one than between to the court of the Sun King). Period
contemporary British and American

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 213

weapons may be purchased as openly portray themselves as wizards; The Architects
antiques for moderate prices (collector many stories have “explained” such
mania has not yet struck in the Jazz people as Cagliostro and Saint- This evil group plans to rebuild
Age) – though it may take time for a Germain as time travelers. society on cleaner, more sensible lines
suitable one to appear for sale. They – a world where everyone knows their
may be custom-made. A wealthy man Time travel helps other villainous place, and it’s under the Architects’
might have standing requests with an plans. It is much more convenient and heel. The Architects claim to be
antiques dealer, or the dealer might be elegant to kill an enemy in the past. If descended from the Invisible College
one of the PCs. If an aristocrat wants the body does not return, there is of 17th-century England, which tried
to claim that he has a houseful of old nothing for the police to investigate. to unify science, philosophy, and the
swords and pistols, that’s fine (there Even if the victim’s fellow Circle mem- occult into a single, logical world view,
really are such houses, especially in bers do take him home, there will be but they have more in common with
England and France), but the GM no evidence the authorities can follow ruthless centralizers such as Richelieu
should charge the cost against His (or believe), and his friends will likely and Peter the Great. They have agents,
Lordship’s starting Wealth. find themselves in great difficulties minions, and contacts in many of the
explaining his death. Masonic orders of 18th- and 19th-cen-
VILLAINS tury Europe, which (along with their
Sometimes, however, direct action historical foreknowledge and great
Not everyone wants to use the is called for. A returning Circle would wealth) let them subtly control police
power of Gakuji for harmless experi- be in poor condition to deal with a departments, banks, and even royal
mentation and historical research. gang of armed killers in their Ritual courts.
Some of the Circles intend to twist the room (though, on the other hand, the
past, to make themselves wealthy and killers would have to be pretty hard- They travel back in time using the
powerful . . . possibly to control the ened sorts not to be startled by their energy of ley lines, invisible lines of
world. victims’ appearing out of thin air). force connecting places of power and
Anonymous tips to the police might mystery on the Earth’s surface. Their
These groups are not linked result in a drug raid on the Circle’s travel ritual must be performed at a
together in a single conspiracy. (If they Gakuji supplier. Properly timed, some ley nexus with a building on it, and
were, the heroes would hardly stand a of the members might be arrested as can only take them back to the laying
chance.) They may grudgingly cooper- well, leading to uncomfortable ses- of its cornerstone. Like the Gakuji rit-
ate, especially to ensure their supplies sions explaining to Eliot Ness or ual, the ley network rejects anachro-
of the essential herb, but these Gideon of Scotland Yard why they nistic devices and technology.
alliances are for convenience only, and wanted strange Oriental herbs in the However, travelers can travel along the
end as soon as someone leaves his first place. ley network to any other ley nexus
back vulnerable to the knife.
The time is out of joint; O cursed spite
To fulfill their ends, the Circles That ever I was born to set it right.
establish bases at key points in history,
“safe houses” where they may appear – William Shakespeare,
and change into appropriate clothing. Hamlet, I:v:187-188
For example, a Circle might, using
transported gold, purchase a small The official authorities don’t with a structure on it; a party of
country villa in Renaissance Italy, always have to be the PCs’ enemy, Architects could leave from Stone-
where they could appear, equip, and however. Exposing drug or under- henge and arrive at the Pyramids of
ride into a city in perfectly normal world connections is a game two can Giza, although not before 1850 B.C.
fashion, instead of suddenly appearing play. And if one of the enemy Circles when Stonehenge was built. The
from nowhere. The servants at the villa were to involve a master criminal such building need not be intact; the cere-
would surely believe that their employ- as Doctor Nikola or a resurrected mony will function in a ruin, a scrupu-
ers were sorcerers (what else could Professor Moriarty (or one somehow lously maintained stately home, or an
they think?) but there are always peo- saved from his death in the past . . .), archaeological excavation. The
ple who can be trusted, or paid, to keep the heroic Circle might find them- Architects have wormed their way into
secrets. From such a base, the Circle selves with powerful allies – as they any number of churches, archaeologi-
could attempt to influence the whole move in ever-higher circles of interna- cal societies, and so forth to ensure
course of politics and economics in tional intrigue. their access to cathedrals, castles, and
Italy, and from it Europe. historical sites.
Besides villainous Time Circles, the
Usually Circles will try to influence heroes of the Hourglass (p. 212) have The Fang Sing
subtly through the “normal” channels discovered two other forces at work
of advice and money, though the more malevolently bending the past to their The insidious Devil-Doctor, the
changes they make to the past, the less own cruel will. Mad Mandarin, the most fearsome fig-
useful their historical knowledge will ure in the East, Fang Wu Shih leads a
be. The occasional convenient death
may be arranged. (Isn’t it suspicious
that Napoleon’s Chief of Staff fell from
a balcony?) Sometimes they may

214 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

Triad of devoted, fanatical followers access to horrifying insects, monstrous secret handshakes he set up a century
drained from the dregs of Asia and serpents, and enormous arthropods of earlier. He may not be able to replace
recruited from its most elite temples all varieties known to science – and Pitt as Prime Minister, but he will be
and courts. Dr. Fang hates and resents some that science claims are impossi- able to bribe and suborn Pitt’s clerks. If
the subservient role China plays in the ble by the laws of God and nature! he has managed to get an Architect
world of the 1920s, when its corrupt agent made Pitt’s history tutor as a
Republic is nothing but a toy for rival THE GREAT child, he might even be able to alter
warlords backed by greedy foreign WORK OF TIME Pitt’s attitude toward such pesky things
devils who run opium and guns for as Parliamentary power. With enough
their all-important profits. The Fang History can be changed, but it of these subtle changes pointing in the
Sing want to destroy all Western civi- doesn’t stay changed. If an evil Circle right direction, the Architects hope
lization, leaving China supreme in his- has replaced Lorenzo de’ Medici as that they can build up enough momen-
tory; nothing they can do to a ruler of Renaissance Florence, their tum to suddenly alter history all at
Westerner is beyond the pale. (The rule will last until they leave Florence once, like a river breaking its banks
Doctor has decreed that the Japanese to return to the present. At that point and carving out a new channel. Failing
are Westerners, at least after the cow- the people will rebel, or the Milanese that, the Architects plan to set up
ardly Meiji rejected tradition in 1868.) will march in, or the Arno will flood, enough covert power in every nation
They work primarily in the historical and after the fires and the riots the that they can seize control once some
Far East, sabotaging and weakening Medici will have connived their way crisis – a stock market crash, or a
Western interventions and building up back into power. If you kill someone’s global war, for example – destabilizes
their own Triad in the hills and in the father, he probably won’t be born, but all current governments. The Fang
twisty alleys of Nanking and Shangai; if you kill his grandfather, who knows? Sing, and certain of the evil Time
occasionally a Fang Sing agent shows And back more than two generations, Circles, have similar hopes and aims.
up in the West’s past, working to family trees tend to re-graft them-
spread moral decay and corruption. selves somehow. In game terms, Simple changes
(p. 105) can happen with little trou-
Doctor Fang has developed psionic Subtle changes, however, the kind ble. Anything that requires a lot of
projection to astonishing heights; he that sneak under the wire or don’t research to find out about – individ-
can watch anyone, anywhere in the make it into the history books – those ual casualties at the Battle of Bunker
world with his vastly superior mind. can propagate robustly. An Architect Hill, the precise royal budget for
Further, he has developed a method of who sets up a secret society in Charles 1713, whether Napoleon marched
psionic time travel to let his acolytes II’s London can step ahead to George through a given small town on his
possess people in the past: the Ch’i III’s London and expect to find his con- way to Waterloo – is changeable. An
Feng Technique. This only allows spiracy busily working along, and it Average or Complex change is the
them to possess people within a mile will still recognize the passwords and GM’s call; an Amazing change should
of the traveler. A Fang Sing traveler in be impossible.
Canton, for example, can only possess
someone in Canton in the past. The Hollow History
Hourglass has learned to detect those
possessed in such fashion by gazing Or, possibly, history can be changed, but the present just doesn’t know
into their eyes – 10 seconds of eye con- about it. Somewhere in the past, the Fang Sing have factories in
tact (and a Perception roll) is enough Carthage churning out repeating crossbows for the final war with Rome.
to spot the “glimmer” of another mind The Architects rule over Elizabethan England with machine guns and
behind the pupils. Obviously, people steamships, preparing to launch their invasion of France. Evil Time
unaware of time travel consider such Circles command criminal empires in the pirate Caribbean, or launch
talk ludicrous – and if the Fang Sing Balkan wars to exterminate their rivals’ fortresses. None of it shows up
agent in the past has mastered the in the history books, though, until these islands of “hollow history” can
mesmeric arts, gazing into his eyes be connected in a great chain – the Fang Sing have to wipe out Rome
may open the traveler up to worse four or five times, and then start taking over the Renaissance on the back
dangers still! of Tamerlane’s invaders. Whichever side reaches the present first will
rule the world.
One particularly noxious goal of Dr.
Fang’s involves the Black Death. He is To maintain the flavor of the game, changing history should still be
attempting to breed new diseases difficult, onerous work. Apply a universal -5 modifier to all outtime tech-
capable of wiping out European nological, political, and cultural change rolls from pp. B505-508 or
nations wholesale; his agents some- pp. 105-106. (Travelers should make use of the Extra Time rules on
times travel back to epidemics to test p. B346 to mitigate this problem for both Concept and Proposal rolls.)
his new formulas on unsuspecting vic- Opposition to political and cultural change delays things by quintuple
tims. He also shows great interest in all the time given on p. 105 – a delay of eight weeks becomes a delay of 40
forms of selective breeding; some of weeks, for example.
his acolytes set up farms in the distant
past to raise and breed vermin.
Generations later, his agents have

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 215

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for takes only one night’s ritual. There is occasional) -30%; -80%) [20]; Warp
himself, a time traveler has an no Observer Effect in the default set- (Warp Jump; Naked (Except for
extremely privileged past, with much ting, although the GM could add one if period items, -20%) -25%, Preparation
higher inertia even than the rest of his- he wants a more mechanistic flavor to Required (1 hour), -50%, Psionic
tory. His enemies can’t kill him as a the Circles’ strategy. The GM will Teleportation, -10%, Research
baby, or convince his parents to probably want to impose a Recency Required, -25%, Trigger (Gakuji,
divorce, or burn down his hometown, Effect of about 20 years or so, if only occasional), -30%; -80%) [20].
or draft him into the Army. This has its to remove the temptation to do dirt to
downside, too. A traveler who puts a an enemy Circle last week. Architect Ley Travel (+40): Jumper
shilling in an interest-bearing account (Time) (Warp Jump; Attunement
in 1700 will come back to find no for- As written, this setting involves Required (Structure) -20%, Past Only
tune waiting in the present. Instead, Paradox-Proof Time, although one -20%, Preparation Required (1
the bank went under in 1749, or a interesting variation would be minute), -20%, Psionic Teleportation,
different claimant withdrew the cash Temporal Snarls that induce heavy -10%, Special Portal (Ley nexus struc-
a decade ago, or the government Fright Checks, FP costs, Will penal- ture), -30%; -80%) [20]; Warp (Warp
confiscated that account for tax ties, and even IQ damage for commu- Jump; Attunement Required (struc-
delinquency. A traveler can bury treas- nication with yourself. Is the message ture) -20%, Preparation Required (1
ure in the past and hope to dig it up in worth delivering, knowing that you’ll minute), -20%, Psionic Teleportation,
the present, but making history work go insane? A player can then “restart” -10%, Special Portal (ley nexus struc-
to change his life – in either direction in the position of his “younger self” ture), -30%; -80%) [20].
– is right out. Further, he can’t inter- (with said hefty damage) and replay
fere in his own timeline; no attempt at the crisis, or the GM and players can Ch’i Feng Technique (+40): Jumper
communication with his past or agree to handwave the shift and move (Time) (Linked +10%; Astral
future self is possible. forward from the repair. Projection, -10%, Only in Trance,
-30%, Past Only, -20%, Preparation
CAMPAIGN Characters Required (10 minutes), -30%,
ASSUMPTIONS Projection, -50%; -80%) [20] and
Members of the Order of the Possession (Linked +10%; Astral
Parameters Hourglass likely have Enemies (Evil Projection, -10%, Only in Trance,
Time Circles), Wealth, and Status. -30%, Preparation Required (10 min-
Scale: The default scale is fairly utes), -30%, Spiritual, -20%; -80%)
prosaic, one of individual Time Circles Power Level: Any, although slightly [20].
competing for power, influence, and pulpier heroes (around 175-200
handsome Meissen dishware. points) fit the setting’s feel. Characters With any of the above methods, a
However, it can escalate with the goals without several languages are going to critical failure throws the traveler off
of the villains, especially if the get themselves killed. course by 6d months either way.
Architects or the Fang Sing become
major players. Niche: All PCs are assumed to be Genre and Mode
members of a Time Circle, friends or
Scope: Broad, intentionally so. The trusted associates of whichever PC it is This setting is a pulp conspiracy
more exotic and wild the past, the bet- that has the Gakuji source. setting; in general, members of good
ter to lock into the “pulp Twenties” feel Time Circles are good guys and can be
of the campaign world. Freedom: One hopes that all PCs trusted, but the bad guys might be
will comport themselves as ladies and anywhere else. Order of the Hourglass
Boundaries: The past, essentially as gentlemen, whether in the present or adventures can support the investiga-
depicted in a good 1920s history book, the past. American heroes are expect- tive mode well. Historical fidelity is
with lots of Dark Ages and Mysterious ed to try their best, given the handi- less important than exciting scenery;
Civilizations outside the well-lit pro- caps under which they labor. at its base, Minoan Crete is a Thrilling
gression of Egypt, Greece, Rome, Location, not a fully evoked society,
Merrie England, and Our Glorious Edges: The only edge the PCs have unless the GM wants to explore cul-
Selves. Psionics are the default source is time travel, although the GM may ture clash more deeply than “I say, Sir
of “magical powers,” although the GM allow other psionic powers if he wish- Nigel, they don’t seem to be wearing
can change the flavor by adding other es. Their foes have at least the same any, er, you know . . . camisoles.”
supernatural elements if desired. edges the PCs possess; on average, evil
Time Circles are PC-equivalent, the
Paraphysics Architects have more wealth and
power, and the Fang Sing have more
See the Great Work of Time discus- psionics and deadly kung fu.
sion on p. 215; history is Plastic Time
with High (or even Very High) Time Travel Advantages
Resistance. There is no Linearity
Effect; a month of time travel still Gakuji (+40): Jumper (Time) (Warp
Jump; Naked (Except for period
items, -20%), -25%, Past Only, -20%,
Preparation Required (1 hour), -50%,
Psionic Teleportation, -10%, Research
Required, -25%, Trigger (Gakuji,

216 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

THE TIME CORPS

In the late 20th century, the physi- Agent Slang
cist Alexei Arbatov proved the exis-
tence of “entropic charge,” an energy Time Agents, close-knit and highly trained, have developed their own
potential inherent in all matter. terminology. This slang adds color to a campaign. (GMs can also devel-
Entropic charge declines over time; op their own – or encourage their players to do so.)
presumably it was at its maximum at
the time of the Big Bang, and will The implanted Focal Referent is called the Latch, or the Jockstrap.
reach zero when the Universe reaches The Mark II that non-agents wear has nicknames like Safety Belt.
its maximum expansion and begins to
collapse. Physicists are still arguing Agents tend to deride non-agents, and (when the victims aren’t lis-
over what happens after that . . . tening) call fitting the Mark II “tucking them in” or “putting on training
wheels.” The Transmitter Stage may be called Home Plate, Ground Zero,
Arbatov postulated that entropic or similar names; only a rookie calls it “the Transmitter” or “the Stage.”
charge serves to “hold” matter station-
ary in time, and could be manipulated Timesickness has many colorful nicknames; among the more print-
to move matter through time. But able are “Wells’ Revenge” and “The Crosstime Cookie Toss.”
nothing was actually achieved for over
50 years, when Mariana Brill first We can’t print their nicknames for Stopwatch agents.
demonstrated time displacement in
the laboratory on the atomic particle Time Corps Glossary
level. The Arbatov-Brill Effect used
huge amounts of energy, and was Absolute Now: the “real” present, from the point of view of someone at
uncontrollable and unstable. Another ABET headquarters.
30 years went by before Nehemiah
Eden used a new type of organic-plas- blackout: an area of time which cannot be reached by the ABET trans-
tic semiconductor to create Focal mitter. Some are temporary; some seem permanent.
Referent devices, which made the sta-
ble displacement of objects practical – clock out: travel in time.
though the energy cost remains crunch time: time in the Absolute Now passing at a faster rate than
staggering.
experienced time while on a mission.
The United Nations, by then a divergence: warning of impending historical change (p. 225).
true world government, immediately downtime: toward the past.
moved to establish control over time dropout: when all agents in a time period are thrown back to Base by a
travel. Under the general title of
Project Timepiece, they constructed historical change.
the first large-scale Arbatov-Brill- Ear: a device for detecting items entering or leaving the local time.
Eden Transmitter, and set up the Eddy Effect: the reason agents in the past may not get supplies or rein-
Temporal Control Authority (TCA) to
operate it. forcements exactly as expected. This has other names we can’t print,
but JAFEE (pronounced “jaffy”) stands for Just Another (Freaking)
Unfortunately, Timepiece is not Eddy Effect.
alone in the past. Early in its exis- nak: short for “anachronism.” A person, place or thing belonging in a
tence, it encountered the operatives different time or timeline.
of an organization calling itself native: anyone who belongs in the current world or time.
Stopwatch, who were attempting to Observer Effect: a phenomenon limiting the type of historical event
alter history at key points. Stopwatch that can be changed (p. 159).
is the equivalent of the TCA from an slack time: time faster than normal relative to Absolute Now.
alternate present, in which a gray traveler: anyone who goes between times, dimensions, planes or alter-
bureaucracy rules humanity. (It calls nate worlds. See also “nak.”
itself United Mankind, but our world uptime: toward the future.
knows it as the Hive.)
Who controls the past controls the future; who
Stopwatch agents are working controls the present controls the past.
throughout time to make certain that
their future comes into existence. – George Orwell, 1984
Project Timepiece has its own elite
Time Corps to prevent this.

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 217

MECHANICS barrier” around the atomic nucleus, interventions (see below). Others are
nothing above the atomic level can be mysteries. The blackout from 25 B.C.
The Arbatov-Brill-Eden Transmit- sent back less than 130 years. For an to 82 A.D. is especially irritating to his-
ter (ABET) is at the center of a Absolute Now of 2100 – a good start- torians. Blackout periods have been
town-sized complex in the Canadian ing place for the campaign – this known to move and change, too. (The
wilderness. While the Transmitter means that no time after 1970 can be GM can set blackout periods for any
Stage is just a plain metal disc five reached. time he finds convenient.)
yards in diameter, its support consists
of ranks of cryogenic supercomputers Even before 1970, the ABET can- When a window moves into a
and one of the largest power-generat- not send agents to any chosen period blackout, nothing can be sent through
ing stations on Earth; each pound of in time. It is limited to “windows” – it, or emerge from it . . . but the win-
mass sent into the past requires some periods 245 days, 496.5 seconds apart. dow will re-emerge from the blackout
$10,000 worth of electricity. The rest These window periods move as the on schedule. Agents with downtime
of the TCA complex provides housing, Absolute Now does. If June 7, 1832 is when a blackout begins cannot return
research, and training facilities for a “window” right now, then June 14 home until it is over, and sometimes
approximately 600 Time Agents and will be a “window” next week. These have odd memory lapses.
several thousand support personnel. “windows” have no width at all. You
can send to one specific instant in Just sending something back in
Once displaced into the past, an June 7, 1832 . . . or you can send to time creates a temporary blackout.
object has “negative temporal poten- another instant, some eight months When something is sent to a window,
tial”; Arbatov’s entropic energy con- earlier or eight months later . . . and so that window closes for the next
stantly tries to return it to the present. on. If you want to get to June 14, you 3d¥100 hours of past time (which is
Displaced objects must always be inside will have to wait a week . . . either in an average of a month and a half). The
the field of a Focal Referent device, or the present, or in the past. actual time it will remain closed can-
they return to the Transmitter Stage. not be predicted, but the ABET can
(There is one very important exception Thus, agents sent into the past detect the window opening again.
to this: the Divergence Effect, described must usually wait several months to
on p. 225.) get to a desired historical event – but Since linearity is not conserved in
sometimes they have no choice but to this scenario – the Absolute Now does
The ABET can send a load of 1,200 land almost on top of it, and act with not necessarily move at the same
lbs. to any period for which a window little preparation. “speed” as the past, with respect to an
(see below) can be found – distance observer in the past – someone who
into the past does not matter. For game purposes, it is easiest to was sent through a window will not
think of the present as “dragging” a always be “on” that window with
The ABET can reach any physical string of windows through time. These respect to Control. Sometimes, but
location on Earth; agents do not only are the only points to which a time not always! In general, the more a vis-
travel in time, but also in space. (It traveler can go. They are about eight itor meddles with the past, the likelier
does not seem able to hit off-Earth months apart. So if you can hit he is to set up an “eddy” which will
points accurately, due to the lack of a January 1700 right now, you can also reduce the precision with which
gravitational frame of reference.) The hit September 1700, and May 1701, Control can send him reinforcements
first agents sent to a given site have a and so on – assuming no blackouts or supplies (see below).
1 in 6 chance of a small coordinate intervene. In practice, of course, the
error – not fatal, but often interesting. GM can put a window whenever he Returning
wants one by deciding what date the
Target Periods Absolute Now is at. Agents may return at any time
and Blackouts (unless Divergence is occurring; see
Certain periods, though, are p. 225). They return to whatever
Because of the Arbatov Barrier, an blacked out and unavailable. Some of moment the Absolute Now has
effect analogous to the “potential these are due to successful Stopwatch reached. The Linearity Principle
(p. 156) does not always hold true. The
Eddies and Uncertainty more changes the agents make, the
more likely it is that time will be linear,
Agents who meddle with the past, or who are in the presence of as their personal duration “fills up”
Stopwatch agents who meddle with the past, find that Control can’t hit any accumulated slack in the timeline.
their time exactly with reinforcements, supply drops and so on. The
“window” has become uncertain. This uncertainty is from 1d to 10d Anything which returns to the
hours; the GM judges the current level of historical change on a scale future reappears on the ABET stage.
from one to 10, and rolls that many dice. The TCA keeps the stage clear at all
times except while actually transmit-
The message or reinforcement usually arrives after it was expected. ting something, and takes returnees
On any roll containing more than two 6s, the shipment arrives before it off the stage immediately. (Theoretic-
was expected. If the shipment was in response to a request from the past, ally, anything returning to a fully occu-
it will never arrive before it was requested! pied stage would simply be displaced
in a random direction, to appear in an
open area, but nobody wants to take
chances.)

218 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

The Absolute Now The clock in San Dimas is always ticking.
– Rufus, Bill and Ted’s
The Absolute Now – the date to Excellent Adventure
which agents return when they clock
back from the past – starts at the date It is possible that the “real” wounded, the device switches off, and
on which they leave ABET, deter- absolute now is 500 years from now, the agent returns to the transmitter
mined by the GM. Changes are par- and that Timepiece agents are being stage, where an emergency medical
tially determined by the PCs’ actions. watched by the agents of some future team is constantly standing by. With
For instance, if they send a note to time corps – but that would be a dif- TL10 medical care, “if he’s breathing,
Control, requesting a machine that ferent campaign, and would require he’s cured.” The only thing that
takes three months to build, then the some explanation of why Timepiece Timepiece’s medical staff can’t deal
Absolute Now advances by three agents return to their own time. In this with is severe head injury. If an agent
months, even if the agents get their frame, our heroes are at the real Now, pops back with most of his head miss-
machine tomorrow relative to their the farthest point that eternity has ing, he’s dead. Even so, if the player
time. advanced. They will not see agents likes, a clone of the agent can be cre-
from the far future. If they see agents ated from a braintape made before the
The GM can also advance the from a near future, that future mission!
Absolute Now arbitrarily while the becomes their present when they
agents are in past time. This means return. To return voluntarily, at the conclu-
that when they clock forward, they sion of a mission or before, the agent
will come back later than the time The Focal Referent uses his tongue to activate two switch-
they left. As a general rule, future time es built into his teeth (two, rather than
passes at only 10% of observed time if A Focal Referent (FR) is the device one, to avoid accidents). Even so,
the agents do nothing (this allows for that keeps a transmitted object in the there is a small chance (a roll of 5 or
some great vacations). Minor varia- past. Time Agents have a Mark III less on 3d) that any blow that gets past
tions let it flow at 30% of past time Focal Referent implanted in the chest the head’s DR will pop the agent back
speed; major ones at 60%; huge ones and abdomen. It is powered by myo- to his home time. (The GM may
at 100%. This can vary by 4d% in electricity from the user’s body, and is ignore this result if it interferes with
either direction, though never to less not detectable by surface examina- the game, but players will usually be
than 0%. The GM can always declare tion. The organic plastic does not amused; it’s better than dying.)
“A month has passed at Control with appear on an X-ray, though a careful
no report from you. They get nervous search with ultrasonic equipment Non-agents sent into the past usu-
and send you a message.” (available only after the late 1960s, ally wear a Mark II FR as a belt or
and therefore not much of a risk) or chest strap (with a heart sensor, which
The existence of an Absolute Now surgical invasion might reveal it. functions like the life sensors on the
prevents one sticky sort of paradox. Mark III). It weighs 1 lb. and has DR 3
Agents can meet an agent from “their The Mark III monitors the wearer’s and HT 5.
future” – but they cannot carry infor- heart and brainwaves. If he is badly
mation back to the time they left from.
They will return to the same Absolute Crunch Time and Slack Time
Now that the later agent came from.
When the Absolute Now advances at a faster rate than the personal
Example: Ng Chan clocked out on time of a traveler, this is known as crunch time. In the example above,
January 1, 2100. He traveled 200 Ng might complain that he was “crunched seven months, and missed the
years downtime to January 1900. He basketball playoffs.”
remains there, observing, for 100
days. Normally he’d assume that On the other hand, if everything goes well, an Agent can spend longer
only 10 days Absolute had passed downtime than the Absolute Now passes. This is known as “slack time.”
(he’s not taking any actions – just
observing). One evening, though, Al Crunch time and slack time can introduce some interesting effects,
Morris, a fellow agent, contacts him. especially regarding calendar age vs. biological age. For instance, some-
Al tells Ng that he clocked out in July one with a lot of slack time might have a calendar age of 20 years, but a
1, 2100. Ng now knows that the biological age of 50+. Someone who uses slack to his own benefit
Absolute Now has advanced seven (meeting deadlines, rising in rank, etc.) is known as a “slackmaster.”
months – and he’ll probably try to
figure out why! No matter what the Conversely, an Agent with a great deal of crunched time might
explanation, Ng will now snap back appear to be 25 years old – but have actually been born several hundred
to July 1 or later – he has “lost” the years ago (if the Absolute Now had advanced that far since the
intervening seven months (this is campaign started)!
known as “crunch time”; see the box
below). Biologically, Ng would have
only aged three months (the length
of time he spent in 1900).

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 219

When an agent returns by surprise or without This sudden vacuum in the gut is
taking precautions after a very long visit to the painful, and costs 1d FP.
past, he may take actual injury because some of
his molecules stay in the past! There are good side effects of trans-
ference. After someone has been in the
Both the Mark II and III Focal chemically bond with atoms from the past for about a month (8d days, dif-
Referents “hold” the wearer’s clothing past, the Arbatov charge “leaks” via ferent for each traveler), their cut hair,
and personal equipment to a range of the electrons. If a future object inter- fingernails, skin flakes, etc., no longer
about five yards. Beyond this range, acts chemically with past materials snap back to the present once
the gear will snap back. Equipment inside a Focal Referent field, it gradu- removed, eliminating a telltale sign of
can be fitted with a Mark I FR, about ally leaks its “future” charge. Similarly, Agent-ness. Living matter like blood
the size of a credit card (DR 2, HT 3). “past” atoms can be assimilated into cells snap back; hair and fingernails
Agents usually carry a spare Mark I in objects from the future, though they on a living body snap back when the
case they have to temporarily store tend to acquire a “future” charge. person does (though they may get
their gear. Placed in a closet or chest of shorter).
drawers, for instance, the Mark I Since most of the human body is
would stabilize everything within two water, an agent can avoid any signifi- Bringing Past
yards. Weapons are usually not cant effects by drinking a great deal of Items Forward
equipped with their own circuits – future water for at least a week before
very effective insurance against their returning. This replaces the system’s In general, it can’t be done. Past-
falling into the wrong hands. “past” water and seems to replenish time items carried by returning
the charge on the body’s other agents, placed within items set to
Any “home-time” item that leaves molecules. return, etc., etc., simply stay in their
an FR field snaps back to the ABET own time. Agents wishing to send
stage. This includes shed blood, sweat, But when an agent returns by sur- inanimate items “forward” must bury
fingernail clippings, and so forth – prise or without taking precautions them in time capsules.
which is why agents take a strong lax- after a very long visit to the past, he
ative a few hours before leaving. The may take actual injury because some With patience, the transference
return of random trash is messy and of his molecules stay in the past! Roll effect can be used to bring a living
inconvenient when the Stage is occu- 1d-2 injury for each full year the agent being forward. A pair of Eohippus,
pied, but rarely dangerous. When nec- stayed in the past, or 1d-3 if he lived as captured in the prehistoric era and
essary, pressure sprayers sweep the much as possible on rations brought carefully fed on modern food and
Stage clear. (The backup system is a from the future. (But note that since water for five years, returned to the
couple of people with mops . . .) the agent returns to the ABET stage, ABET stage with no ill effects; they
where some of the world’s best med- have already produced a colt.
Exception: An item in a blacked- ical care is available, he’s usually in lit-
out period will not snap back to the tle danger unless he’s dead when he TIME AGENTS
future, even if it loses its Focal arrives.)
Referent, until the blackout ends. Timepiece agent characters begin
Still, there are spooky side effects. with a base of 180 points (or more, if
Any FR field will hold a “future” When an agent leaves some of him- the campaign is to be cinematic).
object; if one agent hands a stunner to self behind, those who remain see a Certain advantages and skills repre-
another, it the second agent’s field greasy, bloody mist in the shape of a senting agent training are mandatory,
holds it when the first agent walks man – the left-behind molecules. And and certain disadvantages prohibited.
away. But Stopwatch FR fields will not there have been cases, not thoroughly (The GM may want to use the Infinity
hold an item from the Timepiece explained, where long-term agents Patrol templates on pp. 186-188 as a
future, and vice versa. vanished from the past and did starting point for constructing
not return to the future. Were their Timepiece Agents.)
The Transference Effect molecules dispersed throughout
history, or did they arrive, intact, Timepiece recruits must all be in
The food that a traveler consumes partway to the future? first-rate physical and mental health.
in the past, once digested and assimi- Sending a hemophiliac into the
lated, becomes part of the traveler and A much commoner painful side Middle Ages would amount to mur-
returns when the traveler does; so effect occurs when any agent returns; der! Time agents can have no physical
does the air in his lungs. It appears a major fraction of the material in the disadvantages; mental disadvantages
that when atoms from the future digestive tract remains in the past. are allowed only if, in the GM’s opin-
ion, they would not directly impede
the agent’s work. Impulsiveness or
Overconfidence would be allowable;
Pyromania or Sadism would not.
Pacifism could be a plus, although
Total Nonviolence is likely too much
of a handicap in getting the job done.
Agents do not have Dependents, and

220 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

the agency does not normally send an agent is in most need of help is the have to tell him “Do this in six
non-agents into the past. (See the dis- moment when Timepiece can’t do months . . .”
advantage lists in the Patrol templates, anything.
or the Alternate Outcomes troopers on Retired Agents
p. 189.) Field Agents
Retired agents often stay with the
The GM should play the role of About 600 active Field Agents work service as instructors and advisors,
recruiting officer when the players ask out of the Canadian base, plus another and can return to the field in a pinch.
for disadvantage points. Timepiece 100 retired agents (see below). Many of them also volunteer as Local
might accept a reformed alcoholic, if Therefore, while there is a good Agents in the past, becoming perma-
he was very talented – a linguistic chance that any agent will know any nent observers for the rest of their
genius, say. Many disadvantages that other active-duty agent, nobody can lives. Currently, Base has about 100
wouldn’t disqualify a character would recognize all his fellow agents by retired agents on its staff.
also never affect him in play, and sight. There are recognition codes . . .
therefore wouldn’t be worth any but nothing is foolproof. THE ENEMY
points in the first place.
Local Agents The Hive occupies an “alternate
Agents have a -20-point Duty to present.” It is impossible to travel
Timepiece (Constant; Extremely Timepiece maintains a classified between the Hive’s present and that of
Hazardous). This includes an obliga- number of Local Agents in dozens of Timepiece. However, both alternate
tion not to kill if any other option is past times. These agents often spend presents can send agents into their
available. It is not a prohibition on years in place and develop firm identi- common past. The Hive is a world in
killing, but the GM should reward ties in the past. Of course, Stopwatch which everyone works for the govern-
characters who consider the options does the same thing. ment – or for some part of a web of
and find alternatives, and withhold overlapping governments that starts at
points from those who kill needlessly. Local Agents can escape to Base at the level of the huge, gray apartment
any time just by triggering their FR blocks, and goes all the way to the
Naturally, Timepiece can provide devices. But they can return to a spe- bloated descendant of the U.N. All cor-
training in virtually any skill agents cific time only when a “window” porations have been nationalized (or
might need, from fencing to disarm- crosses it. all governments have been bought out
ing nuclear weapons. Top Field Agents by the corporations – it’s hard to tell).
are generalists rather than specialists. Local Agents may receive instruc-
But Timepiece also has many agents, tions from Timepiece at any time, but It is a polluted, overpopulated, des-
including combat specialists, who are with rather weird constraints. At any perately resource-poor world. But its
relatively one-dimensional. They are given Absolute Now, communication civilized portions are very regimented
usually used either as part of teams, or is possible only with a string of points and orderly. When a Hive agent visits
for very brief missions – i.e., they’re in history, eight months apart, with the past, he is likely to see not freedom
usually NPCs. These include the com- various gaps. So once an agent has and wealth, but a disgustingly undisci-
bat specialists, or “grunts,” Timepiece been in place for eight months, you plined display of waste. But there are
uses when direct confrontations are can almost always communicate with exceptions; some Hive agents revel in
inevitable. him – but not necessarily at the most the past and don’t want to leave.
convenient time. You can’t depend on
Timepiece is worth no points as a telling him “Do this now!” You may
Patron, because usually the time when

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 221

Time Agent Equipment

Agents have access to any equipment they need, gemstones, are cheap compared to the cost of transmis-
without regard for budgets, at TL10 . . . within the lim- sion, but they are difficult to stabilize. Where commerce
itations of the 1,200-pound maximum transfer. Of is well developed, Research Division can provide
course, the agents’ superiors (that is, the GM) may veto instructions for profitable, inconspicuous investments.
any request that seems unreasonable. The GM, playing They have also manufactured large coins and articles of
the supervising agents, decides which items may have jewelry containing small FR circuits, although these
built-in FRs (so they can stay on the past on their own) lose their charge and snap back in a few days, giving
and which do not have FRs (so they will snap back if rise to stories of magicians’ gold that dissolves after the
dropped). See the Patrol equipment on pp. 22-27 for sorcerer departs . . .
some similar gear.
Other Gadgets
Weapons
The effects of Focal Referents are described on p. 219.
There are two standard weapons, which never have
built-in FRs. Occasionally a past-timer will manage to The Notebook is a portable audiovisual
get hold of one which is “stuck” in the past due to diver- recorder/player, about the size of an average hardcover
gence, but it always vanishes as soon as the Divergence book. It is used to record the course of a mission,
Effect ends. though if fitted with a Focal Referent it can be used as
a snooping device. It records on laser discs that can be
The Stunner is a sonic stunner in the shape of a ejected and used to send messages to the present (see
short metal wand. It can be tuned for either tight-beam also next entry). Time Agents are notorious for using the
or area effect. (Use the CF/3 statistics on p. 200). recorder for all sorts of purposes except keeping an
accurate record of their activities . . .
The Stinger is a gas-operated pistol that fires tran-
quilizer darts. It may be camouflaged to look like an Notecards are small sheets of plastic with a faint
antique weapon (flintlock, Colt .45, etc.) and fitted with radioactive tracer. Agents in the field can write mes-
powder charges to make the appropriate flash and sages on a card and leave it behind; once out of range of
bang, or disguised as a cane, prayer book, or other item, the agent’s FR, it snaps back to the ABET stage, where
in which case it operates nearly silently. The darts con- its tracer sets off a warning to pick up the note. The spe-
tain a plastic FR circuit, which is charged as they spin cial cards are rarely necessary, of course. Anything that
through the barrel rifling: a few seconds after firing appears on the stage will be examined immediately. But
(more than enough time to reach the target) the charge if a note appears on the stage at the same time that sev-
dissipates and the dart vanishes, leaving only a small eral wounded agents snap back, the special plastic cards
puncture wound like an insect bite. The Super Stinger are likelier to survive and be noticed! Notecards that do
is a rifle version of the Stinger with telescopic sight; if not disappear provide a warning of Divergence Effect.
not disguised as an antique weapon, it folds to fit in a
small shoulder bag. (Use the Needler statistics on The T-Meter is a device for measuring Arbatov ener-
p. 200; the Super Stinger has four times the range and gy; it can precisely identify the moment in time at which
six times the weight.) the travelers have arrived. (If the GM would rather the
players not know this, the T-Meter may be made unreli-
Costumes and Money able, or not used at all.)

The Costuming division can provide copies of any Homemade Equipment
period dress, with improvements such as Kevlar lining
for leather armor. Some items, such as suits of plate If the agents are going to be in place for a long
armor, may have Focal Referents to keep them from time, they can bring tools and equipment from home
snapping home when separated from the wearer. and build some fairly high-tech equipment. If they
really need an Uzi, they can have one made from local
Traveling money is a problem neither of the time materials.
agencies has ever fully solved. Precious metals, or even

Hive agents may be from any Why are there only two competing in one of two states: heads or tails.
industrialized part of the world – timelines? Neither side knows. (But it might land on its edge, or fall
North America, Europe (including Temporal physics seems to be gov- off the table . . . just as agents have
European Russia), eastern China and erned by a strange attractor – a math- occasionally reported observers from
Japan, Australia, and Argentina. The ematical function that boils down potential futures other than that of the
poorer areas have simply collapsed in almost all probabilities into two. Hive.)
famine and disease, and have been Consider: When you spin a coin, it is
abandoned. Where they held valuable random, a ball of light moving about The timeline seems to be spinning
resources, as in South Africa, enclaves the table. But when it stops, no matter like a coin. Whatever happens in the
from the Hive exist to strip them dry. where it falls, it will almost always end past seems to lead almost inevitably to

222 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

either the Timepiece world or the expect. In general, it seems that his- The GM should occasionally
world of the Hive. torical events favoring freedom and force the two sides to make a tempo-
personal liberty favor its world, and rary truce and cooperate, either to
And here the coin analogy breaks those favoring control (whether dicta- save all their lives from the angry
down, because now – whatever “now” torship or just bureaucracy) favor the locals, or to avoid a change so mas-
means – both the Timepiece world and Hive. The form of government doesn’t sive that it might make both worlds
that of the Hive seem to exist. They are seem important: corporate control is less probable.
not separate timelines . . . at least, just as bad (for Timepiece) as rule by
nobody can travel between them. They king, president or Mafia don. Wars in Stopwatch agents are generally
are different aspects of the same time- themselves may be good or bad, but more ruthless than Timepiece agents.
line, with almost equal probability. they’re more often bad because war, or They have more to gain and more to
the fear of war, encourages stricter lose – though as just mentioned,
Could enemy action change history controls. truces are possible. And while
enough to extinguish one side entirely? Stopwatch does not specifically train
Mathematics suggests it can’t . . . but if Stopwatch Agents its agents against killing as Timepiece
a timeline becomes unlikely enough, it does, they are just as subject to the
will no longer be able to travel in time. The agents of the alternate-world effects of changing history, and have
And that, by itself, is worth fighting Stopwatch organization are every bit the same need for caution. They rarely
for! Timepiece agents not only oppose as well trained and equipped as the kill someone unless they know he’s
Stopwatch’s changes, but try to create PCs. Most of them are motivated by a from Timepiece. And even so, they can
their own, to make history favor their personal lust for advancement; the often make the Observer Effect work
world. world of the Hive is comfortable only for them by leaving a foe alive. A
for those on top. Furthermore, they favorite Stopwatch tactic – and some
Timepiece has only a general idea have been convinced that the other Timepiece agents use it, too – is to slit
what events favor Stopwatch, and timeline must be extinguished if theirs a bound foe’s wrists. The blood loss
what events favor themselves. The is to survive, so their dedication is triggers his FR and sends him back
final decision which determines fanatical. home, where he is patched up to tell
which way the coin falls must lie in his story. (If the victim wasn’t really
the 130 years which the ABET can’t Attempts to bring Stopwatch from the future, of course, he simply
see or visit. Something during that agents back don’t work. Timepiece dies.)
period was important enough to agents have been captured by
reduce all preceding history into one Stopwatch and taken away, but inter- Stopwatch cannot be taken as a
simple choice. rogation of prisoners reveals that none specific Enemy, because it’s built into
have ever made it back “home.” Their the campaign as part of the overall
All the maneuvering of both sides fellow Timepiece operatives have risk that agents take, and does not
is simply directed at influencing that never seen them, either – nobody seem to target specific Timepiece
one decision, without knowing just knows where they went! agents – or to have any way of doing
what it is. But from probability read- so if it wanted to.
ings after each known change,
Timepiece knows about what to

Visitors From the Future Other Realities and
Doubled Agents
Control has never been blessed (or cursed) with visitors from its own
future. The explanation for this is purely theoretical. The only documented “alternate
present” is that of the Hive and
It starts with the idea that Control exists in the true “Absolute Now.” Stopwatch; however, Agents have
There is no future yet, just unformed possibilities. (There is no mathe- reported contacts with individuals
matical proof of this, though.) who seem to be Time Agents from
other realities, some of them quite
Even though the current Control exists in the Absolute Now, it might bizarre.
be able to send agents to the Control of eight months ago. But the
Arbatov Barrier prevents this by imposing a minimum time-jump dis- The other troublesome effect
tance of 130 years. involves the people of the Hive’s uni-
verse. Are they the same in both
Still, it is possible that 130 years from now, the Control of that time worlds? That is, do Timepiece agents
will be able to send agents to the Control of the “present.” But there are have duplicates in Stopwatch’s world,
theoretical reasons to think that the existence of an ABET transmitter is or are they entirely different people? If
one of the things that can create a “blackout” period. If this is true, then they do coexist, one would expect that
a time that is the source of time travelers can never be the destination of at least some of the people who are
time travelers. recruited as Time Agents in one world
would also be employed by their foe.
It is possible that some of the unexplained visitors to the past, occa- Again, agents have reported meeting
sionally reported by Timepiece agents, are really from Control’s future. their apparent doubles – but nothing
But if they are, they haven’t admitted it . . . or anything else! has been documented.

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 223

DETECTING Object Size Ear Detection Range
INTERVENTIONS
Fingernail, button, etc. 5 yards
Penetration Detection
Notecard, dart 10 yards
When a penetration is made from
Absolute Now in one timeline, the Bullet 20 yards
ABET on the other timeline can pick it
up. Thus, it is meaningful to say, 1⁄2 pound 30 yards
“Stopwatch penetrated 1850 A.D.
about 20 minutes ago.” 1 pound 40 yards

However, there are lots of false 10 pounds 50 yards
alarms. This may mean that there is
time travel going on that Timepiece 100 pounds 60 yards
doesn’t know about, or that they don’t
understand the system, or both. Over 1,000 pounds 70 yards
70% of the time, a team sent back to
check a penetration detection finds 1,200 pounds (maximum ABET send load) 71 yards
nothing.
The Observer Effect vs. Changing History
Problem Reports
New agents often ask, “How can history be changed at all, if the
Whenever possible, Local Agents Observer Effect really works? After all, everything important about his-
monitor important historical events. tory has been recorded.”
Sometimes they observe a problem
directly (an agent in Moscow sees the The answer – for practical purposes, anyway – has to do with direct
Germans marching in). Sometimes vs. indirect action. A directly observed event has a great amount of iner-
they see its effects afterward (an tia; it is not likely to change because of direct action. Indirect action,
agent in Berlin receives word that however, which does not itself contradict anything observed, can build
Moscow has fallen and Stalin is a up a “momentum of events” that can sweep away observed actions. But
prisoner). In either case, the agent’s this momentum can take months or years to build!
duty is to return to Control immedi-
ately with a full report. If several Thus, a time traveler can take actions that will eventually change
agents are present, one returns. The observed history. This can sometimes sweep away whole sections of
others wait to be contacted. Usually known history, with all their observations . . . and with all the Local
the contact comes within minutes Agents of both sides. And if, as often happens, the change is reversed, the
after the messenger leaves . . . even if “old” history will be back in place, along with its agents. But observa-
it is from agents who have been on tions made during that period will no longer be fully reliable; there is
the scene for months. once again scope for free action by Time Agents.

When a Local Agent becomes Agents can detect enemy action in detect each other by listening!
aware of a problem, the one thing he the past through the Eden-Arbatov Sending a note at the wrong time, or
must not do is observe too much! This Energy Reflector – the EAER, or carelessly dropping something, can be
seems like a paradox – in most wars, “Ear.” This detects the ripple of energy a fatal giveaway.
information is vital. But in crosstime created when a mass enters or leaves
conflict, often the more you know the “current” time nearby. The larger the An agent can tell by the sound
less you can do. mass, the farther away it can be spot- whether something is coming or
ted by the Ear. Agents wear small going, the direction, the general size,
Ears; they are built into the skull, and and the approximate distance. The
translate the energy into sound to let distance something can be “heard”
the agent “hear” something entering depends on its mass, and increases
or leaving. Thus, agents can often according to a reverse power curve;
the maximum theoretical distance at
which any ripple can be picked up is
less than 150 yards. The table above
shows the range at which typical
masses can be detected coming or
going.

Larger Ears are available (20 lbs.).
These have no more detection range,
but read out the exact mass and dis-
tance of each penetration, and can
log all penetrations for later exami-
nation . . . which is useful, because
everybody sleeps from time to time.

224 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

Gross Changes: that time have two rough-and-ready
A Bad Idea indicators of success.

“Why don’t we just nuke Hitler?” Every new Timepiece agent asks The Divergence Effect
that question, or something like it. Why can’t we just send a whole army
of Time Agents, armed to the teeth, to forcibly put history on the kind of When the local probability of
track we want? Timepiece’s coming into existence
drops below a certain point, travel
Because it doesn’t work, that’s why. between that time and the Absolute
Timepiece and Stopwatch don’t play a subtle game because they want Now is no longer possible . . . for
to. They’re subtle because they have no choice. Both agencies have Timepiece agents! Stopwatch agents
learned the hard way that noisy, flashy maneuvers don’t benefit anyone. are unaffected. The reverse is true for
In the early days of the Time War, Stopwatch tried several blatant Stopwatch.
attacks on the early days of American history, from machine-gunning
Washington’s troops to planting a fuel-air explosive device on Wall An agent can check this at any time
Street. In every case, the result was to pop all agents of both sides out of by tossing a bit of future material out-
the affected time, and to reduce the Absolute Now probabilities of both side his FR field. If it vanishes, things
sides’ coming into existence. are not going too badly. (On the other
Apparently if the past-timers realize, as a group, that they’re being hand, a Stopwatch Ear might hear it
invaded, that tends to throw history along very different lines. Nobody go, so even good news might be bad
knows what those lines might be, and nobody really wants to find out. news.) If it fails to vanish, the mission
So, agents . . . be happy with your plotting and your careful maneu- is in jeopardy. Often, the first that an
vers in the background of history, and forget about nuking Hitler. Unless, agent knows of the failure-to-vanish
of course, you can make it look like an accident . . . problem is when someone tries to
return home, and fails . . . or when a
Divergence and Dropout is true that Napoleon won and the hurt buddy’s body doesn’t vanish, but
French Empire survived another 13 stays right there and bleeds.
If scheduled reports fail to come years. But in late 2003, Timepiece
back from a given time, it may mean launches a counter-effort, which When one side gains a strong
that the agents have been cut off by restores history to its original track. advantage, the other is “stuck” in the
the Divergence Effect (see below). Of Thus, the history books of 2003 are past, with possibly deadly results for
course, if it is divergence, no rein- very much like those of 2001. severely injured agents who can’t get
forcements can be sent directly to the home to high-tech medicine. Agents
time in question. When one side or the other call this “divergence loss.” It is not
changes history – accidentally or on final: probability can flip back and
Sometimes the first warning purpose – the effect is to change the forth more than once during a mis-
Control has of a change is when it frequency of the entropic energy asso- sion, until one side is completely
finds out that Timepiece has lost the ciated with each possible future. In defeated – or, as occasionally happens,
round . . . by the unexpected appear- other words, the probability of each the probability balance is restored,
ance of all its agents and equipment future is changed. and both sides agree to back off.
for a particular time period.
Instruments at Control can detect When this Divergence Effect
The blackout of that period these probability fluctuations. A prob- occurs, the time period is blacked out
remains in effect, and often spreads. ability change takes the form of a from Control’s point of view. Control
History has been changed. curve along a chart of history. Some cannot send anything to the closest
changes seem to “damp out” immedi- “window” beforehand, and sometimes
CHANGING ately. Others have an avalanche for several “windows” afterward.
HISTORY effect . . . but even these seem to damp
out in the 130-year period that the Dropout
History can be changed. In fact, it ABET can’t reach.
can be changed over and over. When the local probability of
The instruments at Control can Timepiece’s coming into existence
Entropic energy allows an absolute measure the probability of their own drops below a final threshold, all
sequence of events to be imposed on existence at Absolute Now. This is Timepiece FRs in that period cease to
changes made in past time. Suppose used to keep overall score in the cam- function, and all surviving agents and
that in 2001, Stopwatch agents launch paign; see The Final Outcome, p. 226. equipment snap back to the Stage in
a time-attack against Wellington at failure. The reverse is true, of course,
Waterloo. They are partially success- Control cannot measure the for Stopwatch. There is often no doubt
ful, and history changes. So in 2002, it local probability of success in some when you “win” an encounter; your
contested past time, but the agents in foes vanish! The losing side can then
send no agents into that period or the
time immediately following, giving the
winners a chance to consolidate their
gains.

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 225

In game terms, if the GM decides Record-Keeping and the Observer Effect
that Stopwatch is about to win, he
cuts off communication between the Timepiece has two very different kinds of record-keeping. It keeps
Timepiece agents and their base. And extensive records about the detailed course of history, as recorded by his-
if he decides that the agents have torians and as observed by agents in “unthreatened” periods. Timepiece
failed and Stopwatch has won that has the greatest historical library in the world . . . fully computerized, of
encounter, he snaps everyone and course, but many of the original materials can be examined. (+2 to any
everything back home. Research roll on a historical subject!)

Long-Term Effects But Timepiece does not keep detailed records of the observations and
actions of its own agents, once a specific crisis has passed. Even the
Over a term of months or years, as greatest success leaves only a numerical rating in the agent’s record,
the Absolute Now measures time, the along with a note that he has successful experience in that period. Minor
local probabilities tend to even out. failures, likewise, leave only ratings. Agents rarely survive major failures.
The more massive the change, the
longer they take . . . but eventually The reason, of course, is to attempt to outsmart the Observer Effect.
most of that period, with its changed The less detail is recorded about some things, the easier it is to get
history, will be accessible once again. around them. On the other hand, if you know nothing about what either
Usually, though, one critical area your agents or the enemy are doing, how can you proceed? It’s a prob-
remains “blacked out” and unavail- lem that makes the lives of Time Agents entirely too interesting.
able for direct ABET transfer forever.
After a change, the Time Corps Stopwatch is reduced below 8%, the
Visiting immediately debriefs its rememberers PCs have won – and can continue to
Changed History and produces a file of alternate travel in time as researchers or even
history. This can be used in an attempt tourists. (But if they do something to
When history is changed, the GM to plan actions that might undo a change history again, Stopwatch may
must decide how far-reaching the change. reappear!)
change was. The sooner the change
damped out, the less history the GM The Final Outcome It is also possible that repeated dis-
must rewrite or avoid! asters will reduce the combined prob-
If one side loses enough successive ability of Timepiece and Stopwatch to
Agents visiting changed history will contests, then its probability becomes less than 70%. If that happens, the GM
be familiar with the new history. After low enough that it cannot travel in may create a third time-twisting agent
all, this is history now; they read about time reliably, if at all. It seems force, with any characteristics he
it in their history books. Thus, the GM unlikely that any probability can be likes . . . another probability has
should start any such visit with a brief- completely erased . . . but who would reached critical level, and may be
ing to the players. Often the new his- want to take the chance? treated like the first two. Things can
tory will be because of a Stopwatch really get complicated then . . .
intervention, and the players’ mission In game terms, the GM should
will be to make a change that – they start with the relative probabilities of CAMPAIGN
hope – will push history back toward a Timepiece and Stopwatch at 49% ASSUMPTIONS
favorable track. The inertia of time each. (The remaining 2% is made up
will help them in this. (The GM may of a huge number of low-probability Parameters
also decree that some part of “real” futures.) Any successful intervention
history is a Stopwatch plot, and send by one side adds 2d% to its own prob- Scale: The scale of the Time Corps
the party back to change historical ability, and subtracts 2d% (not neces- is an interesting mix of prosaic, subtle
reality.) sarily the same number, but reroll any adventures and the ultimate stakes –
result that is more than 2 different) the future of the world! This is a good
Remembering from the opposing probability. The compromise level, and the GM should
“Original” History “main” probabilities may never total try to emphasize both elements of it
more than 99%, with the last 1% going where possible.
Only those individuals with to the “wild” futures. Should the
Temporal Inertia (p. B93) can remem- Timepiece-Stopwatch total ever be Scope: Time Agents are the best of
ber events of an “original” history, more than 99%, reduce the higher the best, alone in the past. They have a
including missions (their own or oth- probability to make the total 99%. broad operational scope, although the
ers’) to that period. Usually, the Time nature of the windows and the
Corps’ first warning of a change The GM may also decide that a Observer Effect tend to constrain
comes from its agents or employees badly botched intervention has made them.
with Temporal Inertia. (Timepiece both futures less probable, reducing
hires individuals with Eidetic Memory each one by 1d% or even 2d%. Boundaries: One world, but all time
and Temporal Inertia, even if (with variations) up to about 1970.
they have no other qualifications, If Timepiece’s probability is There is only one method of time
specifically as “rememberers.”) reduced below 8%, the campaign has travel, and no gates or other cheats.
ended in failure for the agents. If

226 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

Paraphysics A GM with a strong historical SF inter- The Briefing
est can, of course, run plenty of repair
As given in the Mechanics section, missions (p. 211) in both directions! The agent team is called together
the Exclusion Rule (p. 157) applies. Missions are likely to be investigative, and briefed on the period. In this par-
Travelers can’t travel to a time where with a strong dose of technothriller (to ticular case, the Austria of 1914 cor-
they already exist. If they visit a time fill out those months of waiting for the responds almost exactly to that of our
just before they already exist, they Observer Effect or the window). The “real” history. The GM mentions one
must leave again before their “earlier” setting probably works best if non-historical detail: the American
version appears (or is born). If they Timepiece agents are, in fact, the good escape artist and writer, Harry
don’t, the “later” version will pop back guys, but a certain amount of grittiness Houdini, is currently living in
to the ABET stage. won’t spoil anything. Austria, writing, researching, and
doing occasional short performance
The agents in the field can almost OPERATION tours. (The depth of this briefing
always communicate with Control via ARCHDUKE: A would depend on the GM and the
notecards (see Other Gadgets, p. 222), TYPICAL MISSION group. If everyone enjoys research,
or by returning in person if necessary. the GM probably started by checking
This only becomes impossible if a mis- Because of the high percentage of several books out of the library, and
sion is imperiled by divergence “false alarms” and missions to protect he might end his briefing by handing
(p. 225). Control can communicate “weak spots” against possible incur- them to the players.)
with agents by sending physical mes- sions, the truly typical mission is one
sages through the ABET, but each in which the agents clock back . . . The problem is that the nature of
time a package is sent, that window is spend several paranoid weeks down- the intervention is not immediately
closed for a long time. In a pinch, time, possibly getting in trouble with obvious. Clearly it has something to
Control can send a package to an ear- the natives . . . and clock home, never do with the assassination. But the
lier window and mark it “Do not open having seen any evidence of a Archduke was, in his time, a force for
until [whenever]!” Attempts to use this Stopwatch agent. Certainly the GM stable unity and peaceful devolution
trick to get around the Observer Effect can throw in such a mission now and of power. One would think that
fail; usually, such a message is simply then. But players will expect to Stopwatch would want him dead! So
blank when read. Each communica- encounter enemy agents . . . and the the agents will have to watch carefully
tion from Control advances the player characters are paid to expect and think on their feet.
Absolute Now from the point of view enemy agents.
of the agents. The Initial Penetration
Our typical mission, then, is one
History in this campaign is Plastic where Stopwatch is really up to some- The closest window to use would
but very Resistant. The Observer thing. Here’s an account of the be the same one that Stopwatch
Effect (p. 159) applies; paradoxes mission as it happened . . . used, now at June 2. (The fact that
seem to be impossible. If a Timepiece they used it recently does not black it
or Stopwatch agent changes history, The Warning out to Timepiece – just to them.) But
the change affects the Absolute Now Control is concerned that the team
only on a probability level. The ABET operators report a might not have time to prepare prop-
possible Stopwatch transmission: to a erly. Brunner is the only agent in that
It is possible for an agent in the window at May 30, 1914, in Austria. time period, and he is not well
past to meet someone else from “his The time and place suggest that this is equipped.
future.” That is, someone from 2100 real. On June 28, Archduke Francis
could meet someone who had been Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, So: Six agents (the PCs) are clocked
sent from 2101. When that happens, and his wife were assassinated, to the previous window, eight months
the agent from the earlier time knows leading immediately to World War I. earlier. This gives them time to pre-
that the Absolute Now has advanced Obviously, this is a key historical event. pare. Immediately afterward, Control
(p. 219); if he clocks back, he’ll arrive But how does Stopwatch stand to gain sends six combat specialists (“grunts”)
in that later time. Agents in this situa- by changing it? to the June 2 window, with orders to
tion are careful to exchange only wait for contact from the PCs and
information required for the mission. Three days later Brunner, the Local follow their instructions.
Agent in Vienna, sends a further
Characters report. Just as a precaution, he had The PCs in 1913 are under strict
bugged the homes and meeting places orders not to contact the Local Agent
See pp. 171-200 for character of the Serbian conspirators who were in any way, and not to interfere with
design notes; Timesickness (p. 181) is to assassinate Ferdinand. Through his the Stopwatch actions that Brunner
Common and Mild. listening devices, he heard sounds of a reported. To do so would be to chal-
disturbance. A little detective work on lenge the Observer Effect. However –
Genre and Mode his part confirmed that the main con- armed with the information supplied
spirators had been removed and by Brunner – they place the fake
This is a quintessential technical SF replaced by Stopwatch agents! assassins under surveillance without
setting, with much of the challenge being detected, and they identify a
focused on using the mechanics of total of seven Stopwatch agents.
time travel to accomplish the mission.

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 227

One of the players tries direct The Moment of Freedom But after six days of waiting, they
action anyway, just to see what the become impatient and worried. When
GM will do. He sets up an ambush to At the moment in 1914 at which the “grunt” team (NPCs) appears, the
zap one of the female agents with a Brunner sends his note back to Base agents decide to act. They divide their
Super Stinger – no women are known to give the alarm, the agents are free. forces to track the enemy agents, hop-
to be crucial to the Stopwatch moves They are no longer constrained by the ing to clean them up in a simple fire-
already observed. But the entire team Local Agent’s observations. They can fight. A couple of combats ensue. Five
is afflicted with food poisoning from a contact Brunner, and they can act Stopwatch agents are hit by darts and
bad dinner the night before. The rifle- against Stopwatch in any way that clock out to escape. One is captured,
man is doubled up with cramps five does not contradict what is currently but nothing is learned from him
minutes before his target appears, known of history. before he gets away (you can stuff a
and his FR yanks him home. Since he rag in someone’s mouth to keep him
didn’t tell the rest of the team what he However, they choose not to con- from using tongue-switches, but it’s
was up to, they spend a lot of time tact Brunner, because they know from hard to interrogate him in the mean-
being paranoid. The Stopwatch agent their own surveillance that the time). One escapes.
who was being targeted “heard” the Stopwatch agents have spotted him as
missing agent clock out, and her team a possible foe. But Stopwatch isn’t Three of the Timepiece agents are
is paranoid, too. sure, which is why Brunner hasn’t shot in the melee. Two have to clock
been attacked. out to save themselves. One is merely
In January 1914, the “early” team wounded in the arm. The noisy gun-
gets a time-dropped package of extra The First Move fire draws police; the wounded agent
weaponry, supplies and information; and one other are arrested. Ironically,
the missing agent returns in this drop. The Timepiece team decides that the Austrians suspect them of being
(If the PCs had thought of anything in they don’t know enough yet to try to English spies (someone missed a
particular that they really needed, they frustrate the plot. They could try Language roll) and potential assas-
could have requested it by notecard direct action against the Stopwatch sins! Worse, all the agents must dis-
and gotten it in this drop.) team, but then who will assassinate card their weapons as they flee the
Ferdinand? police, rather than risk having future
gadgets captured. (The grunts, their
job done, clock out.)

Jailbreak!

Since they have little to lose, the
agents contact Brunner. With his help,
and via some bribery, their two jailed
comrades are freed – an adventure in
itself. But at this point, the agents find
out the hard way, via the Divergence
Effect, that they are in danger of fail-
ing their mission. (The jailbreak has
gotten national attention, and war
fears are raging . . . with speculation
that England and America are plotting
against Austria. The visiting Houdini
is suspected of being a spymaster! And
maybe it’s true . . .)

Neither the agents nor their
remaining equipment can clock home.
The agents are now absolutely on their
own; they can’t get help from Control,
and they can’t escape. (But at least the
surviving Stopwatch agent, and any
cronies she may have, won’t be able to
“hear” them.)

Thinking It Through

One key to resolving this situation
lies in the war scare; if none of the
players are history buffs, the GM
should make a few History or IQ rolls
for the agents, and drop some hints.

228 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

The Austrians are now rattling their Ferdinand themselves to get history Houdini’s birth name was Erich
sabers, but it’s out of paranoid fear . . . back on track! Weiss. He was the son of a rabbi from
historically, they didn’t expect the Budapest (the other capital of the
British to get involved on the One Stopwatch agent is still loose, Hapsburg dual monarchy). He spoke
Continent, let alone the Americans. and the agents’ Ears hint that she is still fluent German and had toured
Right now, the leaders of Austria and active; she knows who they are, and has Germany, Austria, and Russia (he was
Germany are rethinking their plans to been snooping around. She’ll probably in fact suspected of being a spy by the
start a war, and this is what is changing be trying to stop the assassination. Russian secret police). As a Jew, a
history. potential Hungarian nationalist, and a
About Houdini possible spy, he was distrusted in many
A Solution? quarters. He had contacts at many lev-
Houdini, of course, is the wild card els of society and a formidable array of
The agents should deduce that a in the adventure. He might be a Local skills. By 1913, he was an aviator, a
postponed WWI works against Agent for either side. Or he could be the mechanic, an expert driver, a good rifle
Timepiece. Perhaps they will realize real, original Houdini, just “out of and pistol shot, an acrobat, an illusion-
that the war is inevitable, and a place” as a side effect of some past his- ist, and an escape artist. He might
later war will be worse than an early torical meddling – and if he is, he might know anything else useful that could be
one. They may have to assassinate or might not be involved in espionage. learned at the time; he was insatiably
Either way, he could be useful to the curious.
agents!

THE HORATIO CLUB

I’ve forgotten what I was looking carefully to the toasts offered before There are paradises, too. I know, I
for, when first I found the Club. I was dinner; but if you’re present for that, know: every world is paradise to
in London, I think; but I won’t tell you’re already a member.) someone; every paradise is Hell to
you where in London, because the someone else. I’m being subjective.
details would either send you looking I said there were doors. There are And I know that if most of those
for the place, or bear no relation to many of them, upstairs, up and doors were not locked – if the
the London you know. down long quiet carpeted halls lined Horatio Club were open to all
with the most eccentric collection of comers – there would be changes.
It’s what used to be called a curios outside a museum. Some of
Gentleman’s Club – quiet, serviced by them lead to bedrooms, with the That’s why I’m convinced that,
impeccable butlers who know your most comfortable beds you’ve ever whatever it may sometimes seem
name and your habits, with the best slept in (or done anything else in, for like, no one ever enters the Horatio
food and drink; a warm haven to the that matter, but the Club is discreet Club by accident. If you find your
members, a closed book to everyone as nowhere on Earth is discreet) – no way here, you’re a member, whether
else. It isn’t fusty and exclusively television, no radio, but a shelf of you know it yet or not.
male – the nature of the membership books, at least one of which you’ve
is not fusty nor exclusively anything. always intended to read. Most of the Surely there must be some kind of
There are no windows anywhere in doors are locked. And every now and rules, if there’s going to be this sort of
the Horatio Club . . . but there are then one opens, onto places . . . dif- crossroads. Can you let just anybody
doors. ferent from the one you left. go hopping from one universe to
another? Good question. I can’t say,
They do their best to hide the Behind one of them, the sun though perhaps someone else can,
nature of the place. The furniture is never set on the British Empire, and whether the Club enforces the rules,
comfortable but nondescript; the King Charles III rules from the or if it’s simply part of the system.
only emblems you see are the Club’s Mideastern Colonies to the Missi-
own. The pictures on the walls are of ssippi Frontier. Behind another, that I do know this: one time and one
nobody and no place you recognize. same Mississippi Valley still belongs only, I met a fellow-traveler who
There are no clocks at all – but if you to the French, who seem to be in a spoke, not seriously at all, I thought,
ask one of the butlers what time it is, prolonged global war with the about finding a door into a world he
you always get an answer that makes Portuguese and the descendants of could conquer – not just make his
sense. Chaka Zulu. Behind another, it’s the way in, but rule. I saw him again, not
same city you left, but there’s a dome long after by my clock; he looked
Stay long enough, of course, and over it. Behind another, another about 20 years older, a bit scarred
the truth will out. You’ll meet some- dome, but you look up at a black sky and much quieter, and he didn’t talk
one dressed oddly (maybe very and see the Earth; in its dark cres- of conquest anymore.
oddly), or hear a reference that cent, the craters of cities still glow.
doesn’t fit your memories. (For a I know that, and that all the mem-
true vision of what the Club is, listen Not all the worlds behind the bers are human. I think.
doors are noisy, or imperial, or dead.

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 229

HORATIO: O day and night, but this is think odd, faraway thoughts.
wondrous strange! Independently, they get dressed (or
perhaps just pull on a robe and slip-
HAMLET: And therefore as a stranger give pers) and go out into the hallway,
it welcome. where one of them has found an
unlocked door. There’s a darkness
There are more things in heaven and earth, beyond, and without really thinking
Horatio, why, they walk through.

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Suddenly there’s no more door, no
– William Shakespeare, more hallway, and the darkness is
Hamlet, I:v:175-179 thinning into a blue dawn. The guests
are standing in a formal garden maze,
The Club is a deuces-wild alter- and abilities, and of wrongs and injus- hedges twice as high as their heads.
nate-worlds frame. Like Poul tices on all the myriad worlds that Just ahead is a stone bench, and on it
Anderson’s Old Phoenix Inn, it is a those people are just the ones to set sits a woman, and she’s crying. They
comfortable crossroads between all right. approach. She looks up. She’s very
the universes that are, were, or might beautiful (of course). Her mouth
be, both a way station and a check- GM Advice opens. And she disappears.
point – because, while some of the
travelers are quite lost, the staff always Have the players design their char- Now, there’s a story hook. Who’s the
seem to make sure that they get some- acters well in advance of the first play crying woman? Was she real, an illu-
where that they somehow ought to session, or if that isn’t possible, hold sion, an astral projection, a ghost?
reach; and conversely, the selfish and the design session, the introduction to Was she one of the good guys? (Not all
destructive of the world(s) are never the Club and the dinner-table conver- the beautiful maidens are, you know.)
admitted there. sation, and then send everyone And, hey, whose garden is this, are
upstairs to the Club apartments and they going to be annoyed when they
There’s no point in giving very spe- stop. Then spend some time working find us here, how do we get out of the
cific rules for the Club, because it is out what sort of world all these differ- maze, it’s kind of cold to be standing
not by its nature rule-driven; it’s philo- ent people should have their joint here in a bathrobe . . .
sophical fantasy, not hard science adventure in, what uses they can make
fiction. Some guidelines, however: of their skills (not to mention the play- And there begins the adventure.
ers’ own personal talents). This is The group is certainly going to want to
The Club is most appropriate to rather more involved than loading find out about the Weeping Whoever-
small groups of adventurers, ideally hostile critters into 10’¥10’ square She-Was, but before that they have
the sort of people who like to explore dungeon rooms, but it is also rather lots of other practical problems to
a situation and find out its possibili- more rewarding. solve, and they’re in no position to
ties, rather than be assigned clear-cut solve them by the classical dungeon-
mission objectives, or simply shake Most of the Club’s guests are not crawler’s method of armed robbery.
down the world for whatever wealth is casual universe-hoppers. Some may
in its pockets. The group members only visit once in their lives. In the Next Week’s Special
need not all have entered together, or classical fictional paradigm, they are Guest Star Is . . .
even be from the same world. Yes, this traveling from a world in which they
is a version of the good old “You meet are hopeless romantic misfits to one Another cliché of the field that the
in this tavern on a dark and stormy where they can be real heroes and live Club can vary a bit is the notion of the
night” gimmick to start a campaign. Happily Ever After. In GM terms, this characters as wandering gunslingers,
Encourage the players to spin tales of means a world-problem that can’t be who always ride on once the local
where they came from and how they solved too easily or quickly. Perhaps wrong is righted. Maybe some of the
happened to find the Club door, as if much of the adventure will be spent travelers will like this world, once it’s
they were sitting over one of the fine figuring out just what the solution – or straightened out. Maybe one of them
Club dinners. (Doing this by candle- just what the problem – is. will marry the Princess, or the Prince,
light, over whatever you prefer to eat and settle down. A native or two who
and drink, won’t hurt the atmosphere By Way of Example: want to see strange worlds may join
a bit.) The Dolorous Maiden the others, and the Club will have a
place at the table for everyone. This
The doors of the Club do not open Your Club guests have retired to can let players switch off and play all
at random. Nobody knows (or will their rooms, but they can’t sleep. The kinds of characters. If one isn’t
say) what Mysterious Power controls books on the bedside table make them working out, the player can make up
them, but Whoever It Is has a remark- someone who seems to fit the GM’s
able knowledge of the guests’ skills campaign a little better, or one that he
might not play for a year’s worth of
sessions, but wouldn’t mind exploring
for a week or two.

230 ALTERNATE INFINITIES

Variant Clubs style, a medieval inn (like the Old PCs a glimpse into its workings, but
Phoenix), or an ultra-ritzy 21st-centu- this will risk making the campaign
Of course, the GM can leave moral- ry hotel. Maybe it looks like all those about the Club, rather than about the
ity right out of it, and let the guests go things at once. worlds it opens onto.
conquer worlds (or get chewed up try-
ing) as they please. The multiversal CAMPAIGN Paraphysics
nexus might be not just a passive way ASSUMPTIONS
station, but an active clearinghouse Any. Adventurers can meet them-
and dispatch center for the worlds, Parameters selves, travel in time or space, and
matching up teams of adventurers whirl about free of paradox – as long
with adventures: an Infinity Patrol Scale: Completely up to the GM, as the Club allows it. If things get too
using freelancers instead of (or in but this frame works best with per- awfully snarled up, well, that’s one
addition to) its own full-time troops. sonal stories and a minimum of sturm door that the staff keeps locked from
Going even further, this could be and drang. You can save the universe now on.
crossed with the Eternity’s Rangers in every other campaign frame; let this
frame (p. 34), making the Club a kind one be about true love. Characters
of multiversal mercenary hiring hall
and armory, where crossworld swash- Scope: Equal to the characters, but Power Level: Any. Low-powered
bucklers recruit and outfit for con- not predictably so. The GM may want characters can shine just as brightly as
quest, plunder . . . and maybe some of to experiment with a “hidden scope,” superheroes and giants. It’s up to the
that righting-wrongs stuff too, just to in which the problem at hand only GM to craft compelling, personal sto-
stay in practice. seems local, but has great repercus- ries for any type of hero.
sions in proper fairy tale fashion.
And the Club doesn’t have to be a Niche: None. You all, literally,
dim-stuffy-plush retreat. It can be a Boundaries: The only boundaries might have met in the bar. Perhaps the
kind of Explorers’ Club, furnished are at the interface between the char- adventure will reveal why the heroes
from many worlds and eras, decorated acters and the Club, which cannot be are traveling together, or perhaps the
with souvenirs from as all over as it hustled, squeezed, robbed, black- players will come up with something
gets; it might look like an airport mailed, destroyed, or pestered to clever and satisfying.
lounge (although one of the cool death by the adventurers. The GM
Fifties ones before they became so may want to eventually develop the Freedom: Be excellent to each
horribly depressing), a railroad termi- Club’s officers and staff, and give the other. And party on, dude, but in a
nal in the grand old Belle Epoque genteel fashion, please.

Edges: Up to the GM. Our heroes
should never be able to swat the
adventure’s problems aside like a fly,
but True Faith, bardic immunity,
guest-holiness, and other intangible
protections seem apropos.

Genre and Mode

This is a philosophical fantasy
frame, designed to allow personal sto-
ries on a smaller scale but an infinite
canvas. If it’s a cinematic game, it
should have a nice romantic compo-
nent along with the last-minute
escapes and dogfights; if it’s a pulp
game, it should present at least one
obstacle that twin Colt automatics or
fists of deadly fury can’t actually over-
come. The Club will not work as a
dark or gritty setting; nobody wants to
give something that unpleasant the
control over their actions that the
players are implicitly giving the Club.
Any style, from Gothic horror to
bright fantasy to Arabian Nights exoti-
cism to intellectual gamesmanship,
has a place in the Club, as long as it
lets the players think and feel for a
change.

ALTERNATE INFINITIES 231

BIBLIOGRAPHY
This bibliography can only skim Have Been? series (Bantam, 1989- Empire series are high fantasy in an
the surface of the thousands of works 1992) contain a high proportion of alternate Rome.
on time travel, alternate histories, and good, interesting stories.
so forth even on this one world. Harris, Robert. Fatherland (Harper,
Absolute musts, the best of the best or Bensen, D.R. And Having Writ . . . 1992). A solidly written AH about the
pioneering works in the genre, are (Bobbs-Merrill, 1978). Aliens survive biggest murder investigation of all
adorned with a star (*). the Tunguska crash and redirect time.
history trying to fix their ship.
FICTION Hogan, James P. The Proteus
Card, Orson Scott. Seventh Son Operation (Bantam/Spectra, 1985).
Categories are fluid at best; some (Tor, 1987). First of the “Alvin Maker” Time-travel WWII novel with two sep-
of the early classics, especially, slop series, set in an alternate 19th-century arate AHs.
over into more than one. For example, America where folk magic works.
H. Beam Piper’s Lord Kalvan of Keyes, J. Gregory. Age of Unreason
Otherwhen combines an in-depth AH * De Camp, L. Sprague. “The (Ballantine, 1998-2001). AH tetralogy
setting (an Indo-Aryan America Wheels of If” (1940). One of the very of Newtonian magic, meteor strikes,
trapped in medievalism) with cross- first “trapped in an altered history” and angelic math.
dimensional politics (the Paratime stories; still holds up.
Police and its concerns) with the clas- Laidlaw, Marc. “His Powder’d Wig,
sic time-travel trope of the resourceful * Dick, Philip K. The Man in the His Crown of Thornes” (1989).
castaway who brings modern technol- High Castle (Putnam’s, 1962). Axis vic- Possibly the best “British defeat the
ogy (in this case, gunpowder) to a tory in the absolute best AH novel Revolution” AH story, and a powerful
primitive milieu. ever. indictment of colonialism.

Alternate Histories Dozois, Gardner and Schmidt, Leiber, Fritz. “Catch That
Stanley (editors). Roads Not Taken Zeppelin!” (1975). Smarter than usual
These stories, anthologies, and (Del Rey, 1998). “no WWII” AH.
novels primarily concentrate on the
nitty-gritty of the alternate history Dvorkin, David. Budspy (Franklin Linaweaver, Brad. Moon of Ice (Tor,
(AH) setting in question, some of them Watts, 1987). Unsettling novel of poli- 1993). A slightly more bizarre AH,
to the exclusion of plot or character. tics as usual in a world with a victori- expanded from the short story in
With a good enough setting, one can ous Nazi Germany. Hitler Victorious and an excellent
overlook such flaws. source for crazy Raven Division
Ford, John M. The Dragon Waiting schemes.
Aiken, Joan. The Wolves of (Timescape, 1983). Intricate AH
Willoughby Chase (Doubleday, 1963). fantasy in a world with a pagan McAuley, Paul J. Pasquale’s Angel
First of a children’s series of adventure Byzantium, vampires, and Richard III. (Gollancz, 1994). Novel of steampunk
novels set in an alternate Stuart Renaissance Italy, featuring
England. Fry, Stephen. Making History Machiavelli as a hard-drinking
(Hutchinson, 1996). Removing Hitler reporter.
Amis, Kingsley. The Alteration makes things worse.
(Jonathan Cape, 1976). Castrati poli- Mitchell, Kirk. Procurator (Ace,
tics in a world without a Reformation. Garfinkle, Richard. Celestial 1984), New Barbarians (Ace, 1986),
Matters (Tor, 1996). A very alternate Cry Republic (Ace, 1989). Better than
* Anderson, Poul. A Midsummer history in which Classical Greek theo- average “Rome survives” AH series.
Tempest (Doubleday, 1974). A brilliant ries of astronomy, physics, and politics
Shakespearean myth parallel. are all literally true. Modesitt, L.E., Jr. Of Tangible
Ghosts (Tor, 1994) and sequels. Ghosts
Baxter, Stephen. Anti-Ice Garrett, Randall. Lord Darcy (Baen, exist in a Dutch America caught
(HarperCollins, 1993). Victorian 2004). A collection of the “Lord Darcy” between the superpowers.
England gets antimatter in this seri- stories, classic AH mysteries set in the
ous update of the Verne adventure 20th-century Anglo-French Empire. Moorcock, Michael. The Warlord of
genre. The Time Ships (HarperCollins, the Air (New English Library, 1971),
1995) is a sequel to Wells’ Time * Gentle, Mary. Ash: A Secret The Land Leviathan (Quartet, 1974),
Machine. History (Gollancz, 2000). The seminal The Steel Tsar (Granada, 1981). AH
reality quake novel about an alternate war stories featuring Oswald Bastable
* Benford, Gregory and Greenberg, Visigothic Carthage and the evil com- and the shadowy League of Temporal
Martin H. (editors). Hitler Victorious puters who must destroy Burgundy Adventurers.
(Garland, 1986). Axis-victory AH sto- and its history to thrive.
ries, including David Brin’s classic * Moore, Ward. Bring the Jubilee
“Thor Meets Captain America.” The Gibson, William and Sterling, (Farrar, Straus, 1953). The classic
four volumes of their What Might Bruce. The Difference Engine “Confederate victory” AH.
(Gollancz, 1990). Steam-powered
cyberpunk AH diverges with Newman, Kim. Anno Dracula
Babbage’s computers. (Simon & Schuster, 1992). AH
diverges with Chapter 8 of Bram
Harlan, Thomas. Shadow of Ararat Stoker’s novel; sequels continue the
(Tor, 1999) and the rest of the Oath of story of a vampirized modern era.

232 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Resnick, Mike (editor). Alternate weirdness; collections include Barnes, John. Patton’s Spaceship
Presidents (Tor, 1992). First of a series Howard Who? (Doubleday, 1986), (Harper, 1997), Washington’s Dirigible
of AH themed anthologies; each book Strange Monsters of the Recent Past (Harper, 1997), Caesar’s Bicycle
usually contains one or two gems and (Ace, 1991), and Going Home Again (Harper, 1997). Fast-paced dimension
several interesting ideas. (St. Martin’s, 1998). war series with better than average
AH settings. In Finity (Tor, 1999),
Roberts, John Maddox. King of the * Waugh, Charles G. and expatriate Americans from diverse
Wood (Doubleday, 1983). Slam-bang Greenberg, Martin H. (editors). parallels meet and investigate.
alternate America with Aztecs, Arabs, Alternative Histories (Garland, 1986).
Mongols, and two (count ’em!) kinds Includes a number of classics and a Bayley, J. Barrington. The Fall of
of Vikings. starter bibliography, with an essay on Chronopolis (DAW, 1974).
AH construction.
Roberts, Keith. Pavane (Doubleday, Bear, Greg. Eon (Bluejay, 1985),
1968). The Armada wins and history Wilson, Robert Charles. Darwinia Eternity (Warner, 1988), and Legacy
slows to a chug. (Tor, 1998). One fine day in 1912, the (Tor, 1995). Paradimensional weird-
cities and living beings of Europe van- ness trilogy.
Robinson, Kim Stanley. Years of ish, replaced by a different ecology.
Rice and Salt (Bantam, 2002). Brunner, John. The Infinitive of Go
Generational novel of a world without Womack, Jack. Terraplane (Weiden- (Ballantine, 1980). An experiment in
European civilization after a deadlier feld & Nicolson, 1988) and Elvissey teleportation turns out to be an exper-
Black Death. His “A Sensitive (Tor, 1993). Agents from a violent iment in parachronics.
Dependence on Initial Conditions” future visit the World’s Fair and kid-
(1991) is a thoughtful essay on chaos nap Elvis in parallel Earths. Chalker, Jack. And the Devil Will
theory and alternate history, focusing Drag You Under (Del Rey, 1979). Aliens
on Hiroshima. Dimensional Travel draft humans to steal parallel-world
artifacts.
Silverberg, Robert. The Gate of These stories and novels usually
Worlds (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, focus on the mechanics – often includ- * De Camp, L. Sprague and Pratt,
1967) and Roma Eterna (Harper- ing, or especially, the social and politi- Fletcher. The Complete Compleat
Collins, 2003). Aztec and Roman sur- cal mechanics – of travel to other Enchanter (Baen, 1989). Classic
vival AHs, respectively. dimensions, rather than the AH (if 1940s-1950s short stories of mental
any) in them. We have given short travel between dimensions to various
Smith, L. Neil. The Probability shrift to stories in which the “other myth parallels.
Broach (Del Rey, 1980) and sequels. dimensions” might as well be fairy-
This series begins as well-realized AH land, or Australia, or other planets. De Chancie, John. Castle Perilous
adventure and increasingly becomes (Ace, 1988) and sequels. Castle serves
strident libertarian lecture. Anthony, Piers. Ox (SFBC, 1976). as dimensional nexus for 144,000 dif-
Highly trained agents from thou- ferent realities.
Stirling, S.M. Marching Through sands of close parallel worlds battle
Georgia (Baen, 1988). First of the for control. Dickson, Gordon. Time Storm (St.
dystopian “Draka” series; the novels Martin’s, 1977). A riff on Murray
include impressively detailed AH Asimov, Isaac. The End of Eternity Leinster’s classic “Sidewise in Time”
appendices. The Peshawar Lancers (Doubleday, 1955) and The Gods (1934), both about Earths with differ-
(Roc, 2002) is a more light-hearted AH Themselves (Doubleday, 1972). ent times intermingled; Dickson’s is
set in the Anglo-Indian Empire a cen- much darker.
tury after a comet obliterated Europe
in 1878.

Sucharitkul, Somtow. The Aquiliad
(Timescape, 1983). Rome colonizes
the New World and meets the Indians;
two sequels continue beating the joke
to death.

Turtledove, Harry. Agent of
Byzantium (Baen, 1994), A Different
Flesh (Baen, 1994), Kaleidoscope (Bal-
lantine, 1990), Departures (Ballantine,
1993), Ruled Britannia (Roc, 2002). His
Worldwar (Ballantine, 1994-1996) series
made alien invasion a major part of the
AH genre; How Few Remain (Ballan-
tine, 1997) and its sequels are rewriting
the 20th century with a victorious
Confederacy.

* Waldrop, Howard. Them Bones
(Ace, 1984) is a small time travel (and
AH) gem, but his short stories are
true masterpieces of obsessive AH

BIBLIOGRAPHY 233

callous crosstime exploitation, com-
plete with freedom-fighting Masons.

Stirling, S.M. Conquistador (Roc,
2003). Unscrupulous moderns settle
an unspoiled “America next door.”

Zelazny, Roger. Nine Princes in
Amber (Doubleday, 1970) and many,
many sequels present dimensional
travel as a squabbled-over family heir-
loom. Roadmarks (Ballantine, 1979) is
a strange time-travel fable.

Farmer, Philip José. Riverworld No Friend (Doubleday, 1976), Vestiges Time Travel
(Putnam, 1971-1980). The series is not of Time (Doubleday, 1978). The
precisely dimension travel, but well “Timeliner Trilogy” features a satisfy- These stories and novels offer ideas
worth reading as an example of his- ingly cosmic dimensional war and for interesting situations, or give dis-
torical characters from many milieus some gritty 1970s action. tinct views of paradox, causality, and
interacting. His World of Tiers series time tampering. If they introduce
presents bored immortals creating * Moorcock, Michael. The AHs, they generally depend strongly
gate-linked universes as playthings. Cornelius Quartet (Avon, 1977). This on the time traveler.
omnibus gathers Moorcock’s increas-
Heinlein, Robert A. The Cat Who ingly strange stories of multi-dimen- Aldiss, Brian. Frankenstein
Walks Through Walls (Putnam, 1985) sional mayhem from their original Unbound (Jonathan Cape, 1973). Time
and Number of the Beast (Fawcett, publications between 1968 and 1974. traveler meets Mary Shelley and the
1980) present travel between alter- Monster.
nate realities and lengthy discussion Niven, Larry. “All the Myriad Ways”
thereof. (1968). The ultimate crossworld story. * Anderson, Poul. There Will Be
Time (SFBC, 1972) is the best time-
Hodgson, William Hope. The Ghost * Piper, H. Beam. Lord Kalvan of jumper novel ever. Time Patrol (Tor,
Pirates (Stanley Paul, 1909). Dimen- Otherwhen (Ace, 1965) and Paratime 1994) is a near-perfect collection. “My
sion travel as supernatural horror. (Ace, 1986). The Paratime stories are Object All Sublime” (1961) is a “time
archetypal tales of cross-world cops travel as prison” story well worth seek-
* Kessel, John. Corrupting Dr. Nice tasked with keeping order and The ing out, while “The Man Who Came
(Tor, 1997). Screwball comedy of Secret. “Lord Kalvan” is part of the Early” (1956) brilliantly explores
trans-temporal looting; a sequel to series but goes its own way; temporal inertia.
“Mozart in Mirrorshades.” Pennsylvania state trooper Calvan
Morrison is accidentally caught in a Anthony, Piers. Bearing an
Kilian, Crawford. The Empire of Paracop conveyor and dumped on a Hourglass (Del Rey, 1984). Interesting
Time (Del Rey, 1978), The Fall of the primitive parallel, where he intro- notions of causation; don’t bother
Republic (Del Rey, 1987), Rogue duces gunpowder and turns society on with the rest of the series.
Emperor (Del Rey, 1988). Kilian’s its ear. After Piper’s death, Roland
Intertemporal Agency has a lot in Green and John F. Carr wrote a sequel, Baker, Kage. The Garden of Iden
common with Centrum’s Interworld Great Kings’ War (Ace, 1985). Carr has (Hodder & Stoughton, 1997). First of
Service. produced two more sequels and con- the historically detailed “The
tinues to write. Company” series; cyborgs from the
Kube-McDowell, Michael P. future are secretly hidden in the past
Alternities (Ace, 1988). Gritty novel of Pullman, Philip. The Golden to observe and exploit it.
covert AH exploration by a parallel Compass (Scholastic, 1995), The
Earth. Subtle Knife (Scholastic, 1997), The Benford, Gregory. Timescape
Amber Spyglass (Scholastic, 2000). (Simon & Schuster, 1980). Communi-
Kurland, Michael. Perchance (NAL “Young adult” fantasy trilogy involves cations from the future breed
Signet, 1989), The Whenabouts of Burr parallel Earths, the nature of God, and paradox.
(DAW, 1975). Light crossworld adven- talking bears.
tures; Kurland has also written two * Bester, Alfred. “Hobson’s Choice”
adequate Lord Darcy novels. Rohan, Michael Scott. Chase the (1952) and “The Men Who Murdered
Morning (Avon, 1990), The Gates of Mohammed” (1958) are must-reads of
Laumer, Keith, The Time Bender Noon (Gollancz, 1992), Cloud Castles the genre.
(Berkley, 1966) and sequels; Worlds of (Gollancz, 1993). Cross-dimensional
the Imperium (Tor, 1986) and sequels. piracy, magic, and myth. * Bradbury, Ray. “A Sound of
Adventurous cross-dimensional action Thunder” (1952). Dinosaur hunting
in two series. * Sterling, Bruce. “Mozart in meets chaos theory, decades early.
Mirrorshades” (1985). A classic of
Meredith, Richard C. At the Narrow Chalker, Jack. Downtiming the
Passage (Putnam’s, 1973), No Brother, Night Side (Tor, 1985). Good time
patrol book.

Cook, Glen. A Matter of Time (Ace,
1985). Multiple futures co-exist; the
past can be changed without
destroying the future.

234 BIBLIOGRAPHY

* Crowley, John. Great Work of Hogan, James. Thrice Upon A Time Rogers, Mark E. Samurai Cat in the
Time (Bantam Spectra, 1991). British (Del Rey, 1980). Messages to the past Real World (Tor, 1989). Lavishly illus-
conspiracy manipulates the time allow the routine changing of the trated adventures of a samurai cat
stream with the very best intentions. future. fighting Capone, Hitler, Stalin, and
Nazi dinosaurs; the earlier books in
* De Camp, L. Sprague. Lest Jeschke, Wolfgang. The Last Day of the series send the cat to parody ver-
Darkness Fall (Tor, 1996 reprint from Creation (St. Martin’s, 1984). Strange sions of famous fantasy and SF
1939). Paradigmatic SF classic: a time travel novel with many unforget- worlds.
modern scholar prevents the Dark table bits.
Ages. Shiner, Lewis. Glimpses (Avon,
Jeter, K.W. Morlock Night (DAW, 1993). Rock and roll fan tries to save
Dick, Philip K. Martian Time-Slip 1979). Excellent steampunk sequel to great artists – and albums – from
(Ballantine, 1964); Now Wait For Last the Wells classic. oblivion and inertia.
Year (Doubleday, 1966). Time travel
through schizophrenia and drugs, Koontz, Dean. Lightning (Putnam, Silverberg, Robert. Hawksbill
respectively. 1988). Workmanlike thriller. Station (Doubleday, 1968). Political
criminals are marooned in the prehis-
Drake, David. Time Safari (Tor, * Leiber, Fritz. The Big Time (Ace, toric past; Up the Line (Ballantine,
1982). Ultimate dinosaur hunting 1961) and associated stories form the 1969) is a slam-bang novel of time
novel. “Change War” series. Atmospheric, tour guides in Byzantium.
intelligent handling of the “two groups
Finney, Jack. Time and Again struggle to change history through Simak, Clifford. Mastodonia (Del
(Simon & Schuster, 1970). Time travel time travel” trope, which Leiber Rey, 1978).
romance. invented in this book along with the
“rescue” method of recruitment. Simmons, Dan. Hyperion
* Flint, Eric. 1632 (Baen, 2000). (Doubleday, 1989) and sequels. A com-
Modern West Virginia coal-mining * L’Engle, Madeline. A Wrinkle in plex story involving “time tombs”
town appears in the middle of Thirty Time (Farrar, Straus, 1962). Juvenile whose contents move backward in
Years’ War Germany; adventure and fiction classic; the sequels deal less time.
sequels ensue. with time travel.
Smith, Clark Ashton. “The City of
Frankowski, Leo. The Cross-Time Long, Frank Belknap. “The the Singing Flame” (1931), “The
Engineer (Del Rey, 1986) and sequels. Hounds of Tindalos” (1929). Holiness of Azedarac” (1933), “The
Much detail on advancing technology Plutonian Drug” (1934), and “Ubbo-
in medieval Poland, but marred by * Lovecraft, H.P. “The Shadow Out Sathla” (1933) are only a few of his
excessive outtime help and an adoles- of Time” (1936). The seminal time atmospheric, weird short stories.
cent-male sex-fantasy tale. travel horror novella. Many of his story cycles occur in the
extreme past or future, and make
Gerrold, David. The Man Who May, Julian. The Many-Colored excellent game settings.
Folded Himself (Random House, Land (Houghton Mifflin, 1981) and
1973). Classic “message to yourself” sequels. One-way exiles establish a Stirling, S.M., Island in the Sea of
novel. colony in the Pliocene Era. Time (Roc, 1998). First book in a
trilogy which sends modern Nantucket
Grimwood, Ken. Replay (Arbor Miller, P. Schuyler. “As Never Was” Island back to the Bronze Age.
House, 1987). The hero has many (1944). Time travel and archaeology
chances to relive his own life. don’t mix. * Turtledove, Harry. Guns of the
South (Ballantine, 1992). Robert E.
Haldeman, Joe. The Forever War Moorcock, Michael. Behold the Lee with AK-47s. ‘Nuff said.
(St. Martin’s, 1974), The Hemingway Man (Allison & Busby, 1969). Unstable
Hoax (Morrow, 1990). time traveler and the life of Jesus * Twain, Mark. A Connecticut
entangle. Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
Harrison, Harry. The Technicolor (Webster, 1889). Cruel fun from the
Time Machine (Doubleday, 1967). Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time- master cynic.
What do you use a time machine for? Traveler’s Wife (Macadam/Cage, 2003).
Cheap location shoots for Hollywood Mainstream novel of true love and Varley, John. “Air Raid” (1977).
B-pictures, of course . . . time travel. This short story about rescues in the
past became the novel Millennium
Hawke, Simon. The Ivanhoe Niven, Larry. The Flight of the Horse (Berkley, 1983), which in turn became
Gambit (Ace, 1984) and 11 sequels (Ballantine, 1973). Bizarre hunting a film (Michael Anderson, 1989).
form the Time Wars series, notable for expeditions into the past lead to wacky
the attempt to historicize famous hijinks. Vinge, Vernor. Marooned in
adventure novels, and for the increas- Realtime (Bluejay, 1986). One-way
ingly convoluted temporal physics. Norton, Andre. Time Traders travel into an unexpected future.
(World, 1958) and sequels.
* Heinlein, Robert A. “All You Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-
Zombies” (1959) and “By His * Powers, Tim. The Anubis Gates Five (Laurel, 1968). Determinism as
Bootstraps” (1941) are the classic (Ace, 1983). Magical time travel to oppression, and vice versa.
short stories of temporal paradox. 1810 London, tangled personal time-
Less essentially, The Door Into lines, evil clowns, and werewolf killers * Wells, H.G. The Time Machine
Summer (Doubleday, 1957) and Time are only part of the fun. (Heinemann, 1895). Fascinating as an
Enough For Love (Putnam, 1973) fur- insight into Victorian historical mod-
ther explore physical and social Reynolds, Mack and Ing, Dean. The eling, as well as spawning the key
challenges of time travel. Other Time (Baen, 1984). Time-travel- imagery of the genre.
ing archaeologist beats Cortés to Aztec
Mexico by a couple of days.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 235

Williamson, Jack. The Legion of Imaginary History (Longmans, Green History (Penguin, 2002). This volume
Time (Fantasy Press, 1952). 1931). Includes essays by Hilaire and its successors in the same format
Belloc, Winston Churchill, and G.K. combine accessibility with accuracy
Willis, Connie. To Say Nothing of Chesterton! The classic AH collection. and tons of clear, useful maps.
the Dog (Bantam Spectra, 1998).
Hilarious yet moving novel of the Tally, Steve. Almost America * McNeill, William H. Plagues and
Observer Effect and the air raid on (HarperCollins, 2000). Peoples (Doubleday, 1976). Ground-
Coventry. Doomsday Book (Bantam breaking historical study of disease
Spectra, 1992) is a grim tale of time Tsouras, Peter (editor). Rising Sun and its consequences. McNeill’s Rise of
travel and the plague years. Victorious (Greenhill/Stackpole, the West (Univ. of Chicago, rev. ed.
2001). Articles exploring victorious 1991) is still the best one-volume
NON-FICTION Japanese AH scenarios; his Third world history.
Reich Victorious (Greenhill/Stackpole,
Alternate History 2002) compiles similar pieces on Smil, Vaclav. Energy in World
German decision points, and Cold War History (Westview Press, 1994). To the
In recent years, the AH genre has Hot (Greenhill/Stackpole, 2003) and author, “energy” covers agricultural
spread into mainstream nonfiction, if Dixie Victorious (Greenhill/Stackpole, efficiency as well as industry, making
not quite into mainstream academic 2004) repeat the procedure for the this a good reference work for the his-
history. Cold War and Civil War, respectively. tory of basic technology.
He has also written a solo AH sce-
Comins, Neil F. What if the Moon nario, Disaster at D-Day (Green- * Stearns, Peter N. (editor).
Didn’t Exist? (HarperCollins, 1993). hill/Stackpole, 1994). Encyclopedia of World History
Astronomical alternate Earths. (Houghton Mifflin, 2001). The sixth
Real History edition of Walter L. Langer’s
Cowley, Robert (editor). What If? absolutely indispensable reference.
(Putnam, 1999), What If? 2 (Putnam, To build a convincing alternate One volume, no waiting, all the pestif-
2001), and What Ifs? of American history, real history is a necessary erous details you could look for in 50
History (Putnam, 2003). Collections of foundation. The following sources other places right here at your finger-
adequate to excellent essays by lead- highlight important aspects of real tips. If you own no other historical ref-
ing (mostly military) historians. history or are just plain excellent. erence book, own this one.

* Deutsch, Harold C. and Caviedes, César N. El Niño in Temple, Robert, The Genius of
Showalter, Dennis E. (editors). What History (Univ. Press of Florida, 2001). China (Touchstone, 1989). A bare
If?: Strategic Alternatives of WWII (The summary of Joseph Needham’s magis-
Emperor’s Press, 1997). Useful prima- Crosby, Alfred. Ecological Imperi- terial Science and Civilization in
rily as a corrective to romantic silli- alism: The Biological Expansion of China, which is also heartily recom-
ness, but interesting in its own right. Europe 900-1900 (Cambridge Univ. mended to anyone with a decade or so
Press, 1986). The consequences of the to kill.
Ferguson, Niall (editor). Virtual spread of European ecosystems into
History (Picador, 1997). Overwritten the New World and Australia. Historical Modeling
and underthought AHs in general, but
the essays often give interesting Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and These sources discuss ways to
insight into historical processes; Steel (W.W. Norton, 1998). A well-writ- look at history as a process or as a
Ferguson’s introduction should be ten environmental grand history of system with its own internal logic;
mandatory reading for those trying to humanity that suffers only from the they may some day be the ur-texts of
understand the philosophy of history. flaw of fighting a war won decades cliodynamics.
ago.
Macksey, Kenneth (editor). The Barnes, John. “How to Build A
Hitler Options (Greenhill/Stackpole, Fagan, Brian. Floods, Famines and Future” (1990).
1998). Emperors (Basic Books, 1999), The
Little Ice Age (Basic Books, 2000), The Denemark, Robert A., et al. (edi-
North, Jonathan (editor). The Long Summer (Basic Books, 2004). tors). World System History
Napoleon Options (Greenhill/Stack- Popular presentation of climate (Routledge, 2000).
pole, 2000). Primarily details the tacti- history.
cal alternatives; only a few essays look * Flynn, Michael. In the Country of
at larger strategic options. Fischer, David Hackett. The Great the Blind (Tor, 2001). This reprint of
Wave (Oxford Univ. Press, 1996). The Flynn’s 1990 novel includes his essay
Roberts, Andrew (editor). What history of the Price Revolutions. “An Introduction to Cliology.” The
Might Have Been (Weidenfeld & novel is a gripping tale of secret soci-
Nicolson, 2004). Collection of essays; Lamb, H.H. Climate, History and eties using historical modeling to gain
a mixed bag. the Modern World (Methuen, 1982). power.

Sobel, Robert. For Want of a Nail Landes, Daniel, The Wealth and Frank, Andre Gunder and Gills,
(Macmillan, 1973). Straight-faced his- Poverty of Nations (Norton 1998). An Barry K. (editors). The World System:
tory, complete with fictional footnotes, acerbic, opinionated economic history Five Hundred Years or Five Thousand?
of a happier North America after the of the last half-millennium or so, (Routledge, 1993).
failed Revolution. focusing on impolitic questions and
giving equally abrasive answers. Modelski, George. Long Cycles in
* Squire, J.C. (editor). If It Had World Politics (Univ. of Washington
Happened Otherwise: Lapses Into * McEvedy, Colin. The New Press, 1987).
Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient

236 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Spengler, Oswald. The Decline of 1979). All about the USS Eldridge and adventure featuring a time-traveling
the West (Alfred A. Knopf, 1922). A its mysterious fate from a believer’s Aztec flying ace.
biological look at culture, and a pes- perspective.
simistic look at political philosophy. Morrison, Grant. Animal Man
* Niven, Larry. “The Theory and (DC/Vertigo, 1988-1990) and The
Toynbee, Arnold. A Study of History Practice of Time Travel” (1971). Short, Invisibles (DC/Vertigo, 1994-1996)
(Oxford Univ. Press, 1934). An increas- witty, comprehensive discussion of both involve time travel as key plot
ingly religious response to Spengler; physics, paradox, and why none of elements.
skim it for its scope, but check out the this can possibly work; included in All
three AHs in the appendices to The Myriad Ways (Ballantine, 1971). Nomura, Ted. Luftwaffe: 1946
Volume II. (Antarctic Press, 1996-present).
Randles, Jenny. Time Storms Alternate air adventure in quasi-anime
Trevor-Roper, Sir Hugh. History (Piatkus, 2001). Excited UFOlogist technophiliac style.
and Imagination (Clarendon, 1980). A discusses time vortices, time slips, and
great historian on the necessity for other wonderful nonsense. Ostrander, John. Grimjack (First
historical imagination. Comics, 1984-1991). Takes place in
COMICS Cynosure, a nexus point for all the
Strauss, William and Howe, Neil. dimensions.
Generations (William Morrow & Co., Aramaki, Yoshio. Deep Blue Fleet
1991). (Gentosha, 2000). Manga of a modern Shetterly, Will. Captain Confederacy
Japanese Navy officer timeslipped (Steeldragon, 1986-1987; Marvel/Epic,
Time Travel back to the Pacific War; later adapted 1991-1992). AH series set in a frag-
into the anime Azure Fleet (Takeyuki mented North America.
Blumenthal, Howard J., et al. The Kanda, 2003).
Complete Time Traveler (Ten Speed * Talbot, Bryan. Adventures of
Press, 1988). A tourist’s guidebook. Ellis, Warren. The Ministry of Space Luther Arkwright (Prout, 1982;
(Image Comics, 2000, 2004). Dark his- Valkyrie, 1987; Prout, 1989).
Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History tory of the triumphant British AH Fabulous, intricate cross-dimensional
of Time (Bantam, 1988). A good space programme. adventures; they continue in Heart of
attempt at explaining space-time to Empire (Dark Horse, 1999).
the non-physicist. Kawaguchi, Kaiji. Zipang
(Kodansha, 2001-present). Manga Wolfman, Marv. Crisis on Infinite
Macvey, John W. Time Travel – A series in which a modern Japanese Earths (DC Comics, 1985-1986). Epic
Guide to Journeys in the Fourth naval task force is timeslipped back to ending to the multidimensional DC
Dimension (Scarborough House, 1942; the result is a meditation on the cosmos that had begun with “Flash of
1990). Informed speculation about Japanese role in the world. Two Worlds” in 1961.
time travel using black holes,
tachyons, time dilation, and hyper- Miller, Jack. Rip Hunter, Time FILM AND TV
space in this and other universes. Master (DC Comics, 1961-1965).
Classic “gee whiz” time travel series; a Movies
Moon, Peter and Nichols, Preston. more serious Rip has shown up in
The Montauk Project (Sky Books, DC’s increasingly convoluted temporal Army of Darkness (Sam Raimi,
1992). First of four volumes (so far) on continuity, even fighting the Illuminati 1993). Postmodern “Connecticut
this fine time travel conspiracy theory. in Bob Wayne’s Time Masters (1990). Yankee” story, with zombies and
chainsaws.
Moore, William L. and Berlitz, Moench, Doug. Aztec Ace (Eclipse
Charles. The Philadelphia Experiment: Comics, 1984). Excellent pulp * Back to the Future (Robert
Project Invisibility (Fawcett Crest, Zemeckis, 1985). Modern classic of
the genre; the 1989 “Part II” sequel is
the best AH movie so far.

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
(Stephen Herek, 1989). Totally awe-
some romp caroms off causality and
history.

The Butterfly Effect (Eric Bress and
J. Mackye Gruber, 2004). Ashton
Kutcher keeps trying to change his
past; things keep getting worse.

Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly,
2001). Ironic “indie film” take on free
will and causality, with a giant evil
rabbit for extra fun.

Fatherland (Christopher Menaul,
1994). HBO movie based on the better
novel of the same name; Rutger Hauer
does make a convincing SS officer,
though.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 237

The Final Countdown (Don Taylor, sanity and free will, hedge this intel- travel RPG rules yet published, with
1980). The USS Nimitz goes back in lectual thriller. an intriguing setting as well.
time to December 6, 1941.
Wings of Honneamise (Hiroyuki Cordell, Bruce. Tangents (Wizards
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (Kazuki Yamaga, 1987). Meditative and exis- of the Coast, 1999). An excellent
Omori, 1991). Convoluted time travel tentialist anime of the first manned sourcebook, covering parallel dimen-
story is a masterpiece of retroactive space launch from an alternate 1955; sion travel for the Alternity RPG.
continuity. Plus, Ghidorah! the AH is never very clear, but the look
of the alternate civilization is unique. Garcia, Jose, et al. Nexus: The
* It Happened Here (Kevin Infinite City (Daedalus Games, 1994).
Brownlow, 1966). Riveting, morally Television Sadly defunct RPG of colliding reali-
complex AH film set in Nazi-occupied ties and the dubious characters who
Britain. Doctor Who (1963-1996). Classic seek to exploit them. See also the only
BBC series about a wry Time Lord and supplement, Robin Laws’ Nexus Life
Jin-Rô (Hiroyuki Okiura, 1998). his adventures across space and time. (Daedalus Games, 1994), which
Grim anime love story in a German- includes several nifty new realities,
occupied AH postwar Tokyo. Kishin Corps (1993). AH WWII discussion of inter-reality trade, and
anime series featuring a three-sided more.
* The Navigator (Vincent Ward, struggle between alien invaders and
1988). Medieval peasants flee the two human factions. Gorden, Greg. TORG (West End
Black Death through a time tunnel to Games, 1990). Clashing realities duel
modern New Zealand. Quantum Leap (1989-1993). for Earth! Intriguing and original.
Uncontrolled time traveler helps
The One (James Wong, 2001). Evil resolve personal crises, usually on a Kenson, Steve, et al. All Our
Jet Li must kill all the other Jet Lis in human (rather than a historic) scale. Yesterdays (Last Unicorn Games,
all alternate timelines to gain their 2000). The time travel supplement for
kung fu power. Good Jet Li must stop Sliders (1995-1999). This miserable LUG’s Star Trek RPG line; fairly com-
him. Discuss. Fox TV series was the first all-AH, all- plete survey of space-operatic time
the-time TV show; later, it struggled travel in a series or campaign setting.
The Philadelphia Experiment along on the Sci-Fi Channel fighting
(Stewart Raffill, 1984). Not a bad cavemen or something. Moldvay, Tom. Lords of Creation
Michael Paré time travel thriller. (Avalon Hill, 1984). High-powered
Philadelphia Experiment II (Stephen Star Trek (1966-present in various RPG of warring demigods in parallel
Cornwell, 1993) is the straight-to- incarnations). Standout time travel or dimensions. Recalled fondly by some.
video “Nazis win” AH sequel. AH episodes include “City on the Edge
of Forever” (TOS), “Mirror, Mirror” Porter, Greg. TimeLords (BTRC,
Sliding Doors (Peter Howitt, 1998). (TOS), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 2003). Revision of Porter’s workman-
Gwyneth Paltrow’s life diverges with a (Leonard Nimoy, 1986), “Yesterday’s like 1987 RPG, this time as a supple-
chance decision; the movie shows Enterprise” (TNG), “Time’s Arrow” ment to his EABA system.
both timelines. (TNG), “All Good Things . . .” (TNG),
“Trials and Tribble-ations” (DS9), and Tucholka, Richard. Fringeworthy
Somewhere in Time (Jeannot “Year of Hell” (VOY). The current (Tri-Tac Games, 1981). Now in its
Szwarc, 1980). Much-beloved series, Enterprise, uses a “temporal third edition (1990); this is the RPG of
romance of true love overcoming cold war” as a story frame. the “fringeworthy” and their adven-
time; from the Richard Matheson tures in parallel Earths.
novel. Stargate SG-1 (1997-present).
“Stargates” lead to alien worlds, many Voss, H.N. and Worzel, William P.
* Terminator (James Cameron, with resonances to Earth history. An Time and Time Again (Timeline, Ltd.,
1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day excellent framing device for an RPG, 1984). Nearly unplayable game sys-
(James Cameron, 1991). Ultimate such as the one by Patrick Kapera, et tem, with an interesting setting; time
time travel menace movies, complete al. (AEG, 2003). cannot be changed and the “volti-
with the occasional looping paradox. geurs” must protect researchers and
Time Tunnel (1966-1967). Irwin resolve historical mysteries.
Time After Time (Nicholas Meyer, Allen classic of time-lost scientists.
1979). Literate romp as H.G. Wells THE INTERNET
takes his time machine to 1979 to Twilight Zone (1959-1965).
hunt an escaped Jack the Ripper. Standout time travel episodes include Normally, the Web is too mutable a
“The Last Flight,” “Back There,” thing for a print bibliography to cite,
* Time Bandits (Terry Gilliam, “Walking Distance,” and “The Odyssey but we make an exception for the
1981). The “map of time” is an excuse of Flight 33.” soc.history.what-if discussion group
for silliness and adventure in the on Usenet (a rare haven of productive
Gilliam mode; wonderful imagery and Voyagers (1982-1983). Like Rip sanity and interest in that blasted
overacting. Hunter, but without the bitter heath) and for Robert Schmunk’s
cynicism. magisterial AH bibliography site at
Timecop (Peter Hyams, 1994). Silly, www.uchronia.net. For other links,
but good-looking, Van Damme action GAMES see this book’s Web page at
movie goes well with popcorn. www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/
Adams, Chris, et al. Continuum infiniteworlds/.
The Time Machine (George Pal, (Aetherco, 1999). Probably the most
1960). The best film adaptation of detailed and seamless set of time
Wells’ novel.

* Twelve Monkeys (Terry Gilliam,
1995). The paradoxes of temporal
communication, and questions of

238 BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

’A’Nthleioi (Atlanteans), 130. Catholic, see Roman Catholic Dinosaurs, 84. Haussman-2, 5.
Church. Dirigibles, 38, 127.
Aaron, 73. Disadvantages, 178-181. Hell worlds, 94-96, 128-130.
Centrum, 8, 20, 36, 46-56, 87, Disaster worlds, 85, 134.
ABET, 217; ABET 179; Centrum Beta, 120; Divergence Effect, 225. Hidden Lore skill, 182.
transmitter, 218. Centrum characters, 191- Dixie-1, 120-121.
193; Centrum Dark and Doubletalk, see Quantum High-inertia parallels, 94.
Absolute now, 170, 217-218, Light, 56; see also Interworld
219. Service. Mechanics. Historian template, 197.
Dragons, 142.
Addiction disadvantage, 178. Challenge worlds, 94. Duncorne Foundation, 40, Historical characters, 199.

Advantages, 172-178. Chaotic time, 154. 135. Historical Familiarity
Duplication advantage, 173. technique, 184.
Aeolus, 18. Characters, 171-200, 204.
Duty disadvantage, 180. Historical modeling, 236.
Agamemnon, 124. China, 43. EAER (“Ear”), 224.
Echoes, 53, 85. Historical references, 236.
Alchemy, 112-113. Chronal storms, 163. Ecology, 103.
Economics, 101. History skill, 183.
Alternate Identity Chronic Argo, 162. Empty worlds, 83.
advantage, 172. Enemies disadvantage, History! skill, 183.
Chronobahn, 79, 139. 180.
Alternate Outcomes, Inc., 31- History, hollow, 215.
34; Mercenary template, 189. Civil War, 120-121. Enigma, 140.
Eraser, 25. Homeline, 20, tech level, 23;
Alternate selves, 184. Civilization types, 90- Eternity’s Rangers, 34. see also Secundus.
94; as biology, 102; Evil Twin disadvantage, 180.
Alternate worlds, 82-151; mysterious and Expatriate template, 197. Honesty disadvantage, 180.
creating, 96; fiction, 232; weird, 95. Ezcalli, 21, 122-123.
non-fiction, 236. Faërie, 69, 80. Horatio Club, 229-231.
Claim to Hospitality Fang Sing, 214.
Amerika, 60. advantage, 172. Fantasy timelines, 151. Hourglass, Order of the,
Farsight effect, 170. 212-216.
Amnesty Unlimited, 44. Clerical Investment Firearms, 199-200.
advantage, 172. Fixed time, 170. Huy Breasil, 80.
Anachronistic Training Flux drive, 163.
technique, 183. Cliodynamics, 6, 37, 87; Focal Referent, I-Cops, 10, 15, 39; character
skill, 182. template, 186; see also
Anchors, 87. 219. Outworld Operations.
Cliodyne Research Group, 37. Footnote
Archaeology skill, 182. In the Cube, 29.
Code of Honor characters, 199.
Architects, 214. disadvantage, 179. Fracture zones, 77. India, 43, 84.
France, 43.
Area Knowledge skill, 182. Colonies, crosstime, 32, 84. Friedrich, 66, 124, 139. Infinite Justice, Inc., 12.
Fuel cells, 23.
Ariane, 128. Communications, gear, 24; Fugue advantage, 173. Infinity Development, 31, 36.
parachronic, 52; through Future time travel, 169-170.
Armada-2, 109-110. time, 158. Gadgeteer skill, 182. Infinity Patrol, 5, 8-19, 36, 64,
Gadgeteering, social, 106. 179; Academy, 10;
Armanen Order, see SS Raven Communist worlds, 132. Gakuji, 212-213. Communications Division,
Division. Gallatin, 36, 42, 70, 125-126. 15; Contact Division, 15;
Computers, 24, 62. Gargoyles, 73. Customs and Inspection
Armor, 26. Gates, 206; Gates of Psais, 79; Division, 10; Echo
Consolidated Mines, Surveillance Division,
Atlantis, 95, 129-130, 139-140. Unlimited, 37; see also Gates of Thoth, 79. 15; headquarters, 9;
Mining. Generational cycles, 100. Intelligence Division, 16;
Attila, 110-111. Geography skill, 182. Internal Affairs Division,
Contact Group advantage, 172. Gernsback, 126-127. 11; Intervention Service, 10,
Attunement (time travel), Ghost roads, 79. see also I-Cops; Justice
168-169. Contacts advantage, 172. Glozel fragments, 76. Division, 11; Liaison
Gods, 68. Division, 12; Logistics
Azoth-7, 72, 112-113. Conveyors, 6, 26-30, 35; Gotha parallels, 12, 128. Division, 12; Morale
loadout, 20; recharging, 26. Great Man theory, 97. Division, 13; Nexus
Aztecs, see Ezcalli. Great Moment theory, 98. Oversight Division, 13;
Coventry, 41, 78. Great Motherland theory, 98. Penetration Service, 14;
Banestorms, 6, 13, 26, 75, Greenpeace, 44. Records and Research
80, 151. Cover stories, 14. GURPS Technomancer, 135. Division, 16; Search and
Rescue Division, 16;
Battalion, the, 31-34. Crichton, 84. Security Division, 13;
Special Operations Division,
Batteries, 23. Criminal template, 14; Survey Division, 17;
196. Technical Analysis Division,
Bermuda Triangle, 75. 17; see also Outworld
Cube, 29. Operations.
Bibliography, 232.
Cultural Infinity Unlimited, 5-6, 35-36;
Biology, model of Adaptability see also Infinity Patrol.
civilization, 102. advantage, 173.
Interworld Service, 8, 45, 52-
Black powder, 209. Cultural change, 106. 52-54, 120, 177; Interworld
Service Agent template, 192;
Blip, 20, 140. Cultural Familiarity see also Centrum, Outworld
advantage, 173. Operations.
Bonaparte-4, 113-114.
Current Affairs skill, 182. Interworld Treaty, 41; see also
Bounty hunters, 12. UNIC.
Current, the, 74.
Britannica-3, 115-116. Intolerance disadvantage, 180.
Dark-Dwellers, 184.
Burton, 136. Inventions, 208.
Demons, 66, 68.
Cabal, 21, 22, 68-69, 179;
Cabalist Mage template, 195. Denarius Capital Holdings, 40;
Denarius Group Special
Caliph, 12, 117-118. Banker template, 191.

Camelot, 136. Dependent disadvantage, 179.

Cameras, 25, 38. Detect advantage, 173.

Campaigns, 201-211; Centrum, Dimensional highways, 79.
54; genre and mode, 205;
parameters, 202.

Campbell, 119.

Castro, Fidel “Red,” 41.

INDEX 239

Israel, 43. Nottingham, 136-137. Roman Catholic Church, 44, Time Scouts, template, 187; see
ISWAT, 18, 140; ISWAT Agent 109. Infinity Patrol Penetration
Nuclear war, 47, 129. Service.
template, 187. Rome timelines, 145.
Japan, 43, 59-60, 63, 91, Observer Effect, 159-160, 170, Time sphere, 163.
224, 226. Russia, 42, 70.
146-148. Time Tours, Ltd., 37-39, 145,
Johnson’s Rome, 13, 38, 40, Omen advantage, 176. Rustic, 141. 179; Dinosaur Hunter
template, 191; Tour Guide
70, 130-131. Ontoclysms, 75-78. Scavengers, crosstime, 71. template, 191.
Jumper advantage, 174.
Kerne, 67. Operation Archduke, 227-229. Scout template, 187. Time travel, 152-170, 212-229;
Kidnappers, crosstime, 72. communication, 158;
KMP Petroleum, 40. Order of the Hourglass, Secret disadvantage, 180. fiction, 234; to the future,
Language Talent 212-216. 169-170; hazards, 164-166;
Secundus, 46, 48. non-fiction, 236; and
advantage, 175. Organized crime, 70. parallel worlds, 156; psionic,
Languages, 24, 175. Security, 35; Centrum, 49; see 166-169; via reality quake,
Legal Enforcement Powers Orichalcum, 139-140. also Infinity Patrol Security 77.
Division.
advantage, 176. Ouroborous Car, 80. Time viewers, 160-161.
Lenin-1, 131-133. See Invisible advantage, 176.
Lenin-2, 128. Outworld operations, 109, 111, Timeline shifting, 104.
Leviathan, 129-130. 113, 114, 116, 118, 119, Sense of Duty
Libraries, 16. 120, 121, 123, 124, 126, disadvantage, 180. Timenappers, 72.
Literature skill, 183. 127, 130, 131, 133, 135,
Looters, crosstime, 72. 138, 130, 144, 145, Sensors, 24. Timepiece, 217; agents, 220-
Lucifer-4, 84. 147, 149, 150. 221, 222.
Lucifer-5, 133-134. Serendipity advantage, 176.
Lysander, 32. Oz particles, 74. Timescanner, 161.
Madland, 130. Shiftrealms, 79-89.
Mafia, 70. Parachronic Timesickness
Magery advantage, 176. Laboratories Shikaku-Mon, 20, 146-148. disadvantage, 181.
Magic bullet, 76. (Paralabs), 19-22;
Magic, 22, 68, 134-135, Paralabs Field Shroud of Turin, 76. Tracking skill, 183.
Researcher template, 188.
138-139, 144-145. Shuttles, 52, see also Translation software, 24.
Mammut-1, 19. Parachronics; 19-30; Centrum, Conveyors.
Mammut-2, 84. 51; communications, 52; Triads, 70, 71, 215.
Mammut-3, 71. detector, 24; hazards, 74-80. Silenzia, 80.
Mandeville, 136. Turkana, 19.
Medicine, 18, 25, 26, 99, 207; Parachronozoids, 66, 73. Skerries, 89.
Tychiron, 66.
Centrum, 51; Reich-5, 62. Paradoxes, 154-156, 157, 159. Skills, 181-183.
Mercenaries, 31. Unaging advantage, 176.
Merlin, 134-135. Parallels, 88-94; high-inertia, Skorzeny, Otto, 18.
Microworld, 140. 94; myth, 21, 94, 136-137; Unattached (Centrum)
Mind Block skill, 22. and time travel, 156. Smother, 9, 19. Agent template, 192.
Mining, 37, 40, 70, 71, 84.
Miracle Workers, 18. Paralocator enhancement, 176. Social gadgeteering, 106. UNIC, 6, 31-34; UNIC
Möbius, 141. Crisis Ministry
Mongols, 110-111. Patron advantage, 176. Social Stigma Troubleshooter template,
Morphogenetic field, 22. disadvantage, 181. 188.
Mules, 65. Penetration Service, template,
Mundane Background 187; see Infinity Patrol Solar cells, 23. Unique disadvantage, 181.
Penetration Service.
disadvantage, 180. Spectral Ops, 139. United Kingdom, 43.
Muslim timelines, 117-118. Phobia disadvantage, 180.
Mutants, 184. Spetsnaz, 42, 64. United Nations, 41, 217; see
Myth parallels, 21, 94, 136- Plagues, 99, 128. also UNIC.
Spirit-jumpers, 174.
137. Plastic time, 154, 170. United Nations Interworld
Napoleon, 113-114. SS Raven Division, 22, 64- Council, see UNIC.
Naturalist skill, 183. Political change, 105. 67, 69, 124, 135, 139,
Nazis, 19, 69, 142-144; 179; Gestapo Amt Z Agent United States, 42; under the
Possession advantage, 176. template, 194; Mule Jumper Nazis, 60.
characters, 193-195; see also template, 194; SS Raven
Reich Timelines, SS Raven Projectors, 27, 35. Division Trooper template, United States of Lizardia, 148-
Division. 193. 149.
Neanderthals, 184. Psi shield, 26.
Needlers, 200. Starships, 72. Universal Exports, Ltd., 43.
Neo-tröodons, 141, 149. Psionics, 22, 26, 41, 68.
Nergal, 137-138. Stations, 52, see also Unusual Background
Nexus portals, 13, 77; Puzzle worlds, 96, 140-142. Projectors. advantage, 176.
artificial, 26.
NGOs, 44. Pythagoras Chronovisor, 161. Status, 178. Uplift Service, 54, 56.
Night Vision advantage, 176.
Nineveh Lens, 76. Quanta, timeline, 83, 104. Stinger, 222. Van Zandt, Paul, 6, 35, 40.
Non-Governmental
Organizations, 44. Quantaclysms, 77. Stopwatch, 217; agents, 223. Vanish, 141.
Nostradamus, 66, 124,
138-139. Quantum mechanics, 20, 76, Student template, 197-198. Vatican, see Roman Catholic
155. Church.
Stunner, 199, 222.
Radios, 24. Vinland Map, 76.
Subways, 80.
Rainbow effect coils, 163. Vortices, 75.
Super-soldiers, 184.
Rank advantage, 176. Wanshijieshan, 80.
Swagmen, 71, 179; Swagman
Raven Division, see SS Raven template, 196. Wealth, 178.
Division.
Taft-3, 11. Weapons, 199-200, 214.
Reality quakes, 75-78.
Taft-7, 130. White Stag, 74.
Reconnaisance, 17.
Tech levels, Centrum, 50; White Star Trading, 6, 37, 40-
Reich timelines, 143. Homeline, 23; Reich-5, 61. 41, 70, 119, 151; Trader
template, 190.
Reich-2, 142-144. Technological change, 105.
Williams-Khor Hypothesis, 21.
Reich-5, 57-67; see also Telkozep, Baron Janos, 68.
Armanen Order. World classification, Centrum,
Temporal Control 51; Infinity, 83.
Reputation, 178. Authority, 217.
World-jumpers, 65, 174.
Research, 22, 183; Temporal Inertia
missions, 211; skill, 183. advantage, 176. Wyvern, 142.

Resistant advantage, 176. Temporal snarls, 158. Xing La, 129.

Resources, 36, 40, 83; Thieves, crosstime, 71. Yrth, 150-151.
see also Mining.
Time Agents, 220-221; Yugorovsky Group, 32, 40.
Rhodes, Cecil, 37. equipment, 222.
Zombies, 128.
Robin Hood, 136-137. Time belt, 162.

Rogue states, 44. Time Corps, 217-228.

Roma Aeterna, 144-145. Time Draft, 166.

Time machines, 153, 162-163;
see also Time Travel.

240 INDEX

The good news is, we can visit other Earths.
The bad news is, somebody out there doesn’t like us.

The shuttles of Infinity Unlimited jump between parallel Earths,
seeking profit, knowledge, and adventure. But a parallel called
Centrum also has the technology to cross between worlds . . .
and they want to rule them all. The Infinity Patrol must
deal with these ruthless rivals, as well as
with world-jumping criminals, and try to
keep the secret of dimension travel out of
the hands of the really nasty alternate
worlds like Reich-5.

Welcome to the core setting of GURPS
Fourth Edition! Any campaign can be on
one of the Infinite Worlds timelines . . .
whether they know it or not! Compiled by
Kenneth Hite, the master of alternate
histories, GURPS Infinite Worlds combines
and updates material from GURPS Time
Travel, GURPS Alternate Earths, and
GURPS Alternate Earths 2 into one
full-color volume, and gives dozens of new
worlds to explore as well!

This book also gives detailed rules for time
travel, with three different campaign frames.

Whether you’re playing accidental travelers
or the hardened troops of the Infinity Patrol,
this book is your gateway to adventure.
Infinite adventure.

Written by Kenneth Hite, Steve Jackson, and John M. Ford Edited by Andrew Hackard

Cover Art by Abrar Ajmal, Guy Burchak, Alan Gutierrez, Tony Parker, Rowena,
Bob Stevlic, Rogério Vilela, and Bob Walters

Illustrated by Abrar Ajmal, Brent Chumley, John Moriarty, Tony Parker,
Douglas Shuler, Bob Stevlic, and Eva Widermann

1ST EDITION, 1ST PRINTING
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2005

ISBN 1-55634-734-0

9!BMF@JA:RSVRSSoYjZhZ_ZdZ`

SJG03495 01-2001 Printed in
the USA