Time Power: 5 second replay.

[ParitySoul]

Okay. I'm guessing this is time travel, but how?

 

The abiltiy to replay 5 seconds/actions in time.

 

Thanks.

[Snarf]

I think we need to think about what the power could be used for in detail, so we can reason from effect, but my first thought is a Variable Power Pool which is limited to things that fit that special effect.

[ParitySoul]

Originally posted by Snarf

I think we need to think about what the power could be used for in detail, so we can reason from effect, but my first thought is a Variable Power Pool which is limited to things that fit that special effect.

 

I'm talking about going back in time and getting to replay the last 5 rounds of combat/life/etc.

 

Plain and simple.

[Snarf]

That's just the special effect, if you want to do this without changing the rules you have to think about what listed powers (and I think you'll need several) can represent that effect.

 

There's no existing power specifically for going back in time (that I know of), so you want to consider what could happen during those 5 seconds that you want to undo and what powers that requires.

 

Let's say someone got hurt or killed in those 5 seconds, then you need enough healing to fix everything to what it was before. If there's property damage, maybe that could be undone with change environment. You could teleport everyone back to where they were standing 5 seconds ago. Everything would have limitations like only can heal damage done up to 5 seconds ago.

 

This is just my method of course, you'll have to use whatever works for you.

[Redmenace]

I believe teleport, extradimentional; time travel does cover it but I can't recall if that has been retained in 5th ed.

 

I hope you're a GM.

[Snarf]

I think that's called Extra Dimensional Movement in 5'th Edition. Check out page 111.

 

Here's an example there that should help:

Time Machine: Extra-Dimensional Movement (any date or place in time), (60 Active Points); OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), (Real Cost 24 Points).

 

I'm not a big fan of using a power like this to affect combat, but like Redmenace said, if you're a GM...

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I seem to recall seeing a 3rd Ed write-up in a magazine of a new power that did exactly this ... but 15 years can make the memory fuzzy.

 

Anyway, EDM could work, but what I would really do instead is use precognition with a trigger. Whenever the NPC or PC wanted a 're-do' he do something that would trigger the precognition 5 seconds earlier.

 

In game terms what would happen is that the last 5 seconds would be lost and only the character would know what was about to happen and he could now act differently. For a PC in play this is pretty disruptive and can slow combat down something fierce. It is also *really* hard for other PCs to play as if they had no idea of what was coming next either after the Time Lord PC pulls this little stunt. IMO charges, activation rolls, or something is a must to keep the PC from using this power constantly.

 

All in all this is not something that I would want in the hands of a PC even with limits.

[farik]

I'd let a skilled player in an experienced group use EDM for this but I would not let them reduce the End cost.

 

In a less experienced group I'd encourage a side effect on the power so everyone involved shared the memory of what happened as well but only the character using it would still suffer the effects of the "rewound" time. I'd also change the power to be 12 seconds and insist it can only be used on segment 12 to reduce the book keeping needed for everyone involved.

[Zeropoint]

Could you model it with Precognition? After all, the net result of using this power is that you now have a good idea what might happen in the next five seconds, if you act as you originally intended to.

 

Assuming, that is, that the power rewinds *everything* except the character's memory.

 

Zeropoint

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

The biggest problem I have with EDM is that you move back in time & now there are *two* of you. One who has lived the next 5 seconds & one that hasn't.

 

What happens when the 'past' you decides not to travel back since everthing worked out this time?

 

That's only a small sample of the kind of paradox that EDM can lead to.

 

Precognition is cleaner IMO.

[Armitage]

Originally posted by Vanderbilt_Grad

I seem to recall seeing a 3rd Ed write-up in a magazine of a new power that did exactly this ... but 15 years can make the memory fuzzy.

 

Dragon magazine #100. Champions Plus, by Steven Maurer

 

Temporal Fugue

30 for base (11 or less) / + 1 for 10

Temporal Fugue is also known as “replay.†It allows a character to replay immediate past events and take a different action, now that the character knows exactly what will happen. To use Temporal Fugue, the character must roll the ability, minus the number of 1/2-phase actions he wishes to reverse. If successful, the replay starts at that point, with all rolls and actions staying the same until the character interferes with the past. You can only replay an event once.

Example: In a battle, Orakle sees an agent leveling a blaster at her. Since he is just a normal agent, she decides to depend upon him missing — but the agent shoots and hits. Before damage is rolled, Orakle uses her Temporal Fugue power to undo his 1/2-phase attack. She rolls a (12 - 1 = ) 11; her attempt succeeds. When the agent levels his gun at her, she dives for cover. Play resumes at this point. The agent, seeing that Orakle has just jumped behind some boxes, lobs a grenade at her. Orakle, having already undone the attack once, cannot use her Temporal Fugue again.

Referees may choose to extend 1/2- phase actions to include non-combat or simultaneous moves. Thus, an ambush might be considered a single action for purposes of Temporal Fugue: the same goes for running down a blocked corridor. Though it is a power, Temporal Fugue has all the limitations of a skill: It cannot have power advantages or limitations, and it can’t normally be placed in a power modifier. Only Temporal Fugue levels add to the Temporal Fugue roll. It is a no-phase action and it costs END.

[drrushing]

awesome nostalgia

 

That's really cool. I've looked for a copy of Temporal Fugue for a long time. Thank you for posting the write up.

[levi]

Somebody got a copy of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time for Christmas/Chaunakka/Kwanza didn't they???

[Snarf]

Originally posted by Armitage

Dragon magazine #100. Champions Plus, by Steven Maurer

 

Temporal Fugue...

That seems too awesome for 30 points.

[farik]

Originally posted by Vanderbilt_Grad

The biggest problem I have with EDM is that you move back in time & now there are *two* of you. One who has lived the next 5 seconds & one that hasn't.

 

What happens when the 'past' you decides not to travel back since everthing worked out this time?

 

That's only a small sample of the kind of paradox that EDM can lead to.

 

Precognition is cleaner IMO.

 

There wouldn't need to be two of you theoretically the old you could be supplanted by the time traveling you as they are tossed into an alternate world where they are suddenly thrust 5 seconds forward from their perception with no knowledge of what happened in fact you could have the character suffer from these "blackouts" during combat to simulate the alternate version switching places with them as a Disadvantage but again this would require a skilled role player who you could trust to disregard what they learned over the previous time interval.

[Monolith]

And all of this is why time travel works well in fiction but not in games.

 

Your PC gets flattend so you want to go back in time and fix it, but everyone else's PCs are having a great time, and so you screw up their good rolls or hits or whatever just to replay 5 seconds. In literature the PC lives within his own bubble, but at game table 6 players live within the same bubble. So doing time travel things just tends to extend combat.

 

I would be much more inclined to allow the Precog example and let the player have the edge in the regard (possibly giving some extra levels Linked to the Precog due to knowing where someone is going to be or who will get attacked), and just call it the SFX of him moving through time to change things, then to actually replay something over just so one character can get a benefit.

[Dischord]

Doesn't one of the characters from Andromeda do something like this? Only to everyone else she seems to just "know" bad things could happen and provide alternatives. I think one of the episodes she kept doing this with no good outcome possible.

[Vondy]

Oh, no! It's the Omega 13!

 

Actually, I'd probably go with x-dim movement, but I usually run solo or duo games so there aren't that many players to whine about it. Another option would be to require the player to tell you in advance what actions they want to take and then have them, and only them, redo their actions for those phases (and assume, within reason, everyone else's actions occur as previously rolled).

 

Personally - I hate redo powers.

[levi]

There is a Psychoportative Power in D&D Psionics that allows you to replay the last 1D4+1 rounds of combat. The Power takes 1D4+1 rounds to "cast" and only your character remembers what happened the last time around. Here is that idea expressed in HERO System terms:

 

Rewind: Extra Dimensional Movement (Single Dimension, Time Travel) Area of Effect 16"r., selective (+1 1/4) 100 active points. Extra Time: 1 Turn (-1 1/4), Limited Power: Only to go back in time to the point where the Rewind began.

Cost: 44 points

 

Unlike the D&D power, everyone could make different decisions about how they act and they would all remember what happened before the rewind. To add the temporal amnesia effect you would need gads of Transformation.

 

Hope that helps...

[Chromatic]

Originally posted by Snarf

That seems too awesome for 30 points.

 

That's why its called a Maurerism. Steve suffered from a lack of point cost understanding. Among other things.

[Supreme Serpent]

For an NPC, it just happens. No need to worry about a write up.

 

For a PC, I'd allow it for oh, $5.00 a use.

[ParitySoul]

Originally posted by levi

Somebody got a copy of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time for Christmas/Chaunakka/Kwanza didn't they???

 

While the answer to this is yes, actually I have a player interested in a power like this. He a Neo/Time manip char. I was willing to okay it if I could find a mechanic that works.

[The Mad GM]

Precog, with a few more bits.

 

A really gonzo level of Danger Sense, some variation on Deduction, and several skill levels could add a little extra to the precog option:

 

"The bomb has a secret motion trigger! Don't touch it!"

"Mega-goon is going to aim high, so I'll dodge low"

"That elevator is going to open in a second with more agents, so I'll entangle the doors shut."

 

EDM is a little problematic, paradox wise. Also, asking everyone to re-roll several rounds of combat on a regular basis sounds like a real potential for friction. Combat takes long enough as it is.

[Armitage]

Originally posted by Dischord

Doesn't one of the characters from Andromeda do something like this? Only to everyone else she seems to just "know" bad things could happen and provide alternatives. I think one of the episodes she kept doing this with no good outcome possible.

 

Trance Gemini. She experiences every possible future as if they were real and then tries to steer reality toward the best possible future she saw.

At the end of the episode that focused on this, Dylan asked "If all the possible realities seem every bit as real to you as this one, how do you know that this is the real reality?" She just stood there looking like she wanted to either cry or be sick.

It would be an interesting role-playing twist for a character.

[freakboy6117]

looks liek we are going soem ome one like the current negative man in doom patrol I'd go with the danger sense and maybe have the time travel bit as a last ditch emergancy thing for when things have gone really wrong think galaxy quest only being able to do it once per adventure should stop it getting too annoying.