A few weeks back, my group played a Stargate SG-4 session that was based around a time loop — think Groundhog Day (or from Stargate SG-1, “Window of Opportunity”), but with a very short cycle.
It was a very fun night, and one that really felt like the TV show. Don, our GM, also did something very clever to make the time loop concept work: he created a system-neutral game mechanic that balanced roleplaying social encounters with the desire to not have to roleplay them every time we looped. I asked him if he’d mind writing it up for his blog, Abulia Savant [1], and he was kind enough to oblige (thanks, Don!).
As it turned out, though, it wasn’t something he could explain without providing plenty of context, and the resulting post covers a lot more than just crafting a time loop adventure — it’s essentially a primer for writing TV-episode-style adventures [2] using the three act model (and bending it when necessary), and a damned fine one at that.
This campaign is on my list of all-time favorites [3], and Don really hits what he aims for with it: a game that’s not only fun, but feels like the show. It’s fascinating for me to peer under the hood and see how he makes that happen, and I think you’ll enjoy it as well.
6 Comments To "Writing Adventures Like TV Episodes, and Time Loops"
#1 Comment By drow On January 30, 2007 @ 10:29 am
an excellent primer, and one i’m going to try to make use of in my new eberron campaign. i think a lot of short, concise adventures will make the campaign seem a lot busier and richer than the long, many-session story arcs i’ve usually run.
#2 Comment By steve On January 30, 2007 @ 11:35 am
wish he would have listed the solution so I could steal it.
Great idea, and a really good article all around.
#3 Comment By Abulia On January 30, 2007 @ 1:08 pm
The complete adventure is linked towards the bottom of the article, including the handouts.
#4 Comment By Dave Chalker On January 30, 2007 @ 6:19 pm
I’ve run a Groundhog Day-style adventure three times now for different campaigns, and it’s consistently the players’ favorite adventure of the campaign.
#5 Comment By JasonA On January 30, 2007 @ 10:08 pm
I’ve run a timeloop session once, with the PCs having a definite “start” to the loop (and a definite end – the space station they were on blows up 🙂 ). It went pretty well, although the players did get a bit sick of having to convince the same people through each loop that a loop was happening (including one of the PCs – one of the PCs was outside the loop when it occurred, so they had to be convinced about the loop just like the NPCs).
I think the “cards” Don came up with were a fantastic idea, and I’d probably do something similiar if I was running that sort of session again.
#6 Comment By Stephen On February 2, 2007 @ 11:48 am
I’ve been running my campaigns as TV shows for a few years now. It really works quite well and highly recommend it. 🙂