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Author Topic: "Elseworlds"?  (Read 711 times)

RPGPundit

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"Elseworlds"?
« on: December 19, 2006, 10:05:07 AM »
On Saturday, my Legion campaign had done its mandatory "divergent timeline" story (or "what if?" or "Elseworlds", if you like). In this case, an adventure where a villain time travels to the past and makes it so the legion of superheroes would never have formed, the resulting world being of course pretty dystopic.

Now, in a superhero game this is a pretty typical sort of gimmick.  But it got me to wondering: anyone ever done an "Elseworlds" adventure with their fantasy setting? Or sci fi?

Note that I don't mean a non-canon campaign (ie. "we're playing star wars but Luke fell to the dark side"), I mean an adventure within a normal campaign that somehow allows a glimpse into an alternate timeline/universe where things went different?

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jcfiala
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"Elseworlds"?
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2006, 11:29:13 AM »
Almost.  I've left the campaign, but apparently the Buffy campaign I was in is gearing up for one of these - half the group is apparently playing altered versions of themselves, and the other half will be the ones slipped into the changed world, where they'll apparently attempt to set things right.
 

Aegypto

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"Elseworlds"?
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2006, 12:32:19 PM »
Before I joined as a player, Mysterious Albion - a Buffy campaign set after Season 7  - featured an episode set in the Wishverse, the alternate universe of Buffy 3.09 "The Wish", where everything has taken a turn of the worst. Keeping with the tradition of alternate episodes, I think that most of the player characters were killed in that one.
 

jhkim

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"Elseworlds"?
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2006, 01:40:47 PM »
Huh.  Um, I'm going to have to cop to the same -- we did an alternate timeline thing in Buffy as well.  Our Buffy series was one where the PCs were all young IT professionals in Silicon Valley who eventually organized themselves as a startup company, "Vampster".  The episode was mid-way through our second season.  Below is the summary I wrote for the players of it (which might not be too comprehensible to non-players).  

"A Practical World"

So, what happened in mine was that a computer program went haywire in a fight.  As a continuing plotline, there was a set of business calendar/scheduling software which was capable of tapping into someone's Fate lines.  

What happened was that the three normal-human PCs -- Chip, Roberta, and Carlos -- all found themselves in an alternate timeline.  In the timeline, the gist was that they had mostly gone on to relatively normal lives.  However, their friends with superpowers had gone to fighting evil in a purely serious manner and were organized as a gang ("The Stakes") rather than as a company.  

It ended with them finding the means to leave and go back to their own timeline.

Mr. Christopher

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"Elseworlds"?
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2006, 01:48:23 PM »
I'm not sure if this counts but I've played in a few "mashup" campaigns where two or more existing universes were combined, creating an Elseworlds continuity. E.g. a Doctor Who pastiche in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, using existing W40K material.

I suppose that's more Amalgam than Elseworlds though.
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RPGPundit

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"Elseworlds"?
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2006, 09:38:43 AM »
Jesus fuck, what the hell is up with all the Buffy Elseworlds??

RPGPundit
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RPGPundit

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"Elseworlds"?
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2006, 09:41:15 AM »
Quote from: Bartholomew Fair
I'm not sure if this counts but I've played in a few "mashup" campaigns where two or more existing universes were combined, creating an Elseworlds continuity. E.g. a Doctor Who pastiche in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, using existing W40K material.

I suppose that's more Amalgam than Elseworlds though.


Well it only counts, as I said in the first post, if you have the PCs visiting a seperate world, like the "Mirror, mirror" episode of startrek, or the "wishverse" one of buffy. I'm not talking about doing a whole alternate campaign; I'm talking about where the PCs, for one or two adventures, get a glimpse of a world that is not theirs, similar in some ways but strangely different (for better or for worse).

Anyways, yes, your pastiche is pretty wierd, especially since everyone knows that Dr. Who is actually part of the Marvel Universe.

RPGPundit
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Dark Albion: The Rose War! The OSR fantasy setting of the history that inspired Shakespeare and Martin alike.
Also available in Variant Cover form!
Also, now with the CULTS OF CHAOS cult-generation sourcebook

ARROWS OF INDRA
Arrows of Indra: The Old-School Epic Indian RPG!
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jcfiala
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"Elseworlds"?
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2006, 10:21:08 AM »
Quote from: RPGPundit
Jesus fuck, what the hell is up with all the Buffy Elseworlds??

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Well, aside from Superhero Comics, Buffy the TV show is one of the few other examples of elseworld adventuring.  So, people emulate that in the RPG.