What system would you guys recommend for a campaign centered around time travellers? Everything from fighting Nazis to hooking up with Blackbeard. Only restriction is no Savage Worlds. Ran it for a good long while and just doesn't cut it for us.
Timewatch, if Gumshoe system works for you. PDFs just became available. And, of course, it's in print.
There is always Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space (on driveThru RPG). It can be modified without the TV characters for use. Do you need a generic system or a set system?
218 Games! Could draft rules is you would like, and you can use our system from Salem World
Quote from: rgrove0172;938255What system would you guys recommend for a campaign centered around time travellers? Everything from fighting Nazis to hooking up with Blackbeard.
Savage Worlds.
Quote from: rgrove0172;938255Only restriction is no Savage Worlds.
Oh Goddamn it.
Quote from: rgrove0172;938255Ran it for a good long while and just doesn't cut it for us.
You're going to have to tell me what you didn't like about Savage Worlds to recommend a replacement.
If you're talking playing in different eras, having a system with supplements that explores other era might be useful. GURPS of course has supplements, not to mention engineering formulas, for everything yet conceived by the mind of Humanity. But, since you put Nazis and Blackbeard in the same sentence, I'm guessing something a little less "What is the consequence of the early death of Cardinal Richelieu?" and a little more "WOOHOOO!"
GURPS Time Travel (http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/timetravel/), and/or GURPS Infinite Worlds (http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/infiniteworlds/).
May be back as a PDF. But theres the old TSR Chronomancer book.
Otherwise just RP it?
The characters go back in time? Establish some rules of things not to do. Same with going forward.
Such as. Alterations to the past cause time distortions that move to correct the problem. The more you try to change. The more severe the reaction. Works great to curb time meddlers.
Or. No matter what you do, its going to come out exactly as it was supposed to happen. Works great when all the PCs have to work with are possibly VERY inaccurate history books.
Or. Changes made are recursive. Alter too much and you might turn yourself into a newt.
Or. Cosmic forces dont like time meddling and send "agents" to either pre-empt or correct the problem. No matter what you do in the past its going to be undone and you may find yourself locked away.
Or. Tinkering with time weaken the barriers between reality and "outside". Very powerful and alien things may slip through to do who knows what.
And so on. Lay down the ground rules and stick to them.
Ive fount this easier than complex game mechanics.
Or, no Time Quakes, Time Cops, Azathoth Openings, or Temporal Railroads, just...
(http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20130319.gif)
Too much Time Copper and you end up with this: The whole thing becomes a satire of itself. (http://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihistory/)
Depending on what you want out of a time-travel game I'd recommend going with alternate realities instead.
GURPS has strong support for this, and Mythras has Luther Arkwright. There's also stuff like The Strange and Torg.
ARGs avoid many of the picky-niggles of using 'actual history' and open up a wider venue of possibilities... you might be able to fight Nazis on several parallel timelines. Depending on the setting you can still mix it up with various historical personages and have stuff like pirate ships manned by intelligent dinosaurs.
I'd go with Timemaster (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/924/Timemaster?it=1) from Pacesetter/Goblinoid Games. The Pacesetter Action Table system is deceptively easy to use, and there are a BUNCH of adventures out for it (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/760/Goblinoid-Games/subcategory/2033_6388/TIMEMASTER) from back in the heyday. (And the supplement TimeTricks is good for any time travel RPG you may decide upon.)
GURPS is OK for time travel if you want something that tends toward the realistic. Of course, the 3e GURPS legion of historical sourcebooks are awesome for time-travel gaming, but you can use those with whatever system you end up running.
If you wanted something more cinematic? You could go with Two-Fisted Tales, maybe.
Quote from: rgrove0172;938255What system would you guys recommend for a campaign centered around time travellers? Everything from fighting Nazis to hooking up with Blackbeard. Only restriction is no Savage Worlds. Ran it for a good long while and just doesn't cut it for us.
is it going to be more like Timebandits & Bill &Ted's Excellent adventure, or less comic?
I think that I'd go with EABA version 2, BRP, or Gurps for the system. And then I'd add on any historical, informational, or adventure modules/books from any game that I wanted.