It's a very cool take on time travel and, from a setting standpoint, the game is great.

It was also a real bitch to play, though, the couple of times I tried it. I appreciate all the thought and effort that was put into the game, but I wish they had sacrificed some of the detail to improve the playability.

Actually, "I'll put the keys right here" pretty much sums up a major part of the game. Making sure things happened the way they were remembered, even if you invented the memory a few subjective minutes ago.

I think the most intriguing part of Continuum's reputation is how violently it gets bagged by people who've not actually played it.

Having said that, I read the D&D 4.0 rules and knew I didn't want to play it... so I guess I'm guilty too.

One of my favourite things about Continuum (which I've repeatedly read but I know that I'll never get my group to go for) is that there's a combat manoeuvre that consists of travelling to the future to look up how the combat ended, and then returning to the present to use that information during the combat.

That should tell you everything you need to know about how much of a brain melter the game can be.

That's exactly true. However that strategy can really bite you in the ass.
If the opponent works out a way to gain victory over you even though you've seen how the combat should end, they may be able to cause you to suffer a paradoxical backlash that would really harm you.

I really enjoy this game.

In my pathfinder game, it took the players three years to figure out the significance of a set of clues I left them in the first session. (They started at level 1, and by the time they pulled all the threads of the story together to get a full picture of the world they were level 10). I had a rush of satisfaction greater than any I'd had as a GM.

I get that kind of rush about once every 4 sessions with Continuum.

It really makes you think, and plan, and I think I've written better games since starting with it too. At least they're more coherent games.

Is there a review or capsule description of this game somewhere? I have never heard of it before this thread.

Continuum is an amazing game that I don't think one can play with the rules as written for more than a short length of time.

For Nexus-
It's a game where all the PCs are members of a culture of time-travelers who work to ensure that the past, present and future plays out exactly as it has, is and will.

Think of it as a war that's already been won, but still needs to be fought.

And the only tools you have are the ability to teleport and time-travel at will.

For RPGPundit -
I've been running it for about 6 months now, and I'll have fun fun fun till my daddy takes the T-Bird away.

Quote from: Clamps;808082For Nexus-
It's a game where all the PCs are members of a culture of time-travelers who work to ensure that the past, present and future plays out exactly as it has, is and will.

Think of it as a war that's already been won, but still needs to be fought.

And the only tools you have are the ability to teleport and time-travel at will.
.

Thanks, it sounds intriguing.

Quote from: Clamps;808082For RPGPundit -
Think of it as a war that's already been won, but still needs to be fought.
I've been running it for about 6 months now, and I'll have fun fun fun till my daddy takes the T-Bird away.

Well, you've been doing better than me.  I ran it about 4 weeks before the reams and reams of notes I had to take to be able to remember every little detail of everything the PCs did in order to not miss any situation where they might incur paradox proved to just be too much for me to bear.

I've lost a couple of players along the way. I run a *very* sandbox style game, where slow-burn character development is far more important than chasing the plot stick. So goal-oriented players don't really get what they want from my games.

The players that do find themselves liking my GM style get lavished with all kinds of attention related to their character's background and personal goals.

So that's fun.

Quote from: Clamps;808812I've lost a couple of players along the way. I run a *very* sandbox style game, where slow-burn character development is far more important than chasing the plot stick. So goal-oriented players don't really get what they want from my games.

The players that do find themselves liking my GM style get lavished with all kinds of attention related to their character's background and personal goals.

So that's fun.

I'm glad its working for you. Maybe someday I'll give it another shot.  I mean, it's been about 15 years.

So the game is now 2 years in. I've had the same players for about 18 months, and we've figured out how to run it.
Sometimes a Span Log will need updating, or we need a recap. But we've got a game with a ton of very character driven relationships with history and futury.
A long-arch plot is shaping up, and the players are scratching at the edges of it.
If you can find the balance with the paperwork, it's well worth it.
I use a mindmapper. Invaluable tool for non-linear games.

Quote from: Clamps;807269I think the most intriguing part of Continuum's reputation is how violently it gets bagged by people who've not actually played it.

Nothing new under the sun:).

Quote from: Clamps;957788So the game is now 2 years in. I've had the same players for about 18 months, and we've figured out how to run it.
Sometimes a Span Log will need updating, or we need a recap. But we've got a game with a ton of very character driven relationships with history and futury.
A long-arch plot is shaping up, and the players are scratching at the edges of it.
If you can find the balance with the paperwork, it's well worth it.
I use a mindmapper. Invaluable tool for non-linear games.

That's the first I've heard of this game, but it sure sounds interesting;). Of course, mind-mappers are really useful for all non-linear games.

Quote from: Clamps;957788So the game is now 2 years in. I've had the same players for about 18 months, and we've figured out how to run it.
Sometimes a Span Log will need updating, or we need a recap. But we've got a game with a ton of very character driven relationships with history and futury.
A long-arch plot is shaping up, and the players are scratching at the edges of it.
If you can find the balance with the paperwork, it's well worth it.
I use a mindmapper. Invaluable tool for non-linear games.

I have to say, I'm amazed and impressed.  When I tried to run it, it collapsed under the weight of the necessary paradox-avoiding record-keeping within a couple of  months of play.

Thanks Pundit. I'm quite proud of my team. They work hard.
I'll have to admit that my GM style is not really suited to the way the authors envisioned Narcissists. I use them sparingly, and instead I've focused on inter-fraternal politics, Frag artefacts and a few house rules I've added to make the players take more seriously the consequences of being so alien while still living amongst humans (levelers).

A big thing for me was I've added a Willpower stat, straight out of White Wolf. I did this to allow me to include a Goals system that encourages players to pick goals for their chrs. When a goal is worked on or fully realised, the chr gets some or all of their WP back. WP can of course be spend just like in old school WW systems for lower targets on rolls or guaranteed successes.

Anyway, the goals and the slow-burn plot keeps us going. Oh, and I run Time Combat much differently.

We had a 4 session chapter that was the players participating in great detail the actions they wanted to do in a single Bout of Time Combat. Not a Stage... 1 single Bout. In fact, we spent more than that just doing a Measure on a possible Narcissist. (Turned out to be a Leveler, but that's how you find these things out).

I've changed a fair few rules to suit my GM style, but the core of the game and the world remain one of the best, most exciting and engaging games I've payed / run in over 25 years of gaming.