eternity!_risus rpg

7/30/2019 Eternity!_Risus RPG

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by Ken MacLennan

A campaign concept usingthe risus rules by s. john ross

Guarding the integrity of the space-time continu-um is a demanding and dangerous task, requiringthe services of agents with truly extraordinary abili-

ties. These elite agents, handpicked from throughout

the tapestry of history for outstanding skills and qual-

ities making them distinctive in their own times and

places, representing the absolute best and brightest

that humanity has to offer. They are the ETERNITY

CORPS, and in their hands lies the safety of Time as

we know it.

Note: Playing in this setting requires the RISUSrules, by S. John Ross, which rules are available (for

free, in the basic version) via the Cumberland Games

website: http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm.

Very little of what follows will make sense as a

game unless you are familiar with the RISUS system

(or can access it for reference purposes).


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Personages of Historical Significance:Character Adaptation

In ETERNITY!, player characters are not so much created as adapt-

ed. Players take the roles of famous (or infamous) historical figures charged

with guarding the space-time continuum against threats to its integrity.

Characters may be chosen from any era, famed for any field of endeavor,

BUT will ideally be individuals who require little or no explanation to ones

fellow players. Characters may be semi-historical (say, Moses, Robin hood,

or Gilgamesh), but not wholly mythological or fictional (e.g., Hercules or

Miss Marple). An ETERNITY! player character is also known as a Person-

age of Historical Significance or PHS for short (PsHSpronounced peez-

aitch-essin the plural).

Persona and Hidden Talents

The Clichs that define a PHS should, for the most part, reflect theindividuals persona as history and tradition have defined it. Thus, players

really ought to choose individuals who are familiar enough to their fellow

players that the historical/traditional clichs resonate; otherwise, you will

be less entertaining to them and the game wont be as much fun. One Cli-

ch, however, may depart radically from that persona; we call this Clich

the Hidden Talent. It must be a minor Clich, but it can (indeed, should)

be as anachronistic or outlandish as the player wishes. The Hidden Talent

may represent skills picked up since the PHSs induction into the Eternity

Corps (and their death in Earths recorded history), it may represent some

lesser-known (i.e., entirely made-up) aspect of the PHSs persona alleg-

edly overlooked by History, or it can (GM willing) be completely fantastic

(i.e., magical or super powers).

Note that Time Cop is not an appropriate Clich for a PHS, de-

spite the fact that all PsHS in the Corps are by definition time cops. Such a

Clich would take valuable dice away from more entertaining Clichs, and

the Hidden Talent rule gives players the chance to balance out their char-

acters skill sets if the historical personas are weak in abilities important to

the job. Gun Nut, Extreme-Sports Athlete, or even Private Gumshoe,

are examples of Hidden Talents that can help PsHS manage the rougher

aspects of time-stream policing.

Hooks in ETERNITY!

You may assign a Hook to your PHS, if (and only if) said Hook is

drawn from the historical persona of the PHS. (No Hidden Flaws here!) For

example, if you decided to play Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a PHS, you

could use his polio as a Hook; if playing Napoleon I, your GM might allow

a Hook for his obsession with winning.


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ConfuciusWizened Chinese Sage (4): Dispensing Cryptic

Wisdom, Knowing Ancient History and Classi-

cal Literature, Inspiring the Respect of Ones

Juniors.

Beacon of Righteousness (3): Resolving Moral

Dilemmas, Standing Up to Evil, Keeping People

on the Straight and Narrow.

HT: Improvisational Jazz Genius (3): Playing

Killer Riffs, Laying Down Grooves, Looking

Cool.

Harriet TubmanIntrepid Fugitive Guide (4): Evading Pursu-

ers, Finding the Way, Hiding from People and

Dogs.

Crusader for Justice (4): Confronting Vil-lainy, Speaking Truth to Power, Agitating for

Positive Social Change.

HT: Wuxia Master (2): Martial Arts Blows,

Feints, and Dodges.

Babe RuthBaseball Star (4): Throwing, Catching, Bat-

ting, Running.

Party Animal (4): Holding His Liquor, Eating

Prodigious Quantities, Picking Up Women.

HT: Connoisseur of Ancient Art (2): Identi-

fying Ancient Cultures, Spotting Forgeries, Es-

timating Market Values.

Sample PsHS

Tales in ETERNITY!

Tales, on the other hand, dont really have a place in ETERNITY! Were

playing with the stereotypes of historical figures, and any background be-

yond the level of general knowledge threatens the slapstick quality of the

setting. But if your GM wants to allow em, who am I to forbid it.


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About the Eternity Corps

The origins and history of the Eternity Corps are so tangled up in

time-traveling paradoxes that it is impossible to say, really, when and how it

was founded. In a sense, it has always existed, for wherever there has been

trouble with the space-time continuum, Eternity Corps agents have been

on the scene to straighten matters out. More prosaically, it would have to

have been established after humanity had mastered the art of time travel,

but honestly, its not that important. Make up whatever backstory suits your

purposes as a game master. However, the Eternity Corps headquarters exists

outside the space-time continuum, in an artificial bubble of existence cre-

ated especially for the purpose of housing the Corps. Members of the Corps

ignore any paradoxes caused by this circumstance, and you should feel free

to do likewise.

Mission teams may be permanent (if you and your players want tokeep using the same PsHS) or ad hoc (if you want to keep experimenting

with new PHS ideas). Each team is managed by a controla senior agent

whose job entails briefing, monitoring, debriefing, and evaluating Eternity

Corps field teams. This control should also be a PHS, although whether you

assign a personage of traditional moral/political authority (e.g., King Solo-

mon) or not (say, Ed Wood-in or out of drag) depends on your tastes and

intentions as GM.

The Corps maintains a large-scale Anachroscanner (q.v.) system

that both identifies dangers to the continuum and enables the Corps to track

its agents. They can send you out, know when youve accomplished your

mission, and then pull you back to HQ when youre done-or when youve

screwed up so badly that they need to send out another team.

In a standard Corps mission the control calls a team of agents in,

briefs them on the problem to be dealt with, then sends them out to their

first destination. From there the agents assess the problem, take whatever

measures they deem appropriate, and signal the Corps if they need to move

on to another set of time-space coordinates to further the mission goal. This

process generally continues until the mission is completed. That standard,

however, is tenuous at best, and Im certainly not going to tell you GMs

how to do your job.

Authentic? The Eternity

Corps thinks not!


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Equipping Agents

Agents of the Eternity Corps dress in plainclothes; i.e., they wear

what they wore in their earthly lives, and carry the appropriate Tools of

the Trade, except when a case requires incognito. (Then, of course, hilarity

ensues.) The Corps also issues certain standard pieces of equipment to help

agents resolve cases:

AnachroscannerA detector designed to locate objects and entities displaced from

their proper position in the time stream. The device can be fooled, and its

range tends to be short, but it is generally effective. The Corps usually as-

signs one to each team of agents.

StunnerA hand-held, non-lethal ranged weapon firing a particle beam. Each

PHS is equipped with one as a Tool of the Trade, no matter what Clichsshe might have. If the PHS needs to use the stunner, then use an appropri-

ate or Inappropriate Clich for the action as circumstances may suggest. Of

course, there are other ways to subdue bad-guys besides zapping them with

a stunner...

ChronommunicatorEach PHS carries one. Permits contact between team members who

are separated, as well as with Control. Not as reliable as one would hope;

as with cell-phone service, in some areas of space-time reception is poor or

entirely absent.

Synaptic-Mnemonic ReconfiguratorA memory-modification device. As part of protecting the space-

time continuum, PsHS occasionally have to modify peoples memo-

ries so that their necessary and (hopefully) minor anachronisms dont

end up written into the historical record. Each team is issue one, and

they are strictly instructed to use it no more than absolutely necessary.

The device only works at very close rangei.e., within hand-to-hand

combat reach. Excessive or improper use of an SMR can get a PHS

into very deep trouble with the Corps.


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Saving the Space-Time Continuum:Eternity Corps Adventures

So, what sort of threats does the Eternity Corps guard against?

Space-time is full of people (in the broadest sense of the term) willing to

risk unraveling it in order to have things their way. In addition, occasionally

the fabric of space-time produces its own threatswormholes, time storms,

and whatnotthat threaten to unravel the continuum and put an end to exis-

tence as we know it. Here are some of the types of cases that Eternity Corps

agents handle:

AnarchrosmugglingThe unauthorized transfer of technology to an inappropriate era, for

profit or to influence the outcome of events.

Artifact Forgery

Unscrupulous time travelers bury objects in the deep past in orderto improve their resale value in the future.

DopplegangeringSubverters of History kidnap key individuals from their proper con-

texts and replace them with imposters or duplicates who attempt to change

the course of events to their employers liking.

Time Storm CleanupThe restoration of persons or items dispersed in time storms to their

appropriate contexts.

Wormhole ClosureIf left unsealed, wormholes in the space-time continuum can pull

unsuspecting persons or important objects into wholly inappropriate con-

texts, threatening the integrity of the continuum and/or the safety of any

individuals involved. Wormholes, however, may be difficult to access due

to their tendency to pull people and things through them.

Pick-Up Adventure Design Mechanic

I learned this trick from a friend who in turn learned it from another

friend, so Im not in a position to give due credit for itif its your idea, by

all means claim it. Weve used it in all our ETERNITY! adventures to date

with some success.

Have each player write down one wordany word, within such lim-

its of comprehensibility or good taste that you might wish to setwithout

telling the others. When everyone is done, the GM collects the words. Take

ten minutes to work out an adventure that incorporates all of the words in

some fashion as elements of plot or atmosphere.


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Shout-Outs and Sources

S. John Ross, creator of the Risus system

Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon

Bill & Ted s Excellent Adventure

John Scieszka and Lane Smith

Time Warp Trio

Steve Purcell

Sam & Max, Freelance Police

Jay Ward and Ted Key

Peabodys Improbable History

Donald P. Bellisario

Quantum Leap

Otto Binder and Sheldon Moldoff

Kid Eternity

I should probably cite David Wassons Time Squadhere,

too, but I must confess Ive never actually watched it.

Oops! almost forgot my playtest crew:

Colin Amato (Jesus of Nazareth)

Adam Boring (Nikola Tesla, Jim Lizard King Morrison)

Becky Steussy-Boring (Florence Nightingale, Cleopatra)

Marcus Clawson (Salvador Dali)

Geneva Clawson (William Bill Shakespeare)

Brent Wolke (Sam Mark Twain Clemens, Rube )


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