T-Minus
This game is a dystopian vision with a mutable setting wherein the characters have 8 hours to live. In that time, they must discover why, where, how, who, and what. The game uses a simple time-based mechanic and uses clocks to mark progress and lividity of the characters. When the clock strikes zero, time is up.
The game begins with the premise that the characters have 8 hours to live. Before character generation and play begins, the game master (GM) must decide certain factors about the setting and surroundings of gameplay. These factors are called: timeline, government, and technology level. For each choice, there are three options, allowing the GM to craft the world to the purposes he has in mind for the game. Choose one option for each category and give the players a brief description of the cosmetic and social impact of your decision so that players have some idea what to expect from their gameplay world.
- Timeline: Present Day, Tomorrow (near-future), Day After Tomorrow (distant future)
- Government: Oppressive and Present, Oppressive and Absent, Republic and Absent
- Technology Level: Anachronistic, Present Day, Futuristic
As an example, if one were to choose Tomorrow, Oppressive and Present, and Present Day, (which I will use throughout the text as the ?default? setting) the result would likely be an Orwellian future reminiscent of 1984 (making the technology Present Day fits the text more accurately for 26 than the original Futuristic option that would have been chosen from the point-of-view of Orwell at the time of writing the novel).
Therefore, as the GM, I describe my world as similar to 1984, but with more urban sprawl and crumbling decay. The government is considered ever-present, but this is achieved more through the use of secret police and informants than functioning technological oversight. At birth, each person is fitted with a time-keeping device that shows the remaining time left to live (set to a default of 5 years, plus some amount of time due to social impact of occupation, party membership, et cetera). At :, time is up, life is over.
Last night, the characters went to sleep with plenty of life remaining. Today, they awoke to see they had 8 hours left to live. This is the beginning of the game.
- TMinus.pdf
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Tags: Arthur Blair
