Time Punks
Time Punks is a one-page role playing game about abusing cheap time travel. It was created by 'el Miko' in 2011, who published it under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license.
Setting[edit]
Here and now. Your character is exactly like yourself. You and your fellow players have discovered a device that allows travel through time and space. There is only one rational course of action that can follow from a discovery of this magnitude, an attempt to take over the world! insert evil laughter
Materials[edit]
- one Fudge die (d6: 1-2 is "-", 3-4 is blank, 5-6 is "+")
- one ten-sided die
- a stopwatch or egg-timer
- paper and pens (duh.)
Setup[edit]
Everyone grabs a piece of paper for their "character sheet." Your character is yourself, right now, plus a cheap time machine, so you don't need stats. Instead, write "Jumps" on the sheet and put five empty checkboxes under that. Then write "Inventory" on the sheet, and put an empty list under that marked from 1-10.
Gameplay[edit]
Time Punks is played in a series of turns, with each player getting to have one time jump on their turn. After each player has completed their jump they should mark off one of the boxes under the "Jumps" section of their character sheet. Once all the players have completed a jump the turn ends and new one begins unless everyone is out of jumps.
At the beginning of every turn all players roll a ten sided die. This determines the order of jumps on that turn from highest roll to lowest, ties should roll off. Then, in order, each player takes a turn at jumping through time and space.
Once the players have exhausted all their jumps the game moves into the kingmaker phase. On your turn to jump you will roll the fudge die to determine the temporal direction of the jump, the spatial component is your choice. On a result of "+" you must go forward in time, and on a "-" you must go backwards, a blank result is your choice of direction. You may then decide where and when the device has pulled you.
During the jump you have one minute to describe your actions, at the end of the minute you are pulled back through time and space to your temporal origin. Once you return the group should decide together what, if any, effects your jump has had on the time line. Then the next player is pulled through time.
You may only carry up to 10 items, as recorded on your character sheet. They must be portable and cannot be containers of other items. You may bring items back through time and you are allowed to start the game with items of your choosing and your clothing. Clothing does not count as an item.
Rules of Time Travel[edit]
- No destroying the world.
- No killing other players or otherwise removing them from the timeline; that's poor sportsmanship.
Endgame[edit]
(aka "Kingmaker Phase")
Once all the players have exhausted their jumps it is time to determine who is the new ruler of the world. This should be done by general consensus of all the players based on the player whose actions in time have put them in the best position for the job.