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MerlinTheWizard
2011-03-21, 11:07 PM
Hi everyone. I'm looking for some advice on building a particular campaign. I'm planning to run a D&D campaign (3.5e) with my group, but it has a twist to it that will make it very fun, but also break some of the regular mechanics. So, what I'd like some help on is figuring out the problems and working them out.

The way it works is like this. The entire campaign is based in one very well planned out city, but what the PCs soon find out is that they are experiencing the same day over and over again. Yes, just like in Groundhog's Day starring Bill Murray or even kinda like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Every time they go to sleep they wake up back where they started at the beginning of the day. Through this process they slowly uncover every secret of this city and eventually learn that the reason this day keeps repeating is because on that day, the world ends, and the God of Time has chosen them to be the ones to save it. The PCs maintain all of their memories but lose all of their equipment, save for a few things like spellbooks. I'm also thinking of giving them a small box that takes whatever is inside back in time with them.

Any help would be appreciated. I also might change it to every 3 days or every week or something like that, just so that they don't have to complete entire dungeons in a single day.

Human Paragon 3
2011-03-21, 11:09 PM
That sounds pretty awesome! I'd love to play this game.

Yukitsu
2011-03-21, 11:10 PM
This is going to be a game of a map and scripts. You'll need to know all of the key events, how screwing up one effects the others etc. Write out a timeline for each important NPC, then ad-hoc the reaction and changes made by the players as they interact with them.

It's very important that relevant NPCs be likeable, and if you have trouble making NPCs the party will want to be around, they'll just think, "Why don't we try another fruit vendor. This one sucks" at which point you'll have to think of a new timeline.

nyarlathotep
2011-03-21, 11:13 PM
I would suggest spellbooks reverting as well. This would force the PCs to come up with creative solutions on how to use newly discovered spells (like tattooing it on their bodies).

Welknair
2011-03-21, 11:15 PM
An interesting premise. So it would most certainly be an intrigue game... How many go-throughs do you expect them to have?

Interesting idea: Halve XP gain. Given that your body reverts to it's previous state, muscle growth and synapse linking is somewhat impaired. Then again, this is probably needless and cruel...

MerlinTheWizard
2011-03-21, 11:27 PM
I'm not sure how many times they'll go through it. It's an exploration style game, so they basically get to do things at their own discretion with me only giving them a few leads.

ffone
2011-03-22, 02:57 AM
Just let them take their new gear back. DnD magic already has a special notion of 'attended objects' for Teleport, Invis, etc.

If you don't, then I hope you enjoy DMing the PCs 'recovering' the same treasure day after day, possibly refighting the same encounters to win it, etc.

Or just declare that for this campaign, they can always 're-fight' a battle they've already won, with the same results (w/o actually going through it), possibly preserve certain skill rolls, etc. Explain it that what they've learned allows them to repeat the same performances (if anything the battle would get easier on the average).

Think carefully about how not to encourage repetition, or things will get boring for everyone.

You'll want most branches / encounters to be things they have no incentive to do twice, if they do it 'right' one. Information gathering is good (once you know it you know it), having to kill or convince certain NPCs is not good. Maybe a few 'key' events/encounter they'll end up having to do in a certain order to solve things - but structure the information nuggets so they DON'T actually have to keep re-doing the first thing to learn the second.

holywhippet
2011-03-22, 03:36 AM
Just hope it doesn't turn out like the Endless Eight series in Haruhi Suzumiya - they kept looping for a really long time. For that matter, in Groundhog Day one of the original ideas was that Bill Murray's character would have been stuck in the look for literally thousands of years - the basic idea was that a person can change given enough time.

Irreverent Fool
2011-03-22, 03:39 AM
My players would torture, threaten and maim everyone for information and then just wait a day...

Not that I don't support the idea.

A timeline is of absolute importance, I think. I know you already mentioned Groundhog Day, but don't discount it as a reference. For example, that kid fell out of the tree at the same time every day...

If you really want to throw them off, have something subtle change once in awhile, such as the parson turning down another street. It could be highly important (he's immune too but is using it to his advantage for eeeeevil) or it could be a red herring/butterfly effect (the fighter didn't leave the inn at the same time today, which delayed someone else, which caused another thing, etc etc)

JeminiZero
2011-03-22, 04:02 AM
Every time they go to sleep they wake up back where they started at the beginning of the day. Through this process they slowly uncover every secret of this city and eventually learn that the reason this day keeps repeating is because on that day, the world ends, and the God of Time has chosen them to be the ones to save it.

That sounds a bit like Higurashi. Minus the delusional paranoia.

And possibly minus the senseless murder as well, but these are PCs we are talking about, so maybe not. :smalltongue:

Not that, it's a bad thing. You could try and read Higurashi up for some inspiration. Although you might also want to include a reasonably good explanation as to how a God powerful enough to spam the psionic save game trick turn back time repeatedly, isn't strong enough to stop the world from ending.

MerlinTheWizard
2011-03-22, 04:13 AM
Those are all good points. The only problem I see with letting them take their gear with them is that they could just steal it or horde it without any penalty, since everything would get reset at the end of the day. My idea was like you said, ffone, where they could redo things they had already done without us actually going through them unless the intention was to create a different outcome. If not, we could just "fast forward" through it.

As for rewards, information would be the most valuable thing. For example, they might complete a dungeon and by doing so learn that in a tomb in the graveyard there is valuable armor, weapons, gold, etc which they could use to upgrade their gear by going straight there every morning. I plan to create quests where the reward is information that they could never get otherwise but use every day after that without having to do the dungeon again. Once they have it, they don't need to go back. Kinda like when you get one of the four masks in Majora's Mask.

I like the idea of having things somehow change on some days, whether that be through a butterfly effect or something else. I was thinking that during the campaign they would come across a couple of NPCs who weren't there before but have suddenly appeared and are also immune to the reversal.

MammonAzrael
2011-03-22, 04:33 AM
This sounds like quite the fun game.

I do have to admit, my first thought as a player is "Ok. I don't go to sleep." Nip that in the bud by having the world "reset" everyday, probably at dawn. The question is, though, do you want them to instantly appear where they started, or remain where they were, just a day earlier?

Since this is 3.5, what level are we talking here? Will they have access to teleport or other methods of long-distance travel? What about spells like commune or contact other plane? Will any of the players be clerics or otherwise connected to deities? If so, do the other deities have any influence over this god of time? Is it in an established setting where things can be more abused?

I agree that a time-line will be vital to this game running well. NPCs need to run predictably, every day.

I suggest that first you work out as detailed a time-line as you can for a day without interference. Say the players decide to hide in the bushes outside town all day or something. This main time-line is what every NPC will do if left unmolested by the players. This is your base. From your base make notes of the important NPCs, their actions, and what they're doing. extrapolate the likely threads that your players will follow (you'll have some control over them, as you can give them whatever plothooks you wish). Determine what will happen if those plothooks are followed.

And expect them to take lots of notes. Remember that Phil Conners pretty much memorized the entire day of Punxsutawney, what every single person did, and when (as well as knowing each of them). If you have eternity filled into a day, you'll eventually lose any sense of urgency, and your players may decide to just take a month vacation to master underwater basket-weaving.

From an out-of-game standpoint, make sure the city is full of interest, and the players are playing with characters that aren't terribly gear dependent.

Jair Barik
2011-03-22, 04:55 AM
I had thoughts for a similar campaign premiss involving a Lich who had a castle as his phlactery, a vampire who suffers amnesia, a whole lot of ghosts and a man guilty of murder.

Exact details spoilered here as not entirely relevant

Years and years ago the local count held a ball at which he met and istantly fell in love with a visiting noble woman. Unbeknownst to him is chief magician is a follower of the dark arts and is seeking a way to gain immortality but is yet to succeed. Over the course of a week the Count and his love fall for one another but he has a rival in his affections who on the fifth day poisons her. Filled with horror and sorrow the Count goes to his wizard and asks what he can do to bring her back or at least bring justice to her killer.

The wizard's solution is that he can place a curse upon the killer to put him in a never ending hell from which he cannot escape and at the same time bring back his lost love so that he may live with her forever but only for about 5 days of every 7. the count agrees and the Wizard forms a phlactery out of the week.

On the sixth day the count believes he has found the killer and murders him causing a riot throughout the building. By the seventh day the castle has been burnt to the ground and everyone is dead.

At this point the curse begins. At the start of every week the castle reforms. Everyone inside returns as they had been before with no memories of the events, count included, with the exception of the murderer who must live out the dreadful week time and time again, watching but with no control over his actions unless an outside source breaks the flow sufficiently, and the Wizard who has complete freedom but cannot live the castles grounds and is for all purposes a Lich.

How the characters go about solving the mystery is up to them. Kill the lich? Might work. Solve the murder? Perhaps. Off the count? Who knows. There isn't a single method to win but certain obvious methods are flawed as one way or another fate (and the lich) will conspire to make it so the counts love is murdered and that he manages to have his wizard cast the curse again.

My thoughts on such a game were that in premise it is very cool.
You must have a good timeline.
A precise time loop would work but would open a can of worms that time travel is possible (thus in my case time itself loops only from the point of view of specific characters)
Players can get a lot done in a single day, especially if they split up. normally the 1 hour adventuring day or whatever it is called limits them on how much they can accomplish but if they are just going around a small area investigating... then after day 1 they will get a lot done in day 2. As a result I was uncertain wether a period of a week (anything longer than a day in fact) would work or if it would take too many sessions for time to loop once.

Specific to your case...
-How do you intend to handle PC death?

MerlinTheWizard
2011-03-22, 04:56 AM
I think what I'll do is have anyone awake at midnight literally see the world end, then suddenly wake up where they were at the start of that day. I haven't fully worked out the story yet, but right now the thing that will destroy the world is another god, one so powerful that it cannot be stopped, and the only god who could even come close to matching him is the god of time. But alas, the most even he can do is grant these few people a lapse in the time space continuum so that they can prevent the events that follow up to the stronger god's arrival.

The players will be starting out at level 1. I don't think I want to limit experience point gain because while it makes sense, it would just give them more reason to mull around doing pointless things just to up their exp. I'm... still deciding how high their levels will go. What I'm unsure of the most right now is how their class features will progress and if any sort of conflicts will arise with them. For example, I've already told one of my players that he absolutely must not play an artificer, because considering what they're class features are built for, it would obviously suck.

MerlinTheWizard
2011-03-22, 05:01 AM
As for death, they're basically immortal. If anyone dies, they'll just wake up again as if it never happened, but still retaining memories up until their death. This will probably instigate some humor but also may screw me over. We'll see. I've already told them to make a character they'll like because they'll be stuck with them pretty much.

Jair Barik
2011-03-22, 05:11 AM
How obvious do you intend to make it that time has looped?
In ground hog day there was the obvious 'radio' device.

Now if they go to sleep somewhere else and wake up back where they were the previous morning they will know something is up, losing their gear? That will be a big hint. If they saw the world end or died? Yeah that will help.
But what if they don't initially notice?

MerlinTheWizard
2011-03-22, 05:20 AM
I'm hoping that it won't be obvious until about the third time through. They'll experience the day once normally, then wake up again and notice a few strange deja vu moments and think it's kinda weird, and then by the third time they'll probably get confused and start being reckless, only to find on the fourth time through that, just as they suspected, it didn't make any difference. The world ending will just seem like a dream at first.

manyslayer
2011-03-22, 07:40 AM
Two TV shows have done this you may want to check out as well.

Stargate SG-1 has the episode "Window of Opportunity." Two of the characters are repeating. Eventually, after spending weeks learning scientific knowledge (neither was the scientist of the team) to try to figure what is going on, one character comments that they could do whatever they wanted without consequences. The results are very entertaining. If the whole end of the world thing seems too much at some time, such a session could be done as a tension reliever.

The TV series Daybreak surrounded such an occurrence for a police officer. Each day he woke up to the same day. A day he was framed for murder and his girlfriend was killed. As the series progressed, things he did seemed to have some persistence. Helping his ex-partner get into a drug-rehab program caused him to seek help himself the next iteration. Doing something like this might let the PCs know their actions are having an effect. It could also be used for negative consequences. After the third "day" the PCs murder the merchant, he seems suspicious of them, more so than he had previously.

As to the issue of gear gained, you could also look at things like places of power and touchstones that grant innate abilities. That way they get to keep their "stuff" without it actually being stuff.

What about PC death/injuries? There is the Groundhogs Day treatment where death is not permanent. This may lead to reckless action on the part of the PCs but this may be fine for the campaign model. The other option would be the Daybreak method. In the series, when he was shot the one day, he had it stitched and bandaged but when the day reset, the wound was still there but not the stitches or bandages. So he started bleeding out in his sleep and his girlfriend understandably freaked out waking to find her bed soaked in blood. If you wanted to have some penalty, reset wounds but have death be treated as a resurrection (level or Con loss).

valadil
2011-03-22, 08:29 AM
Sounds awesome if you pull it off. Lots of potential for failure, but whatever.

Spend some time thinking of how you'd exploit the game as a player. How does XP work? If XP doesn't reset between days, what's to stop the PCs from grinding for levels?

How does death work?

eepop
2011-03-22, 12:46 PM
Spend some time thinking of how you'd exploit the game as a player. How does XP work? If XP doesn't reset between days, what's to stop the PCs from grinding for levels?


I'm not the OP, but I'd assume you only get XP the first time you win a given encounter. Any other times you choose to refight the encounter do not gain you any additional experience as you are just doing what you've done before. As such, there would be a limited amount of XP available within the city.

Another_Poet
2011-03-22, 01:22 PM
<solid gold>

This is brilliant. An incredible campaign idea. I assume they keep their XP and levels, right? So that ogre bouncer at the club who wouldn't let them in on Day 1 (when they were first level) is totally defeatable at a later iteration when they're 5th level. Cool.

Yukitsu's advice is super essential, and I like this:


I would suggest spellbooks reverting as well. This would force the PCs to come up with creative solutions on how to use newly discovered spells (like tattooing it on their bodies).

Beyond that, be prepared for the players to cleverly circumvent the "items don't come back with you" rules. For example if they learn that the Magic Crown of Yadda Yadda is in the pawnbroker's vault and protected by a trap, they will make a stop at his house every day to steal it so they can always use it. The only limits are the number of side-trips they can fit into a day and the lethality of getting the items.

^I personally think this is cool and it will be fun when the players think of it.

For a similar reason, remember that any charged items (eg wands) effectively have unlimited charges (since they can get the refreshed version every day from the same place). Once they reach a level where they can rob an alchemist's shop, they have unlimited healing potions as well.

These are just little things to consider. Finally, think about how far is the farthest they can get from the city in 1 day using normal means, because they may try to expand the horizon beyond the city in order to get other items.

Very cool idea, have fun running it!

Welknair
2011-03-22, 04:37 PM
As for death, they're basically immortal. If anyone dies, they'll just wake up again as if it never happened, but still retaining memories up until their death. This will probably instigate some humor but also may screw me over. We'll see. I've already told them to make a character they'll like because they'll be stuck with them pretty much.

Yeah, I see this being potentially problematic. First of all, when one player dies, does it reset the rest? I'd suggest instead having said character not reappear until the cycle repeats. This makes death still at least inconvenient for the players. The problem remains that they will use their "Immortality" to fully explore their surroundings, doing absolutely ludicrous things. Literally suicide missions. "It doesn't matter. If we fail, we can just try again". Not sure how to get around that one...

CodeRed
2011-03-22, 05:07 PM
Xena did a great episode about this too. It's been at least eight or nine years since I've seen it but she somehow ended fixings things with that weird throwing weapon of hers. The episode is titled "Been There, Done That." Would be decent for some research if you can find it on the web, I think every single one of the main characters dies at least once and comes back at the start of the day.

Welknair
2011-03-22, 05:19 PM
Supernatural also did a decent one. "Mystery Spot" was the episode. Every single day Dean, one of the main characters, died. After this happened the first few times, Sam started explaining to Dean what was going on, with usual results (You're crazy, but since you're my brother, I'll go along with it). They decided that the simple solution was to stop him from dying. They tried everything. No luck. Don't check out the spot? Hit by a car. Try a different breakfast? Choked. Walk out the back door? Lightning. Stay home and take a shower? Fall and crack your head. Stay home and listen to the radio? Electrocuted. You get the idea. Something like 100 Tuesdays later, Sam realized that a man that always has maple syrup on his pancakes at the diner instead ordered strawberry syrup. This man turns out to be a Trickster God that was messing with them. Sam sets him straight and they get out of the loop...

MerlinTheWizard
2011-03-22, 05:25 PM
Hmm. I guess I'm not sure how to handle death. I like the idea of having a penalty for each time they died, because that way they'd be less reckless. But at the same time, them being reckless might be what makes the game fun. I'll have to think about that because likewise, as a player, death would be the first thing I would try to cheat. I'd probably realize I could get away with anything, go rob the bank, get killed by the guards and not even care. I could make it so they won't be able to get out of the loop unless they stop doing evil things.

Magesmiley
2011-03-22, 05:31 PM
So, having actually used a repeating day premise (for my game it was a trap they triggered) for an adventure, some considerations:

1. Handling the resets (physical). Do the characters' bodies go back exactly to the same state as before they started, save for memories? I decided on yes for this one, as it dealt with the problems of character deaths. Also eliminates the usefulness of resting to recover resources.

Gear is the second consideration - do they take it with them? I decided no. They go back to what they started with. The big consideration here is to make a list (or a copy of their character sheet).

A third consideration is aging. Do the characters age? I decided no. If you decide that they do, it is worth paying attention to, especially if a player announces something like "I'm going to take as many resets as I need to read the entire library."

2. 1. Handling the resets (mental). Obviously they need to retain their memories, but a big consideration is spells (and power points if you're doing psionics). Do they keep their spells memorized from loop to loop and have to prepare anew? In my game I decided that spells reset too (to what they had at the start). None of the characters in my game had a spellbook so this worked ok. This effectively limited their spell resources to one day's loadout.

You might decide that it would be more interesting for spells to stay in memory through loops - this could be especially interesting for wizards, as they could spend a loop tracking down a spellbook for a spell they want in the next loop. Lots of considerations here.

3. Planar Access. Not all planes have time flowing at the same rate (or even the same direction). You might want to cut off access to other planes to avoid complications (I did this as they were in a dungeon).

4. Don't be afraid of making the enemies too tough. A TPK can be worthwhile if they learn something before returning. They can always go back and try again with a different plan.

5. Watch out for player frustration. While the deja vu effect sounds cool its only good for the first 3-5 times. Make sure that they can see some sort of progress, or they will get frustrated.

6. They will probably pick at least one day to just run amok. Let them have some fun.

Human Paragon 3
2011-03-22, 06:15 PM
When a PC dies, the God of Time has to hold their soul in a demi-plane. Why is this? Because the Evil God is claiming everyone that dies on this last day. For most people, it doesn't matter. They die, the evil god claims them, the world ends, and the time loop occurs. If a PC dies, the evil god claims them, GAINS KNOWLEDGE OF THE TIME GOD'S PLOT, the evil god kills the god of time, and the world ends for good. Therefore, the god of time has to hold them for 24 hours to prevent this.

Doing so, however, takes up a little bit of the Time God's energy, so he can only do it so many times while still keeping up the time loop. At first, the PCs don't realize this. They act recklessly and we get some good groundhog day moments. However, once they've figured this bit out, suddenly the stakes get higher and they have to play more cautiously. Make sure they know you are tallying character deaths!

MammonAzrael
2011-03-22, 06:38 PM
Instead of making things overly complicated, just make it so every time they die, the "reset" effectively casts resurrection. It will prevent them from wanting to die, and should cover things nicely.

Also, any challenges they face will be repeatable. If it's a puzzle, they only get EXP for solving it the first time. If it is a fight, lower the CR.

Cartigan
2011-03-22, 06:47 PM
I would suggest spellbooks reverting as well. This would force the PCs to come up with creative solutions on how to use newly discovered spells (like tattooing it on their bodies).
Won't work. Only your memory transits the time loop, if it is like every other 'repeating day' mythos.


If it is a fight, lower the CR.

I disagree. Fights are still fights.

erikun
2011-03-22, 06:49 PM
A few things I would recommend:

No red herrings, or minor events that alter occasionally in various timelines. Once the players determine what is going on, they're going to be spending some time watching the unaffected people for "plot hooks". If they see the shopkeeper not opening until an hour later, they'll immediately suspect him one way or another and may spend weeks following him around.

The only exception is if you intend the red herrings to intentionally be caused by the PCs - for example, the PCs lounge around the inn, which causes the waitress to watch them instead of getting supplies, which causes her to hold up the baker, which causes the shopkeeper's wife to be delayed in her order, which causes the store to open late. That's something the PCs can influence and watch to see the difference.

As above, you'll probably want to take notes on everyone's reactions throughout the day, so that they remain consistent. If the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker come to the main market square when a large crash is heard one hour after noon, they should do so every time. Luckily, in your first couple of days through, the party is unlikely to be familiar with anyone in the crowd.

Don't penalize death. I take it that you'll have very strong opponents within easy reach, so that there won't be several day's travel between them and their final goal. Fighting one of them would result in a quick death for low-level characters. That, and they'll see that dead people are revived each day, and conclude that they would act similarly.

Streamline daily activities, especially after you've ran through it several times. There's no point in detailing every minute when the players decide to take a few days off to allow the rogue to tail important people throughout the city. Just make a few rolls to see how successful they were (probably in regards to being noticed, as they can always try again if the lose track of their target) and start back up after they've finished gathering data.

You'll probably want to keep the PC races somewhat normal. Playing a Minotaur, a Medusa, and a Solar can be rather difficult to remain inconspicuous.

Have some idea of how long you expect the session to last. If it's just three or four levels, then issues like gold and equipment can generally be solved without too much difficulty. If you are planning a 1-20 campaign, then retaining treasure would be much, much more important.

Treblain
2011-03-22, 07:47 PM
I think you should strongly consider making it so that if one party member dies, everyone restarts at the beginning of the loop. Most works of fiction that do "repeating day" stories only use one character, but a group has the potential to get into some problems if some members die and others don't. This also punishes the party so death is something to avoid, but not too crippling.

Make a few mandatory and optional destinations that require a long journey to reach, so that you can only do one per cycle.

If you don't want items to travel back in time with them, make the reward for quests be some sort of knowledge, which can be remembered between cycles. For example, you can block some areas with passwords so they must complete a quest to get the password from one area so they can use it to enter a new area on their next cycle.

Have a minor encounter or quest early on that doesn't make much sense, and then everyone forgets about it, and then make that encounter something critical they must repeat on the last loop.

prufock
2011-03-22, 08:27 PM
Won't work. Only your memory transits the time loop, if it is like every other 'repeating day' mythos.

But if they're clever, they CAN leave slots open, prepare the newly acquired spell, then still have it memorized the next day. That at least gives them an extra 24 hours to use it. This could work well if it's a spell they discover somehow late in the day (pilfering from an evil wizard, defeating a spellcaster, running around all day trying to find somewhere to buy it, etc) but that they NEED early in the day. This might require a few run-throughs for them to figure out.

Loop 1 - X happens, need spell Y, find spell Y too late, don't have any slots open.
Loop 2 - cleverly leave slots open, X happens, need spell Y, find spell Y, prepare spell Y.
Loop 3 - still have spell Y memorized, X happens, use spell Y.

And, of course, if they really need to, they could loop this preparation.

This is definitely a cool idea for a campaign, and I might steal it.

Yukitsu
2011-03-22, 08:40 PM
Going against the flow here, I wouldn't worry about the mechanics too much. The logic of why they do or do not keep their EXP, spells etc. can vary by any handwavy decision, and should simply be chosen on the basis of what you're comfortable with.

Really, the focus of any good recurring day plot is the development and growth of the people trapped in the loop, experimenting with different actions, talking to different people, and slowly piecing together resolutions to contradictory problems. The thing you should spend most of your time on is simply creating NPCs and the world, and the events surrounding them, and how all of them tie into the ultimate resolution of the game.

MerlinTheWizard
2011-03-23, 01:06 AM
Okay. That's helpful to think about. That makes me worry less about the mechanics and think more about the NPCs, which as you said, will probably be the core of the campaign. I'll have to work hard to do them right.

Nero24200
2011-03-23, 07:42 AM
It does sound like a really interesting idea, I wouldn't mind trying something like this myself (as either a PC or DM) but I have a few thoughts.

When it comes to PC death, the fluff is that a goddess is reseting time? If PC's start to die you could have the goddess "bring them back" with each reset, allowing them to continue - though I have an idea to stop abuse of that.

Have the goddess weakened by holding back time, though despite being weakened her strength is still constant. However, each time she has to revive a PC her power is stretched a little thinner (could be due to excess strain or simply because life and death aren't part of her portfolio). This would mean that the PC's collectively have several lives between them, allowing them to make several mistakes, but making too many mistakes could still result in permanate death.

With items...given how dependent some classes are on items (especially at mid-to-high levels) I might be inclinded to either give the characters additional benifits as they level or allow them to take certain items back with them (maybe by creating some sort of time vault, where items inside remain).

eepop
2011-03-23, 01:38 PM
I could make it so they won't be able to get out of the loop unless they stop doing evil things.

Why? Just start dropping clues that as they are doing evil things, its slowly becoming THEM that is leading to the destruction of the world.

No need to predetermine that the end result will be them saving the world. Maybe eventually their antics put enough strain on the god of time that he can't maintain the time loop and the world really is destroyed.

The premise of the campaign is strong enough whether they want to use the opportunity to be heroes or villians.