TO - 3.x - Let's Do The Time Wrinkle Again

[unseenmage]

The Manual of the Planes has a short section in the back of the book that mentions rare (mostly) naturally occurring phenomenon which includes drastically different flows of time. In MotP p.221, Planar Phenomenon last section titled Time Wrinkle it suggests a time variance of millions of years as a possibility.
As ridiculous as this is I'm rather fond of seriously considering the ridiculous.

The Perilous Gateways: Portals in Time online article series jntroduces time portals to the game. At the end of part one it mentions that part two has the means to make this portal and part two contains the infamous Teleport Through Time spell. Assuming you can make a portal that functions as the associated spell and allows living creatures through simplifies the player end a lot.

Quintessence is a real physical material created by the psionic power of the same name. The effect is listed as having an Instantaneous duration which means, just like a Wall of Stone spells effect, it persists AND is not a dispellable magic effect.
Quintessence stops time for whatever is contained therein. From its description I imagine it has a molasses-like consistency, if a tad thicker. Large quantities of quintessence is mentioned but between multiple psions working tirelessly or an unlimited use psionic item getting one's hands on so much is prohibitively expensive.

Genesis is a spell/power that makes a demiplane. Cram it into a constantly reactivation magic item or trap and you have an ever expanding plane. Make that item or trap an Intelligent Magic Item and you now have intelligent design for your plane and variable physical characteristics.

The 3.0 version of the Genesis spell from the ELH iirc is the one that is most capable of changing the time traits of the created plane. So one might need to travel back to the 3.0 era of say Faerun to get access to it.

Using various combinations of the above one could, with enough funding and time, make variable timeflow planes and portals connecting the past, present, and future.

An interlinked network of such coukd be fertile ground for the most ridiculous games.

What do you think Playground? Does combining more than one type of Planar Phenomenon or Portal get us any interesting new results?

Are Planar Phenomenon naturally occurring physical features of a plane create-able via the Genesis spell?

Can Temporal Portals be made that allow living things? That only allow non-creature materials by combining with such portals mentioned in the Underdark book?

What of a Portal with variable temporal AND physical destinations that is also an Intelligent Magic Item driven mad by the conflicting energies which is now my new favorite BBEG?

[unseenmage]

TO question: BoVD hivemind creatures, given sentience that also have telepathy that can function across planes.

Now put some on a fast time plane, and others on a slow time plane, can they still communicate meaningfully?
How dilated does the time difference need to be before difficulties arise? Before communication is impossible or meaningless?

Connect the two time flows via Planar Ring Gates from Planar Handbook. One Dvati from Dragon Comodndium puts their hand through to hold hands with their twin on the other side. What even happens?
They'd need to be immortals, via lich or half golem or something, if the time difference was extreme.

[Glimbur]

Time travel gets a little easier to run if you can limit the destinations to certain times which are far apart. Then you can find a greedy person who has something you need, go back 400 years and give something valuable to their ancestors, and come back so they are generous instead. For more ideas see the SNES RPG Chrono Trigger.

[daremetoidareyo]

Just you wait, I’ve already responded in your future, which is my past, I think.

[Saintheart]

Just you wait, I’ve already responded in your future, which is my past, I think.

I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true. Think about it. If you go into the past, that past becomes your future, and your former present becomes the past, which can't now be changed by your new future!

[unseenmage]

From our IRL group chat,

"Underdark has portals that just transport nonliving material like water etc.

So what happens when a portal links a plane of thousands of years different time and that portal is set to pull water from the bottom of an ocean?

Fast time to slow time only so much water can come in at once.

Slow time to fast... the water cannot flow.in as fast as it could flow out..
Do you just get little drips of water whose volume reflects the time flow on the slow side of the portal?

Talk about your water clock!"

"Putting your hand through a variable time dilation is horrifying too.

Fast to slow you can't get the hand back!

Slow to fast you get back a hand that's aged significantly.

Most portals don't connect this way but some do.
Most portals are a one and some thing where you touch it and you're transported.

Ring Gates are an exception where reaching through is expected and built into the device."

"Even if the time dilation is small, like seconds or minutes the delay in hand retrieval can have significant consequences.

You reach in for something you need and it could seem slippery as your slow brain sends signals to a hand that's reacting faster than you can command it.

Or you reach in and it takes so many more rounds for your hand to fetch the thing it is too late on your end."

"These are the things that literally keep me up at night.

Mostly because I'm trying to imagine how it would really look/feel/etc irl."

"Like, imagine you walk up to the Stargate-like portal and touch the event horizon.

It feels like your hand doesn't even go in.

'Hm, guess it's closed.', you glance back at your companions and say.

But now your hand is stuck. You pull, hard, and it only hurts. Like the whole face of your palm is glued to the surface.

Eventually your hand is torn free, sans much of the skin that was on the portal.

Little did you know, time was just moving differently on the other side, and sure, your skin was on its way back. You just had to be patient and wait a thousand years for it to return."

"Theoretically it'd also take a thousand years for that skin to even enter in the first place but you get the idea."

"I swear I really AM trying to sleep.

Putting your hand from slow into fast time could pull you through I think.
Depending on how fast the time was.

Anything slow enough that you still have a retrievable but aged hand might involve you getting tugged through

But if fast enough that the hand disintegrates from times' passage on the other side and you just get back a weirdly burned stump.

How to mitigate?
Vacuum could help. But then, what happens to an enclosed vacuum of space of fast time when a hand or arm is thrust in and left there for a thousand years?"

"Quintessence. It stops time for completely enclosed stuff. Gives minor time burns to living non enclosed stuff that touches it. And it has the consistency of molasses iirc.

So could you get Quintessence 'close enough' to each side of the portal to transfer things, maybe via a long stick, and not time burn them?"

"Pretty sure I just invented a D&D 3.x time airlock."

"Probably reinvented honestly.

I bet this is all in my old notes somewhere."

"I'm imagining an immortal character traipsing about through time portals and the players/protagonists chasing them."

[Particle_Man]

Do you want the Eternal Mind Flayer Empire? Because this is how you get the Eternal Mind Flayer Empire.

[unseenmage]

Do you want the Eternal Mind Flayer Empire? Because this is how you get the Eternal Mind Flayer Empire.

Dvati Amalgam Warforged Hivemind, but yeah definitely an unholy eternal empire. :)

[Quertus]

If time flows differently, you stick your hand through, and get it back a day later (from its perspective)? Well, try *completely* cutting off circulation to your hand for a day, and you'll have some idea what you'll get back. I think they do something like this with bulls, actually.

[icefractal]

I think fast to slow is *mostly* safe - the hand goes in just as slowly as it goes out, so you'd notice quickly and be able to pull back in the same amount of time. If you didn't pull back though, the difference in circulation would become a problem.

But slow to fast does seem nasty unless you quickly realize what's going on (and if it's slow to hyper-fast, you're just screwed).

[ShurikVch]

Call of Cthulhu d20 has the Create Time Gate spell; in adaptation appendix, it is 9th-level Transmutation spell for Sorcerer/Wizard and costs 10000 XP

[unseenmage]

Building your wizard's tower on the other side of a time portal in the age of the dinosaurs sounds fantastic in all the best ways.

This is a Jurassic Park adventure in the jurassic just waiting to happen.

Main BBEG carries a staff topped with a bug encasing lump of amber while his most integral henchman responsible for the wards and protective magic circles openly plans to rob him.

[unseenmage]

Hm. Does using a time portal made with the Teleport Through Time spell still generate a murderous time duplicate?

Could you fake that Time duplicate out using an ice assassin or mirror duplicate of yourself?
Could you fake it out with yet another time duplicate of yourself?

[Endarire]

This is the sort of thing you may include near the end of a campaign to show that magic is powerful and screwy.

[redking]

Building your wizard's tower on the other side of a time portal in the age of the dinosaurs sounds fantastic in all the best ways.

Love this idea. You could potentially have the tower located in a 1 month time loop. Every month the area surrounding the tower resets (goes back 1 month in apparent time), so the tower never really moves forward in time.

[Malphegor]

Just to round out your time stuff the psionic power Forced Dream lets you pop a save point and for a few rounds you can reset time to just after you manifested that power one time during the duration.

So if you’re playing with time, use the power of the dream realms to reset things if you can, heck, get a psicrystal to manifest it, put it in quintessence as a long term ‘break time goo in case of paradox’ measure to reset your many inevitable errors in time.

[unseenmage]

Just to round out your time stuff the psionic power Forced Dream lets you pop a save point and for a few rounds you can reset time to just after you manifested that power one time during the duration.

So if you’re playing with time, use the power of the dream realms to reset things if you can, heck, get a psicrystal to manifest it, put it in quintessence as a long term ‘break time goo in case of paradox’ measure to reset your many inevitable errors in time.

That's actually super useful for Mirror realm travel as well as fighting time duplicates.

The mirror ones spawn in knowing what you know and wielding what you wield. But a save point outside the mirror with no way to make one inside would be ideal.

And as long as the time duplicate originates far enough in your past they won't have access to a save point of their own either.


Slow time to fast, and fast time to slow travel could get real screwy with save points though.

You could die and respawn almost fast enough yo watch yourself stepping through the portal.
Or worse die and still have a millenia pass before the magic on the slow side manages to cause the effect of the respawn on the fast side.

[ShurikVch]

Does using a time portal made with the Teleport Through Time spell still generate a murderous time duplicate?

Excuse me, but what's you mean by "a murderous time duplicate"? From where it is?

Also, Time Dragons (Dragon #359) are able to travel in time. Make a simulacrum of one - and it could move you to whatever time you need

[unseenmage]

Excuse me, but what's you mean by "a murderous time duplicate"? From where it is?

Also, Time Dragons (Dragon #359) are able to travel in time. Make a simulacrum of one - and it could move you to whatever time you need

I suppose it'd be more accurate to say
- Does it still cause you and your time duplicate to attack one another on sight like the Teleport Through Time spell?

[ShurikVch]

I suppose it'd be more accurate to say
- Does it still cause you and your time duplicate to attack one another on sight like the Teleport Through Time spell?

Ah, I see...
Then - the answer is "Yes":

In the case that a traveler meets himself, the two travelers instantly lose control and attack each other with every ability and item at their disposal.

Thus, it may be better to use a Time Dragon simulacrum (or a Time Gate from Call of Cthulhu)