Hey, Trinity fans! It’s been a while, so let me re-introduce myself. I’m Ian A. A. Watson, and I’m the lead developer for the new Trinity Continuum.
My last TC post two and a half years ago (!!!) was pretty brief, but covered a bit of why we’re calling our setting a Continuum this time around. I’m going to rehash a little of that as I take some time to dive a little deeper into exactly what that means.
The original setting — the Trinity Universe — was more or less a straight timeline (although Max hopscotched around to different points): Adventure! happened in 1924, Aberrant happened in 2008, and Trinity happened in 2120. Pretty straightforward.
The new setting continues with the same three tentpole game lines, albeit with readjusted dates: Adventure! in the 1920s, Aberrant in 2028, and Aeon in 2123. And we’re also throwing the new Trinity Continuum core rulebook into the mix, with a new present-day era. But that’s not all: I’ve got five more eras beyond that on the drawing board. Not all of them may actually get as far as publication, but they’re floating around in my head for further examination. Some of them are getting some extra attention either from myself or one of our other developers, so we’ll be seeing more eventually. To use a comparison with the World of Darkness, some of the eras might end up being fairly small, 50-100 page books like Victorian Lost or Mage Noir. Some of them might end up being full (albeit limited) lines in their own right, like Promethean: The Created or Mummy: The Curse.
So that’s part of why it’s a Continuum now. It’s not just a trilogy anymore. While the same three tentpole games will continue to be important for reasons which will become obvious, we’re not just limiting ourselves to those three flashpoints anymore. We have endless centuries to play around with. Millennia, even.
Another reason?
A historical digression: some have noted that the original Aberrant felt like the odd one out, not really fitting in with the feel of the other two games. In 2001, toward the end of the life of the TU, some of the creators postulated an explanation: the time-travelling Max Mercer saw the Aberrant War, vaulted himself forward in time, and hit a wall of subquantum flux (what Trinity called the Venezuelan Phenomenon). Like the infamous double-slit light experiment, Max split into two: one “Hopeful Max” which saw the wonders of the future, and one “Pessimist Max” who bounced back hard and came to the conclusion that the Aberrant War would destroy the world. “Hopeful Max” goes back to found the Aeon Society we see in Adventure! and Trinity, while “Pessimist Max” goes back to found the Aeon Society we see in Aberrant.
Confused? Doesn’t really matter: the point is that the setting’s complexity and mismatching edges were already starting to blur what was once a pretty straightforward timeline. But this should be seen as a feature, not a bug. So now, while there are some discrete flashpoints as represented by different lines, we’re widening up options. For example, no metaplot. It’s odd to say “no metaplot” when we’re literally talking about games representing the past and the future. Maybe looking at it from the larger point of view of the Continuum as a whole, the lines could be considered metaplot for each other, but within each line, nothing.
Aeon, for example, will showcase some interesting upcoming events that characters might want to get involved in, and offers a number of different possible outcomes for them. They’re the sorts of situations that previously may have been covered in adventures like the Darkness Revealed or Alien Encounter series, which gradually advanced the timeline and had certain assumptions about unfolding events which all future supplements adhered to. That’s not happening anymore. Just as Exalted has always been set in Realm Year 768, so to will Aeon be perpetually set in 2123.
Looking back rather than forward, Aeon will feature the devastating Aberrant War as a key element of its history. However, that event still lies in the potential future of the Aberrant setting, and Aberrant books may not mention the War at all! There will almost certainly be hints that novas’ public perception may be on the wane, but exactly how that progresses in the future is entirely in the hands of the character and their Director. We don’t want anyone feeling boxed in by fate. Make your own fate.
Another topic brought up at last year’s Gen Con panel: the new “N-Day” where novas all erupt is coming soon. What happens when the “right now” setting of the Trinity Continuum Rulebook overtakes N-Day? Nothing. The books depicting the present will progress as before, presenting a Talent-rich action-adventure world. You’re welcome to kick off an Aberrant prequel game yourself, but we’re not going to force that on you. Nothing quite hammers home the idea that this event doesn’t have to happen like saying this event didn’t happen.
The Trinity Continuum isn’t a few dots in a straight line, it’s a vast multiverse of wibbly-wobbly quantum probabilities. Anything can happen, so it’s up to you and your cast to make it happen. This doesn’t even broach the topic of nova powers or super-science technologies that let you dive into alternate worlds intentionally as part of your game. You can easily run an entire series on the core concept the Continuum is based on. We’re giving you the keys to the rocket. Where do you want to take it?
And then there’s the third part to why “Continuum,” but that might not come to light for years down the road. Shhh.
Comments
20 responses to “Diving into the Continuum [Trinity Continuum]”
The idea of some eras possibly getting mini-setting books (or a compilation of settings in a single book perhaps?) is intriguing. Definitely looking forward to anything for beyond 2123 🙂
I’m looking forward to this; as a relative newcomer who has never had a chance to play and grew up with the games out of print I am very much appreciative of the effort going into this.
Plus it is always fun to have alternate settings in the form of ‘play periods’.
I never played or read Trinity in the old days, so I will take this new opportunity to get to know the game. I’m a big fan of different time periods or alternate settings so I’m sure I will love the different options to play the Continuum. Looking forward to it!
Is there any way that you can give us a peek in the other eras that you are planning please?
I don’t want to spoil any of them until I get them confirmed, at the very least. I don’t want people to get excited about a particular project if that project is never going to happen.
This is a most satisfying article for a long-time fan of Aberrant and Adventure! to behold. Gracias, comrade.
As an old-time fan, and a creative, I’m excited to see what you’re doing with the material and the direction that you’re going with the Continuum.
It’s sounds like you’ve a lot of awesome directions, and I can’t wait to see how they play out.
My original Aeon folder-book found its way into my hands before the post-troubles’ stickers came out and found their way onto the books, but it and all the other Aeon/Trinity books (not to mention Adventure! and Aberrant) have a solid space on my bookshelves.
I can’t wait to see and add what comes to it, not to mention tinker with it myself.
Are there going to be characters in any of the setting books? Like Max Mercer and Doctor Primoris?
I’m not sure what you’re asking.
– If you’re asking if those characters will still be around, yes. You can’t talk about the Aeon Society without talking about Max and Mal.
– If you’re asking if there will be character writeups in the main books, it’s too early to determine that yet, but they’ll probably get similar treatment to what they got last time around.
– If you’re asking if the new eras will feature Max and Mal? Maybe some of them. We’ll have to see.
Out of curiosity, will there be any support for how the material released for the modern age might cross over into the Nova age, assuming that players want that to happen?
Or is each time period going to assume that the others don’t actually exist and leave it up to the players to tie them together?
I’m thinking less of trying to cannibalise the modern day setting in it’s own books, and wondering more about essentially Aberrant prequels published separately (though part of the Aberrant line) in order to tie them together.
To me, that seems like it would give you the opportunity for the best of both worlds.
I don’t think we’ll do any explicit Aberrant prequels, per se. Aberrant’s present is a dozen or more years in the future, so each remains distinct. It’ll mostly be up to individual groups to tie everything together.
Keep in mind, though, that the original Aberrant had an extensive history section. There’s no reason you couldn’t use that information to come up with your own setting.
“Or is each time period going to assume that the others don’t actually exist and leave it up to the players to tie them together?”
Aeon is going to assume Aberrant exists, Aeon and Aberrant are going to assume the modern setting exists (with the exception of N-Day when we get there), and Aeon/Aberrant/modern are going to assume Adventure! exist.
Each future game is going to assume the past games are canon, but each past game is not going to assume that the future is immutable.
This sounds intriguing, will there be a core mechanic for the handling of time-lines and time-travel for in-game use?
Thanks for your thoughts, Ian.
Perhaps not in the cores, but I am planning on having them, and I’m pretty sure I know where. (:
The notion that the setting will have a far future and past is so big that i can’t begin to guess where you might be heading. Exciting, i can’t wait to hear more.
Just out of interest, you seem to be referring to the 2123 setting as both “Trinity” and “Aeon” here, which of these do you plan to use for the 2123 setting title?
The only time I used “Trinity” in the blog post was when referencing the previously-published game line.
I did finally figure that out, but belatedly.
-blush-
Thanks for the post Ian, look forward to more when there is more to tell.
Are all of the settings going to have names beginning with A?
This may seem like a silly question, but it’s been eating away at me for months. Like, I’ve been wondering if there’ll be a setting that goes back to an ages of heroes and monsters (Talents activated by perhaps cosmic radiation) the stories of whom would become the myths told in Ancient Greece and such, and called something like Antiquity?
Not that I expect you to confirm that particular setting/title, just wondering if that notion is on the right track.
Hey, so. Query: Will these be more traditional RPG books this time?
The way y’all did it with the previous game line, with the weird formatting and the cute gimmicks for putting the story out there… That was all right I guess. But honestly I think White Wolf (Onyx Path now I guess) has a style for their games and sticking to it would probably have been a better idea back then.
That’s not as big an issue now’a days but still. I’m used to the traditional layout and I kinda hope you’re sticking to it this time.
Any kind of ETA on the Trinity books? Or is ut still up in the air?