Trinity Continuum: Assassins previews

[Mateus Luz]

Core by itself is an awesome addition to the Continuum. It opened the way we play the game in such a way it is like we had always had that many options.

Assassin will bring another option that seems to be almost as flexible as Core, more focused in combat and killing, but still very flexible. I am anxious to see the result.

[Dataweaver]

And my understanding is that assassin and core are different sides of the same setting. And yes, that is distinct from the Adventure/Aberrant/Æon timeline. Or at least the Aberrant and Æon parts.

TC:A! has a Setting Secrets item about there being an alternate timeline where Michael Donighal dies, the Doyen barrier never gets shattered, there's no N-Day, and Talents dominate. My pet theory is that the core setting takes place in that timeline; and by extension, so does Assassin.

[Mateus Luz]

And my understanding is that assassin and core are different sides of the same setting. And yes, that is distinct from the Adventure/Aberrant/Æon timeline. Or at least the Aberrant and Æon parts. SPOILER

I Think the idea is good, more than that, Quantum Leap would be the try of those who would be Terats to create N-Day, without Mal and his knowledge.

[No One of Consequence]

I'm hoping for powers that let you do the Mission Impossible/Zartan style identity changes.

And it does occur to me that the same collective effect which hides the Shadow could conceivably make most people forget the pulp elements of the age of Adventure or even misremember part of the Nova era after they pass.

[Amethyst]

And my understanding is that assassin and core are different sides of the same setting. And yes, that is distinct from the Adventure/Aberrant/Æon timeline. Or at least the Aberrant and Æon parts.

TC:A! has a Setting Secrets item about there being an alternate timeline where Michael Donighal dies, the Doyen barrier never gets shattered, there's no N-Day, and Talents dominate. My pet theory is that the core setting takes place in that timeline; and by extension, so does Assassin.

I think this is a great idea. I’m really impressed with what they’ve done with the Trinity Continuum so far and I can’t wait to see more stuff.

[IanWatson]

I've mentioned before in regards to core, and that also goes for Assassins: there are basically three ways you can play the setting:

1. Everything in the core's "present" happens before N-Day in March 2018. You'll note in the artifacts chapter at the front of the book, only one news clipping takes place after this date.
2. Everything in the core continues to happen in the actual present. The existence of a bare handful of novas worldwide doesn't mean spies are out of a job, thieves don't have things to steal, or people don't need rescuing. Agents of SHIELD get up to plenty of shenanigans without involving the Avengers. There's no reason anything in the core has to stop just because novas exist.
3. Everything in the core happens in a different timeline where N-Day doesn't happen.

I should probably qualify a sort of 1.5: it's the present, and N-Day is going to happen, but like Gehenna in V20, it's a shifting timeline: N-Day is forever in the future, and the present continues to inch forward.

In the end, it's your game, do what works best for you.

[Dataweaver]

We're already 3½ years past N Day. As of writing this, Eufiber has recently been introduced to the public; three months ago, the UN Security Council invoked Directive 9, and presumably what was the Allegiance known as 9 in the core setting became the Directive; and in less than a month, Team Tomorrow and Project Utopia are going to launch their World Crime Task Force. In less than a year, we're going to be at the São Paulo Blast; and about a month after that, we'll be at the Null Manifesto. We're already too far gone for option 2 to be viable; and it's only going to get worse.

Option 1 doesn't strike me as being much better. Sure, it avoids the setting from transforming into the Aberrant setting, the way Option 2 does; but it manages that by similarly mutating the setting from being a contemporary setting to being a period piece, forever stuck in the mid-2010s. Heck, the core book wasn't published until nearly a year after N Day. If it is supposed to be set before N Day, them it has essentially been a period piece since the day it was published.

During the initial development of TC, I seem to recall one of the developers saying something to the effect that the future isn't set — that Aberrant isn't the definitive future of Adventure, and that Æon isn't the definitive future of Aberrant; and that the best way to make that point would be if, when March 2018 rolls around, the core book's setting continues on without an N Day. I tend to agree with that position, because it allows the core setting to continue on without being forced to conform to the changes brought on by N Day and the Aberrant setting.

It's why I prefer Option 3. Can you run the core setting as an early 2010s period piece, or against the backdrop of the early stages of the Nova age? Sure! But as I prefer the core setting to be contemporary and not featuring an increasingly hard to ignore presence of Novas in the background, I can't view those options as the default. Especially as core setting Allegiances are starting to transform as the Aberrant timeline progresses.

That's the whole point of having a Continuum rather than a single timeline. Right?

EDIT: I also considered the “Option 1.5” that you describe. And I'll grant that there's something to the idea that there's always the potential for N Day to happen tomorrow, kicking off a transformation into the Aberrant setting. Saying that it definitely won't happen is every bit as restrictive as saying that it definitely will. But that's essentially Option 3: N Day hasn't happened, even though we're now in 2021 and quickly moving toward 2022. There's no guarantee that it won't happen, nor that it will; but every year that passes without it happening makes it more likely that the resulting Aberrant Age will be different from the one portrayed in TC:Ab. We can't guarantee that there will be a Fireman when and if N Day finally happens, for example.

Even if N Day happens tomorrow in the world of the core setting/Assassins, it's still going to be an alternate timeline. Because it has already diverged.

[Amethyst]

We're already 3½ years past N Day. As of writing this, Eufiber has recently been introduced to the public; three months ago, the UN Security Council invoked Directive 9, and presumably what was the Allegiance known as 9 in the core setting became the Directive; and in less than a month, Team Tomorrow and Project Utopia are going to launch their World Crime Task Force. In less than a year, we're going to be at the São Paulo Blast; and about a month after that, we'll be at the Null Manifesto. We're already too far gone for option 2 to be viable; and it's only going to get worse.

Option 1 doesn't strike me as being much better. Sure, it avoids the setting from transforming into the Aberrant setting, the way Option 2 does; but it manages that by similarly mutating the setting from being a contemporary setting to being a period piece, forever stuck in the mid-2010s. Heck, the core book wasn't published until nearly a year after N Day. If it is supposed to be set before N Day, them it has essentially been a period piece since the day it was published.

During the initial development of TC, I seem to recall one of the developers saying something to the effect that the future isn't set — that Aberrant isn't the definitive future of Adventure, and that Æon isn't the definitive future of Aberrant; and that the best way to make that point would be if, when March 2018 rolls around, the core book's setting continues on without an N Day. I tend to agree with that position, because it allows the core setting to continue on without being forced to conform to the changes brought on by N Day and the Aberrant setting.

It's why I prefer Option 3. Can you run the core setting as an early 2010s period piece, or against the backdrop of the early stages of the Nova age? Sure! But as I prefer the core setting to be contemporary and not featuring an increasingly hard to ignore presence of Novas in the background, I can't view those options as the default. Especially as core setting Allegiances are starting to transform as the Aberrant timeline progresses.

That's the whole point of having a Continuum rather than a single timeline. Right?

EDIT: I also considered the “Option 1.5” that you describe. And I'll grant that there's something to the idea that there's always the potential for N Day to happen tomorrow, kicking off a transformation into the Aberrant setting. Saying that it definitely won't happen is every bit as restrictive as saying that it definitely will. But that's essentially Option 3: N Day hasn't happened, even though we're now in 2021 and quickly moving toward 2022. There's no guarantee that it won't happen, nor that it will; but every year that passes without it happening makes it more likely that the resulting Aberrant Age will be different from the one portrayed in TC:Ab. We can't guarantee that there will be a Fireman when and if N Day finally happens, for example.

Even if N Day happens tomorrow in the world of the core setting/Assassins, it's still going to be an alternate timeline. Because it has already diverged.

I like option 3 best too. In my head canon the core timeline and the Aberrant timeline diverged when Michael Donighal died in 1998, twenty years before N-Day would’ve happened.

[marin]

Part 2 is on the Code, one of the pillars of the framework that holds the Shadow together

[econclark]

Really cool! The code is maybe a bit restrictive for my tastes, but it does fit pretty well thematically. It is a bit unclear to me how any sort of "extra-circulars" are handled. How does a side project that is not a contract work? More of a hypothetical question at this point but really excited for the book!

[Florin]

Restrictive codes are fun to break! And breaking codes creates drama!

[NewK]

In other time periods I wonder how the shadow interacts with Psi or aberrant powers? Could a powerful Clear 'break through' the shadow?

[Amethyst]

In other time periods I wonder how the shadow interacts with Psi or aberrant powers? Could a powerful Clear 'break through' the shadow?

That’s a very good question.

[Mateus Luz]

To me, it doesn't feels like the shadow is another dimension, but the same reality with a kind of different view. It’s not like you sidestep to shadow like a werewolf sidestep to umbra, and more like wizards entering diagonalley, it’s right there, but people don’t see it because they don’t.

Ian on Discord talking about normal people and Novas accessing the shadow.

It's less a place and more of a culture, but the weight of this specific culture has a resonance with reality. Novas are already warping reality, so the typical rules don't really apply to them.
Were does the 600-pound gorilla sit? Anywhere he wants.

[NullApostle]

Is there a reason there is no Rule the Seventh?