How it begins....or "why I've dumped all my other campaigns to run Trinity again"

There is a lot of shit about at present; globally, nationally, locally and personally.

The last few years have had some dreadful events (affecting me both directly and indirectly) and 2019 is shaping up to be cast in a similar image.

To this end I feel like I need some positive escapism in my gaming, with something that even though it may have dramatic or tragic moments, is ultimately hopeful and optimistic.

As points of reference I mean "hope" like that of the first Star Wars film (Episode IV) and the optimistic outlook of Classic Star Trek. I need the sense of heroic adventure of the pulps i.e. Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.

I obviously can't completely cut myself off from negative imagery in the world, and that isn't my intention. But I can avoid steeping myself in it for "fun". I'm not ruling out that I may occasionally wish to include elements of horror, tension or threat in whatever game I run but I would like to do that in an atmosphere and against a backdrop that is generally positive and fosters optimism not nihilism. If the light is brighter the contrast of an occasional shadow is that much greater.

Over the last few years I've also come to recognise and acknowledge that my favourite genre is "science fantasy". I like magic with my blaster pistols and spaceships, possibly  accompanied by a glam rock soundtrack. And yes, I grew up in the seventies; space faring heroes should have capes (regardless of anything Edna Mode might have you believe). I've found that I cannot sustain running pure high or low fantasy rpg campaigns, they just doesn't engage me for long enough. At present I also have little interest in modern era games and stories (if I was to set a campaign in the "now" there are too many real-world issues I would feel compelled to include or have to consciously circumvent or redact at at the minute that would curtail the whole idea of this being escapist entertainment). In a similar vein straight "hard" science fiction feels too dry and uninspiring for my tastes. I will always have a soft spot for “Traveller” and “Elite”, but I need to dilute the real world physics with the weird, bizarre and just plain quirky. 

So, exactly what elements are we talking about? What has my recent soul searching and research led me to conclude that a story or setting needs to have to engage me, and what would I set out include in this proposed epic?

First, and possibly most importantly, I need an optimistic base and perspective to build on: there may be enemies on all sides, but the players faction hasn't lost yet and, likely directly because of the players' actions, there is still a chance that things will turn out ok. That victory may come with cost and sacrifice but the "good guys" can, and will, eventually overcome. Victory and success are achievable and sustainable. The heroes can make a better world, universe or multiverse.

Things should also be slightly larger than life. The world should be grounded in some sense of reality but there's a pulp, action-movie sensibility to it. People can push themselves to incredible limits, leaping across dangerous gaps, fighting amazing odds, hot wiring or jury-rigging advanced technology, showing staggering feats of endurance, and all in the nick of time because they are driven and (mostly) competent. The players should also feel comfortable leaning into this and taking risks. 

That sense of the heroic should also mean that the characters the players create are heroes. They are the good guys, the white hat cowboys, the knights in shining armour. That doesn’t mean that they cannot be flawed or reluctant heroes but at their core, when push comes to shove, they will do the Right Thing™. Side note; I’m drawing a bit from R. Talsorian's excellent romantic Victorian fantasy roleplaying game, Castle Falkenstein, here (an awesome game, with the optimistic slant referenced above) where in that game’s definition of different types of hero it is stressed that even the Byron-like dark hero, with all their addictions, unpredictable emotional moods and flaws is still, at heart, going to do good. “There is good in him, I have sensed it…”

To me the best stories are about characters and their relationships with others; be they in the group or Gamesmaster Characters (GMCs). I want to care about what happens to these individuals. It doesn’t always have to be epic; simple but important and well realised goals can be as interesting and rewarding as saving the world (sometimes more so as they can be much more relatable). I would like to see a set of characters grow and develop over time and watch as they interact with a variety of other, similarly unique and interesting, fictional entities.

Mentioning relationships with others I have to take a moment to dwell on the real “others” in roleplaying games. As a GM I need to play some memorable GMCs. Let's be honest here, I’m a frustrated actor, I adore doing voices and playing a part and so I need a channel to do that. There have been times when I have changed plots and stories to enable a GMC to hang around for longer, either because they were well received, the players developed a rivalry or enmity with them or, selfishly, I was just having so much fun playing that character. I enjoy creating characters whom I hope are memorable, be they enemies, allies or “set dressing” and I want an inspiring, fertile, ground to do more of that.

As another neat segway, speaking of ally characters, lots of science fiction paints vehicles as characters of their own. Whether they have true personality like Moya in Farscape and the Falcon in Star Wars or are more anthropomorphised and bestowed with identity by their crew and passengers as Space Battleship Yamato or Serenity. I do love starships. Spacecraft need to feature in the story and as more than just set dressing. They are mobile settings, give a certain level of conditional executive power to players and frankly very very cool. 

Another mandatory element, for me, is the fantastic; special powers are a must. Call it "The Force", psionics, magic, faith-based powers, whatever. This is an extension of the action movie point really, but while a regular movie hero does fantastic things that seem potentially achievable for real people, here we are we are stepping into the realm of the fantastic. The laws of physics and probability get bent and buckled out of shape at the whims of our protagonists and antagonists. Such abilities may not be commonplace but they exist within the setting and our heroes are part of a special minority, secret group or chosen few, with more direct exposure to this stuff. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every player character has to have the “secret sauce” but they exist in a world where such sauciness exists and is used and they know about it.

I feel like there also needs to be elements of intrigue and social manoeuvring, whether it is within the population of the home "ship"/player faction or the wider world(s), or both. Some of my favourite role-playing scenes have come from this kind of thing and I'd personally love to be a part of more of it.

It's a well-recognised fact in our playing group that I also thrive on real world peripherals. I like stuff and things to be included when we play and it helps me relate to and focus on a game. Be it speciality dice, cards, maps, counters, miniatures or other supporting items. The game will have the best chance of lasting if there is "stuff" associated with it, plus I do trying to go the extra mile and making some of this stuff with which to enhance our games.

System wise I can't deal with anything too clunky as I can get bogged down with rules, so a flexible, narrative heavy, rule set makes a lot of sense. I also think that a more narrative set of rules helps empower players to support the heroic, larger than life, style that I want to aim for. 

We now have a pool of eight players in the group and our last campaign's  concept and conceit of a Rogue Trader Ship's crew in Warhammer 40,000 seemed to work well. It allowed for, and explained any player absences as we're all getting to points in our lives where real world commitments mean people can't make every session. Therefore, any new story would benefit from a similar format to permit the same flexibility. Another large ship with a sizeable crew where the PCs are key members/officers makes a lot of sense but it is the following factors that are key:

• A large enough population and diverse enough functions to excuse and explain PCs being called away to other duties while a "mission" is already underway
• There should be a means by which PCs can get to where they are needed swiftly (both within the "ship" and to and from sites of external encounters) allowing an easy “dropping in and out” where applicable
• A suitable level of PC autonomy is needed to explain their independence and, once again, excuse any temporary absences
• While a city or station could fulfil the role, a ship provides mobility so that the PCs can go to plot rather than in the static alternatives having to essentially have plot come to them

In essence, once I read through all of the above, what I am really defining, or at least coming back to, is the genre of Space Opera. The Wikipedia article begins with the definition as:

Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, melodramatic adventure, interplanetary battles, chivalric romance, and risk-taking. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it usually involves conflict between opponents possessing advanced abilities, futuristic weapons, and other sophisticated technology.

...and I think that hits the nail squarely on the head. Plus the examples on that page overlap with many of the influences I was already working from: Flash Gordon, Space Battleship Yamato, Star Wars, Star Trek, Blake’s 7, Battlestar Galactica (but I’m thinking the original series rather than the reboot…), Babylon 5, Cowboy Beebop, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: Ragnarok, and Halo.

One of my earliest memories of a cinema trip was seeing Space Battleship Yamato in the Saturday children’s matinee. I think I’d already seen Star Wars “A New Hope” and “Battle of the Planets” was probably already on the TV at around that time, so this wouldn’t have been my first exposure to either space opera or anime, but it was a profound one. Like a lot of anime films, the movie takes episodes of a tv show and cuts them together adding a few new (or previously discarded) scenes to try to make a cohesive, finite narrative. In hindsight I don’t think it’s hugely successful at what it sets out to do, however it blew my mind. I can still remember the piece I wrote for my “news book” in school the following Monday. I must have been in Reception or year one at the time so it’s a confused garble of a narrative (so therefore not far off the movie…) but I can remember, years later, finding the book in a box at my parents, reading it, seeing the accompanying wax crayon drawing I had done and knowing exactly what 4-5 year old me meant. The construction of the ship, the quest to the deepest reaches of space, the race back, the battles, the characters, the melodrama and complete over-the-top exaggeration of things. This was an epic, classic adventure full of cliches, stereotypes and archetypes, writ large on the big screen. With blaster pistols, magic (alien) powers and spacecraft. In hindsight it has a lot to answer for. 

That’s what I am aiming to create collaboratively with my players; an epic space adventure tale. I think that’s a large part of what I’m yearning for. It could be seen as a hankering for my childhood, a retreat from the sorrows and sadness of the adult world into a rose tinted past where all was good and safe, and I’m sure there is an element of that. But I know that won't be the majority of what we will do. I’m not looking to be 5 year old Ben watching the crew of the Yamato/Argo battling Gamillons for the first time, I’m looking to draw on the 40 years of experience that happened after that, but was heavily influenced and driven by that first movie, to create a new but hopefully similarly memorable experience.

So moving on to some specifics. From the outset I ought to point out that  I have a history* with the old White Wolf Trinity Continuum games** to the point, it might be said, of obsession. I have also had the tendency to go on about them in the past and I own all the books, supplements, miniatures, dice sets etc***. It's also fair to mention that my wife Kate believes that my brain is constantly running a permanent sub-process pondering thoughts about Trinity****.

I figure that it was about time to actually acknowledge that and put it to use. If my heart and head are calling me to run an optimistic space opera, perhaps I should do just that, using the game that I have devoted so much time to over the years but have only run for a few dozen sessions.

Now appears to be the ideal time too; the new edition of the game and setting are *so* much better. The original was starting to feel a little dated, as science fiction often does when real world technology and social progress has started to catch up with or over take the "vision" within the fiction. Added to that the game had kind of lost its way as more material was written; getting darker and more conspiratorial (the effect of being a White Wolf publication in the '90s perhaps) compared to the more optimistic tone of the original core book. It's also not unfair to say that the rules system creaks a little, and the mechanics of power use never quite fit the flavour text. Now we have a bottom up new system designed for heroic action stories and a setting more in line with 21st century sensibilities and none of the "every faction has dark secrets" trope.

But, what's it all about?

Well the Trinity Continuum is a literal "continuum"; different games take place at different points in the continuum of alternate timelines*****. So far there are two published settings (and potentially at least two more coming); the setting from the core book is a take on the modern day that wouldn't seem out of place in a big budget movie or popular TV series. You could happily use it to run a game based on Leverage, the Bourne films, Fast & the Furious, The Bodyguard etc etc. The concept assumes that the PCs are "Talents" working for one of a variety of different and flavourful groups (one of which being the Æon society). It's good solid stuff but not where my focus lies...

The first separate setting book is Æon, it's the science fiction setting of the first game that was ever released for the line back in 1994 and frankly, it's bloody marvellous.

The year is 2123. Almost 60 years ago Aberrants, super humans who started to appear at the beginning of the 21st century but whose powers eventually physically corrupted them and drove them mad, were driven from Earth after a massive war against humanity. Slowly Earth began to recover, with the aid of the United Nations and a charitable group known as the Æon Trinity. Things looked positive until 2105 when suddenly Aberrants returned, attacking asteroid mining stations at the edge of the galaxy. Attacks increased culminating with an assault on Earth itself...but humanity was not without it's defenders. Unbeknownst to the world at large a group of eight special individuals had developed unique psychic powers and they had mastered how to grant these powers to others. Over the previous few years, anticipating the Aberrants return, they had built up groups of followers and they chose that moment to reveal themselves and see off the Aberrant assault. These eight leaders became known as the Proxies and the each ran an "Order" of psychically gifted humans and non-powered "neutrals". Since that time the Orders have integrated with society, they have helped humanity spread to other worlds, they have defended people from Aberrants and aliens and have developed new technologies and enacted and supported social change.

Things haven't gone completely smoothly though; in 2111 the Quantakinetic Order, known as the Chitra Bhanu,  were shown to be in league with the Aberrants and were confronted by the other Orders. Most quantakinetics were killed in the ensuing battle and the Order's Proxy, Dr. S.K. Bhurano and her closest associates seemingly destroyed themselves in a mysterious blast of energy.

Following this in 2116 the Teleporter Order mysteriously disappeared, only to return some six months ago. Many people are unsure what happened and why they had to go but the fact that they have proven themselves vital to the protection of humanity, and have helped reunite Earth with its colonies, has quickly absolved them in the minds of "Joe Hologram" (the man-in-the-street).

So now Earth has started to explore new worlds again and humanity is starting to piece together some of the truth of what might have been happening among other races and within the Aberrant community.

Our characters will be members of one of the Orders or the Æon Trinity itself, adventuring in this science fiction setting; fighting villainy, exploring new worlds or isolated locations on Earth and the moon, flying starships and mecha, discovering new life, harnessing new powers and delving deep into the secrets of this diverse and newly revitalised setting.

To quote from the book:

The setting of Trinity Continuum: Æon isn’t idyllic or utopian, but it is one where many of the problems facing our own world, including both widespread poverty and global climate change have mostly been solved. This era of the Trinity Continuum has numerous problems, but many of them, like the refugee crisis in France, are caused by outside threats. Brutal and oppressive governments like those of the FSA, Russia, and Ukraine exist, but they are the exception rather than the norm. Instead, while all institutions contain both heroes and villains, most people have adequate access to food, housing, medical care, and education, and most governments work to serve the interests of their population.

Ultimately, one of the keys to this setting is that while greed, villainy, and even monstrous inhumanity by actual monsters all exist, they are the exception rather than the rule. Many humans and other sentient beings who assist villains do so out of desperation, fear, or ignorance, or because they are no longer fully in control of their own minds. As a result, defeating evil-doers allows people and the institutions they serve to return to being forces for good.

Now *THAT* is a setting I want to explore...

Footnotes:

* A long history, well documented in emails within our playing group...including at least one allegation of my attempts to run it being "cursed" and Trinity itself becoming known as TGTMNBN (The game that must not be named)

** Trinity (formally known as Æon until MTV thought it challenged their Æon Flux copyright) Aberrant and Adventure!

*** Multiple copies of many of them...

**** which may help explain why I am easily distracted and often lack focus...

***** Because it's a multiverse of alternate realities and timelines this also means that an in game side effect is that all sessions and campaigns are considered canonical events within that infinite set of parallel worlds. Does that really matter? No, not really, but it's cool.