#note that if the spanner has fruned in a previous sweep

[prokopetz]

What's your favorite use of time travel in a game?

[flaetsbnort]

"note that if the spanner has Fruned in a previous Sweep" absolutely beautiful, no notes

I am looking for something in a ttrpg that seems difficult to pull off and I'm wondering if you're aware of anyone who's made something that can handle branching timelines, overwriting of timelines, and/or stable time loops as a core functionality of play.

I'm really looking for something that actually has specific mechanical rules for repeated time travel, setting things up for a future or past version of your character to complete, multiple copies of a character existing at once, etc. any advice? even a pointer of where to look for such games or something that has rules that could be bent to accommodate time travel in a way that isn't functionally "go to another location where everyone wears silly clothes" would be greatly appreciated!

The only published tabletop RPG I'm personally aware of that's taken a serious crack at game-mechanically systematising time travel the way it's depicted working in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure – which is essentially what you're describing here – is Aetherco's now-out-of-print C°ntinuum: roleplaying in The Yet.

Coincidentally, C°ntinuum is frequently cited as a justification for why no other notable game has made a serious attempt of it since.

[prokopetz]

Picture a game that starts with how time travel works in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, puts forth a serious effort to work out what the actual implications of that would be, and makes that the basis of its combat system, and you've got C°ntinuum in a nutshell. It's very nearly unplayable as written, but the idea of how time combat works is one of my favourite pieces of conceptual design.

What's your favorite use of time travel in a game?