I think about time travel a lot.
I’ve been reading and watching science fiction for pretty much my entire life. I’ve been a Star Trek fan since I was 4, grew up on Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. Fell in love with Babylon 5 as a young man. Spent countless hours trying to determine whether or not we are actually living in a Matrix-like simulation, and how could we prove it one way or t’other?
So I think about time travel a lot.
Take right now, for example. At the earliest, you’re likely reading this on or after April 18th, 2024. But I’m actually WRITING this a week ago, which is now to me. But then, when you’re reading this in the future, this will be the past. (Man, our language is NOT set up to handle this kind of talk.) I wonder what your world will be like in that far-flung distant future. Will we finally have the flying cars we were promised? Will we, as a species, have learned to finally coexist with each other and with the natural world around us? Will Elon Musk still be an obsequious little troll? Will the Dallas Cowboys finally be able to field a winning team? (I told you, I’m into science fiction.) Will we be smarter, wiser, kinder? Have we reached the stars? Will I have won the Powerball?
I think about time travel a lot.
I’m geeking on a new game lately, Last Epoch. It’s an Action-RPG, not unlike the games in the Diablo franchise. Start your character, beat up monsters, follow an engaging storyline, gather and upgrade equipment and crafting supplies, Select skills and enhancements to create a pretty customizable gaming experience. It’s a hoot. This game in particular features a bunch of time travel; your character bounces around across multiple ages of the game world, trying to fix problems and set things to rights. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that there’s going to be a big endgame reveal, that YOU, the “main character”, are responsible for the world going off the rails in the first place. Possibly by stepping on the wrong butterfly in the prehistoric age. We’ll see.
I think about time travel a lot.
My D&D home campaign is chugging along. I think I’ve found the right balance of action, story exposition, puzzle-solving, and humor. Everyone seems to be enjoying it. There’s a big boss-fight coming up, sooner than I had planned for (inasmuch as I “plan” anything) and I’ve been wracking my brains to come up with a way to resolve the fight that is both satisfying and not certain death to the PC’s. I think I’ve got it, it should be fun. And unlike the LAST idea I had, it doesn’t involve time travel, which I think my players would have seen as a cop-out.
I think about time travel a lot.
Real life and games don’t work the same way, sadly. In games, you can come to a major decision point, save your game, and try different options to determine which one suits you best. In real life, there aren’t do-overs. There’s no way to go back a few days and turn in the paper on time, no way to rewind a few years and maybe ask that cute girl at the bar for her phone number after all. We makes our choices, and we live with the results. And the (for me) inevitable “What if instead, I….?”
I think about time travel a lot.