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Timemaster

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Timemaster
DesignersMark D. Acres, Andria Hayday, Carl Smith
PublishersPacesetter Ltd, Goblinoid Games
Publication1984 (Pacesetter Ltd), 2011 (Goblinoid Games)
Genresscience fiction
SystemsPercentile based (d100)

Timemaster is a 1980s role-playing game centered on traveling through time and alternate dimensions.[1] Players take on the role of Time Corps agents to fix deviations in the timeline of the game. The primary antagonists are the Demoreans, a fictional race of shape-shifting aliens from another dimension who are determined to mold time to suit their needs.

History

Timemaster was published by Pacesetter in 1984. It was designed by Mark Acres, Garry Spiegle, Andria Hayday, Carl Smith, and Gali Sanchez. It featured cover art by Jim Holloway.[2] Timemaster was published as a boxed set containing two books (64 pages and 32 pages), a 16-page pamphlet, a large colour map, counters, and dice.[2] Chill, Timemaster, and Star Ace were all built around the same house system and all released by Pacesetter Ltd within a one-year period.[3]: 197  According to Shannon Appelcline, Timemaster "did more to play up the issues of time travel than any of the other scant few games in the genre, past or future".[3]: 197  The game company 54°40' Orphyte later purchased the product rights from Pacesetter. They put out two Timemaster adventures, Miss Him, Miss Him, Miss Him (1991) and Darkest Before the Dawn (1992) and supported the line with RPGA tournaments for a while.[3]: 199  Goblinoid Games purchased all rights to Timemaster from 54°40' Orphyte in 2011.

Contents

Timemaster is a role-playing game (RPG) featuring a time-travel system in which the player characters are agents of the Time Corps, who are dedicated to preventing their enemies from changing history. The rules are basic and easy to learn. Movement and combat is position-oriented, designed for use with counters on a hex grid.[2] The 64-page "Traveler's Manual" covers characters, combat (individual characters and mass battles), skills, paranormal talents, equipment, and non-player characters.[2] The 32-page "Guide to the Continuum" describes the Time Corps and the enemy Demoreans, with brief overviews of ancient Athens, Rome during the time of Julius Caesar, medieval England, Tudor England, Napoleonic France, and World War II France.[2] The 16-page "Red Ace High" pamphlet is an introductory scenario set during World War I.[2] The game is compatible with Chill and Star Ace.[2]

Setting

Timemaster is a science fiction role-playing game. Characters may come from any point in history and from alternate dimensions. The Time Corps is based far in the future, in 7192. Adventures may take place anywhere from medieval times to the space age.

Time Corps

In Timemaster, the Time Corps are the policing agency responsible for safeguarding the natural flow of time both within the Corps' home dimension and in other dimensions. Agents are rescued from the past and recruited into the ranks, though they are forbidden from returning to any time that coincides with their previous lives.

Editions

The game was originally produced by a company called Pacesetter Ltd.[1] Once Pacesetter Ltd ceased operations in 1986 (though it continues to exist as a Goblinoid Games product line), Timemaster was bought in 1990 by 54° 40' Orphyte, Inc. In 2011, the game was purchased by Goblinoid Games, and a revised version of the rule set was published. Goblinoid Games plans to reprint all of the scenarios and sourcebooks. A total of twelve official modules and one major rules supplement were released by Timemaster's publishers between 1984 and 1992. The revised edition of the rules has the same cover as the original game, but the original public domain interior art has been replaced with custom illustrations.

Products

Numerous products were published for Timemaster.

Pacesetter edition

  • Timemaster (box set)

Game tools

  • Timemaster Screen (included Missing: PT 109 scenario)

Sourcebooks and scenarios

  • The Assassin Queen (scenario)
  • Clash of Kings (scenario)
  • The Cleopatra Gambit (scenario)
  • Crossed Swords (scenario)
  • Partisans from the Shadows (scenario)
  • Sea Dogs of England (scenario)
  • Temples of Blood (scenario)
  • Terrible Swift Ford (scenario)
  • Timestorm (scenario)
  • Timetricks (sourcebook)
  • Whom the Gods Destroy (scenario)

54° 40' Orphyte, Inc. products

Scenarios

  • Darkest Before the Dawn (scenario)
  • Miss Him, Miss Him, Miss Him (scenario)

Pacesetter System game line (Goblinoid Games)

  • Timemaster Core Rulebook

References

  1. ^ a b "Timemaster (Review)". RPGnet. 2003. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 350. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
  3. ^ a b c Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
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