[gamerguy]

OK I just re-read my pre-publication copy and have these thoughts. Please, if you haven't already, read my little bit of history "A Long Time Ago Somewhere in Michigan....".

As to multiple time lines, yes I think there are but often the net result of those timelines always ends with the same conclusion. Again I refer you to Stiens;Gate. There is an innate will in the universe to follow one path. Make a small push here or there and forces push back and cancel you efforts out.

Same thing with TMP. BEM bounces around a few time lines. Tries to make a difference and no matter what crap happens. So he gives up on trying to stop THE WAR and searches out how to save mankind after the fact. As intimated in my copy five years is too close to do more than patch a few holes. Things are still collapsing. All the teams will do is become part of the rot. Things have to settle at a level where TMP's efforts will (can) hope to make a difference.

IMHO BEM intended TMP to come into force 150 or so years down the road. There will still be pockets of disease, or radiation or advanced technology but the background level will run from early steam age to early electric age. For better and worse people will have settled into some form of civilization and any resources will be based on available and exploitable materials.

How will TMP 'help' these people? First you may or may not like who or what is 'leading' people but if the net effect is a growing stable community what right is it of yours to try changing the status quo? Is it your job to become the new dictator or cult or is it to help these people rebuild? This can be a very tough choice, especially for players new to RPGs. So do you ignore groups you don't agree with? Help their adversaries? Try to impose your will on them? Go to war to break their leaders' control? If you succeed, then what? Become the new dictator or cult? Force your players to think hard on these choices. At least one NPC should be opening this discussion if one of the PCs doesn't.

I have been in games where a little help goes a long way but always when trying to impose my will everything screws up. Get rid of the bad guy and there are usually ten worse ready to step up. Check out any country whose ruling group as been overthrown in the past century or so and see real world parallels.

As I said I believe BEM arranged for TMP to 'come out' about 150 years later. Easy enough to get a few of the critical systems designers or programmers to see it your way and put in a deep switch which over rides the agreed upon sequence with your own.

So what is your take?