Difference between revisions of "3.09 Send Players To 1986"

Latest revision as of 02:10, 31 March 2012

Status

::FINAL-READY::

Location

Name And Address: "Trenchwood Institute" -- Highlands Elementary School, 2320 Newport St, San Mateo, CA 94402

GC PoC: Erik Stuart, (415) 475-8463, lab@trenchwood.com

Parking: School lot, free

Type

Mandatory Activity

Plot Setup

Players have just fixed Prof. Chronus's time machine and are returning to Peach Frontier Laboratories to see her re-materialize.
But upon returning to the lab they found it is once again Trenchwood Institute and they realized they are right back at the beginning of the Act I timeline
The Doctor's time machine demonstration has once again gone awry.
The visitors have instantly solved three key technical problems for fixing the time machine: unscrambling the core dump, designing a new co-keypad #34, and hacking the password to the supercomputer
The Doctor realized the players are in an infinite time loop...which reminded him of strange poem in his high school yearbook...which he didn't understand at the time...but the players decoded to reveal instructions on how to break the loop.
The players are going to have to go back to Paine Memorial High School in 1986 and do the newspaper-altering mission
The players have gone through the Institute's crash course on how to be a time traveler

Props

Plot Point to Convey

Very clear goals for the trip through time: WALK to high school, GET the newspaper, CHANGE the newspaper, REPLACE the newspaper, CHECK ARCHWAY, RETURN home safely.

Short Description

Players enter the time machine and go back to 1986.

Open Time Period

Sunday, approximately 10:15 AM to 11:00 AM

Staff Instructions

Your Role: Lab Assistant.

What To Wear: lab coat + Trenchwood Institute name badge

What Your Character Knows: Everything in Plot Setup except the stuff about Peach Frontier Laboratories.

Puzzles At This Site: none in this document, just the activity of sending the teams through the time machine

Where To Get Materials: n/a

Setup Instructions: n/a

Handout Instructions: The dialog should go something like (feel free to trade off the opening lines between the two lab assistants):

LAB ASSISTANT 1: Welcome back. Are you certified chrononauts now?

VISITOR: Yes!

LAB ASSISTANT 1: What are your four mission objectives?

VISITOR: Find the locker, change the message on the newspaper, check the return time wormhole archway in the gym, return to 2012.

LAB ASSISTANT 1: Perfect. And do you have everything you want to bring with you, such as the secret message in the yearbook?

VISITOR: Yes.

If the players are lugging anything very bulky or heavy, like a boom box, improvise some reason why that won't be necessary ("that technology will probably be easy to find in 1986")

LAB ASSISTANT 1: One last thing. You've done so much for us that your sort of like a Trenchwood lab assistants yourselves...though hopefully with better hours.

So I hope you'll join us in a Trenchwood lab assistant tradition: Before each big event we all say our motto. Will yo do it with us?

IN UNISON (with hand gestures): Let's do it...for science!

LAB ASSISTANT 1: Wow...you even did the hand gestures...it's like you've done this before. [looks suspiciously] No, don't tell me.

[to lab assistant 2] Activate the quantum chronomentometers!

Lab Assistant 2 pushes various buttons. The machine's lights blink more rapidly and its sounds grow more urgent.

LAB ASSISTANT 2: The chronomentometers are online!

LAB ASSISTANT 1: Excellent. Now, energize the tachyon midi-ether co-keypads!

Lab Assistant 2 pushes more buttons and the machine's lights and sounds ramp up to almost reckless levels.

LAB ASSISTANT 2: The co-keypads are fully charged!

LAB ASSISTANT 1: I can't believe it...it's working this time. You had better hurry in before...

LAB ASSISTANT 2: ...before Doctor When gets into any more danger! Enjoy your trip!

The lab assistants usher the visitors into the time machine. The time machine activates and the players walk through a tunnel with cool lighting and sound effects, exiting outside the lab. They then walk to Paine Memorial High School.

Site Close Down: Once last team goes to 1986

Transform set to Ethereal Endways, Inc.
Move wormhole tunnel to gym
Return your name badge(s) and lanyard to GC HQ at the end of your shift

Other Instructions:

Stay in character.
Except ... if a team says "time out," break character and help them.

Detailed Description

Sound...lights...smoke...lasers!

Puzzle Answer

n/a

Puzzle Solution

n/a

Budget

Credits

Todd for set Ellen for sound

Manager

Melissa

Hints

n/a

Response to Correct Answer

n/a

To Do

Other Notes

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-==Order==
-.071
 ==Status==
-  ::FINAL::
+  ::FINAL-READY::
 ==Location==
-'''Status''': "Trenchwood Institute" -- Highlands Elementary School, 2320 Newport St, San Mateo, CA 94402
+'''Name And Address''': "Trenchwood Institute" -- Highlands Elementary School, 2320 Newport St, San Mateo, CA 94402
-'''GC PoC''': Erik Stuart, (650) 395-8463, lab@trenchwood.com
+'''GC PoC''': Erik Stuart, (415) 475-8463, lab@trenchwood.com
 '''Parking''': School lot, free
@@ Line 17: / Line 14: @@
 ==Plot Setup==
-Players realized that they can't access the envelope because the Doctor never lost it during his shorter trip through time. So they have to go back in time to where the envelope is.
+* Players have just fixed Prof. Chronus's time machine and are returning to Peach Frontier Laboratories to see her re-materialize.
+* But upon returning to the lab they found it is once again Trenchwood Institute and they realized they are right back at the beginning of the Act I timeline
+* The Doctor's time machine demonstration has once again gone awry.
+* The visitors have instantly solved three key technical problems for fixing the time machine: unscrambling the core dump, designing a new co-keypad #34, and hacking the password to the supercomputer
+* The Doctor realized the players are in an infinite time loop...which reminded him of strange poem in his high school yearbook...which he didn't understand at the time...but the players decoded to reveal instructions on how to break the loop.
+* The players are going to have to go back to Paine Memorial High School in 1986 and do the newspaper-altering mission
+* The players have gone through the Institute's crash course on how to be a time traveler
 ==Props==
-"So You're Going To Be A Time Traveler" pamphlet.
 ==Plot Point to Convey==
-Very clear goals for the trip through time:  GET the letter, CHANGE the letter, REPLACE the letter, RETURN home safely.
+Very clear goals for the trip through time:  WALK to high school, GET the newspaper, CHANGE the newspaper, REPLACE the newspaper, CHECK ARCHWAY, RETURN home safely.
 ==Short Description==
-Players receive hastily-assembled training for time travel to 1986, then enter the time machine and go back in time.
+Players enter the time machine and go back to 1986.
 ==Open Time Period==
+Sunday, approximately 10:15 AM to 11:00 AM
-When?
 ==Staff Instructions==
@@ Line 36: / Line 37: @@
 '''Your Role''': Lab Assistant.
-'''Handout Instructions''': This is a very complex series of activities you need to guide our (sleep-deprived) players through. For each team you will:
+'''What To Wear''': lab coat + <u>Trenchwood Institute</u> name badge
-* Fabric Of Time puzzle--give it out and receive the answer
-* Calibration Redux--help them discover that the Doctor has not bounced around in time as long as the last time
-* Watch The Doctor--Watch the video of Doctor When in 1986
-* Guide the players to realizing that this time the envelope is not in 2012 and that they will have to go into the past themselves.
-* Activate Time Machine--Send each team through the time machine
- The interactions should go something like this (but feel free to improvise):
-<pre>
-VISITOR: Who would have guessed--there's a hidden message!  It says, "To create a new future ending go back in time and revise the writing on the newspaper - replace right with its opposite."
-LAB ASSISTANT: Well, then we had better repair the time machine ASAP! The time machine uses a Heisenberg Compensator to dampen time stream-altering ripple effects.  We suspect it was damaged in the accident, and that the world has been strangely altered in subtle ways.
-Before we can fix the time machine, the fabric of time must be restored!  Can you use this model to guide us in suppressing events that shouldn't happen and enabling connections that should happen?  The correctly arranged time stream should reveal which of the many people exposed to timeline perturbations could help us repair the machine.
+'''What Your Character Knows''': Everything in Plot Setup except the stuff about Peach Frontier Laboratories.
-The lab assistant hands the visitors the Fabric of Time puzzle, and they proceed to solve it.
+'''Puzzles At This Site''': none in this document, just the activity of sending the teams through the time machine
-VISITOR 1: It says "Clare"!
-LAB ASSISTANT: Clare?  Fantastic.  We'll contact Clare Abshire.  And meanwhile, you can help us with our next research project.
+'''Where To Get Materials''': n/a
-Using your co-keypad design we almost have the time machine working.  But now we need to recalibrate it before we can open a portal to rescue him. The Temporal View-O-Scope has recorded flashes of the different times and places he's visited.  If you can predict the next time he'll materialize in, we can use that to set everything right. You don't by any chance know that, too?
+'''Setup Instructions''': n/a
-VISITOR 1: Last time it was at the Big Bang.
+'''Handout Instructions''': The dialog should go something like (feel free to trade off the opening lines between the two lab assistants):
-Lab assistant fiddles with the machine.
+{{quote|
-LAB ASSISTANT: Darn it, that didn't work.  Maybe we've already altered the timeline. Let's look at the View-O-Scope log.
+LAB ASSISTANT 1: Welcome back.  Are you certified chrononauts now?
+}}{{quote|
+VISITOR: Yes!
+}}{{quote|
+LAB ASSISTANT 1: What are your four mission objectives?
+}}{{quote|
+VISITOR: Find the locker, change the message on the newspaper, check the return time wormhole archway in the gym, return to 2012.
+}}{{quote|
+LAB ASSISTANT 1: Perfect.  And do you have everything you want to bring with you, such as the secret message in the yearbook?
+}}{{quote|
+VISITOR: Yes.
+}}
+If the players are lugging anything very bulky or heavy, like a boom box, improvise some reason why that won't be necessary ("that technology will probably be easy to find in 1986")
+{{quote|
+LAB ASSISTANT 1: One last thing.  You've done so much for us that your sort of like a Trenchwood lab assistants yourselves...though hopefully with better hours.
+}}{{quote|
+So I hope you'll join us in a Trenchwood lab assistant tradition:  Before each big event we all say our motto.  Will yo do it with us?
+}}{{quote|
+IN UNISON (with hand gestures): Let's do it...for science!
+}}{{quote|
+LAB ASSISTANT 1: Wow...you even did the hand gestures...it's like you've done this before. [looks suspiciously]  No, don't tell me.
+}}{{quote|
+[to lab assistant 2]  Activate the quantum chronomentometers!
+}}
+Lab Assistant 2 pushes various buttons.  The machine's lights blink more rapidly and its sounds grow more urgent.
+{{quote|
+LAB ASSISTANT 2: The chronomentometers are online!
+}}{{quote|
+LAB ASSISTANT 1: Excellent.  Now, energize the tachyon midi-ether co-keypads!
+}}
+Lab Assistant 2 pushes more buttons and the machine's lights and sounds ramp up to almost reckless levels.
+{{quote|
+LAB ASSISTANT 2: The co-keypads are fully charged!
+}}{{quote|
+LAB ASSISTANT 1: I can't believe it...it's working this time.  You had better hurry in before...
+}}{{quote|
+LAB ASSISTANT 2: ...before Doctor When gets into any more danger!  Enjoy your trip!
+}}
-The visitors review the Temporal View-O-Scope footage again on a lab computer using access code 100030.  It is exactly the same as in Act I, but ends after only a few vignettes.  (Most importantly, it ends before Doctor When loses his envelope.)  Based on their memory of the longer film from Act I, the visitors know that the next place the Doctor will be is France right before the revolution.
+The lab assistants usher the visitors into the time machine.  The time machine activates and the players walk through a tunnel with cool lighting and sound effects, exiting outside the lab.  They then walk to Paine Memorial High School.
-VISITOR 1: Good thing we double checked. Actually the next place he'll be is France right before the revolution.
-LAB ASSISTANT: I'm recalibrating using that. It works!
+'''Site Close Down''': Once last team goes to 1986
+* Transform set to Ethereal Endways, Inc.
-I've opened a portal taking him to his original destination.  Let's just lock the View-O-Scope onto him and see what he's up to.
+* Move wormhole tunnel to gym
+* Return your name badge(s) and lanyard to GC HQ at the end of your shift
-Enter code 100031 into your copy of the View-O-Scope Computer Remote Access Program and watch the Doctor in 1986.
-LAB ASSISTANT: Now what was that you were saying about changing a newspaper?
-VISITOR 1: The yearbook pieces told us to change the writing on the newspaper.
-LAB ASSISTANT: What newspaper?
-VISITOR 1: That envelope that Doctor When had contained a newspaper with a message on it.
-LAB ASSISTANT: But we just saw Doctor When put the envelope in the locker! That newspaper is in 1986.
-VISITOR 1: This is a problem.  In the last timeline, we found the envelope here in 2012 and sent it back to him.  But this time we fixed the machine so quickly he didn't bounce around in time long enough to lose the envelope.
-LAB ASSISTANT: Then I suppose we'll have to go back to 1986 and change the writing there.  But none of the lab assistants or even Prof. Chronos can go back...we're the only ones who know how to operate the time machine. Who could possibly undertake this task?
-VISITOR 1: Uh...we could go back....
-LAB ASSISTANT: What?! That plan is crazy...so crazy it just might work!
-So I guess we're finally ready to send you back to 1986.  Are you ready?!
-VISITOR 1: Yes!
-LAB ASSISTANT: OK, so you've never time traveled before.  Don't worry.  This should be easy.  No pressure. But the structural integrity of the universe does depend on you.
-All you have to do is step into the chamber, wait till it opens a time wormhole, and then walk through into 1986! Then just walk over to our old high school, find the envelope, change the writing on the newspaper according to the instructions from the yearbook pieces, watch the action to make sure it worked...and try not to change anything else in the timeline unless you have to.
-When you're done I'll project a return time portal archway for you.  You'll be able to see it, but the people in 1986 won't.
-If the archway glows green, that means head on through.  If it's red, then it's not quite ready.
-Oh, and I probably shouldn't even bother to mention this, but if it flashes red, that means there's some sort of temporal anomaly that you'll have to fix.  But that's very unlikely to happen.
-If you have any other questions, here's a little pamphlet that a helpful government agency prepared.
-The lab assistant hands them a flyer entitled, "So You're Going To Be A Time Traveler."
-LAB ASSISTANT: Oh, and make sure to bring anything you might need with you! In particular, anything from 1986 that might prove useful...
-VISITOR 1: Like a cassette tape?  Or a Choose Your Own Adventure Book?
-LAB ASSISTANT: Sure! Oh, and I suppose those yearbook pieces are from 1986, too.  Better bring those just in case.  You do know where the high school is, right? Remember, your smart phones and internet devices won't work in 1986 -- and you won't have your car, either!
-VISITOR 1: Yes, we know where it is. Let's go!
-The lab assistant adjusts the time machine to May 31, 1986, 2:30 PM and ushers them in.  The time machine activates and the players walk through a tunnel with cool lighting and sound effects, exiting outside the lab.  They then walk to Paine Memorial High School.
-</pre>
-'''Site Close Down''': Clean up.
 '''Other Instructions''':
@@ Line 132: / Line 107: @@
 ==Puzzle Solution==
+n/a
 ==Budget==
 ==Credits==
@@ Line 145: / Line 119: @@
 ==Hints==
+n/a
 ==Response to Correct Answer==
+n/a
-?
 ==To Do==