On Kickstarter we noticed a campaign dedicated to Shintiara Crusade of Time for D&D5e and, intrigued by what was proposed, we decided to interview the authors.
Combining a simple and popular system like 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons with the intriguing theme of time travel could be a winning idea. The simplicity of the former could help make the latter accessible as well.
But now let’s see what the creators of the project told us!
Shintiara Crusade of Time is a D&D5e conversion of an RPG with its own system. What are the main differences you can find while playing it? What feedback did the previous version give you?
Both games start from the same premises; the planet Shintiara is disputed between the gravitational attraction of the star Siray and the black hole Murya, therefore there are fractures and space-time deformations. In 2017’s Shintiara Role-playing Game we explored this theme with a more “philosophical” and introspective slant; this was possible thanks to a ruleset that gives players great narrative authority and is based on statistics such as Inner Strength, Impact on History and the Role of the characters. Furthermore, there is no real time travel; there are the Timewarps, which are always uncontrollable and potentially destructive. The characters accumulate Paradox Points, which represent the progressive disintegration of space-time; they are price to pay for those who want to enjoy paradoxical technologies from other eras.
We have received good feedback from the game; but we have also realized that it remains within a niche of gamers who are passionate about complex implications on temporal paradoxes, both logical and moral. Shintiara Crusade of Time, on the other hand, represents a more heroic and positive point of view, in line with the style of play typical of 5th edition rules. Recruits, and some of their enemies, can use the Veils to travel back and forth in time; Paradox Points are a resource to be spent to activate powers that manipulate time; paradoxical technologies are Mysteries to be solved in order to learn how to use their abilities.
The Crusade between the Cosmos (the star Siray) and the Void (the black hole Murya) takes on the connotations of an epic story between the forces that want to ward off the Apocalypse and those that want to cause it. We have also updated the setting to make it more suitable for this style of play, which is undoubtedly more adventurous and more popular.
How do the influences of the black hole and the star on space-time affect the game mechanics? How do players take advantage of this?
In part, the previous answer also covers this question. The effect of the Murya black hole on Shintiara is to create time paradoxes and areas where the boundaries of space-time are thinned and traversable. The PCs are Recruits in the Time Crusade who have access to special powers that allow them to traverse these Veils and thus travel through time, or manipulate it in other ways.
These powers cost Paradox Points, to recharge which Recruits must make contact with the Paradoxes. These can be objects, places or creatures that do not belong to Shintiara’s “normal” timeline; they come from the past or the future, again due to the alterations caused by Murya. Players can choose whether their Recruits will use these powers to try to stop the Apocalypse Clock, and thus mend the fractures of space-time, or speed it up, perhaps driven by a thirst for power. They can also decide to take a middle ground, and “dance” between Cosmos and Void.
Races give the impression that they have required a lot of work, is it right? What are the most interesting changes they have introduced in Shintiara Crusade of Time?
Already from Shintiara RPG we wanted to introduce a completely new set of fantasy races; in this way we can create something different from the usual cliché of elves, dwarves and so on. We had understandably kept humans, but we had devised different cultures, integrated with the setting. For Shintiara Crusade of Time we have created a 5th edition version of these races, expanding the concept of Culture and also applying it to non-humans. In this way, we have on one side races with distinct physical traits, on the other Cultures through which all races can further diversify.
The adaptation work was done by Daniele Fusetto, who impressed us with his proficiency in evaluating and balancing racial traits in order to make our darqarot, garduan, skirth, wysper and zolkanians absolutely on par with the standard 5e races. Regarding the new ones, we have a race capable of flying (the garduan), one capable of climbing three very skillfully (the skirths), one capable of transforming into light (the wysper), one that combines a medium size with prerogatives of a large creature (the darqarot), and one capable of emitting ultrasounds to communicate or defend itself (the Zolkanians). These are just some of their traits, but it would take a long time to name them all. We hope that the funds raised with Kickstarter will allow us to add another playable race, the hive-minded zyrkul insectoids, already present in Shintiara RPG as monsters.
We want to talk about the classes featured in Shintiara Crusade of Time next in this interview. Are they very different from the basic D&D5e ones?
As for the new classes, they are strongly related to the Crusade of Time theme. Therefore, we have the Chronoguardian, who uses higher temporal powers, called tachyon powers, and temporal spells to defend the Cosmos; the Voidwalker, on the other hand, makes the most of the Paradox Points to generate destructive temporal powers towards space-time; finally, there is the Time Dancer, who possesses a resource called Steps in Time, with effects similar to the sorcery points of the basic sorcerer. All of these classes, as well as Shintiara’s Recruits belonging to the base 5e classes, are endowed with temporal powers and can accumulate Paradox Points, albeit to varying degrees.
Time travel can create unpleasant paradoxes; do you think you managed to solve this problem in Shintiara Crusade of Time? And since you can travel in various historical periods, is there going to be a setting detailed for multiple eras?
We were immediately aware that time travel can generate logical paradoxes that are difficult to manage; so we have included rules useful for players and Chroniclers (Shintiara’s GMs) to manage everything in the simplest possible way. For example, we have established that the minimum “quantum” of time travel is twenty years. In this way, the characters are prevented from using short-term travel to resolve a fight or reveal the background of an adventure; this greatly diminish the paradox of meeting themselves. Furthermore, among the various declinations of time travel that science fiction offers us, we have chosen that of “linear time”; by altering a fundamental event in the past, an alternative time line is created that separates itself from the main one, such as in Back to the Future or in the Avengers saga, without creating complex recursive paradoxes like Tenet or Dark.
In fact, the Shintiara Chronicler has the ability to establish some precise Alterers, events that can generate time changes in the adventure; all the other actions will not change the future. For example, the Chronicler can determine that if the Recruits destroy the Lich King’s cursed crown in the past, the present will change; instead if they kill the Lich King, another individual will find the crown and become the Lich King himself. It is important to note that temporal alterations can only be generated in the past towards the future; altering the future does not generate changes in the past.
We have described the setting over the course of eight successive ages, from the prehistoric to the distant future, close to the Apocalypse. However, there is much freedom for Chroniclers, so that they can create past and future events for their adventures, within a coherent framework.
Butterfly effect and 4D dungeons… These new elements of Shintiara Crusade of Time have definitely intrigued us and we take advantage of this interview to get to know them better. Can you tell us more about it?
Well, we are pleased that these elements have awakened your curiosity! In a sense, these are the most unpredictable elements of Shintiara Crusade of Time, those that insert a touch of randomness typical of old school dungeons. Butterfly Effects are tables of random temporal alterations that the Chronicler can roll on when he has not established a specific Alter. Butterfly Effects affect that specific adventure or dungeon and do not affect the world at large. Each Shintiara Crusade of Time adventure will have one or more Butterfly Effects tables, and the Chronicler’s Code will contain rules and ideas for creating your own.
The dungeons in 4D, which in the Chronicler’s Code we call Time Dungeons, are dungeons that develop, as well as in three-dimensional space, also in time, therefore they contain Veils that transport in different Epochs of Shintiara or have areas in which alterations of time apply, such as loops, zones of accelerated or slowed down time, limited zones in which time flows in reverse, or contain puzzles that must be solved by traveling in time.
After this initial Kickstarter are you planning to release other manuals dedicated to Shintiara? Should we anticipate them?
This Kickstarter will guarantee us to publish, in Italian and English, two manuals of approximately 250 pages each: the Recruiter’s Guide and the Chronicler’s Code. The latter will also include all the adventures unlocked with stretch goals, currently three. This is a large amount of material!
We would like to continue the line with further adventures and expansions of the setting concerning both other continents of the world of Shintiara and insights on the Ages of the past and the future; but a lot depends, in addition to the funds raised with the Kickstarter, also on the reception which will receive Crusade of Time once it is released to the public. Of course, we do not lack material; what we have published in recent years and what we are about to publish now is just the tip of the iceberg compared to what we have “in the drawer”! Whether we can get him out of there depends a lot on the public’s favors.
We thank the team behind Shintiara Crusade of Time for this interview and wish them all the luck they deserve with this and upcoming projects!
