He has stolen an artifact from 69, buried it, come back to the contemporary era, dug it up and sold it to someone. He brags about it openly, and someone else decides to dig it up in 1850, thus stealing it out from under him.

I said that time would arrange itself so that he sold something else to the person who bought the original artifact, or something similar. I figured that since the person he sold it to was not an Innerwalker or anything, time would screw him over easily rather than do something to those who have been through the netherworld.

I realize that there are plenty of ways as a GM to stop such things, but this particular player can't seem to play a game without trying to finagle something like this. Actually at least it is in character for a thief.

Thanks

Ryan

Firstly, I would have Ascended agents in the modern juncture become aware of, and suspicious of, anyone who made it a habit to "uncover" valuable artifacts from the 69 or 1850 juncture. Perhaps your thief needs a few unpleasant visits from the Men in Black who inquire into his business practices (and make the entire party's life more difficult).

Or, any shift in the timeline such as the one in your story (someone else going back in time and scoring your "find" before you do) could manifest in several unanticipated ways. So, maybe after the shift, your thief is suddenly a well-known tomb robber on Interpol's Most Wanted list. He'd be hunted by law enforcement agencies in any country he visited, as well as bounty hunters. Fences would turn him in for the reward offered. Buyers would seriously underpay him, knowing he has nowhere else to go to unload his hot items.

Or, perhaps having his loot stolen from under him caused the shift to render him destitute, with no money, no contacts, and no reputation which would make anyone interested in dealing with him (much less interested in buying artifacts from him).

Off the top of my head, these tweaks to reality are just a few suggestions which will cause even the most avaricious thief to carefully reconsider the risk of screwing with the timeline, and concentrate on efforts more closely related to the campaign goals.

Edited 12/22/2002 12:27:40 AM ET by Sensei (SENSEI22)

Sensei's advice is definitely good. It's also worth keeping in mind Robin Laws' own comment on changing history on p. 199: No-one can alter back-story once it's laid down in game. Throw in one of those "creaky, implausible device"s: maybe someone else finds the jewel before 1850 (when the would-be thief makes their attempt to swipe it out from under the PC) and hands it down to his/her child, telling them to return it to whence it was found (throw in semi-plausible Chinese mysticism-based reasoning here). The child grows up and does so in 1902, leaving the stone for the PC to find again. Heck, that could be tied back into the plot somehow as a new hook: Maybe the child of the child decides it's their right to retain the stone from where their parent hid it, and decides to hunt the PC down...

Anyway, just a thought.

Rob

The great part is, there's always a clever (or highly impausible!) way for the GM to eventually have the situation sneak back up on the player and bite them square in the pants. After a few horrendous scenarios of fallout from their previously very unwise decisions, the players realize that it's perhaps best not to try to catch the GM off guard with goofy plans to rock the timeline.

Not that that can't be fun once in a while, too.

Hey, speaking of time traveling, has anyone created a good scenario involving a juncture other than the standards? Like, an ancient Egyptian juncture or one at the height of Roman power?

It's possible to change the circumstances around the ring, as suggested, perhaps he's now a wanted felon for "stealing" it from a treasured archaological site, or looting someone's grave. Perhaps the authorities freeze his bank accounts and try to prevent him leaving the country.

All plot hooks from his act of time travelling that don't involve re-writing what has already happened.

Kiero