Lonely TTRPG EP 38 - Out of Time by Krystal Norton

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Greetings.

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weary wanderer and welcome back to Lonely, T T R P G, the Solo Actual Play

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and Review podcast This week we are playing out of time by Kyrstal Norton.

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They say that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

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This is why world leaders created the Department of Time.

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The Secret World Organization employs people from all walks

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of life, including you as an employee of the Department of Time.

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You are given a single stopwatch with 15 charges.

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Each time you click it, you are transported to another moment in time.

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It could be the.

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Present or future, your job is to document what you see and not get involved.

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However, it is not in our nature to just observe.

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Many employees have gotten involved in the moments they see out of

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time as a solo journaling R ppg, where you play as a time traveling

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member of the Department of time.

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You exist outside of time as an observer, but that doesn't mean that

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you do not interact with those around.

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During the game, you're going to record your interactions

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with the people you have met.

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The game ends when you have created 15 entries.

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Take all the time you need to complete the entries.

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It is recommended you do one or two entries per day.

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For this game, you'll need a D four, a deck of 52 cards without the jokers, and

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something to record your thoughts on.

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So, yeah.

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The way this is gonna work is you're going to roll a D four.

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If you get a one that takes place in the past, a two will

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take place in the present.

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A three will take place in the future, and a four will take place anytime that you.

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Once you determine the time you're going to pull a card, if it is a red

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card, it will be something you observe, and if it is a black card, it will

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be something that you interact with.

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In addition to that, when you pull a card, you are going to

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be given a set of prompts to.

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Guide what you do while you are there.

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So without further ado, we're gonna dive on into this.

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We're not gonna set up any type of fancy screen or anything

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like that as we are just running through some simple interactions.

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So I got my trustee D four right here, and of course our standard deck of cards.

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So for our first assignment,

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we got a one.

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So that will be going to the past and we got the Queen of clubs,

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so that will.

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Fear, our prompt is fear

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and we are interacting with it.

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So a past event that was fearful and we are interacting with.

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So I feel like this is.

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Prank is a strong word, but part of the part of the hazing of new personnel.

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I was given my assignment and sent back to the past and when I got there it was some

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medieval English monastery and I didn't really know what I was getting into.

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I thought I was just supposed to like observe the monastery.

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But during the, during the course of my day, the monks started to, the monks

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started to panic and run, and I heard an awful shouting coming from outside

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and.

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as I go check outside the monastery, I see a band of Vikings charging up towards us.

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So I join the monks in helping gather what we can and run and hide.

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Luckily I found a secluded spot that I could hide by myself and.

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, as the sound of the attacks got closer and closer to me, I activated my

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return switch and I returned on home.

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Cuz after all, I'm not, I'm not paid enough to take on Vikings.

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So for my second assignment, we got the present

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and that is going to be the Ace of Diamond.

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And that's going to be betrayal.

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So the rules state that present is anytime in the current

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time that you're writing in.

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I'm going to.

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I'm going to decide that that's like the current age.

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So these events might not strictly be 2023, but

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you know, within the, within the two thousands definitely within the two.

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Probably not gonna go too much later than

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2015.

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Even that seems like really far back, far enough back to be considered the past.

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Betrayal

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and actually, no, I mean, , I forgot.

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This is a this is a game in a fictional game, so it doesn't necessarily have

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to be like an actual real world event.

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So this is a betrayal that I am observ.

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, and I think that this betrayal,

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I think that this betrayal is going to be

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kind of personal in nature.

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, my friend in the agency was promised a promotion, but at the last minute, at

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the last minute, it was given to someone who had congressional connections.

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So definitely a case of my friend feeling like

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what they were promised was not given to them and just not a good time.

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You know, all, all to suck up to co.

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Like the congressman is like the congressperson.

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The agent was related to.

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It's not like they even sit on any of the subcommittees

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that like control our budget.

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It was just purely a, purely a power move.

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And like that's what made it sting even more.

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But for our next assignment,

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we are once again returning to the.

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And that is the eight of clubs.

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So another interaction

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and the prompt is friendship.

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So an interaction in the past involving friendship.

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So

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for this, I'm going to say that it is the Great War, world War I we're in

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the middle of World War I, so 1915.

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19, yeah, 1915.

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I am,

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I have set up a position along one of the trenches to observe.

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The fighting, and this was a, this was a particularly bad night of fighting

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when a, when a British soldier crawls from where they were at and

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no man's land and stumbles across my stumbles, across my hiding spot.

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And, you know, I.

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, of course, I'm not going to kick them out.

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They're, they're wounded, they're injured, so I patch them up as best I can

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with the first aid kit that they have.

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We share some food.

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We, we share an evening together.

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This, this soldier is, you know, this soldier is scared of.

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Falling asleep, which is understandable.

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They, they did get hurt pretty badly.

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And given everything that's been happening it's understandable that they

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are concerned that if they close their eyes, they're not gonna open again.

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But

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we spend, we spend most of the.

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We spend most of the night talking and learning about each other in really

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one of the, really, one of the best ways that you can just two humans

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trying to avoid the horror that's around them and that that night has,

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that night, has left a deep impact on.

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And one that I think that I will, one that I think I'm gonna carry

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with me for the rest of my days.

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So moving on to assignment number four, another present,

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and we got the five of spades.

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Peace.

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So this is going to be, this is not going to be an assignment.

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This is going to be.

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This is going to be a little bit of vacation for me especially

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after my last assignment, the interaction that I had in World War I.

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I am going to, I'm going to retreat to a cabin in the Rockies for a little.

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and we're gonna say that we're gonna say that it's, it's fall.

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We're gonna say that it's the fall timeframe.

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So the weather's just starting to turn cold.

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It's hoodie weather.

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It's close enough to winter that there, that the storm clouds

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could produce a little bit of.

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and I'm going to sit next to, I'm going to sit next to that fire that

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I built out in front of this cabin, watching this storm rolling over the

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mountains with the promise of snow, the wind blowing through the trees,

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and just, just reconnect with the world and that feeling of peace that I.

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So moving on to number five.

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I'm rolling.

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Ones and twos tonight.

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Ladies and Jets.

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We are at a statistical anomaly right now.

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Now that is another one.

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We are returning to the past and we have the two of clubs.

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And that is another betrayal this time.

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It is a betrayal that I am a part of.

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So

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I have been sent to the French court.

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Of Louis the 16th and I have found myself,

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I found myself a position with the Palace Guard, and I know what, I know what's.

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, I know that the revolution is underway.

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I know that.

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I know that the people are coming for the monarchy and dis, despite

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what I know about how terrible.

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The next few years are going to be the reign of terror is going to be.

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I also know the importance of that historical example of the people

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standing up even to their king when.

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tyranny and inequality become so high and becomes so ignored by those in power that

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the people have no choice but to rise up.

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And I leave.

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I leave a gate unsecure.

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So this is my betrayal.

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This is my betrayal of.

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The job that

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I was hired for in order to, in order to serve and preserve this historical

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example, and furthermore, it's a little bit of betrayal to myself as.

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This is the first time that I have like directly gotten involved and my direct

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involvement has led to a loss of life.

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I've had other direct involvements before, but those, those involvements

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have all been in attempts at preservation.

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But this involvement, this involvement served only destruction and the hope.

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, the example of this destruction would serve the future.

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All right, so moving on to moving on to six.

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All right, we got a three, so we're now going to the future,

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and that is the queen of diamonds.

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So we are observing something in the.

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We're observing a death in the future,

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I think.

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I think that for this, I am going to be flung into the far.

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A future so far ahead that I can't even really comprehend the distance of time

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and the death that I'm going to witness is the death of a

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star, the death of our star.

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And I'm going to sit there on this research vessel

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and watch as our star explodes and dies and consumes at least

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the, at least the inner half of our solar system with its death.

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As I watch the end of all things and yet,

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and yet I am on a research vessel.

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I am.

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I am on a ship with a crew and while.

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, while there are plenty of alien life forms in this crew, there are also,

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there are also stilled humans here.

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I mean, certainly not as I could recognize from my time evolution

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being what it is, but, but humanity has survived in some capacity.

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So even though I have witnessed the death of our star and the death of our.

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We are still alive.

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And that observation I think fills me with, fills me with hope as I move into my

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seventh mission, which is another present.

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And we have the Ace of hearts.

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And the ace of hearts is going to be love,

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but a love observed.

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So this is,

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I'm gonna say kind of a cop out answer for this.

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Despite all the regional conflicts, despite.

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The flexing of dying powers and their attempts at maintaining

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relevancy and the horrors that they're inflicting in those attempts.

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The love that I'm going to observe is the love that the people have for each

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other as they attempt to stand and face.

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These trials, that unbreakable bond of love, that binds groups together

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in an effort to

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preserve some part of themselves.

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And this is a preservation that coming off my last mission, I know that they are

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able to do, but in the face of everything, it just, it seems as daunting as it did.

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It seems as daunting as that star exploding.

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And yet they, they still stand next to each other because,

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because of their love for each.

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All right, and moving on to our next mission,

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which will be number eight.

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Once again in the present and we have the king of diamonds,

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and that is going to be fear.

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So observed fear.

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And just continuing off on, continuing off on what I observed with my last

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one is, Just the amount of fear that the people have as they try to

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persevere and preserve all the systems that they were told were in place to

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protect them, seem to be ineffective.

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The uncertainty of everything that's going.

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The constant struggle as every day the news is reporting another tragedy,

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another conflict, another loss.

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There.

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There doesn't seem to be a shortage of fear running around.

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So in an effort to get away from that, we're going to jump to the past

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where we have the seven of spades for number nine, seven of spades,

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and this will be an interaction with love.

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So I think that.

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I think for this one I'm going to, I'm going to head to the early 19

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hundreds, to New Orleans to Nolens

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because I've been getting some, I've been getting some bad assignments and you know,

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I want to have a happy one, so I'm gonna head down to New Orleans to the

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big easy, and I'm gonna spend some time

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with jazz, and I'm going to spend some time with.

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This rising new movement coming out.

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And while I'm down there, while I'm down there, I'm going to meet

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a woman, a captivating woman who is going to completely ensnare my senses

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and.

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We are going to, we are going to spend several, several nights together laughing

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and dancing and experiencing each other as only two people caught up in the moment.

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Can.

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And,

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and if a, if I'm being honest with myself, this is, this is

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such a pleasant experience that

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I'm going to hide my pocket, watch away.

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I'm gonna hide my stopwatch.

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, and I'm just going to, I'm gonna live in this moment for as long as as long as I

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can, as long as I'm going to be allowed.

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And that's actually where we're gonna call the game for tonight,

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because that seems like the happiest ending that I'm gonna get.

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And I want a happy ending.

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I play a lot of horror games.

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I play a lot of games that get deep into my.

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, and I know this says a lot more about me than it does about the

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game, but you know the ones where you can have that happy ending.

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I, I really like those.

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But that is out of time.

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This is,

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this is a, this is a fun game.

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This is a nice twist on the, on the journaling.

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A lot of the, a lot of the journaling games present you a very linear approach,

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so bouncing around a lot between, between the past, the present, and the future.

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That is a, that is a nice novelty.

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One thing, . Yeah.

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One thing that I wish the game flushed out a little bit more was where, when in

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the pasture jumping to like if there was some type of, if there was some type of

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mechanic for how far back you're going.

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And I get why there's not because there's a lot of history and there's a lot of.

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So I get why there's not, it allows you to do whatever you kind of

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want, and I do appreciate that.

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You know, it's just also one of those, it's just also one of those,

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the prompts are, the prompts are fairly vague and repeating, so

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they aren't always, They aren't always the best and they

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don't, they don't necessarily indicate some type of timeframe,

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which, I mean, again, it's a positive because it's not like that prompt is going

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to tie you strongly to one thing, but you know, it's, it's one of those you have

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to kind of dig around and you have to figure out how you wanna respond to it.

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For a normal person playing this game, playing this game with the suggestion

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of, you know, only responding to one or two prompts a day, that's not gonna be

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that big of a deal because like several of the other card based journaling

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games we've played, like Galatea , Her Odyssey, that sort of thing, you

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know, draw your prompt in the morning, think about it throughout the day.

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Think of, you know, Do a little research, do a little checking and find something

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that resonates with you in that prompt,

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that format doesn't exactly work well for me especially with this podcast

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because, you know, it's one of those I have, I have to get the game out.

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I have to get enough out so that you guys get a feeling for the game.

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So the sitting and thinking about the proc response,

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it's not, it's not exactly practical for me.

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I, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna whip out my phone and record a record a TikTok of.

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, me drawing the card and then thinking about it and then stitching all

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those together to create this.

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That's, that's not exactly the formula that I'm running.

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But

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for someone not doing this, for some type of content creation,

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that that's a perfectly.

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format and could be an interesting way to engage with this game.

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And again, you know, just pulling the prompt and like spending some time to

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actually sit down and think about it instead of jumping on the first level

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of idea that comes to your head would definitely make this a lot more enjoyable.

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So again, on me, not the game.

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But at the end of the day, it's a very, it's a very light game.

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It's only four pages, and two of those pages are tables.

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So very light, very easy to pick up and get into.

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Again, I really like the concept.

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I like the non-linear aspect of it all.

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I like the fact.

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I like the fact that because you are out of time yourself, all these

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different random experiences give you that opportunity to let something

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from the future affect the present.

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That type of thing always amuses me.

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I, I always enjoy that type.

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thought process and and mental gymnastics.

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So a lot to like with this game.

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And if you liked what you saw, then you can check out out of timed over on Itch.

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You can find it at GingerGeekGal56.itch.io/out-of-time

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for the low, low price of name, your own price.

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So if you go pick it up remember at least toss them a dollar.

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We like to pay our creators around here because they make fun games for us.

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And if you do pick it up, tell 'em that Steel stash, sent ya.

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And remember, I must stash.