Post by Catsmate on Apr 13, 2021 18:39:51 GMT
Safety Not Guaranteed.
So said the classified ad in the September/October 1997 issue of Backwoods Home Magazine (page 92). In fact it read as follows:
A rather odd item, worthy of Sherlock Holmes' obsessive study of the 'agony columns' perhaps.
In the subsequent quarter-century the advert has become an internet phenomenon (albeit a minor one), generated thousands of replies (it still generates them), has inspired a film (Safety Not Guaranteed, actually rather good) , been read by Jay Leno, and discussed on television and numerous web forums (now including this one
). It's appeared in computer games and on t-shirts.
Now in reality it was, of course, a hoax. Time travel isn’t possible…..
It was written by John Silveira, who worked for the magazine as a senior editor. In the early days of Backwoods the publisher, Dave Duffy, used fillers when the classified ad pages came up short. He asked Silveira to insert jokes or riddles. But one night, when they were desperate to wrap up the classifieds Duffy again asked for filler material but Silveira was unable to think of any and opted to insert a couple of fake ads. This was one of them (the other was a personal ad, Silveira was single at the time).
In fact Silveira had thought of the ad years before, it was the opening for an unwritten novel.
Silveira had expected a couple of responses from the time travel ad; he got over a thousand.....
Game Use.
Of course in the Whoniverse time travel is very much real, and appears not to be that difficult for the correct mix of genius and insanity. So there the ad could be real....
Let's say it appears, either in '97 or elsewhen; it could happen today (in which case it'd probably be online) or earlier, in the Classic UNIT Era or even earlier, the Gaslight or Pulp periods were probably the heyday of odd personal/classified ads.
The PCs see it, or have it brought to their attention. They could be quietly reading the newspaper, have it mysteriously posted to them or (for UNIT or the Misfit Mob) their bosses drop it on them to check out ("It's probably nothing. But check it anyway.").
There's no reason to set the adventure in California; it could be fitted almost anywhere.
Option 1 - Real.
Perhaps someone has built a time machine, using Chronos Crystals perhaps? Or found one (War Lord SIDRAT, Vortex Manipulator, Dalek DARDIS or time contour generator) and learned how to use it. Now they've returned from their first trip and realise they need assistance; the ad suggests an element of danger. Can they operate the craft? Where did they go? Did they bring back anything dangerous? Advanced weapons, prehistoric or futuristic diseases, hitchhikers or just a pile of gold.
This version could be played for laughs (a lighter version of the Dalek films for example) or deadly serious, as the PCs are stuck with a mentally unstable genius, his malfunctioning time machine, the local populace and perhaps other who want the time machine.
Option 2 - Fake.
It's not real; perhaps like Time's Up or Escape in Time. It could be a simple hoax, a mentally disturbed inventor or just a serious of really weird coincidences.
The PCs may have to follow a trail to find the person responsible, either by replying and
Option 3 - It's a Trap.
Of course in the Whoniverse, even more than in the real world, the ad is going to get attention. And not just from the curious, the desperate and the greedy. Investigative agencies, like UNIT, know that time travel is real and they'll respond. Whatever town or city the adventure is set in will likely have a sudden influx of people; government agents as well as those of Mad Scientists, billionaires in the know, time travellers, the Hourglass Club and similar groups, and more. Who may be aware of each other and hostile; the film The Pink Panther Strikes Again has some wonderful scenes of various agencies' operatives killing each other off...
The audioplay Situation Vacant has elements of this too.
But the person who placed the ad doesn't have a time machine; she wants to acquire one and guesses that such an ad will attract time travellers, allowing her to steal one, or at least meet and join a real time traveller. What are her intentions? Is the town a trap for time travellers in general, someone in specific or is she just looking for a way out? And who is she? Perhaps a local ('ephemeral' in freetimer parlance) who's never travelled herself, a stranded time traveller, a temporally displaced person or someone exiled there...
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?
So said the classified ad in the September/October 1997 issue of Backwoods Home Magazine (page 92). In fact it read as follows:
WANTED: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 322, Oakview, CA 93022 You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety Not Guaranteed. I have only done this once before.
In the subsequent quarter-century the advert has become an internet phenomenon (albeit a minor one), generated thousands of replies (it still generates them), has inspired a film (Safety Not Guaranteed, actually rather good) , been read by Jay Leno, and discussed on television and numerous web forums (now including this one
). It's appeared in computer games and on t-shirts.Now in reality it was, of course, a hoax. Time travel isn’t possible…..
It was written by John Silveira, who worked for the magazine as a senior editor. In the early days of Backwoods the publisher, Dave Duffy, used fillers when the classified ad pages came up short. He asked Silveira to insert jokes or riddles. But one night, when they were desperate to wrap up the classifieds Duffy again asked for filler material but Silveira was unable to think of any and opted to insert a couple of fake ads. This was one of them (the other was a personal ad, Silveira was single at the time).
In fact Silveira had thought of the ad years before, it was the opening for an unwritten novel.
Silveira had expected a couple of responses from the time travel ad; he got over a thousand.....
Game Use.
Of course in the Whoniverse time travel is very much real, and appears not to be that difficult for the correct mix of genius and insanity. So there the ad could be real....
Let's say it appears, either in '97 or elsewhen; it could happen today (in which case it'd probably be online) or earlier, in the Classic UNIT Era or even earlier, the Gaslight or Pulp periods were probably the heyday of odd personal/classified ads.
The PCs see it, or have it brought to their attention. They could be quietly reading the newspaper, have it mysteriously posted to them or (for UNIT or the Misfit Mob) their bosses drop it on them to check out ("It's probably nothing. But check it anyway.").
There's no reason to set the adventure in California; it could be fitted almost anywhere.
Option 1 - Real.
Perhaps someone has built a time machine, using Chronos Crystals perhaps? Or found one (War Lord SIDRAT, Vortex Manipulator, Dalek DARDIS or time contour generator) and learned how to use it. Now they've returned from their first trip and realise they need assistance; the ad suggests an element of danger. Can they operate the craft? Where did they go? Did they bring back anything dangerous? Advanced weapons, prehistoric or futuristic diseases, hitchhikers or just a pile of gold.
This version could be played for laughs (a lighter version of the Dalek films for example) or deadly serious, as the PCs are stuck with a mentally unstable genius, his malfunctioning time machine, the local populace and perhaps other who want the time machine.
Option 2 - Fake.
It's not real; perhaps like Time's Up or Escape in Time. It could be a simple hoax, a mentally disturbed inventor or just a serious of really weird coincidences.
The PCs may have to follow a trail to find the person responsible, either by replying and
Option 3 - It's a Trap.
Of course in the Whoniverse, even more than in the real world, the ad is going to get attention. And not just from the curious, the desperate and the greedy. Investigative agencies, like UNIT, know that time travel is real and they'll respond. Whatever town or city the adventure is set in will likely have a sudden influx of people; government agents as well as those of Mad Scientists, billionaires in the know, time travellers, the Hourglass Club and similar groups, and more. Who may be aware of each other and hostile; the film The Pink Panther Strikes Again has some wonderful scenes of various agencies' operatives killing each other off...
The audioplay Situation Vacant has elements of this too.
But the person who placed the ad doesn't have a time machine; she wants to acquire one and guesses that such an ad will attract time travellers, allowing her to steal one, or at least meet and join a real time traveller. What are her intentions? Is the town a trap for time travellers in general, someone in specific or is she just looking for a way out? And who is she? Perhaps a local ('ephemeral' in freetimer parlance) who's never travelled herself, a stranded time traveller, a temporally displaced person or someone exiled there...
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?
