Gamemasters that want to prepare a Timeship: TITANIC! campaign have a lot of latitude. The ship's wanderings allow her to show up in just about any established game universe, where the denizens there can react to and interact with the ship and its crew. Player characters from any system can help the crew as they race to fulfill a certain task before their ship is sucked away again.

To run an adventure aboard the Titanic herself will require a lot of preparation. For starters, you should familiarize yourself with the ship's layout and history. Fortunately there are several fine books out there which include diagrams of her interior spaces and other information. The book Titanic: An Illustrated History is an excellent resource with photographs of almost every part of the ship taken during her construction, as promotional aids by White Star, or by persons who disembarked before she sailed into legend. An added bonus is the full color fold out cross section of the ship on pages 48, 49, & 50. Another source would be the Titanic Historical Society PO. Box 53, Indian Orchard Mass, 01151 USA. Dedicated to preserving the memory of this great and tragic ship, the society maintains an extensive archive of information on her including a full set of deck plans! (Inquire as to the cost of obtaining copies)

When running a Timeship: TITANIC! campaign, the primary thing to remember is that the ship can jump at anytime without warning. This should be stressed to your players and add urgency to their endeavors.

The Gamemaster should determine the amount of time the ship will be in a particular reality, either by dice roll or predetermination and keep this secret from the players, but still drop subtle hints that time is running out in order to spur them on if they lag too much, such as Dr. Barton announcing that he has detected a buildup in the energy cocoon surrounding the ship, or perhaps having a player or NPC see the ship "wink" in and out.

A specific goal should be set for the players to accomplish in the time allotment before the ship jumps once again. Also don't forget to add in the risks of being caught out on deck when the ship jumps, which might include being driven insane, or incinerated by an energy arc. To help you get the creative juices flowing, here are some quick adventure ideas below:

To save the Iron Queen

The last jump was more trying than others, with the result that the Titanic's structural integrity has been compromised. The players must shore up the damage before the next jump or the ship will split apart at the damaged section during the next passage. This should have a solid time limit.

Race Against Doom

The ship has appeared on a world where the seas are composed of pure acid. The players must get the engines working and get the ship to the coordinates of another portal before the acid eats through the hull.

Breakout!

The players are captured while on an away mission and jailed. Can they escape and make their way back to the Titanic before she jumps, stranding them forever?

Battle for the Lady

Bruce Ismay has escaped from his confinement and freed his fellow crazed passengers. They now roam the ship and have committed sabotage that has crippled her on a world whose sun is about to go nova. The players have to round up Ismay and his followers and repair the damage before they're all annihilated.

Other Adventures

While the above ideas mostly involve the players either racing to accomplish their mission before the deadline, or attempting to prevent the ship's destruction, one should not neglect the potential of what could happen if they indeed are stranded in some reality, either by accident or design. This scenario can serve to introduce players quickly into campaigns set in other game universes (Ala the Warlord series of comics from DQ, or for spin-off adventures with the players carving out empires in primitive cultures by virtue of their superior knowledge, or unbeknownst to them, being the catalyst for some historical event (a great example is the movie, The Final Countdown in which the jet jock left behind in 1941 eventually designs the U.S.S. Nimitz).

Hopefully, the information presented here will interest you enough to create your own Timeship: TITANIC! campaign. The general parameters of the concept were left generic in order to allow you to adapt the concept to your favorite game system and set of rules, so you can get into the action as quickly as possible. I designed this concept with the joy of exploration and adventuring in mind, not to determine what the Titanic's movement allotment might be or whether or not a player's Mauser pistol is going to have the punch to penetrate a medieval knight's armor.

Adventure Aboard A Ship Lost in Time

Background
People of the Titanic
Running a Timeship Titanic Campaign