Timeless is one of those Netflix Originals that really appeals to me. I used to be a fan of Quantum Leap with its kitsch “Oh Boy” catchphrase. Rather than jumping from body to body as in QL; the Timeless team jump back to key moments in US history to try and stop someone from destroying the United States as we know it.
As the season 1 unfold a greater conspiracy unfolds and the season finale ends with an excellent cliffhanger, which I will not spoil for you.
The time machine of the heroes is called the lifeboat and was the back up for the mothership. The mothership is stolen at the beginning of episode 1. The lifeboat crew are jut enough of an adventuring party to enable them to handle a really nice mix of adventures. You have a military officer, historian and a tech. Between them they have enough of a skill set to cover all bases.
This whole idea of broadbased characters is one that has never fitted well with level and profession/character class based roleplaying games. The military character is called Wyatt Logan and portrayed as being Delta Force. He has the obvious combat skills but has also displayed skill in first aid, bomb disposal, military history as well as many social skills that turn up in RPGs such as seduction, public speaking, influence and deception. Rufus Carlin is the scientist character but also a programmer/coder, driver and pilot and even turns his had to black smithing to create some copper foil to build a capacitor. What character class would he be?
The other breaking point for many games is levels. The usual progression is from less competent or ‘1st level’ characters to more experienced and more competent higher levels. The characters in Timeless were chosen as the ‘best available’. They certainly are not incompetent.
3Deep characters are ideally designed to play these kinds of roles and tell this kind of story. The characters have wide ranging skills each of which can be nuanced by changing the stat bonus applied. A Blacksmith may use his Craft skill with his strength bonus when hammering lumps of pig iron but the same skill with his empathy when creating items of elegance and beauty. Sure characters improve their skills over time but you do not have to start from a point where their first encounter is 50/50 as to whether it will wipe out the heroes!
Playing in the Timeless universe is a pretty good intro to the the 3Deep game system. You do not need to know about magic and monsters (3Deep does both with ease). All the foes to be faced are humans, particularly Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s, The British, before American Independence, and the Mexicans at the Alamo. It is always useful when the bad guys where a uniform!
If you are introducing new players to RPGs for the first time then having a rule set that you can create a character in 10 minutes and the bad guys are obvious it makes life easier! The simple self contained plot is easy to comprehend and there is no real stretch of the imagination to try and visualise orcs, goblins and beholders! (Not that you would throw a beholder at a starting party but you know what I mean!)
If you have watched the show and you want a cute little one-off adventure then why not give 3Deep a go. It is available from Amazon (print only) and RPGNow both in Print and PDF!