Help me mess with continuity...

[Anonymous]

Hey all. I am soon (fingers crossed) to start a B5 game for a small group. I would like to set the game on Babylon 5 itself but I want to have my way with the continuity of the show, to keep players guessing.

Now, most of the changes will happen based on their actions during games, but I do want some things to change regardless. I have three changes so far, and I would like to hear any other good ideas you have, or have implemented in your games.

Here is the list of changes I'd like to make so far:
There's no Sheridan-love in the group, so I'm thinking of keeping Sinclair on the station.
I'll have to send Delenn away to mind the Rangers, and replace her (with Neroon, perhaps?)
I'm also moving War Without End to the very end of what would be Season 5. It's also going to be a lot more dificult. (For a cross-time hijack, it went awfully smoothly)

Thoughts? Ideas? Anything you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

You are the GM, you can do whatever you want. I would suggest that you not down how your changes will effect the overall story line (for the sake of continuity).

One thing, is keeping Sinclair your choice or your players? You can't be dictated to by them.

 

[Dag'Nabbit]

I concur on the Sinclair/Sheridan issue. Though you do need to listen to your players' ideas don't do things merely because of that. It can lead to skewed campaigns, and often leaves a player out of the fun. I have noticed that you usually get one silent type in a group who goes along becuase he thinks his idea doesn't have as much merit. This withdraws him from the group and can lead to unhappiness.

To the points:

I don't have a problem leaving Sinclair on board. I ran across an alternate history someone wrote along the same lines but for an entirely different reason. Jha'Dur was alowed to make it to Earth becuase two Shadow vessels attacked and destroyed the Vorlon ship waiting for it outside B5. This leads to war between the races trying to get their hands on the anti-aging serum. His write up was done for the B5 Wars game but could easily apply the RPG as it is well developed (about 15 pages or so). I'll try to find it again and post the link here.

I'm not sure I agree with your choice of Neroon to replace Delenn. The Gray Council was against one of their members being assigned to this post in the first place, and I don't think that a member of the Warrior Caste would even be thought of to fulfill the function of ambassador. More than likely it would be a ranking member of the Religious Caste.

You're going to have to do a lot of work to mesh this out properly, the effect of having Sinclair on B5 for much longer will be dramatic. The EA President thought that he had a capable subordinate commanding B5 in the person of Sheridan, not a loose cannon like Sinclair. And since he was the only one selected by the Minbari he was automatically suspect. How the Ranger's operate may even have to be changed since it will be sometime before Sinclair becomes Ranger One, if ever. Well, I'll just leave it as you have a LOT of work to do.

Heck, why does Sinclair have to be Valen? The theft of B4 may not happen for a while, or maybe Sheridan and Sinclair have switched roles. Take it where you want to.

 

[Enlightened Bystander]

Will the reason for Sinclair's memory gap still be given at the end of Season 1? If it isn't, then Deleen will remain onboard as she only went initially to watch Sheridan

 

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of Sinclair and Sheridan switching roles.

Based on In the Beginning, Sheridan has that connection with the Minbari that might lead to him being made ambassador and maybe Ranger One. He is well suited to build a fighting force to take on the Shadows, maybe more so than Sinclair.

If Sinclair is not immediately removed, he can probably hang on until the third season where he will know his neck is on the block and breaks away from the Earth Alliance.

War Without End is touchy. It has to happen before the end of the Shadow War or there is no reason for it to happen at all. B5 wins the Shadow War because of the events of War Without End. Otherwise the Shadows blow them away due to their much greater strategic position. If you move it out to the end of Season 5, either the Shadow War has dragged out much longer, or the war is over. If the former, you're looking at a very different story. If the latter, than there's no point because the war is over and the threat is passed.

War Without End is the end of the line for Sinclair, one way or the other. He is Valen, and he goes back in time to become Valen. The question is, who takes over from him? Sheridan? Delenn? Ivonova?

One thing you might look at as well, to really shake things up. Mordan goes to all the ambassadors with his question, "What do you want?" When he talks to G'Kar, he almost finds what he wants, except for the follow up question, "What then?"

G'Kar answers that as long as his homeworld is safe, it doesn't matter, and so fails the test. Had he responded with a more militant statement, such as building the great Narn Empire, the Shadows would likely have thrown their support behind the Narn, rather than the Centauri. Suddenly the course of the war goes very differently.

 

[redlaco]

1-

Though you do need to listen to your players' ideas don't do things merely because of that. It can lead to skewed campaigns, and often leaves a player out of the fun.

And a sure way to sink a campaign is to force a GM to goes in a direction where he don't want to go.

2-

I ran across an alternate history someone wrote along the same lines but for an entirely different reason. Jha'Dur was alowed to make it to Earth becuase two Shadow vessels attacked and destroyed the Vorlon ship waiting for it outside B5. This leads to war between the races trying to get their hands on the anti-aging serum. His write up was done for the B5 Wars game but could easily apply the RPG as it is well developed (about 15 pages or so). I'll try to find it again and post the link here.

I heard of that file but I never found it; would love to though and I hope you find it. 8)

3-I've thought of another way to prevent the "But the main characters already deals with that issue in the show" bug. You could start them off as member of the new command and ambassadors team as revealed in Season 5's "Objects at Rest" episode. It would make an interesting high-level campaign as they are faced by heavy responsabilities but have the ressources to fulfill them. It have the advantage of giving full creative license to the GM, since not much is known of that era.

So the players could impersonate :

• The new Narn ambassador Ta'Lon

• The new Centauri ambassador Vir

• A brand new Membari Ambassador

• Any other ambassador from the League of Non-Aligned Worlds

• The new chief of staff of B5's medlab, Dr. Hobbs

• The (let's say) second in command Corwin

• The new head of Alliance intelligence, Tessa Holloran (Number One)

• The Chief of Security Zack Allan

• The Station commander Elizabeth Lochley

You might reconsider allowing the last three as PC, though.

 

[Silverthorne]

Another option would be to have a player in a place that makes him apart of the situations on B-5.

The new LT that would do anything for the commander, not like Corwin who was for earth and a danger to the roles that the group was trying to fill.

The medical officer with a perchance for mysteries. A lot of things were screwy and Franklin may have been a obsessive compulsive but not everyone is.

Med lab 4 being out of the way and unnoticed might get one too many rangers. Someone noticed the pin and investigated.

A lurker that has figured out how to move through the air vents and listen to all the secret councils of Babylon 5.

The Security guard that is loyal to the Night Watch and notices one too many things out of the ordinary.

The worker that sees more than he needs to. (Sees Morden talking to a shadow on the station.)

 

[redlaco]

Good ideas Silverthorne! 8)
On your last point: I don't think the Shadows would get their cloaking off to talk to Morden on the station, though.