The Time Syndicate | Get Rich, Time Travel, Save the World
You did it — the perfect heist. But a funky temporal anomaly has your brain all out of whack. Your buyer doesn't exist anymore. Better find a new one.
$25.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Tuesday - 10:00 AM UTC
Session Duration / 3–3.5 hours
Campaign Length / 8+ Sessions
0 / 5 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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About the adventure
• Commit time crime! You and your crew have just pulled off a truly bodacious heist, and now you're holding on to a groovy canister of pure alluvium, quantum instability in physical form. It's very dangerous and very valuable. Except, you have no memory of ever stealing it, or even of meeting your buyer. How did you get here? That time anomaly was a bad trip, but perhaps you can still find a way to get out of this richer, or at least, one version of you can. • Your story is unique from Session 0 When we begin, you decide what kind of crew you're rolling with. Are you shadowy spies, looking to recover vital intel, leaving nothing but a used martini glass behind? Maybe you're a bunch of street hustlers, searching desperately for that one last job that can set you up for life. Or perhaps you're revolutionaries, looking to stick it to the man and score one for the little guy. • A retro-futurist science fantasy set in the age of flower power and bubble cars The world of Blades '68 is a truly unique setting infused with the bright colours and groovy tunes of the 1960s. New technologies have revolutionised the world, but things have only got harder for most people. Criminal souls are locked into mechanical bodies to repay their debt to society, and vengeful ghosts attempt to bypass the force fields that bathe the city in artifical sunlight. • Neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ friendly I welcome players and encourage stories from all walks of life. I want everyone to be comfortable at my table. With my player form, you can let me know about any special requirements you have or topics you want to avoid. If you're not having fun, I'm not having fun.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
4 years on StartPlaying
37 games hosted
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Beginner Friendly, Creativity
About me
I'm a British writer, former teacher and stage performer living in Switzerland. The first time I ran a game of Dungeons & Dragons for children, it began with a bar fight and ended with a dragon being punched in the face. I've run RPGs for hundreds of people, but the violent urges of grown adults never compare to the seven-year-old boy playing a dwarf who lived in the woods with his army of bunnies. Playing RPGs can make you more creative, more empathetic and more confident, but sometimes you just need to punch a dragon in the face. I run games for players of all ages and experience levels in every system under the sun, including D&D, Mothership and Avatar: Legends. I am a qualified English teacher and an amateur standup and improv comedian, and I bring that same energy (and patience) to my games. As your GM, I make it my mission to tell a story that truly belongs to you. So if you’re looking for games where you really get to dive into your character’s backstory and their relationships, where discovering your character arc is as important as saving the world, then you’ll love my games. Sometimes, the real prize was the friends we made along the way.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
All playbooks are available and characters will begin without any XP. Our first session is our Session 0. This is not only where you will establish your characters' backgrounds and relationships, but we will also decide what kind of crew you are members of and explore what is unique about our campaign's world. Players can choose to create their characters completely before the first session, prepare an idea but no character sheet, or wait until Session 0 to decide everything. You are welcome to message me to ask questions or for help with developing your idea.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Once you sign up, you will receive instructions for joining the Discord server for the game. When we play, I'll invite you to join my Roll20 server in your browser. I recommend joining on a computer or laptop. You can create a Roll20 account for free. To ensure that everyone has fun, I use a variety of safety tools. Before the campaign begins, I will send you all a form which explains the basic expectations for the game and gives you a chance to anonymously let me know about any triggers you want me and other players to exclude from the game.
What Jim the GM brings to the table
I will explain all of the rules as we play and can provide help on creating a character before the first session. I have access to all of the game materials, which I will share in the server. If you want to know more about the game, feel free to message me. I follow the Rule of Cool when playing, and I believe in 'failing forward'. A roll should always move the story in an interesting direction, whether a character succeeds or fails. Rolls and combat move quickly in my games, but they should always be exciting. I bring sessions to life with dramatic voices for NPCs and bombastic descriptions of action. I like to involve players in setting scenes too, so we create the world together.
Homebrew rules
I follow the standard Blades '68 rules. If you want to play with homebrew content you have made yourself or from outside the standard rules, please message me, and we can discuss how to make it work in the game.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Jim the GM creates a safe table
There will be a ten-minute break in the middle of every session. Players can request a five-minute break at any time. We will use the X card system to provide an easy way for players to halt play, change a scene or move on if part of the game makes them uncomfortable. It’s crucial to me that all players feel comfortable and have fun. Before the campaign begins, I will send all players a form where they can share their topic exclusion and wish list.
Content warnings
Safety tools used