Road: An Odyssey Through Time and Space

[Ketvanin]

So, I've decided to write an epic. Not a just a long story, an epic. It's going to take me a long time, but it'll be cool when it's done.

The story is about a man named Timothy Smith. He finds a book, called the Time Code, and is given the ability to travel through time and visit an infinite amount of alternate universes. For instance, at one point he goes back to World War II, but he's also been to a world of magic and fantasy. Plus, he can travel through time in that world, too.

The Time Code details rules that must be followed by everything. Breaking the rules causes the rulebreaker to be "time-doomed" which means that their destruction is inevitable. See, you can prevent a person's death by going back in time and saving them (also creating an alternate reality where they're alive) but with time doom, you'd save that person from the falling boulder just to have him fall off a cliff. Objects can be time-doomed too. The Time Code is also what powers Timothy's abilities. It works on a karma system. When Timothy accomplishes things, he is given some karma which is tracked in the book. He can spend that karma to go back in time or into different worlds.

The story doesn't have one Big Bad, but rather functions as a bunch of story arcs. There will be recurring villains who wreak havoc in their universes, as well as certain things that exist in every universe, but altered to fit their own world. For instance: Some guy could have a twin in every universe, with each being slightly different. Timothy is the only one who can travel between universes, but there are a select few who can travel through time.

I can't really write this thing on my own, so I'm recruiting people to write parts for me and submit their own ideas for worlds, stories, characters, and other ideas. Almost anything goes, with the exception of crossovers from other media and a few other things I can't remember. Depending on how much you contribute, you either get credited as a co-author or contributor.

Anyway, if you want to help me with this, post some ideas.

[Phauss]

I like this a lot. I'd be interested to see where this goes and I think it'd be fun to take part. What kind of person is the main character in personality, ability, and alignment? What are his overall circumstances?

[Ketvanin]

I'm not exactly sure yet, but I wrote the first draft of the first chapter. (maybe prologue?) Read this before you read the below It's not finished yet, but its almost there.

He's abruptly taken from his life, which is a very boring routine. The first chapter is just meant to show how boring his life is. It's not very long, though. I think it's important to not reveal much about his past. We keep it vague. Like with his father. We'll never say his first name.

Most of the work I do for my projects are just notes for possible stories. I don't have much experience in writing, which is why I need help with that from people who enjoy writing. I could always use idea people, too.

One of my ideas was for him to get thrown back to the weeks preceding Jesus' birth. At first he can't really figure out what's going on, but the three magi decide to let him travel with them. About halfway into that story, he puts all the clues together and realizes that he's going to see Jesus. When he sees Jesus as a newborn, he feels his divinity. (important to note is that the god of that timeline only controls the world in that timeline.) The point to this story is that he can't tell if this is the true timeline that would eventually spawn him, or an alternate universe where Jesus really was the son of god. Traveling to see Jesus gives him enough karma to leave that world and get back on whatever quest he was on, but I think he should take something with him from that world as a souvenir. Maybe some random trinket from a magi.

Another idea was for a very important and influential arc. He disobeys the Time Code to go back in time and save his father. He learns that his father made the ultimate sacrifice to save his squad, so he tries to prevent whatever would cause his father to need to do that. After many many tries, he realizes that his father is time-doomed. After seeing his father die so many times coupled with the fact that with all his power, he could do nothing to save him, Timothy goes into a deep depression. Before leaving for the final time, he leaves behind his father's knife, Slicer, at his body. After conquering his depression, Timothy becomes a tyrant and takes over numerous worlds and timelines.

This arc finishes up with a younger Timothy traveling to Tyrant Timothy's home to kill him and undo all the destruction he would eventually cause. Seeing his future self, Timothy learns about what happens, learns from his mistakes before he makes them, kills the Tyrant Timothy with Slicer (which gets accidentally knocked away by Tyrant Timothy after having his throat slit. The knife is destroyed somehow accidentally after being knocked away.), and continues his odyssey. I'm not really sure what the point of this one is, but it is interesting to me. Plus, it's implied that Slicer, the knife, is also time-doomed.

Also, having two Timothys only happens because the Time Code needed someone to carry out the time-dooming. What better person to kill the timebreaker than the timebreaker? In this way, the Time Code itself sometimes expresses its own personality.

Those are my two big ideas. I'm not really sure if I forgot to post some part of those two ideas, so if something doesn't quite make sense, ask me.

[Ketvanin]

Everyone and anyone can submit ideas and apply for writing spots.

[Forb]

I've got a very cool badass female character that I will be writing things for in this. It works well because she is a character I have created that I usually play in D&D games and write into other things. This is the perfect story for her to adapt into because of the nature of her traveling through the multiverse.

[Forb]

For reference:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/x83p0/does_magic_need_rules/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_magick

[Ketvanin]

I really don't like the time travel explanation with the fourth dimension being time. This is how I think of the fourth dimension. I prefer the explanation where going back in time merely creates an alternate universe.

Your character should fit in fine, but you should definitely write her chapters. It has to tie in with Timothy eventually, though.

[Ketvanin]

I just thought of a character who has insight into what's going on throughout the multiverse. He'd be a really old guy who's let his hair grow out really long with a cool beard. He'd wear a tattered robe, but he'd also be blind and have those cool eyes that blind folk have.

"He knows everything except what's in front of him."

[Forb]

Anything but a blind seer, for the love of all this is holy and unholy.

[Ketvanin]

fine fine. But you have to remember that everything does exist somewhere in the multiverse.