Guild Intake Briefing (Dialogue)

You slowly become alert, your brain swimming through a gauzy haze of half-forgotten memories. There were the shots pumded, beer guzzled, a conversation was had. What did they say? Did I black out? But no, the gist of the words comes to you now. An Exotic is talking to you about your potential and the possibilities for greatness. Dangled before you were exotic adventures and a system that would allow you to thrive. You seem to remember a promise of unimaginable wealth. A question was asked. Despite the excess of alcohol, you remember the question clearly. "Do you want to join the Multiverse Adventurers Guild?" and my answer, fueled by the booze, was a yes...

​

The fog clears even more. You feel like you are floating on a cloud. Before you is a portal swirling purple and gray that pulses with power. An Exotic that you have never seen before stands before the portal, looking wise. Looking calm. You get the feeling they have done this before, whatever this is. You look around. There are others here. Each at their own level of alertness. They are a bizarre mix of species in various costumes. One appears to be a Western gunslinger. Another pirate. Yet another a knight.

​

What rabbit hole have I fallen down, you think to yourself, and can I get out? The hangover drives the sudden fear of what you have gotten yourself into. You always get yourself into some kind of trouble. Can I back out of this? And what would be the consequences of that decision? You feel the room around you growing restless. 

“Before we begin, understand this clearly: you are not here because of where you’re from, when you’re from, or what world you call home. You’re here because you showed potential.

​

The Guild doesn’t care if you’re a knight, a hacker, a witch, a gunslinger, or something no one here has a name for yet. If you can survive, adapt, and make decisions under pressure, we can work with you. Our systems will let you build what you already are—close enough that it won’t matter in the field.”

​

The handler pauses, letting that sink in.

​

“We exist to monitor timelines in flux. When worlds drift, fracture, or start breaking their own rules, we step in. Sometimes that means investigation. Sometimes it means diplomacy. Sometimes it means violence. You’ll decide which.”

​

They tap a control and a holographic ledger flickers to life.

​

“Here’s the offer. For every successful assignment, compensation is placed into a private account under your name. You can leave the Guild at any time. When you do, the money goes with you. No debt. No ownership. No chains.”

​

A faint smile.

​

“We don’t recruit heroes because they’re perfect. We recruit them because they’re becoming something. Right now, you’re better than average—stronger, smarter, luckier than most of the people in your home reality. That’s enough. The rest comes from surviving. You will be sent into a timeline with what you can carry. We have no way to give you money because we monitor too many timelines. If you need money or gear, find it yourself. Just don't do anything to alter the timeline.”

​

The handler looks directly at each of you in turn.

​

They step aside, a portal beginning to form behind them.

​

“So. Welcome to the Multiverse Adventurers Guild.

Your first job is waiting.

Try not to break anything important.” 

​

​

 

Vision Pack

Spectral augmentation optics.

Provides the following visual modes at will:

• Low-Light Vision

• Thermal/Infrared

• Magnification Zoom (up to 20×)

•  AI enhances weapons to be far more accurate. The gun interfaces with the nervous system via the user's hand (through gloves), allowing direct neural input to the brain. Modern weapons have S.A.F.E systems (Specialized Accuracy Friend/Foe Exclusion Systems). These systems eliminate friendly fire incidents by having the user label combatants as friend, non-combatant, or foe, preventing rounds from being fired down range at a friendly target. This system eliminates the need for triggers, as the weapons are triggered by thought. These weapons can only be operated by an authorized user based on genetic patterns. You can't be shot with your own gun. SAFE systems were an improvement over earlier systems because the direct neural input makes them unhackable. 

• SAFE system aids in coordinating attacks. Every player rolls Initiative, but the Heroes start on the highest initiative roll. The Heroes all act on the same initiative. A Hero can choose a different Initiative, for example, waiting for an enemy's action. The Hero can then spect a Reaction to act when they want to.

• Weapons automatically conform to a specific time. For instance, if a play brings a plasma gun into a setting that doesn't have that tech, the Multiverse will make it visibly conform to the universe. The weapon operates as normal.

 

Switching modes is a Free Action.

Can be taken as:

• Cybernetic eye implant

• Contact-lens mesh

• Goggles

• Helmet visor

 

Languages: The Multiverse has one Language, Universal. There are exceptions to this if the GM has in-game reasons for this.

​

Species: (see species section)

​

From this point forward, there is an extensive breakdown of how the Guild Operates. GMs and Heroes can function in the Multiverse using the prior pages.

How Heroes Move Between Timelines

Each mission follows a standard operational flow.

​

1. Briefing

The Brains (or a designated Handler) present:

• Mission objective

• Target timeline’s general state

• Known threats (e.g., MPS involvement, Anchor instability)

• Exfiltration plan

• Any restricted realities or local laws

• Faction warnings (if political tension is expected)

        

Heroes are advised to explore the timeline they are in to gather data and further their experience as a cohesive unit.
 

Handlers often include:

• Maps

• Historical summaries

• Social dos/don’ts (what gets you burned as a witch, imprisoned as an android, etc.)

• Gear cache locations in the timeline

​

2. Special Equipment Issue

The party receives mission-specific assets such as:

​​​

• Infinity Discs for passive data collection

• PIP (Perceptual Integration Polymer) for disguise 

• Protective timeline anchors

• Localized comms scramblers
   

This phase prevents culture shock and timeline contamination.

3. Prep & Research

PCs may:

• Research historical details

• Use knowledge skills - you will be briefed on what to expect. Any abnormalities in the timeline you will have to figure out. Knowing basic things in a timeline might be a TN of 12. Abnormalities might be 16+.

• Learn local myths, laws, and taboos

• Study political structures

• Identify anchor events

• Prepare disguises or covers

• Weapon laws
   

More researched timelines = safer missions.
 

Poorly documented worlds = improvisation and chaos.

​

Heroes are given the basics of what is known of the timeline. They will make knowledge rolls to test that knowledge. These may have TNs of 12 or 14. However, unexpected events, people, or other issues may require a higher TN to account for the lack of information in the briefing.

 

4. Insertion

The Wheel aligns, and the party steps through.

Insertion can place PCs:

​

• exactly where intended

• miles or continents away

• days before or after the “expected” time

• in the wrong version of the timeline

• briefly inside a Chrono-Storm echo

• in a universe where local physics differs

• ​

Once inserted, Heroes operate independently.
No resupply.
No reinforcements.
No contact except in rare, stable timelines.

 

5. Mission Execution

Common tasks:

• Rescue stranded Guild agents

• Assassination (preventing catastrophic shifts)

• Infiltration

• DNA retrieval

• Artifact retrieval

• Enhancement recovery

• Counter-MPS operations

• Monitor exotic phenomena

• Place, remove, or update Infinity Discs

• Eliminate rogue Guild members (“Lone Wolves”)

• track down and eliminate rogue elements that manipulate the timelines for their own gain
   

PCs often find they must improvise when timelines behave unexpectedly.

 

6. Exfiltration

The Disc Detection Compass guides PCs to the extraction point.
Exfil may involve:

• Another wheel alignment

• portable lane anchors

• time-lane “gliding” walks

• rendezvous with an extraction team

• improvised methods if the Lane collapses early
   

Even exfiltration can go wrong.

 

The guild hierarchy follows. The name, function, and other details will be described.

History of the Guild

 

History of the Multiverse Adventurers Guild

​

“To map and preserve timelines in flux.”

​

The First Disturbances (Era of Unstable Threads)

No one agrees on which universe existed first - nor if “first” is even a meaningful concept. What is agreed upon is this: long before the Guild existed, the multiverse began to fray.

Events that should have remained fixed began to oscillate. Key individuals were born twice, or not at all. Entire worlds experienced retroactive shifts - nations appearing overnight, wars that suddenly had different outcomes, memories that conflicted across populations.

These anomalies were not random. They clustered around what would later be called Anchor Points - events so critical to a timeline’s structure that destabilizing them sent reality rippling outward.

When too many Anchor Points wavered at once, the first Chrono-Storms erupted: violent surges of contradictory timelines crashing together. Survivors described them as “history burning cold,” “time folding inward,” or “storms where every version of you screams at you to run.”

The Founding of the Guild (The Convergence Accord)

Amid growing chaos, a coalition of scholars, explorers, mages, technologists, monks, and outcasts from a dozen universes met at a nexus realm—later named The Convergence.

Led by:

• Ardell Voss, historian of the Fractured Earths.

• Captain Rhyssa Ward, dimensional explorer.

• Solimander, the first temporal mage known to understand Anchor Points.

• Orrin-Skarr, a giant artificer whose world had been lost to Chrono-Storm collapse.

• ​

They agreed on a principle that would define the Guild forever:

“Timelines deserve autonomy. Reality must be protected, not rewritten.”

Thus, the Multiverse Adventurers Guild - simply “the Guild” - was established. Its purpose was to:

1. Map and document historical structures across universes.
    

2. Identify Anchor Points at risk of destabilization.
    

3. Intervene only to prevent catastrophic fractures.
    

Their mission was conservation, not control.

The First Expeditions (Charting the Impossible)

The Guild’s earliest members ventured into unstable universes, often risking erasure. They discovered that:

• Some timelines were reactive, fighting back against interference.

• Others were rigid, collapsing under small deviations.

• A rare few were fluid, capable of absorbing massive changes.
   

Guild agents became experts at navigating these distinctions. They charted thousands of worlds, built the first Timeline Atlases, and established safe access routes through the multiversal pathways known as Lanes.

It was during these explorations that the Guild discovered their greatest rival.

​

Rise of the Multiverse Preservation Society (MPS)

The Multiverse Preservation Society was founded with the opposite belief:

“Timelines must be perfected, corrected, and made efficient.”

While the Guild sought to protect the natural flow of history, the MPS sought to shape it - eliminating people, events, or civilizations they judged “corruptive.”

Early conflicts were ideological. Later, they became direct confrontations:

• The Hitler Event: MPS attempted an assassination to “correct” a timeline; the Guild intervened, preserving continuity.

• The T-Kat Uma Incident: MPS tried removing a Nima Prefectorate noble they believed was destabilizing; the Guild prevented it again.

• The Chrono-Vault Crisis: MPS attempted to rewrite a timeline wholesale.
   

Each event widened the rift.

The War of Diverging Truths

The Guild does not declare war lightly. But when the MPS activated multiple simultaneous Anchor disruptions - nearly fracturing six universes - the Guild mobilized.

The war raged across hundreds of worlds. It was not fought with armies, but with events:

• Saving a diplomat in one reality.

• Ensuring a birth happened in another.

• Preventing artificial timeline “optimization.”

• Protecting fragile worlds from cascading failure.

• ​

The final battle occurred in a neutral lane called the Quiet Path, where both factions nearly collapsed the corridor outright. Stabilizing it required sacrifice: dozens of agents gave up their own timelines, choosing oblivion so that others might survive.

Afterward, an uneasy armistice formed. The MPS continues to operate, but from the shadows, always testing boundaries. The Guild remains vigilant.

The Modern Guild

Today, the Guild stands as the largest multiversal organization dedicated to preserving historical integrity. Its structure includes:

The Gateway

A massive multidimensional hub where agents from every genre, era, and reality gather.

The Archives

A living library containing countless timelines - mapped, cataloged, and continually updated.

The Field Teams

Groups of diverse Heroes: cybernetic soldiers, knights, witches, pilots, shamans, androids, superheroes, and more. Their diversity is a strength - no mission is too strange when the multiverse is infinite.

The Mission Board

Operations range from:

• Preventing catastrophic Anchor disruption

• Investigating anomalies

• Escorting critical historical figures

• Countering MPS intervention

• Cataloging emergent timelines
   

Each assignment carries risks—including the risk of being overwritten by the timeline itself.

Ongoing Threats

The multiverse never rests. Current threats include:

• Phantom Erasures: Entire societies vanishing without temporal shockwaves.

• Synthetic Timelines: Artificial universes created by unknown forces.

• The Null Concordant: A rumored faction seeking to collapse all timelines into one.

• MPS Black Cells: Rogue units acting even against MPS leadership.

Why the Guild Endures

The Guild endures because the multiverse demands defenders. It endures because every world - every culture, every person, every story - deserves the right to exist without being “corrected” into oblivion.

Most of all, it endures because heroes answer the call.

Heroes like you.

 

How the Guild Operates

A structured overview for players and GMs

The Nature of Multiversal Operations

The Multiverse Adventurers Guild exists inside the Guildverse, a stable nexus realm engineered and expanded by generations of Brains, Techies, and Normies. From here, the Guild launches expeditions to thousands of unstable or partially charted timelines. Players (Heroes) are the action arm—elite operatives deployed across realities to preserve historical integrity.

The Guild’s power is vast, but not unlimited. It operates within the restrictions of:

• Lane availability (safe paths between universes)

• Timeline stability windows

• Multiversal physics (Anchor Points, Chrono-Storms, paradox recoil)

• The Wheel, the Guild’s largest portal engine

• Brain-approved operations defined by core doctrine: “Protect history, don’t rewrite it.”
   

​

Operational Hierarchy

The Guild is not a military - but it does have structure.

Brains (Strategists & Mission Architects)

• Design missions

• Research timelines

• Determine Anchor stability

• Decide when Heroes must intervene

• Serve as political overseers (a High Brain sits in the Council of 13)
   

Heroes 

• Field operatives recruited from across the multiverse

• Versatile, autonomous, and resourceful

• Expected to act independently once inserted

• Complete missions defined by the Brains

• Often ignore the “no factions” rule

• Chosen for potential, not initial power

Techies (Support & Engineering Wing)

• Maintain Guild tech (Infinity Discs, implants, PIP systems, drones)

• Build special mission gear

Normies

• The descendants of long-term residents

• Run every day Guildverse life (shops, cafeterias, maintenance, etc.)

• Provide cultural and logistical stability

• The social backbone of the Guild

Politicos (Governance & Policy)

• Representatives from every group

• Form the Council of 13 (12 Politicos + 1 High Brain)

• Balance exploration, ethics, and safety

• Constantly manage tensions with the MPS

Reeves (Internal Security)

• Guild police force

• Maintain law and order

• Equipped with +3 gear and at least one combat drone

• Highly trained and highly feared

• The only group allowed to arrest or detain Heroes
   

​

Travel Between Timelines

Travel occurs through The Wheel, a mile-wide rotating portal complex built like a massive clock. Each “hour” is keyed to a specific Lane - a safe path that temporarily aligns with one or more target universes.

The Wheel

• A colossal circular structure

• Rotates rhythmically through 12 portal alignments

• Creates windows of opportunity where insertion is possible

• Has a primary gate (for arrival/departure) and a smaller adjacent service door for Guild personnel

• ​

Above the Wheel sits swirling multiversal darkness—where Lane energies and unstable timelines churn.

Travel Constraints

The Multiverse is not stable. The Guild can only travel when timeline wrinkles allow insertion.

Wrinkles are:

• temporary

• unpredictable

• sometimes dangerous

• exploited ruthlessly by Guild navigators

• ​

Even a perfectly timed insertion can shift by miles, minutes, or metaphysical offsets (e.g., memory ghosts, identity bleed, environmental anomalies).

 

Risks of Timeline Travel

Traveling the multiverse is dangerous. PCs regularly face:

1. Timeline Drift

Arriving not exactly where (or when) expected.
Symptoms include:

• déjà vu

• missing memories

• NPCs who “remember” the PCs differently

• misaligned mission parameters

• out-of-date intel
   

2. Anchor Instability

Key events in a timeline may be fragile.
A tiny change (even unintentional) can cause:

• fractures

• retcon shockwaves

• Chrono Storms-Storms

• altered physics

• sudden erasure of local individuals or cities
   

Heroes must tread carefully.

3. Paradox Recoil

Certain actions create reality backlash:

• psychic distortion

• physical harm

• Timeline rejection (Heroes get “spat out” of the mission)

• spontaneous duplication

• forced substitution (Hero sees a version of themselves completing the mission instead)
   

4. Environmental Variance

Each universe obeys its own rules:

• Magic-heavy worlds may overload tech

• High-tech worlds may destabilize magic

• Elemental universes burn, freeze, or crush newcomers

• Psychic universes read players’ thoughts as speech

• Quantum universes collapse when observed incorrectly
   

5. Chrono-Storms

The worst-case scenario.
A Chrono-Storm is a collision of contradictory timelines.
Symptoms:

• frozen lightning

• voices speaking from multiple versions of yourself

• gravity shifts

• impossible geometry

• temporary or permanent hero deletion
   

Heroes in a Chrono-Storm are in extreme danger.

6. MPS Interference

The Multiverse Preservation Society works to perfect timelines.
Their interference can:

• disrupt cover

• sabotage missions

• weaponize Anchor Points

• Lure Heroes into false timelines

• attempt to overwrite key individuals (including Heroes)
   

7. Guild Rogue Agents

Sometimes operatives refuse to return. These “Lone Wolves” are experts in:

• camouflage

• time hijacking

• using local populations as shields

• manipulating Anchor Points for personal gain

• ​

Heroes may be tasked with capturing or eliminating them.

 

Why Heroes Matter

Guild agents - your Heroes - are the first and last line of defense against:

• timeline collapse

• multiversal corruption

• MPS optimization

• Anchor Point manipulation

• Chrono-Storm proliferation

• rogue technology injection

• existential threats from unknown timelines
   

The Guild survives because heroes keep answering the call.

Your players are those heroes.

Guild Field Device: “Chronoline Node”

Standard-issue multiverse sidekick, part mission-control, part conscience.

 

What it is

A palm-sized, self-deploying device (wrist bracer, belt clip, or floating “coin” – player’s choice) that links the team to Guild HQ.

• Core functions

• Monitors local and macro timelines for deviations.

• Pushes follow-on missions based on the team's work.

• Provides exfiltration guidance when things go sideways.

• Logs everything for debrief (and accountability).

• Evaluate and define treasure and how it works

It's run by a semi-personalized Guild AI and a swarm of micro-drones that sniff at probability, mana flows, and data streams alike.

 

Player-Facing Modes

Give the players these three big buttons/modes:

1. Timeline Monitor

“Warning: Probability spike. Your last choice increased divergence by 7.3%.”

What it does in play

• Anomaly Pings: When the team is about to do something pivotal, the Node may “ping”:
   

  • The GM can say:

  • Green: “Low impact – the Guild is fine with this.”

  • Yellow: “Noticeable deviation – might cause a new mission.”

  • Red: “Major divergence – this will definitely put you on the Guild’s radar later.”

• Insight Burst (mechanical):
   

  • Once per scene, one PC can ask the Node for guidance on a course of action.

  • The PC gains (+4) on a single roll to:

    • Identify the most timeline-safe option.
       

    • Predict who/what is critical to preserve.
       

    • Spot which NPC or object is a “fixed point.”
       

(Treat as a GM hint tool. You don’t have to reveal everything, just tilt them toward or away from certain choices.)

 

2. Mission Chain Feed

“Primary objective complete. New opportunity detected. Suggested follow-on mission queued.”

What it does in play

• After the team achieves or fails a major objective, the Node can:
   

  • Display 1 - 3 hooks:
     

    • Secure evidence / delete records / rescue witness / recover artifact / sabotage device / plant tracker / etc.
       

• Use it as the in-universe delivery system for:
   

  • Side quests and sequels to the current mission.
     

  • Offers from Guild factions or mysterious “anonymous sponsors.”
     

• Mechanically, you can say:
   

  • Once per mission, the Node automatically generates one bonus objective that:
     

    • Gives a small XP, credit, or token bonus if completed.
       

    • Ties directly to the current timeline they’re affecting.
       

This lets you add content on the fly without breaking immersion: “Your Node flashes- Guild HQ just saw the ripple from what you did. They have a suggestion…”

 

3. Exfiltration Advisor

“Suggested exfil: service tunnels, east maintenance platform, launch window T-7 minutes. Estimated survival odds +18%.”

What it does in play

• When the team decides to bail, a player can say, “We ask the Node for exfil.”
   

• The Node:
   

  • Highlights safe routes, choke points, and chase risks.
     

  • Suggests where to hijack a vehicle, where a portal will be stable, etc.
     

Mechanical options (pick what fits your MAG table):

• Once per scene, when the group declares they’re escaping:
   

  • All PCs gain +2 on rolls directly related to exfil (Stealth, Athletics, Vehicles, Social bluff at checkpoints, etc.), or
     

  • The GM can drop the TN by 2 for one crucial escape roll (door hack, last jump, final bluff).
     

• Once per mission, the Node can trigger an “Emergency Extraction”:
   

  • It identifies a one-shot way out (unstable portal, friendly shuttle, Guild bounce point).
     

  • Costs: a big favor owed, Guild scrutiny, or a future “cleanup” mission.
     

 

MAG Rules Hook (Light Stat Block)

Use or tweak this to drop it into your rule text.

Chronoline Node (Guild Field Device)

• Category: Universal Guild Gear (issued to all active teams)
   

• Descriptor: Technology (Hardwired/Wetwired – fits cyberpunk, fantasy rune-tech, or pure sci-fi)
   

• Tier: F1+ (upscales easily; higher tiers get sassier and smarter Nodes)
   

• Cost: Normally not purchasable – Guild issue. Replacements/black-market versions are expensive and suspicious.
   

Standard Mechanical Package (per mission)

• 3 Charges per mission. Charges refresh when the team returns to a Guild hub or completes a major arc.
   

• Each of the following uses 1 Charge:
   

1. Predictive Ping (Timeline Monitor)
    

   • Before a key decision or entering a dangerous area, a PC spends 1 charge to ask:
      

     • “Is this choice stable, risky, or catastrophic for the timeline?”
        

   • GM answers in short, color-coded terms and may hint at type of consequence (political, supernatural, tech, etc.).
      

   • The PC gains advantage on one roll to act on that info during the scene.
      

2. Mission Chain Prompt (Follow-On Objective)
    

   • After completing or failing an objective, spend 1 charge.
      

   • The GM generates and delivers a follow-on mission hook via the Node:
      

     • Mark it as Optional but attach a small mechanical reward (XP, credits, tokens) if completed.
        

   • This gives you a clean, in-character way to introduce new content or pivot the campaign.
      

3. Exfil Planner
    

   • When the team declares “We’re getting out,” spend 1 charge.
      

   • Effects:
      

     • The group gets +2 to all rolls directly part of the escape for one scene or
        

     • One PC gains advantage on a critical escape roll, and the GM reveals one safe route or shortcut they otherwise wouldn’t see.
        

You can let them split charges however they like (all in exfil, all in missions, etc.), or say each mode can only be used once per mission.

 

GM Tips

• Use it as a pacing tool:
   

  • Timeline pings when you want to underline stakes.
     

  • Mission prompts when you need a smooth segue into the next adventure.
     

  • Exfil planner when the group looks stuck or overwhelmed.
     

• Personality dial:
   

  • Deadpan tactical AI, overly cheerful assistant, or snarky veteran dispatcher.
     

  • Different Guild cells could have different Node personalities.
     

• Factions & mystery:
   

  • Faction sabotage: a Node that “forgets” to warn them or feeds biased missions.
     

  • Black-market Nodes could be tuned to the Preservation Society instead of the Guild.