Off the Beaten Path

Most evervthing said deals with the timestreams and not the voids separating them. For the most part, this is because they are easily ignored, since there is no reeü use in traveling them. There are few creatures and no physical substances such as lifelines to use as reference points, just a huge area of dense mist-smoke that roils and flows along in the normal direction. However, if the characters come down hard enough with the exploring fever, a Dungeon Master could find them leaving the timestream and venturing into the voids, At least preparation is simple.

Treat the first 100 feet into the void as part of tlie timestream. The mist-smoke behaves normally. Visibility is limited to 60 feel, and there's the same chance for strands. Creatures from the timestream rarely strav beyond this limit unless otherwise noted Ln their descriptions. Some might think it's a good area to get snatched by strands and ride the temporal current without fear of obstacles, but the mist-smoke always drifts bnck Lnto the timestream at some point, putting the character in for a good battering. AIso, if the characters are attempting to breach the timestream of another reality (this would be its fringes), they would accomplish it here and have no use for ven- turing out further.

After 100 feet, the mist-smoke grows denser until visibility is restricted to 30 feet. The chance for strands goes up, and any strand encounter is with a strand cloud. Creatures can be encountered onlv if their descriptions mention they travel the voids, or they have somehow been forced out there.

Technically, the timestreams for alternate realities are a measurabie distance apart, but traveling the voids never gets a creature to one of them. The deeper one goes into the void, the more time plays strange tricks. Time snares, Wesley's tempora! diftjunction, time stops, the occasional temporal stasis thatcould last one round or one year—these effects quickly become more trouble than the traveling is worth.

Long before the characters can reach another timestream, they are covered with strands. The adventurers are outside the influence of the timestream, so there is no travel into the future except for the four-to- one differentiai that continues to tick by. They feel as if thev are belng swept along, öccasionally encountering a creature which will decide the character must be nutritious, but with respect to the timestream, they have not moved. Also, once the cliaracters travel back toward the timestream, they find that the strands are still holding them in place (remember, conscious movement has been lost). They must de-strand themseJves before getting back to reaiity.

Unless careful preparation is made, the voids are no place to go adventuring.All characters, prior to much traveling on Temporal Prime, should receive proper warning about what to expect. This should be enough to keep them from straying.