Simple question. I want to run it but I don't know how to properly keep track of time with my players, especially since EP seems to imply the team will be moving across the system on some sort of regularity.
3:30 AM is such an Earth-based concept.
How do I even break up my players' activity? Splitting up a character's day into an elongated morning, day, and night doesn't seem to work either.
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How is time calculated?
Thu, 2012-06-21 18:48
#1
EccentricOwl
How is time calculated?
Thu, 2012-06-21 20:55
#2
Sepherim
Re: How is time calculated?
Actually, you can keep time just as you do in any other RP. But you do have to take into account that 24 hours may be a "day" in social terms (probably most of transhuman settlements still keep a 24 hour-clock base), but may not be so in solar terms, which would depend on the rotation of the planet. If I remember correctly, Mercury had several months of sunlight before having the same amount of moonlight, as its rotation was quite slower than Earth's. Probably artificial stations in orbit try to keep as close to 24 hour periods as they can.
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Thu, 2012-06-21 21:02
#3
Tyrnis
Re: How is time calculated?
For the most part, this is going to be very similar to Earth, but also dependent on where they're at. Mars, for instance, has a day that's only slightly longer than Earth, so the clock just goes until 24:37:22 before resetting to 00:00:01 for the start of the new day. The days of the week are the same, but the months have been reordered somewhat and additional months added (see Sunward for the full details.)
Anywhere else in the system, it's going to vary, but expect many places to operate either on Earth time or on Airy Mean Time (Mars). Even if there's a different local time, though, remember that your muse is going to automatically convert for you when needed.
So 0330 hours / 3:30 am is still very likely to be used.
Fri, 2012-06-22 01:25
#4
shark3006
Re: How is time calculated?
And there's always the old GM standard: make it up. If you think the "days" on one habitat are different than those on another, so be it. You could always have fun with your players by making them try to adjust to a 36-hour cycle or something. It's really up to you.
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Fri, 2012-06-22 01:49
#5
King Shere
Re: How is time calculated?
Brainstorming
One idea is add constant group community activities -Exercise -that is done by a large group regulary. A whole habitat could like in Wall-E advertise certain activities and the players would notice the sudden change of the majority.
Another one is to use a "time token" mechanic to keep track of spent time. 24 (or 12 or 3) cards/tokens/proxxys per character. Give one card per hour (or another time stamp) that a character spends. This could be noted down on a device - however, the "time tokens" give the players a participation effect & helps them keep track too.
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Fri, 2012-06-22 03:28
#6
Arenamontanus
Re: How is time calculated?
I like the exercise idea! Sounds just like the thing a more collectivist habitat might do.
As for time, in an earlier thread on this topic
http://www.eclipsephase.com/timekeeping
I argued that most time measurements get translated by the muse into something the user understands. So the *real* time measurement is some kind of standardised data string linked to a set of atomic clocks and a preferred frame, but the user gets told it is 8:25 on a Friday. That will not always save them from weird surprises:
http://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-programmers-believe-...
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Fri, 2012-06-22 11:42
#7
TadanoriOyama
Re: How is time calculated?
I assumed that local meshes in any significant habitat kept an active solar chart with planetary positions and major habitats, allowing a muse to update whenever it connects. Basically the transhuman version of a clock tower. That would allow the muse to easily convert time measures or provide time estimates for other locations (and estimate when a message is likely to arrive based on distance and time differences).
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Fri, 2012-06-22 11:57
#8
Geonis
Re: How is time calculated?
Here is how I see it, while in Eclipse Phase time may differ on other habitats, they player shouldn't need to be bogged down by something that their character knows how to deal with innately.
There is a difference between player knowledge and character knowledge, and perception of time should be treated as such. My character could have multiple doctorates in astrophysics, doesn't mean I, as the player, need to have the same level of knowledge.
Just convert it to earth time for convenience for the players unless it becomes important to the story/plot. If it bothers you, just let the players know it is just an approximation or conversion to better handle it.
Sun, 2012-06-24 09:21
#9
Decivre
Re: How is time calculated?
I actually tend to keep track of tasks in a relative manner. By that, I mean I don't actually track dates and days, just what the characters are doing and how long it will take. So for instance, if they are traveling by ship and it will take 2 weeks to get there, I simply do a countdown from 336 hours and allow them to go about their business until that countdown ends. As for activity cycles, I tell them to keep track of when they sleep and when they wake. They get so many hours after resting of normal activity (generally 18), and if they push themselves past that they are taxed and exhausted until they rest for 6 hours. Implants can increase the amount of time they can keep going for, and how long they need to sleep for.
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Sun, 2012-06-24 22:38
#10
Sepherim
Re: How is time calculated?
I think it's important to keep a bit more detailed track of time, specially to know when favors can be used again.
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Mon, 2012-06-25 01:40
#11
Decivre
Re: How is time calculated?
You can always keep multiple relative counters. Just make sure they all decrease simultaneously. The easiest way to do this is to simply keep track of the longest one, and note the point on that counter when other ones expire.
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Mon, 2012-06-25 19:17
#12
Sepherim
Re: How is time calculated?
Interesting. But wouldn't it be the same as keeping a counter that counts forward and you add into it the events as they will come to happen? Which, basically, is the same as keeping track of which day it is. :?
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Tue, 2012-06-26 04:37
#13
Decivre
Re: How is time calculated?
I find it easier to count down to major events than to count up. If only because it keeps players informed when an event is coming up, far more blatantly than regular timekeeping does. If it's 6:00 and you have a meeting at 8:00, you're more likely to get to that meeting on time if your clock says 2:00 and counts down.
It's like a plot bomb that explodes whenever shit happens.
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Tue, 2012-06-26 05:02
#14
EccentricOwl
Re: How is time calculated?
I just ran that particular idea by my players, and they also brought up the question of when their favors refresh... the simple answer was "probably after this particular episode of EP." :P
I don't know if I'll use the idea of time tokens with my players in this particular game, but it's such an interesting idea! In a setting where time becomes much more relevant, like "Vampire: The Requiem," I'll make sure to use it, forcing the players to keep track of what they're doing with each precious night before the sun shows up.
UPDATE: How do they calculate time in the universe? I mean, wouldn't it get confusing if the Andrew Ryan the Extropian is running on "local extropian time of, uh, 33 o'clock" and his contact in another orbit (possibly being contacted on Mercury via quantum entanglement) uses a very different time indeed?
Tue, 2012-06-26 05:27
#15
Arenamontanus
Re: How is time calculated?
For most games this is the best answer. Who cares how long it takes to clean deck 3 of the spaceship or whether the transit to Parsiphae takes two or three days (it is still too long!)? Time counters make sense when time really is a limited and exact thing, like when somebody activated a bomb with a countdown or when you want to see the preparations for the upcoming space battle. Even there I would consider adding room for sensible fudging.
Finally back to the original topic? Read the start of the thread or http://www.eclipsephase.com/timekeeping
The likely answer is that the Muse does the translation, even if it means converting from metric market time to relativistic Hijri time.
Don't get me started on what happens when you talk over QE to somebody deeper in the sun's gravitational field (and hence subject to time dilation) - whatever answer you give to the question you end up with cans of worms being opened...
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