Over the DM's Shoulder

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Hourton City: A Dark Time Loop Adventure One-Shot

I had a lot of fun creating this time loop one-shot adventure from a while back, so I thought that for this site's 200th post, I would share another iteration of it. Where Standstill Cove was a 1970s New England town, Hourton City--the setting of this game--is a grungy city in a New York-like setting in the 1980s. This adventure deals with some relatively adult material, so please play responsibly. 

So, throw your players into this game. Every time they exhaust the day's time, the game will reset. They'll have to explore the setting, experiment with different strategies, and eventually put it all together to escape the time loop. This system uses no formal rules or dice, and this means that you as the GM will be called upon to improvise a lot of the material. But also, you'll need to make it so that things happen in generally the same way to sell the time loop effect, so there will be a need for balance between the two extremes. 

If environmental storytelling and sci-fi are more your thing, consider the Distant Star Space Station Time Loop.

Please have fun with this game!