Time and

Time Again
A Next Generation-era Adventure for the Star Trek Adventures Roleplaying Game

By Jeff Wheaton

Version 1.1.0

This work is unofficial and is not sponsored or endorsed by CBS, Paramount Pictures, or Modiphius Entertainment
Version History
• 1.0.0 - Initial revision
• 1.0.1 - Value modifications, clarification on some special conditions
• 1.1.0 - Added to recommended viewing list, reworked the series of tasks involving navigating
engineering, modified formatting throughout.
INTRODUCTION
“Time and Time Again” is an adventure for the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game, and is intended to be
played by a Gamemaster (GM) and 3 to 5 player characters (PCs).

To run this adventure, the GM needs to be familiar with the adventure itself and the Star Trek Adventures core
rulebook rules.

For this adventure, you will need:

• At least two 20-sided dice (d20) per PC, and several d6s or Challenge Dice
• A set of chips or tokens for Determination
• A set of chips or tokens for Threat
• A set of chips or tokens for Momentum
• Character sheets for all PCs, and a character sheet for their starship
• The Star Trek Adventures core rulebook

Synopsis
After testing an experimental chroniton-based sensor system, the PCs begin to experience feelings of deja-vu.
Eventually, they discover that they are trapped within a time loop that always ends with the destruction of their
ship. The PCs must find a way to prevent the ship from being destroyed while also dealing with the unique
properties of the temporal loop.

Recommended Watching
The following Star Trek episodes contain subject matter relevant to the content in this Adventure. It may be
helpful for the GM to watch these episodes in order to get a better understanding of the presented scenario:
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
◦ “Time Squared” (Season 2, Episode 13)
◦ “Cause and Effect” (Season 5, Episode 18)
• Star Trek: Voyager
◦ “Coda” (Season 3, Episode 15)
• Star Trek: Discovery
◦ “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” (Season 1, Episode 7)

The GM begins this adventure with two points of Threat for every PC in the group, and three points of
Momentum in the group momentum pool.
Scene 1: The Test
After everyone has been situated, have the captain read the following, replacing [ship name] with the name of
the PCs' ship, and [x] with a stardate appropriate for your campaign:
Captain's Log, stardate [x]. The [ship name] has just finished its preliminary scans of the fourth planet in the
Tammeron system using an experimental prototype sensor based on chroniton particle reactions. If all goes to
plan, this new sensor should be able to achieve a low-detail scan of the history of any planetary body, and could
lead to major advancements in Starfleet's archeological studies.
The PCs have just finished the first tests of the experimental sensor system, and are now receiving and
analyzing the data. The PCs are in orbit above Tammeron IV, the fourth planet in the Tammeron system.
Tammeron IV is a class K planet, though Starfleet archeological expeditions have suggested that this may not
have always been the case, as researchers have discovered the ruins of an extinct race on the planet's surface.
The planet is not habitable, but as long as they have an EV Suit on, a person could explore it in the way
Starfleet's archeological teams have.
The ruins in question that have been found on the surface of Tammeron IV are made from stone with metal-like
properties, and the architectural style of the buildings suggests that the inhabitants' culture was comparable to
that of mid-20th century Earth. Judging by pockets of radiation on the surface, archeological teams have
concluded that some kind of nuclear war must have broken out, leading to the mutual destruction of all
planetary life.
The results of the test play back on a monitor for the PCs. They see large cities where all of the Starfleet
archeological expeditions had taken place, constructed like Mayan temples but with mid-20 th century Earth-like
architecture, amongst a number of smaller settlements. As they skim forward through the results, they see a
large flash in the largest settlement. A pause follows, after which projectiles, being fired from the other major
and minor settlements, hit the remaining cities, creating major explosions. For the most part, the major cities
are hit first, followed by the smaller settlements. However, it seems that nuclear proliferation was so strong on
this planet, that no expense was spared in the exchange, thus wiping literally every city off the map.
While it is a tragic tale, the results prove to the PCs that the test was successful, creating cause for some
celebration. The PCs may wish to run a diagnosis on the sensor's hardware, which is located in engineering.
Diagnosing the sensor is a Difficulty 1 [Reason] + [Engineering or Science] task. Should the PCs succeed at the
post-scan diagnosis, all of the systems will appear to be functioning normally, though a large number of
chroniton particles will appear to be radiating around the device in close proximity.
Scene 2: Out of Sequence
At this point, make a note of the momentum and threat, as you will need these amounts for the start of Scene
3. After the PCs have finished diagnosing the chroniton sensor, and have finished any celebrations necessary,
have the Captain read the following:
Captain's log, supplemental. Following the first successful test of the chroniton sensor, we've decided to
continue using it to gain additional details on the history of this world. As the sensor will be active for several
days, I've advised engineering to observe the device closely for this period.
With the sensor running at a higher power level and for an extended period of time, more and more chroniton
particles are starting to build up around the device, and spread throughout the ship. The PCs don't know this
yet, and Engineering hasn't contacted the captain about anything odd yet. At this point, though, the ship is
doused in a light field of chroniton radiation that can't be picked up on scanners without specific adjustments.
Due to the chroniton radiation covering the ship's interiors, the characters will begin to experience various
temporal anomalies. Some suggestions are provided below for a variety of different ship locations. These can
involve tasks, though if a PC ends up consciously performing the same task a second time, reduce that task's
difficulty by one, to a minimum of 0. Make note of which scenes occur, as you'll need to be able to come back
to these for Scene 3. Following is a list of suggested temporal anomalies that can occur for specific characters
based on their current location aboard the ship:
GM Advice:
There are a lot of places in a starship, and not all of them are included here. Each PC should experience one of
these events on their own, and separated from each other. A scene such as the one suggested here for
Engineering, which prompts the captain to call the senior staff to the conference room, should occur last.
Sickbay: A crewman walks into sickbay with some minor burns after mishandling a plasma conduit. The PC in
sickbay may perform a Difficulty 2 [Control or Reason] + [Science or Medicine] task to heal the crewman's
burns. After leaving, the crewman will walk back in, restating the same exact dialogue he said the first time,
with burns on his hands from mishandling the plasma conduit. Since the PC in sickbay just healed these same
wounds only seconds ago, healing them again is a Difficulty 1 [Control or Reason] + [Science or Medicine] task.
Astrometrics: Everything seems to be going fine in astrometrics, as the PC here spots a comet to the ship's port
side. They then spot the comet again.. and again.. and so on, multiple times. This PC may attempt a Difficulty 2
[Reason] + [Science] task assisted by the Ship's [Sensors] + [Science]. If they're successful, they'll notice that
the comet they keep seeing is, in fact, traveling along the same exact trajectory and at the same exact speed
each time – a statistical impossibility. This PC may also spend a point of momentum to confirm that this comet
is, in fact, the same comet, each time – a physical impossibility.
Mess Hall: The PC here is returning to his table where he was sitting with some other crewmen. They're holding
a tray with their food on it, fresh from the food replicator. They sit down at the table with their fellow
colleagues and begin to talk. Eventually, one of the other people at the table will interrupt them, and ask if
they're going to get any food. The PC will probably become confused and look down at his plate to see that it's
empty. The other crewmen at the table don't seem to have ever seen the PC leave the table.
Captain's Ready Room: The Captain PC is enjoying a drink of some kind, but it slips out of his hand and falls to
the floor. They'll likely grab a towel to clean it up, but upon turning around, notice that the glass is still sitting on
their desk.
The Bridge: The PC at the tactical station is scanning the surrounding area for any hostiles or anomalies, not
that any are expected in this region of space. As is usual with tactical scans, fluctuations and irregularities are
common, but one fluctuation keeps popping up multiple times. The PC notices this, and could mistake it for a
sign of a cloaked vessel. Should the PCs decide to fire at the fluctuation, nothing will happen, as nothing is
there, and a temporal anomaly is making the same fluctuation show up multiple times in the exact same way.
This PC may also choose to scan the fluctuation further, but will find nothing more than what it is: a simple
fluctuation in the ship's tactical sensors, being repeated over and over again for reasons unknown. Should they
attempt this, it will be a Difficulty 3 [Reason] + [Security] task assisted by the ship's [Sensors] + [Security]. The
difficulty of this task will go down by one each time it is attempted on the fluctuation, to a minimum of zero.
Main Engineering: The PC here is probably inspecting the sensor, or managing the engineering department. A
crewman will walk up to the PC to give them the current duty roster and to give them an update on the work in
engineering. All of the systems appear to be operating normally, and the chroniton radiation from the sensor
appears to not be radiating further from the device. The crewman will then return to his station after talking
with the PC, and then return moments later, starting the same conversation again, handing the PC the duty
roster, which they will find is no longer on their workstation, but rather being handed to them by the crewman.
Following this conversation, should the PC choose to investigate further, they may attempt a Difficulty 4
[Reason] + [Engineering] task assisted by the ship's [Computers] + [Engineering or Science] to discover that
the crewman's readings have been affected by the chronitons radiating from the sensor, and that they actually
represent the conditions of the space around the sensor from several hours ago. They will discover in this
manner that the chroniton radiation is actually much worse than previously thought, and has actually spread to
all parts of the ship, causing temporal anomalies all over. They will likely alert the captain of this information, at
which point the next scene should take place.
If the suggested scene in Main Engineering doesn't occur, something should happen to prompt the captain to
call all of their senior staff to the conference room. This could be the captain's reaction to receiving reports
from across the ship of strange occurrences, all of which seem to involve a temporal anomaly of some sort. Or it
could be from the captain PC experiencing multiple temporal anomalies across the ship. Once the captain has
called the senior staff to the conference room, the entire ship lurches. An engineering crewman will contact the
Captain PC over the combadge to inform them that the warp core is acting erratically. Then, the warp core
explodes, resulting in the loss of the ship and all hands.
Scene 3: The Loop
After the players have had some time to recover emotionally from their ship abruptly exploding, have the
Captain read the following aloud:
Captain's log, supplemental. Following the first successful test of the chroniton sensor, we've decided to
continue using it to gain additional details on the history of this world. As the sensor will be active for several
days, I've advised engineering to observe the device closely for this period.
The Captain, and likely the other PCs are likely to be very confused. Tell them that they are all onboard their
ship, and that the preliminary test has just been completed. Instead of reducing the group momentum count by
1 as you would normally between scenes, set the momentum and threat to the values they were at the start of
Scene 2. Additionally, tell them that they all now have the trait Deja-Vu 5, which is described below. Some
roleplaying is required from the PCs in this case, as their characters are not initially aware that they are in a
loop.
Trait: Deja Vu [x]
This PC is trapped in a time loop, but may attempt a Difficulty [x] [Reason or Insight] + [Science] Task once per
loop to have a strong sense of deja-vu, and remember minor details from the previous run through the loop.
The value of [x] decreases by one to a minimum of zero with each completion of the time loop. This cannot be
an assisted task, but characters who have successfully completed this task can attempt to convince other
characters of the existence of the loop, decreasing the difficulty of their deja-vu task by one, to a minimum of
zero. Additionally, if the character has successfully completed this task, then the difficulty for completing it on
future loops is decreased by two. There is no risk to attempting the deja-vu task, as complications cannot arise
from rolling a 20.
Example: The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise has the trait Deja-Vu 4, and Doctor Crusher has successfully
completed the deja-vu task after dropping a glass from a table in her quarters. She then attempts to convince
Captain Picard of the temporal loop, meaning that Captain Picard's deja-vu task is now Difficulty 3 instead. The
U.S.S. Enterprise is eventually destroyed, and the loop resets. Normally, Doctor Crusher would have the trait
Deja-Vu 3, but because she successfully completed the deja-vu task in the last loop, she instead has the trait
Deja-Vu 2.
The PCs then split off and go to the same places they went to at the start of Scene 2. These events will play out
identically, and each PC is able to attempt the deja-vu task once during their scene. The first time through, this
scene will likely play out identically to Scene 2, save for attempting and likely failing Deja-Vu tasks. After the
ship explodes, the loop resets again, and the [x] value for each PCs' Deja-Vu [x] trait is decreased accordingly.
Additionally, the group threat and momentum pools are reset to be as they were at the start of Scene 2.
Once a PC realizes that they're trapped in a time loop by successfully completing the deja-vu task, they are free
to deviate from what they were doing in the previous scene. Otherwise, unless they're confronted by another
PC who has successfully completed the task, they must do what they did in Scene 2 until they are interrupted
by someone who has realized the presence of the loop.
Until some deviation happens, it may be wise to progress through these scenes quickly, as to not make the PCs
bored from doing the same thing over and over again. Once the PCs have realized that they're in a time loop,
though, they'll need to figure out how to prevent their ship from being destroyed. To do this, though, they'll
need to try and figure out what's causing it to happen in the first place.
Scene 4: Countdown to Destruction
The PCs, having realized what's going on, are now searching for a way to break the loop. The loop is being
caused by the radiation being emitted by the chroniton-powered sensor that's running in the engineering
department. As it is the source of the chroniton radiation, engineering is the location of the most temporal
anomalies, so navigating engineering, let alone shutting down the sensor, will be very difficult to do without
losing significant progress due to a temporal anomaly. Additionally, the GM may spend two points of threat at
any time during this scene to cause a temporal anomaly to set the PCs back somewhat.
From any computer terminal, a PC may attempt a Difficulty 2 [Reason] + [Engineering] task assisted by the
ship's [Computers or Sensors] + [Engineering or Science] to discover that the chroniton particles emanating
from the experimental sensor are affecting the stability of the matter-antimatter reactions in the warp core
chamber, leading to a sudden and unexpected core breach. However, due to the high presence of chroniton
particles, the ship has been locked in a time loop. At this point, the PCs will likely head to the engineering
department to attempt to shut down the sensor, but it will be difficult, due to the high concentration of
chroniton particles in the area. As the PCs enter engineering, they'll notice many of the other characters
trapped in smaller time loops, repeating a short series of actions over and over again.
First, the PCs will need to approach the sensor. This is an extended task, as engineering is amok with temporal
anomalies, and the PCs may find themselves back a few paces if they're not careful.
Extended Task: Reaching the Prototype Sensor
Work: 12
Magnitude: 5
Resistance: 3
Difficulty: 3
Use:
• [Control or Daring or Reason] + [Science or Engineering]
Special Conditions:
• Time Pressure – The PCs have five intervals of three minutes (for a total of 15 minutes) until the ship's
warp core destabilizes and breaches. Since the PCs are moving together through engineering, decrease
the amount of time remaining by one interval after all players have had a turn. The amount of time
remaining will come into play after this extended task, so keep track of it.
• Deja-Vu – If the PCs attempted this task on a previous go through the time loop, decrease the
resistance by one, to a minimum of zero.
• Team Effort – Each PC has their own individual track for this extended task. While PCs can assist each
other, only one PC may provide assistance per turn. Assistance could possibly come in the form of
providing sensor readings of temporal anomalies ahead or guiding another PC through a particularly
dangerous section. Once a PC has been successful in completing this task, they may proceed on to the
task of disabling the sensor (see below), but given the difficulty, they may want to wait for the rest of
their team to catch up.
Description: The PCs are attempting to reach the prototype sensor so they can shut it down. To do this, they
must navigate through the numerous temporal anomalies in the engineering department. Should a PC roll a
complication, the GM may choose to increase the resistance to 4, explaining that the number of temporal
anomalies has increased dramatically, or unmark four points of work from that PC's work track, explaining that
they walked into an anomaly, and were sent back several paces.
Assuming the PCs are able to successfully navigate through the engineering department in time, they will find
themselves in front of the sensor control panel. Disabling the sensor is a Difficulty 5 [Daring or Reason] +
[Science] Task, due to the experimental nature of the device, and the lack of documentation. This task is
intended to be very difficult, and to be assisted by multiple PCs. Should the PCs fail this task, decrease the time
remaining by one interval, and have them attempt it again if the time remaining is not zero.
When the PCs disable the sensor, the temporal anomalies will cease, but there's still a high concentration of
chroniton particles in the warp core's matter-antimatter reaction chamber. The warp core will now begin acting
erratically, and the only solutions are to either stabilize or eject the core. Ejecting the core is the quickest
method, while stabilizing the core is more time consuming, and is an extended task. Depending on how much
time the PCs have left from the previous extended task, it may be necessary for them to eject the core, though
this will leave them stranded, and likely cause damage to their ship, so if they have the time, stabilizing the core
is the better option.
Extended Task: Stabilizing the Warp Core
Work: 8
Magnitude: 3
Resistance: 2
Difficulty: 3
Use: [Daring or Control] + [Engineering]
Special Conditions:
• Time Pressure – For each task attempted by the PC attempting to stabilize the core, decrease the
number of intervals of time by one, starting from whatever that value was when this extended task was
started. As before, each interval represents three minutes, and if the time remaining is decreased to
zero, the core breaches and destroys the ship.
• Deja-Vu – If the PCs attempted this task on a previous go through the time loop, decrease the
resistance to one.
Description: The PCs are attempting to stabilize the warp core by flushing out all of the chroniton particles from
the reaction chamber. However, there's not a lot of time left, and if they aren't confident that they can
complete this task in time, there's a much more explosive alternative:

Task: Ejecting the Warp Core

Difficulty: 2
Use: [Daring] + [Engineering]
Special Conditions:
• Core Detonation - Once the PCs have successfully ejected the core, it will explode. As long as the PCs'
ship's shields are up, it won't be damaged, but the PCs will be thrown across the room, and will take
2[CD] damage. If an effect is rolled, they may be knocked unconscious (up to GM's discretion), and may
need to be taken to sickbay.
• Deja-Vu – If the PC attempting this task attempted it on a previous go through the time loop, decrease
the difficulty to one.
Conclusion
After having a moment to catch their collective breaths, the PCs will realize that they have successfully
prevented the destruction of their starship and have broken the time loop. They now need to report the results
of the chroniton sensor tests to Starfleet Command, and, if they ejected the warp core, will need to request a
ship to tow them to the nearest Starbase. While Starfleet may be upset that the sensor isn't ready for safe use,
they will find the test results the PCs did manage to produce to be incredibly promising.