- I have a question about Gemini
Incidents. When encountering oneself, can one touch each other?
- Yes. There is no reason Elders and Juniors can't touch. The same
goes for objects. You just have to be careful with objects, and make
certain that you remember which object is the "junior", and which is the
"elder". Otherwise, you can cause yourself a world of frag.
- One of the elements that my players
are not fond of is the use of their Elders to "railroad" them into various
situations. Can you provide any guidelines on this matter?
- The whole point of the "railroading" is that the characters' Elders
have their best interests in mind. Remind them to read their Maxims:
they are the player characters, and more. They've done it all before.
As a GM, however, one should remember not to abuse this element of
the game. One can't have Elders telling the player characters what to do
all the time, or that robs them of their free will. However, you can use
Elders, within the limits of Gemini incidents, to nudge characters in the
right direction.
- What are some of the disadvantages
of Geminis?
- Well, the Gemini Incident is certainly a game convention (see the
answer to the next question on this subject), but it does have its uses -
but not without drawbacks. The player can use a Gemini Incident to get
their character out of trouble by having an Elder bail him or her out.
However, this can be a very burdening situation, since one fills one's Yet
with Gemini Incidents that one has to fulfill. This has advantages and
disadvantages, but is more of a long-term bad move.
There is also a risk involved. What if the character's Elder gets killed?
If you put that death in your Yet, there is no second death for you (sorta.
This is explained a bit better in Further Information.). Likewise, it's just
more work for the Quicker and Thespians, having to deal with all the
incidents where the character was known to have shown up in his or her
own Age (and seen by others).
Besides, the character has better things to do than to keep on bailing
him- or herself out of the fire; the character should show some initiative,
and do things themselves. The limit on Geminis is a game conventions
(to keep accounting down) and a logical one (risk versus reward, and
avoiding burdening one's Yet overly so).
- What about the Gemini Track?
Isn't this somewhat of a game convention, and if so, what is its
purpose?
- Chris Adams wrote: "The Gemini Track is the most obvious pure
game convention in Continuum , and may be the first thing
to change in a Second Edition (but not a second printing). How it might
change is for all our Yets to reveal, but I haven't worried about it much.
"It exists to avoid repeated abuse of Geminis, either by the player or by
the GM, and for no other reason [see especially page 155, worded for
the GM]. Certainly the _characters_ aren't usually aware of how many
Geminis are in their Yet (although, arguably the Scribes, Inheritors, etc.
know all, see all...). In a "tournanment" campaign, it would have a use.
Otherwise, well-organized players and GMs that engender trust can
certainly Gemini to their hearts' content, and we say as much."
- If I complete one of my Yet
requirements for my junior self's Gemini Incidents, does that count as a
Gemini Incident tally for the Span 2 version of me now, too? Or is it just
a Yet completion - and all my Gemini Incidents for Span 2 must be me for
Span 2 or higher?
- In Continuum , page 155, it states, "The 'Known Geminis'
are the number of junior incidents that must occur while the character is
at that Span, before he can advance." The grammar is a little awkward,
but the rule is clear: The number rolled and placed on the Track are the
_junior_ incidents for that Span. So a Span Two elder visiting his Span
One junior is fulfilling his Yet, but not fulfilling the Geminis required to
advance to the next rank of Span.
Having said all that, please read the notes on the fate of the Gemini Track
and advancement rules in the next question.
- Because all of my Span 1 Gemini
requirements have been met, if I ever span into an event that's not one of
my Yet Gemini incidents, I'd frag myself. (Presumably, someone, like my
mentor, would show up and stop me before I did it, though.)
- This is a metagaming problem that the Gemini Track itself has caused.
Since the character (probably) doesn't know how many junior Geminis he'll
have at a given Span, how is he supposed to avoid Slipshanking a Gemini
when he's "out of Geminis"? The Track isn't really in keeping with the
spirit or theme of the rest of the game - the Maxims are a way of life, but the
Track is just a game rule. It's a legacy from Continuum 's
pre-release days that didn't get shaken out of the final cut.
After a few years of play, the authors rarely use the Gemini Track anymore.
The frag from Slipshanking a Gemini, as well as the GM's power of playing
the elder Gemini (and the fiat of the Second Maxim) is more than enough to
keep players from abusing Geminis. (Curiously, the Gemini Track's main
remaining use may be to keep unscrupulous GMs from abusing the Second
Maxim!)
Since the Gemini Track is neither intuitive for a character (he doesn't know
how many Geminis he'll have - only his player does), nor a reflection of
how a spanner actually records Geminis, it was not included in the
SpanBook software. In future editions of Continuum , it is
likely the Track and its requirement to advance in Span will be removed,
and should be considered optional today.
