The Spanners & Spanning FAQ

The Continuum roleplaying game has been in existence for about five years now officially, and there are many elements of the game system that have aspects to them that make the players, and GMs, think a little bit. This Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page is designed to answer some of the commonly asked questions about one of the more complex Continuum game elements - Spanners & Spanning.

Spanners & Spanning Frequently Asked Questions

What is Spanning, and how does one Span?

Spanning is the ability to travel in time. The character is able to will herself to a given point in space and time, but must know the exact time and destination to which she wishes to travel. This can be accomplished by research, talking to other spanners about a given place and location, or having already been there before. Spanning is a skill that all characters who become spanners must learn, and must be raised in level. There are various pre-requisites to increasing one's level in Span ability. Those who are unable to Span are called levellers, that is, they are normal humans who cannot travel in time.

One of the things I've noticed after running Continuum is that the players are going to test the limits of Spanning. What kind of guidelines are there for Spanning?

You'll find that once your players are more comfortable with the concepts of the game, they will use their ability to Span with more purpose. Much like a teenager who just got their driver's license, they want to go everywhere. Likewise, Spanners are now teenagers in a respect: entering a world that has a wide horizon, not just forward in time as a Leveller, but able to go whenever they choose. A lot more options. The temptation to use their gift is great, and their Mentor will encourage them (with caution) to practice Spanning. It promotes good habits such as keeping a Span Book and arranging meetings places/times a la Rendezvous.

And like teenagers, they need to be taught the proper way of things, lest they fall into Narcissist hands, and the dangers therein. Hence, the Mentor as an in-character voice of the GM, educating the characters (and players by extension) about the ways of Spanning. Parents think raising one child is tough. Imagine having 6-8 children dumped into your lap at once, who can go possibly anywhere/anywhen... <g>

Is it true that purely spatial spans do not tire a Spanner? So a Span One can cross many miles, but just has to materialize every mile or so and chance breaking the Fourth Maxim?

Yes. Continuum , page 34 states: "Spanning Space alone costs no Span, and can be done even after a character has spent all his Span." And note that there are lots of places even in so-called "unfamiliar" territory that are easy to hide in. Rooftops, tops of stairwells, inside the trunks of cars... However, the characters should not be lazy - drive a car somewhere. It also makes it easier to explain to Levellers what you are doing ("Bob, you didn't walk 10 miles to the mall, did you?"). And remember the Fourth Maxim...

By its very nature, does Spanning (i.e., time travelling) always risk fragging someone? For example, I span Down a month and just walk down a street. Because I did that, unbeknownst to me, a leveller pedestrian had to move out of my way, slowing him down by a second.

Ah, but the spanner is a part of the universe, too. That said, see the full answer to this question in the Frag FAQ.

If a Span One can only span 1 year per 24-hour period (needing 8 hours of sleep), why can't the spanner just take time in their yet to rest and/or sleep for the required time?

Rest to regain span is like recharging your batteries. You can't span without a full charge. You can't promise to rest later, because you have to be rested *now* in order to span now. You can't slipshank rest, any more than you can slipshank information. If your batteries run out, you can't promise to recharge them later and then start using them again!

You can put off a lot of things, but not sleep. That's just the way humans are built, and any spanner that had to sleep before learning to span is on the same schedule. It would be like scheduling all your breathing for later in your Yet. Go ahead, try it for fun. Perhaps all your bathing and urinating would best be done by an elder of higher Span. Surely no would notice, or mind.

The Yet card is mainly for recording events you know your elder must do, not a magic spell to ward off natural body functions. Just as the Yet portends unfulfilled events with Frag, Nature portends unfulfilled rest with a yawn. The function of the Span Card is Duration/Age. Smart GMs will poke you about it if you've been running around too long; smart players sleep often for Dreaming and regaining Span.

Can you please tell me the official titles that people receive as they reach their Span levels?

We tend to refer to them as "ranks" of Span, since they are more dramatic increases in power than, say, levels in the d20 system.

Actual rank "titles" for Span don't exist, and spanners only refer to the number of their rank ("One", "Two", "Three", etc.) when generalizing about ability. Official titles, of a sort, might be found for various jobs inside each Fraternity, but that's because jobs are where official titles come from in real life, as opposed to ill-fitting legacy concepts from 1st Edition AD&D . (See Further Information, pages 11-14.)

Span Ones are often referred to as "novices" and anyone of Span Five or higher is called "Exalted". Anyone who runs a novice corner (and some Fraternal corners) is called its "mentor", who is most often, but not exclusively, Span Three or Four. And again, these are just the terms in English. There is no precise, universal list of Span 'titles' nor should there be. Spacetime is too vast for that.

Span ranks also shouldn't be confused with the titles used for Superiority rules (see Continuum pages 14-17) which are only used for ordinary non-time-travelling Skills, (and for the present) the Dreaming Skill.

As a would-be GM for Continuum, I've got to put together a corner and a mentor for the corner. However, there do not seem to be any rules for generating higher level Spanners. Can you give some guidelines for what the typical Span 3 ought to have as stats and skills?

The minimum requirements for increasing in Span detail the necessary Skills for a character of that rank of Span. Other Skills naturally depend on the spanner's experience in his Age, his current spanner occupation, and other normal details of developing a roleplaying character, i.e., player's discretion.

The minimum requirements are spread throughout the main rule book, though, so here's a cross-reference and recommended Character Points list from Further Information, page 16:

Span One: As delineated in the main rulebook, Ones begin with 25 character points and 1 free Benefit.

Span Two: 35 character points and 1 free Benefit. (See Continuum , pg. 59 for minimums.)

Span Three: 50 character points and 1 free Benefit. (See Continuum , pg. 87 for minimums.) At Span 3 and above, character should also roll on the Yet of the In-Between Table (see Continuum , pg. 176) for some instant, if generalized, events awaiting in his Yet.

Span Four: 75 character points and 1 free Benefit. (See Continuum , pg. 93 for minimums.)

Span Five: 100 character points and 1 free Benefit. (See Continuum , pg. 100 for minimums.)

Character points may be spent as per the rules in Continuum , page 11.

All requirements (but not points!) are cumulative. Further Information has further information on this subject, like calculating a higher Span character's Age. It also has a complete example corner, and some prep sheets to help a GM write up his own.

Special thanks to Chris Adams, Dave Fooden, Barbara Manui, David Trimboli, and the folks on the Continuum Mailing List for their help in the compiling of this FAQ information.

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