Better Self

In a dystopian society where scientists have recently discovered a second dimension of time, you are ordinary citizens who have been chosen by lottery to participate in an experiment to better the timeline... and yourself, who you will interact with during each iteration. A LARP about time loops, memory, identity, and what one is willing to sacrifice to become who one wants to be.

Long Description

You enter a room that is mostly devoid of character, but are instantly drawn to a person sitting by themself. You know instantly and with certainty that this person is you, but at a different age. You sit down in the chair across from yourself. A scientist with a pleasant voice enters the room and begins to speak.

“Iteration 11. Begin.”

You live in a world with an all-powerful government of governments called the Consortium. Two years ago, Consortium scientists figured out time travel, and in doing so, discovered that there is a second dimension of time. The people in this world have come to differentiate between the two by referring to the time we know as “common time” or “the timeline”, while the second is referred to as “the time of time”. While it is difficult to wrap one’s head around it, and the citizens of this world have no sense of it happening, that which this world knows as common time, the timeline of events from history to future, changes over its own time, the time of time.

The Consortium has devised an experiment to influence the timeline over the time of time, and you have been chosen by lottery to participate in the experiment. The officials tell participants very little about the experiment until it begins. All you know is that you will enter a room, and when you exit, that the world—and yourself—will supposedly be a better place in the future of the time of time. You know you are a guinea pig, and worry that something could go horribly wrong. But surely they wouldn’t mess with time unless they were sure it would turn out okay for you, right? Right?**

Better Self is a dystopian science fiction LARP for 10 players (and 5 characters) about memory, identity, and what one is willing to sacrifice to become who one wants to be. It plays out in 3 iterations of an unethical science experiment, with interludes in between for players to prepare for the next iteration and any updates to their character sheets.

Note that this is not a game about stopping the unethical experimentation on the player characters, and all iterations of the experiment will be completed. It isn't possible to stop the actions of the Consortium during the game, though some characters may express what their character might do in the epilogue.