Down the Rabbit Hole
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You cannot know anything. Only suspect. This article contains content from pre-release sources that may or may not be reflective of canon upon release. This article therefore likely contains spoilers. |
Down the Rabbit Hole was a glitched genetic memory.[1]
Chapter introduction[edit | edit source]
The Isu Juno has trapped the Witnesses within the Animi network. In this chapter, the Reader presents a series of scenes representing glitches or rifts, anomalies disrupting the Sands of War memory Sequence—for example, locking the Witnesses in temporal loops, or shifting the Simulation to a different Time Frame.
These glitches can be played with the whole group of PCs as usual, or the Crew can be split into smaller groups, each of them facing a different anomaly. Be careful not to divide the party too much that it slows the game down, however.
A good rule of thumb is to end the chapter when the Crew has solved a number of glitches equal to the number of Witnesses in the Sequence.
A number of examples are provided below; however, the Reader is not restricted to these specific glitches and is encouraged to freely exploit the circumstances, incorporating fragments from any preferred Time Frame, in particular those associated with the PCs' Ancestors (for example using one or more premade Sequences or adventure hooks taken from other Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game books).
Example glitches[edit | edit source]
Below are some examples of possible glitches that can be used by the Reader. All anomalies share one thing in common—they represent a disruption of the Sands of War Simulation Sequence, and thus they always start with the players' Echoes in the Siwa Oasis, in Egypt. The Simulation appears to break down: visuals display errors; scrolling lines of codes hover on the scene, too fast to be read; and sequences of nucleotides appear randomly. The effect is unsettling for the Witnesses.
Temporal Loops[edit | edit source]
The Witnesses become trapped in repetitive cycles, reliving the same events over and over again until they manage to break free. The Reader can make very different scenes, choosing a different scope for each cycle: it can be a single action scene (like defusing a grenade) or something more complex, like reliving an assassination. Here follows a complete example.
- DEMIR'S SCHRÖDINGER BOX
- Description: The Witnesses re-experience the scene when they enter Demir's tent, with Senussi mercenaries on their heels. Inside the tent there is only a modern-looking metal box, clearly out of context in 1917. There is a bomb inside the box that detonates after a short countdown, killing everybody and restarting the scene. The same happens if they leave the tent—Senussi gunfire cuts them down.
- Solution: The Witnesses must move the box, revealing a black hole in the ground, with shifting lines of code (a backdoor). Jumping into the hole ends the loop.
Shifting Environments[edit | edit source]
Different settings and Time Frames within the Animi Network start to morph and blend together, creating surreal and disorienting scenarios. Below are two examples.
- THROUGH THE AGES
- The Witnesses are back in the Egyptian desert, but faced with various forces that have occupied this area throughout the ages. They begin fighting the Senussi Mercenaries in 1917, then Napoleonic troops in 1799, then barbaric Hyksos on scythed chariots in 1598 BC. The final shift brings them into a prehistoric jungle, escaping from a T-rex in the upper Cretaceous.
- THINGS FROM THE PAST AND PRESENT
- The Witnesses are in the Siwa Oasis, among the Senussi soldiers, who remain unaware of their presence. There is a time overlap and they see an enormous wave of water rushing towards them, perhaps from a prehistoric era when this area was under the sea. The wave will annihilate the camp, the only way to escape is outrunning it, by stealing an armored car or another vehicle.