There are many (intersecting) groups (rather than individuals) of
characters in the game, trying to accomplish many things:
- Saving Themselves - Everyone is trying to do this. They
each, of course, have their own priorities amont the methods of doing
so. This is the most general and public plot of the game, and is the
reason for the 6-hour time-limit.
- Finding the Ruler of the Universe - Since nobody who wants
to rule the universe should be allowed to do so, the actual ruler of
the universe is an isolated individual who lives in a small house with
his cat, and is occasionally visited by people who ask him
"hypothetical" questions which determine the rulership of the
universe. Several people have conspired to discover and speak to this
person. They need the Heart of Gold to be under their control in
order to get past the defenses on the planet where the Ruler lives,
which is why Zaphod Beeblebrox became president of the galaxy (with
his mind wiped) in order to steal it.
- SWORD - The Secret World Order for Retribution and
Destruction. They have planted agents aboard to attempt to become the
rulers of the new Golgafrinchan colony. To aid in this, they need to
ensure that they come out looking as competent as possible in the
coming crisis, and finish building their brainwashing device (they
couldn't stash it onboard whole, but stashed appropriate pieces). If
they complete it they have the chance to use it in game. soon e
- The Illuminati - Another group trying to rule the new
colony, independant of SWORD and with know knowledge between the
groups. They need to do essentially the same thing, and are building
their orbital mind-control lasers, which need to be jetisonned from
the ship through an airlock before landing in order to bein an
appropriate orbit.
- SHIELD - Opposition for SWORD and the Illuminati. They
want to ensure peace, freedom, and democracy on the new planet, and
suspect that someone might be trying to take over. They're completely
clueless as to who, though. They're trying to build a truthing device
(enabling them to ask characters questions which must be answered
truthfully) in order to find the conspiracies.
- The Mice - Two mice (Pinky and The Brain) are aboard. Mice
are the protrusion into our dimension of hyperintelligent
pandimensional beings. These two mice are riding in robotic suits
which allow them to pose as humans. They can leave their suits, and
have appropriate advantages and disadvantages when doing so. The
suits are also a source of RTIs. The Earth is actually a vast
computer of their construction, so they want to make sure the
Golgafrinchans don't land there and screw it up.
- Finding the Question - The eventual goal of the Earth
computer was to find the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and
Everything (the answer of which was determined by an earlier computer
to be 42). The two survivors of the Earth, as well as their friends,
are very interested in finding out what it is. The Mice will also
have the chance to discover in-game that Arthur and Trillian are
last-generation products of the Earth, and can try to obtain the
question. The method obvious to the Mice will be to obtain Arthur
and/or Trillian's brain (diced) to determine the answer, but violent
death would make the brains useless, and Arthur and Trillian are
unlikely to sacrifice themselves for the cause. Marvin can read the
question in Arthur's or Trillian's brainwave patterns if someone
actually convinces him to try, but it will be the incorrect question
("What do you get when you multiply six by nine?") because Arthur is a
result of an Earth history screwed up by the Golgafrinchans (which
Marvin could also determine by looking at Arthur's DNA). The true
question (though only parts of it, since the Earth's work was not
complete when Arthur and Trillian left) can only be obtained after the
Ark has been diverted from Earth, at which point the timestream
adjusts and Arthur is no longer related to the Golgafrinchans. What
the question is, and the results of learning it are yet to be
determined (the book speculates that if ever both question and answer
are known then the universe will immediately dissapear and be replaced
by something even more bizzarely inexplicable, which might perhaps be
mechanicked as it was in an old and very different Assassin game by
having players stand in a circle, hand their character sheets to the
left, their items and abilities to the right, and then begin playing
where they left off).
- Becoming Immortal - Wowbagger is immortal due to an
accident (involving a particle accelerator, a liquid lunch, and a pair
of rubber bands) which he has learned how to duplicate. He wishes to
choose someone as a companion to make immortal. Someone who got
access to him and/or his computer might be able to duplicate the
process and become immortal themselves. Nobody knows he's coming
pregame, but they will have memory-packets for him, and he is
mentioned in the Guide. Carrying out the process requires, as well as
general engineering, a knowledge of physics. Rather than being built
as an independant device, the immortality process can use the Ark's
main engines as its casing (they provide the particle accelerator).
- Reuniting the Friends - The main characters from the book
have been split into two groups, and each is quite worried about the
other. They wish to be reunited and to leave safely together. Their
long and twisted history as described in the books is summarized here.
Andrew Twyman,
kurgan@mit.edu
Interactive and Non-Linear Narrative,
Spring 1998