About Torchwood 5
New to Torchwood?
Welcome to Torchwood, Facility 5.
Why here, Why now, you might ask? Well, we just happen to have a rift in time and space running right through the heart of the city. In fact there are several in major cities around the world. All sorts of weird stuff ends up in these places – most of it would be more at home in a science-fiction movie. You see there are rivers of energy that run over the entire planet called ley lines. You can’t see them most of the time, but they’re there. When two rivers cross each other, well, you’ve seen ghostbusters? crossing the streams is bad. That’s when you get rifts in Time, and Space. Things, strange things, tend to come through.
The Torchwood Institute is the name of a secret organization set up to combat alien threats to the human race. Initially founded by Queen Victoria herself, Torchwood’s head office was based in the Canary Wharf tower in London’s docklands. However, a devastating alien attack left virtually the entire staff dead, the organization without a leader, and the tiny Cardiff field office left to defend humanity on its own. Well, almost on its own…Over the last few decades there has been turmoil in the space time continuum that has been spreading across the world. These cracks are opening at random intervals in random places, opening rifts to other worlds and times. Some of these things are safe, most are deadly as the rifts tend to open where we have recorded large amounts of energy. If you are reading this page on the Torchwood Hub, then your new job is to scavenge what comes through the rifts, using it to enhance human potential or keep it from destroying the world. Welcome to the Team!
In case your wondering this page is dedicated to our Role Playing game based loosely on the BBC television show Torchwood, which is itself a spin-off of Doctor Who. Our game is based in Detroit, Michigan mostly because of it’s close proximity to water, land, large power stations, and general unrest from the local communities. This backdrop makes it ideal for a horror/sci-fi styled game. Of course our characters will travel to many other places, including other cities, dimensions, and times.
We use the “World of Darkness” setting exclusively for our game since it lends itself nicely to our free form style of gaming. Everything comes down to a handful of dice, plus or minus dice depending on the situation. Everything else is borrowed from science fiction, horror, television, and mostly books! Philip K. Dick is our favorite (as well as many others) author for great short stories that make us think and set us up on our great adventures. Of course inspiration comes from all sorts of places including other RPG’s like Werewolf, Vampire, Changeling, Shadowrun, Star Wars, Highlander, Cowboy Bebop, etc. Well, you get the idea. If you ever have any questions about our game or would like to chime in, please feel free to contact me directly!
Thanks
-Tim Massey
