Nexus - First Season

Nexus started in the winter of 1988 as a Dr. Who-ish GURPS campaign. Over the course of the first few seasons, Nexus' first transformation was from this first format to one resembling something more along the lines of Star Trek. The original analysis of the first season was as follows:

The first season was really just one long attempt to flesh out the universe and just how the players would fit into it. The campaign went from a Dr. Who type game, to something that resembled Star Trek, which I felt that the players were more comfortable with, since the predominant opinion was against Dr. Who. The only thing that that show contributed to the Nexus universe was the idea that Nexus was an important universe due to the fact that it is a nexus in the time space continuum. Because of this, all major Nexus ships in the military have temporal engines, a modification that exists to this day.

It is noted that there were not many theme songs in the first season, maybe because such things are frills, and in the campaign's infant beginnings there was no excess amount of creative energy that could be spent to find themes.

The main players were Jeff Hysong, Bob Lineman, and Jason Cihonski, all of whom created characters that still live in Nexus history. Of course, the most well known of these characters is Arton, who provided a measure of stability against other characters like Monar, Snake or Warmonger.

The first season of Nexus was given a one star rating (of a possible rating of four stars).

First Season Episodes

1. Little Women (JH, BL, JC)

The group attempts to foil the plans of a renegade Nexus traveller who is trying to recover a lost amulet of evil. Their journey on this mission takes them to Massachusetts, 1862, where they meet the March family (L.M. Alcott�s �Little Women�), where Jo is possessed by the amulet and leads the renegade to it. The team�s next stop is Nazi Germany, 1942, where they manage to retrieve the amulet before it falls into the hands of the renegade.

2. The Virus (JH, BL, JC)

Beth March joins the team and is immediately into trouble as she contracts an intelligent virus which seeks to spread itself throughout space and time via the time-travelling Nexus team. The group travels into Beth�s brain to stop the virus.

3. The Blue & The Gray (JH, BL, JC)

Beth saves her father from death in battle at the hands of a being known as Mephistopheles, and in doing so, changes the course of history. The group�s attempts to reverse the damage are hindered by Draco, who is paid by Beth to stop them.

4. Miami: Murdertown USA (BL)

The group confronts biker gangs and drug rings in the Miami of 2036.

5. Stranded (JH, BL, JC)

After being attacked by space raiders, the group is forced to land on an arctic planet, where they meet a race of people that is being oppressed by a nearby fortress. In return for help in repairing the ship, Warmonger is led on a dangerous quest to knock out the fortress.

6. Redjack (BL)

During a visit to 19th Century London, the group�s female compliment is stalked by Jack the Ripper.

7. Ambush at Trollgate (JH, BL, JC)

Mephistopheles ambushes the group on the planet Trollgate using a number of tricks including a fake religious relic and an assault on Nexus. The group is captured except for Smith, who escapes to get help.

Miniseries: Nexus Under Seiege

8A. Opening Gambits (JH, BL, JC)

A new team is recruited to save the old. They include Snake, an unemployed Nexus traveller, Charles Manson, a hermit with a grudge against Mephistopheles, and Thomas Hoy, a petty criminal. The team is assigned to a carrier which is leading the search for the missing group.

In the meantime, Beth and Mephistopheles engage in a psychic battle for Warmonger and Monar. Mephistopheles destroys Monar in order to keep him from falling under Beth�s control.

8B. Assault on Trollgate (JH, BL, JC)

The group retrieves the missing team from Trollgate during a heated air battle with the forces of Mephistopheles.

8C. The Dome City (JH, BL)

The group lands on an uncharted planet where they discover a civilization living in domed cities, and where people are executed after a lifespan of thirty years. (Logan�s Run) The group resorts first to becoming Sandmen, then Runners in order to escape, which they narrowly do.

8D. Assault on Mephistopheles (JH, BL)

The final battle is fought between the group and Mephistopheles. The group wins, but Mephistopheles escapes by cloning himself and having his clones jump through a dimensional door. Manson jumps through the door after Mephistopheles and disappears. Because of her prolonged exposure to Mephistopheles, Beth forms an evil alter-personality.

Later, Snake attempts to kill Smith, but is caught and ordered placed in a rehab facility. His ship crashes while en route.

9. Return to the Dome City (JC)

Snake crashes on an uncharted planet and finds himself in the same situation as the group did in Episode 8C. He also narrowly manages to escape.

10. The Renegade (JH, BL, JC)

Snake returns to NS 314 and is captured by Smith, who informs Nexus. Hoy meanwhile, attempts to start a research project in which he will create a clone using famous figures in Earth�s history. His research is denied support from the officers of NS 314 who feel that Hoy would be creating a super-powered slave. Hoy attempts to hire Snake to assist in his project, but fails. He erases the data, but Beth copies it.

Snake escapes NS 314 in a prisoner transport, and is intercepted by a fighter patrol. When he destroys the fighters, NS 314 intervenes. Snake is captured again as his ship is approaching a planet, but as Smith is about to investigate, Snake escapes again, this time in a lifepod, and with the help of Hoy, who attempted to kill Smith as a diversion. Beth, still acting under her evil personality, jettisons the lifepod with Smith and Hoy aboard. They are quickly beamed aboard NS 314. Snake is left to die.

Smith changes his name to Arton.