Hello Again
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The odd little man with the battered grey hat pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and offered his hand. "Hello. We haven't met yet, but we will, and that's where I know you from. I'm McMack."

Basic Information

A time travel trope (that works roughly as well with reincarnation) hello again occurs when a character meets a member of a long lived species (or just a long lived individual) for the first time, only for them to be greeted as a friend from long ago.

This, obviously, implies that at some point the character will be travelling back in time (or has lived before in a noticably similar form) and that the new accquaintance can provide useful advice … and more generally, may know them better than they know themselves (especially when this happens to a very young character).

Sources

Bibliography
1. full source reference

Game and Story Use

  • Possibly better for fiction than RPG plotting - players may catch the putrid whiff of railroading if this is done badly.
  • Useful for creating a campaign driving NPC - obviously they remember everything the past version of the character told them about what he would need to do in the future and can tell the current PCs what it is.
    • Of course, memory can play tricks on you…
  • Of course, the old acquaintance may not be a friend…
  • For a lot of this trope, done well, try playing the cRPG Planescape: Torment.
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