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Drifter · 09-15-2014, 02:16 PM

Combatmedic inspired these two with his Gnosis timeline.

Barabbas Worlds

POD is A.D. 33, when Pilate ignored the crowd and commuted the sentence of Jesus Christ, and instead executing Jesus Barabbas. The living Jesus fades into obscurity, while the dead Barabbas becomes a rallying point for revolutionaries against the Roman regime and order in general. The Church of Barabbas the Insurrectionist is founded on chaos, violence and hate.

The history of the early Church is a cruel parody of the early Christian Church. When the Romans eventually accept Barabbasism, it is because of the bloodlust of its followers. The military readily accepts the new religion when Constantine I saw a flaming eagle affixed to a cross in the sky. The reforms of this Constantine were just as powerful as the Homeline Constantine, but very different. Military authority was paramount over civilians, but military leaders could be replaced by anyone with the might do so. Coinage was abandoned after inflation made the current monetary system unworkable. He was held up by the Church as the very embodiment of fear and hate, the twin foundations of leadership.

Barabbas – 1

On this timeline, local year of 1452, finds a Europe mired in barbarism and bloodshed. The only unifying force is that of the Church of Barabbas, local parishes distinguished by their hill forts and sword foundries. Only the right of force establishes rulership, while vengeance and blood feuds can go on for generations. As is, there is no political organization above the tribal level, and hasn’t been since the destruction of Byzantium by its own citizens in a series of riots and reprisal killings in the early 400s.

At first glance this appears to be a Gotha world, with no large towns or cities, and populations well defended from wandering hordes of murderers. Closer inspection will reveal that the towns are more like prisons, keeping the inhabitants in virtual slavery to a violent elite.

Islam did not arise, with no Christianity to act as a model, and Judaism as only the most widespread of a dozen suppressed sects. Instead a religion based on the worship of a dozen related goddesses, the Ashtarot, is formed in the late 700s, becoming powerful in the Mid-East and north Africa. Modeled on Judaism to an extent, Ashtarot sees some success in conquest, but not nearly the success of Homeline Islam. Barabbasian reaction is one of hate and violence, casting Ashtarot in the role of devils.

In the 1200s would-be Mongol invaders carried the Church of Barabbas back into the Khanates. India has so far been able to resist the hordes, but the Chinese empire has degenerated into the chaotic violence that plagues Europe.

Barabbas -2

Local year is 2012 on this possibly Myth Parallel. A close echo to Homeline, this is a mirror world, where evil is good, and good is evil. A despotic George Washington drives the English from America, allowing bloodsports and the freedom for local nobles to subjugate the citizenry. Lincoln announces the Slavery Declaration, officially enslaving African-Americans that had for generations been offered colonization rights by southern states. Ghandi orders terrorist attacks on British forces in India. Hitler, attempting to free the suffering masses of Europe, is defeated by the Alliance who gas and firebomb huge swaths of non-combatants. MLK Jr is assassinated for his Re-Enslavement stance, and Nixon is hounded from office for attempting to expose election fraud by the Democrats.

The key element tying this world’s weird history together is any contact with Barabbasism. History proceeded normally for all sections of the world that otherwise had no contact with Christianity in Homeline. Once contact was made, in this case with Barabbasism instead, the twisted ethics took hold. So the bloodthirsty Aztec civilization still falls to Spanish Conquistadors, but Father Serra’s Missions along the Pacific coast were built specifically to exterminate the natives.

Evil, sadistic and cruel versions of Homeliners can be found on this timeline, while cruel and sadistic Homeliners are paragons of virtue here.

Note - trying to come up with examples only gave me lines even more tasteless than that Hitler reference. This can be a fun one though, with evil versions of the PCs, or players.

09-15-2014, 02:16 PM	#542
Drifter Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Los Angeles	Re: New Reality Seeds Combatmedic inspired these two with his Gnosis timeline. Barabbas Worlds POD is A.D. 33, when Pilate ignored the crowd and commuted the sentence of Jesus Christ, and instead executing Jesus Barabbas. The living Jesus fades into obscurity, while the dead Barabbas becomes a rallying point for revolutionaries against the Roman regime and order in general. The Church of Barabbas the Insurrectionist is founded on chaos, violence and hate. The history of the early Church is a cruel parody of the early Christian Church. When the Romans eventually accept Barabbasism, it is because of the bloodlust of its followers. The military readily accepts the new religion when Constantine I saw a flaming eagle affixed to a cross in the sky. The reforms of this Constantine were just as powerful as the Homeline Constantine, but very different. Military authority was paramount over civilians, but military leaders could be replaced by anyone with the might do so. Coinage was abandoned after inflation made the current monetary system unworkable. He was held up by the Church as the very embodiment of fear and hate, the twin foundations of leadership. Barabbas – 1 On this timeline, local year of 1452, finds a Europe mired in barbarism and bloodshed. The only unifying force is that of the Church of Barabbas, local parishes distinguished by their hill forts and sword foundries. Only the right of force establishes rulership, while vengeance and blood feuds can go on for generations. As is, there is no political organization above the tribal level, and hasn’t been since the destruction of Byzantium by its own citizens in a series of riots and reprisal killings in the early 400s. At first glance this appears to be a Gotha world, with no large towns or cities, and populations well defended from wandering hordes of murderers. Closer inspection will reveal that the towns are more like prisons, keeping the inhabitants in virtual slavery to a violent elite. Islam did not arise, with no Christianity to act as a model, and Judaism as only the most widespread of a dozen suppressed sects. Instead a religion based on the worship of a dozen related goddesses, the Ashtarot, is formed in the late 700s, becoming powerful in the Mid-East and north Africa. Modeled on Judaism to an extent, Ashtarot sees some success in conquest, but not nearly the success of Homeline Islam. Barabbasian reaction is one of hate and violence, casting Ashtarot in the role of devils. In the 1200s would-be Mongol invaders carried the Church of Barabbas back into the Khanates. India has so far been able to resist the hordes, but the Chinese empire has degenerated into the chaotic violence that plagues Europe. Barabbas -2 Local year is 2012 on this possibly Myth Parallel. A close echo to Homeline, this is a mirror world, where evil is good, and good is evil. A despotic George Washington drives the English from America, allowing bloodsports and the freedom for local nobles to subjugate the citizenry. Lincoln announces the Slavery Declaration, officially enslaving African-Americans that had for generations been offered colonization rights by southern states. Ghandi orders terrorist attacks on British forces in India. Hitler, attempting to free the suffering masses of Europe, is defeated by the Alliance who gas and firebomb huge swaths of non-combatants. MLK Jr is assassinated for his Re-Enslavement stance, and Nixon is hounded from office for attempting to expose election fraud by the Democrats. The key element tying this world’s weird history together is any contact with Barabbasism. History proceeded normally for all sections of the world that otherwise had no contact with Christianity in Homeline. Once contact was made, in this case with Barabbasism instead, the twisted ethics took hold. So the bloodthirsty Aztec civilization still falls to Spanish Conquistadors, but Father Serra’s Missions along the Pacific coast were built specifically to exterminate the natives. Evil, sadistic and cruel versions of Homeliners can be found on this timeline, while cruel and sadistic Homeliners are paragons of virtue here. Note - trying to come up with examples only gave me lines even more tasteless than that Hitler reference. This can be a fun one though, with evil versions of the PCs, or players.