A setting I might run a game in, if I find players in my area, and that I'm wondering if anyone else might want to use. I'll mostly work on this when I'm unable to focus on the Five Earths setting in my .sig, or the things I hope to make money from.
In 1921, the Society for Psychical Research had a breakthrough, with the help of a skilled hypnotist, and thus was able to prove the existance of at least some psychic phenomena. Since then, methods have been refined, and have spread to many universities and societies (the Stella Matutina, the Freemasons, and similar mystical groups show special interest) the world over, though few of the general public have studied these techniques.
In 1923, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party) leader Adolph Hitler was killed in Munich during the failed Beer Hall Putsch. In the USA, stage magician and debunker Harry Houdini encountered one genuine psychic - who made use of photokinesis to help fake the spirits of his marks' dead loved ones.
In 1924, the SPR was granted a royal charter, becoming the Royal Society for Psychical Research. The Society of Jesus began investigating hypnotically-induced psychics not long thereafter. In August of that year, Oxford student and newly-empowered psychic Kamidake Yoshiro returned to Japan to take his late father's place in the family business: oyabun of a minor 'chivalrous organization' (yakuza group).
In 1925, fourteen-year-old silent film actress Lucille Ricksen recovered from a several month illness with the help of a group of empowered psychology students from the University of California Southern Branch. In October, Aleister Crowley published a monograph on a method of 'binding spirits' to objects, thus empowering them with related abilities.
In 1927, the thirteen members of a secret society called the Brotherhood of the Dragon vanished while on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Prince Vlad Tepes. Rumour has it that they brought a significant quantity of blood with them, some of it human, but there is little evidence of this. In November, William Edward Hickman is killed by a psychic named Michael Sutton, who claims that Hickman would otherwise have murdered a child. Sutton is sentenced to a mental hospital.
In 1929, the Thule Society bought their way back into favor with the NSDAP. In Romania, a charismatic man using the name Vlad Bassarab becomes an advisor to both the young King Michael, and the Romanian Prime Minister, Vintila Bratianu. In North Carolina, Dr. J. B. Rhine publishes
A Survey on Methods of Psychical Attunement, in which he attempts to distinguish between trigger items (which have no power in themselves, but are used to activate a psychic's abilities), fetishes (to which astral entities have been bound or anchored by human efforts), haunts (to which an astral entity or entities have attached themselves without human action), and psychographs (which have been attuned to one or more psi abilities without the apparent involvement of any astral being).
In 1930, Pope Pius XI promulgated a papal bull on the subject of psi powers, declaring that they are neither miraculous nor diabolical, but natural abilities of humanity. Sir Oliver Lodge and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle publish a paper entitled 'On Elementals,' describing spirits that seem to embody particular concepts: not only the traditional Western elements, but Eastern elements like Wood and Metal, alternative elements like Shadow, Lightning, or Sound, and more abstract concepts are mentioned - demons are described in the paper as 'creatures of elemental Evil,' and angels as 'beings of elemental Good.'
It is now 1932. In Germany, the NSDAP is rising to power, and many prognosticators see doom in the eyes of their Vorsitzender (chairman), a Bavarian named Himmler. In Asia, the Empire of Japan expands its influence, to China's detriment. In the US, Senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D-N.Y.) is the favorite to win the Democratic nomination for President. All over the world, the new psychics, both private individuals and public servants, are becoming more and more common, and beginning to reshape the destiny of the world.
Quote:
Lodge-3, 1932
Current Affairs
While the Nazi Party claws it's way into power in Weimar Germany, psychics, both private individuals and public servants, are becoming more and more common, and beginning to reshape the destiny of the world.
Divergeance Point
1921: The Society for Psychical Research had a breakthrough, with the help of a skilled hypnotist, and thus was able to prove the existance of at least some psychic phenomena.
Major Civilizations
Western (multipolar), Orthodox (empire), Japanese (empire), Chinese (fragmenting empire).
Great Powers
United States (representative democracy, CR3, CR5 for blacks), British Empire (representative democracies, CR3), Soviet Union (dictatorship, CR6), Japanese Empire (military-corporate oligarchy, CR4), Fascist Italy (dictatorship, CR4), French Third Republic (representative democracy, CR4), Weimar Republic (representative democracy, CR4), Republic of China (oligarchy, CR5).
Worldline Data
TL: (6+1)^
Mana Level: no mana
Quantum: 6
Infinity Class: Z4
Centrum Zone: Red
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The frequency of (active) psis is currently around 1 per 100,000 people and gradually climbing, although the ratio of people with Talents and Psi Perks seems to be closer to 1 per 3,000 people. Everyone else is a 'latent', as per 'Universal Latency' (Psionic Campaigns, p8) and 'Weak Latency (Psi) [0]' (Psionic Powers, p19), having the potential for power, but no usable abilities. Prior to 1921, the proportion of active psis per capita was significantly less, believed to be on the order of one per ten million people. The percentage of people with Psi Talents and Perks, but no abilities
above Perk level, was about the same as it is now, though.
In terms of public awareness of psi (Psionic Campaigns, p16), by the 1930s this is a world transitioning between Suspected and Acknowledged: There are a lot of people who know for certain that psi powers exist, but these powers are still rare (and often subtle) enough that a lot of people still don't believe it - and many of those that
do are eccentrics who believe they're doing magic, which doesn't help.
What little 'psychotronic' equipment exists is experimental, but may sometimes have the sizes of emergent or mature psi-tech. While you can buy some in theory, it would more often be something you (or your ally, contact, or patron) commissioned, if you don't make it yourself. Devices created by mystics tend to be smaller, but quirkier, often with strange limitations. Psi drugs are likewise rare, and are mostly the result of examining old books on Herb-Lore, Alchemy, and so forth, and experimenting to separate the useful items from the myths and filler.
'Monsters' of various types do exist, but are far from common, and mostly consist of astral entities - adventurers in the Astral Plane, particularly the Inner Plane, might encounter practically
anything. Corporeal monsters are generally manufactured by human psychics, though not always on purpose, or created by other 'monsters.' Some
Cryptids are more likely to be animals, with normal animal abilities and motivations, rather than empowered monsters. (Search through books like Monster Hunters, Horror, and Creatures of the Night for anything that fits your game, adjust powers to be psionic, and add a Spirit meta-trait to anything too fantastic (e.g. all but the most limited shapeshifters) that you still want to use, or confine it to the Inner Astral Plane. You could also tone down some creatures to make more mundane cryptids. If you want to take the time to convert them, 3e GURPS had
a few Bestiary books, as well.)
Thoughts?