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Old 10-31-2017, 08:56 PM   #22
Johnny1A.2
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Default Re: Centrum Light, Homeline Dark.

Quote:
Originally Posted by martinl View Post
I'm not sure I'd go the way you suggest - an important theme of Centrum is that they view a lot of the things we consider "Freedom" as "Dangerous Anarchy."

I'd suggest instead just moving them a little closer to their own propaganda - they are really making hard decisions to bring the most "good" (which to them is mostly about stability, material comfort and safety, not freedom) to the most people, with people under Centrum's authority being a bit higher in priority.

Similarly, I'd just let Homeline be a little closer to Centrum's propaganda - dangerously anarchic and nakedly exploitative of other timelines. Note that almost every nuclear power on Homeline probably has nuclear-paratime capabilities, and the mere knowledge of that fact must drive centrans a bit crazy.

Now there is a little of a suspension of disbelief problem with a "Honest, well meaning, competent bureaucracy." I'd salt some pre-emptive sci-fi gobbledy**** in there so when the PCs ask you have an aswer ready.
They can exist, and have existed. The problem is that they tend to decay over time into something less good. But that's true of most things. It takes constant work to prevent things from going downhill.

Which actually sort of fits the Centrum mindset. They don't look around them and see a multiverse of limitless opportunities, they see limitless chances for things to go catastrophically wrong. From that POV, the Homeline emphasis on individuality is simply self-indulgence, like a lunatic who drills holes in the hull of a ship to 'express himself'.

Centrum might actually be able to hold off decay longer than Homeline simply because their mindset already turns that way. They can't do it forever, but they might maintain benevolence and competence (by their definitions) for a good while, because they think that way in the first place.

The weakness of the Centrum mindset is missed opportunities, the strength of it is avoiding dangerous temptations. Which one is 'better' depends to a large degree on circumstances.
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