New Reality Seeds

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by scc

This means no Church of England, likely no English Civil War (or a different outcome if it does happen).

Does it? Princes everywhere have always wanted state control of religion, and always clashed with independent religious leadership, whether Christian Popes or the Taoist Celestial Masters. Though I suppose some other Western European state could go to formal schism first if Henry VIII doesn't. Church of Spain anyone?

Both the Church of England and the English Civil War seem to be spin-offs of the rise of modern states and "absolute" monarchies. That's still happening. And Protestantism is going to come to England soon and cause trouble whether it clashes with a Catholic or Anglican establishment.

[YankeeGamer]

On this Quantum 3 Parallel, 1977's Star Wars is, as in OTL, a blockbuster success. And, as on Homeline, some people, mostly the real geeks, became obsessed with The Force.

By 1980 and the release of The Empire Strikes Back, some younglings were managing to emulate some of the powers of the Jedi. This was not ignored by the conservative religious establishments, and there were attempts to ban Empire Strikes Back. Jack Chick, Jerry Falwell, and other purveyors of radical fundamentalism preached and wrote against the "cult," which only made the film more successful, although theaters showing it were burned in some southern cities.

In a few cases, incidents where kids used the Force to save lives made national news, and the effectiveness of the Force to acomplish things is not doubted. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," is a common phrase, but there IS extraordinary evidence.

Love them, hate them, think they're devil spawn or angels, they are real, they are here. So far, none have been known to turn to darkness. A certain idealism is needed for the mindset to use the Force. Once someone has learned the ways of the Force, if they lose that idealism, then they can become very dangerous. So far, it either hasn't happened, or has been contained.

It's now six months since it became widely known; attempts to coerce Jedi to work for the government have, in some cases, anyway, failed.

In one case, a lynch mob sought to kill the "Hellspawn," and the Jedi were forced to defend themselves. Steel swords in the hands of teenagers sufficed to drive off a large mob, some armed with guns. (Rather, to drive off the survivors of the mob.)

Things are getting interesting...

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by YankeeGamer

On this Quantum 3 Parallel, 1977's Star Wars is, as in OTL, a blockbuster success. And, as on Homeline, some people, mostly the real geeks, became obsessed with The Force.

By 1980 and the release of The Empire Strikes Back, some younglings were managing to emulate some of the powers of the Jedi. This was not ignored by the conservative religious establishments, and there were attempts to ban Empire Strikes Back. Jack Chick, Jerry Falwell, and other purveyors of radical fundamentalism preached and wrote against the "cult," which only made the film more successful, although theaters showing it were burned in some southern cities.

In a few cases, incidents where kids used the Force to save lives made national news, and the effectiveness of the Force to acomplish things is not doubted. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," is a common phrase, but there IS extraordinary evidence.

Love them, hate them, think they're devil spawn or angels, they are real, they are here. So far, none have been known to turn to darkness. A certain idealism is needed for the mindset to use the Force. Once someone has learned the ways of the Force, if they lose that idealism, then they can become very dangerous. So far, it either hasn't happened, or has been contained.

It's now six months since it became widely known; attempts to coerce Jedi to work for the government have, in some cases, anyway, failed.

In one case, a lynch mob sought to kill the "Hellspawn," and the Jedi were forced to defend themselves. Steel swords in the hands of teenagers sufficed to drive off a large mob, some armed with guns. (Rather, to drive off the survivors of the mob.)

Things are getting interesting...

I want to run this as an In Nomine campaign. Massive amounts of Essence piping into the Marchers. Nybbas is delighted but enraged he can't get them to go Dark. Or has Nybbas Redeemed?

[AlexanderHowl]

Odd coincidence, I once ran a 4e Shadowrun game where Jedi and Sith were two of the magical traditions that character could take. On a more serious note, the manifestation of the Force would be a rather straightforward mass psychic awakening of psychic-based cinematic skills, imbuements, and powers. The light sabers would be psychic-based gadgets with the following probably representing the average example: Burning Attack 8d (Tight-Beam; Armor Divisor (5), +150%; Breakable, DR 25, Machine, SM-4, -25%; Can Be Stolen, DX Contest, Not Immediately Useful, -15%; Melee Attack, Reach 1-2, Destructive Parry, Dual, +0%; Psionic (Bioenergy, Force Constructs, Heat/Fire, or Light), -10%) [80].

[YankeeGamer]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Odd coincidence, I once ran a 4e Shadowrun game where Jedi and Sith were two of the magical traditions that character could take. On a more serious note, the manifestation of the Force would be a rather straightforward mass psychic awakening of psychic-based cinematic skills, imbuements, and powers. The light sabers would be psychic-based gadgets with the following probably representing the average example: Burning Attack 8d (Tight-Beam; Armor Divisor (5), +150%; Breakable, DR 25, Machine, SM-4, -25%; Can Be Stolen, DX Contest, Not Immediately Useful, -15%; Melee Attack, Reach 1-2, Destructive Parry, Dual, +0%; Psionic (Bioenergy, Force Constructs, Heat/Fire, or Light), -10%) [80].

My initial concept has no lightsabers--at least at first. However, people are parrying bullets with swords, or simply being where the bullets are not. Having lightsabers might come about later. With or without lightsabers, it's cool. Of more impact is having some Jedi wannabes in the schools. Back then, bullying was seldom seen as a problem, and the nerds and geeks were frequent targets. They are also the ones that most often become Jedi, since they're the right age, and interested in films like that to the point where some obsess over it. Of course, failure to solve the problems peacefully might be where the first Jedi that turns to evil comes from.

People only become Jedi of the really obsess over the film--a casual interest doesn't do it, and they learn slowly, at the rate they might if they had a real teacher.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Does it? Princes everywhere have always wanted state control of religion, and always clashed with independent religious leadership, whether Christian Popes or the Taoist Celestial Masters. Though I suppose some other Western European state could go to formal schism first if Henry VIII doesn't. Church of Spain anyone?

Both the Church of England and the English Civil War seem to be spin-offs of the rise of modern states and "absolute" monarchies. That's still happening. And Protestantism is going to come to England soon and cause trouble whether it clashes with a Catholic or Anglican establishment.

Agreed. I mean, England could remain a primarily Catholic nation, or it could go Lutheran or Calvinist in a later generation, or do something totally other.

The Church of Spain idea is a potentially interesting one. Anyone have thoughts on how it might come about?

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

The Church of Spain idea is a potentially interesting one. Anyone have thoughts on how it might come about?

Fairly easily actually. The Renaissance Spanish church was already famous for ignoring the Pope and considering itself an arm of the Spanish government - there's a reason it's the *Spanish* Inquisition and not that of the Pope or specific bishops. And of course from about 1520 to 1560 there were a string of wars in Italy with Spain and the Papal States usually on opposite sides. The Pope mostly didn't even control who held the Spanish sees (though the King of Spain didn't exactly either, the Primacy of Spain, the Archbishopric of Toledo, passed from father to son in 1523!). In a lot of ways all that is required is for somebody to formalize the split.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Fairly easily actually. The Renaissance Spanish church was already famous for ignoring the Pope and considering itself an arm of the Spanish government - there's a reason it's the *Spanish* Inquisition and not that of the Pope or specific bishops. And of course from about 1520 to 1560 there were a string of wars in Italy with Spain and the Papal States usually on opposite sides. The Pope mostly didn't even control who held the Spanish sees (though the King of Spain didn't exactly either, the Primacy of Spain, the Archbishopric of Toledo, passed from father to son in 1523!). In a lot of ways all that is required is for somebody to formalize the split.

Huh. Any OTL Spanish kings (or could-easily-have-been kings) who seem likely to go there?

[YankeeGamer]

This timeline appears to be a fairly close parallel. The local time is 5.33 million years BP. It's on Quantum 5, so easily accessible, and the Zanclean Deluge is imminent--as in within a year. Time Tours knows that the largest waterfall EVER will be a fantastic destination, and they're already doing a booming business. The great cliffs of the Mediterranean shore, and walking in shirtsleeves on the bottom, looking at the unique lifeforms--and shooting them--gets people spending their dollars.

Note that the air is dense at the bottom, so the bends is possible if anyone comes up too fast.

When the Deluge starts, it will be epic, and the show will not last too long--a year or so, perhaps. Time Tours is poised for their greatest year ever.

This might just be an interesting stop, but any boomtown has potential for action. Of course, there's the possibility that someone will deliberately START the deluge at a time that serves his or her interests...

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by YankeeGamer

It's on Quantum 5, so easily accessible, and the Zanclean Deluge is imminent--as in within a year. ... Of course, there's the possibility that someone will deliberately START the deluge at a time that serves his or her interests...

"Interesting," thinks a geologist who works for the Scout Service, "how can they tell when it's going to happen so accurately? Since there's a geological fault running through the Straits of Gibraltar -- which is responsible for the straits opening and closing -- the flood will almost certainly be started when the fault shifts, and that depends on conditions tens of miles underground."

"So I think someone at Time Tours may be planning to trigger it. I wonder where he got the drilling kit and the nukes? Probably better get this passed up the line to the I-Cops."