Converting popular settings to Infinite Worlds

[David Johnston]

Originally Posted by tratclif

Actually, there's a long history of SF stories about invasions from beneath the sea. I'm not sure which one was the immediate inspiration for Leviathan.

The inspiration was The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft. Not only do the "Atlanteans" have all the physical characteristics of Deep Ones, including the ability to interbreed with humans to product young who start out seeming human and become more froggy as they age, but they also have a Dread of swastikas, and in The Shadow Over Innsmouth Zadok Allen says the Elder Sign looks like a swastika. Additionally, the "real-life" Innsmouth, Lovecraft's inspiration for it, was the run-down (by the 20th century) town of Newburyport, which in Leviathan was the site of the first invasion by the ocean-dwellers.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by David Johnston

The inspiration was The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft. Not only do the "Atlanteans" have all the physical characteristics of Deep Ones, including the ability to interbreed with humans to product young who start out seeming human and become more froggy as they age, but they also have a Dread of swastikas, and in The Shadow Over Innsmouth Zadok Allen says the Elder Sign looks like a swastika. Additionally, the "real-life" Innsmouth, Lovecraft's inspiration for it, was the run-down (by the 20th century) town of Newburyport, which in Leviathan was the site of the first invasion by the ocean-dwellers.

Agreed, but T's point remains valid. The 'A'Nthleioi are distinguished from the Deep Ones by their use of high technology. The m.o. described in Infinite Worlds brings to mind the unnamed aliens in Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes. Leviathan, in this line of thinking, might be associated with the Kraken by the Milton-Tennyson connection.

[Xenarthral]

Originally Posted by tratclif

I was reacting to the careful phrasing that Ken Hite used on p. 151 of Infinite Worlds. SJGames has said that world of Conan exists somewhere in the Infinite Worlds, but I'm guessing that licensing and intellectual property concerns would prevent them from ever printing anything about "Conan-1."

Yes, the difference between what Steve Jackson Games can do and what
Infinity can. But then again (my knowledge of copyright law is a bit rusty),
Howard outlived Doyle by a mere six years and we have Sherlock parallels.

Legal concerns may prevent them from ever actually describing the
parallels (any more than in GURPS Conan, Discworld and Witchworld,
respectively), copyright shouldn't be much of an obstacle to sentences
like "Conan is the name used not only for the myth parallels mirroring Robert
E. Howard's Hyborian Age, but also for many other parallels on the edge
between Howard-style sword & sorcery fantasy and (Howard-style?)
cinematic pre-medieval history." (I.e. parallels favouring Conan-types
rather than more civilised or historically correct people.)
And going on to describe one of the latter parallels.

Originally Posted by David Johnston

The inspiration was The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft.

But that inspiration is not enough to make it a Lovecraft myth parallel -
it does not mirror (or "evolve naturally from"*) anything Lovecraft actually
wrote. "Deep ones" does not make a world a Lovecraft parallel any more
than "hobbits" make it a Tolkien parallel.

*Sherlock-1 is still a Sherlock parallel nineteen years after his death.

[tratclif]

A couple more GURPS 3e licensed worldbooks in IW blockstats.

McClees-1 [GURPS Myth], ?

Current Affairs

The thousand-year cycle of war between Light and Dark is taking unexpected turns.

Divergence Point

Unknown divergence in deep time or reality quake that altered continental outlines

Major Civilizations

Light (Empire with satellites), Dark (diffuse)

Great Powers

The Province (dictatorship, CR3)

Worldline Data

TL: 3, with some TL4 Dwarven tech Mana Level: normal with variations
Quantum: 4 Infinity Class: z3
Centrum Zone: inaccessible

I've put this one into Q4 since Q4 is a customary home for strange worlds. This is one fantasy world that may not need to have limits to parachronic contact to maintain flavor. Myth is apocalyptic fantasy with a strong mix of horror. Parachronic adventurers with TL8 weapons may not fare any better against hordes of specral undead than the TL3/4 natives.

[tratclif]

Deadlands [GURPS Deadlands], 1877

Current Affairs

The American Civil War enters its seventeenth year. In the Weird West, mages have discovered the secrets hidden in Hoyle's Book of Games, and battle fearsome monsters.

Divergence Point

In 1861, a qlippothic shiftrealm irrupts and overlays the American West in an otherwise high-inertial world.

Major Civilizations

Western (empire with rivals), Orthodox (empire with satellites), Islamic (fragmenting empire), Chinese (fragmenting empire)

Great Powers

Great Britain (representative democracy, CR3), Germany (dictatorship, CR4), France (representative democracy, CR4), Austria-Hungary (dictatorship, CR4); Russia (dictatorship, CR5); Ottoman Empire (dictatorship, CR4)

Worldline Data

TL: 5 with TL(5+1) gadgets in the Weird West Mana Level: low
Quantum: 6 Infinity Class: z3
Centrum Zone: yellow

This world is a setting for horror campaigns. As the works of Lovecraft show, rational materialists make great victims in horror, and Centrum would provide an entire world of redshirts if Deadlands were accessible in Q6.

[LoneWolf23k]

Good to see this thread picking up momentum.. Keep'em coming, everyone!

Mobius [Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic] Current year unclear, but believed to be in distant future, through star chart analysis.

Current Affairs: A ragtag band of animal humanoid freedom fighters and their allies, fight against the tyranny of Dr Robotnik's Eggman Empire.

Divergence Point: at unspecified point in the past, alien Xorda race drop a genetic bomb on Earth to exterminate humanity. The device fails, and not only mutates humans into "Overlander" variant race, but genetically uplift numerous animal species, creating the "Mobian" race.

Major Civilisations:
Western (diffuse); Asian (empire); Echidna (empire, with rivals)

Great Powers:
The Eggman Empire (Dictatorship, CR 6); Kingdom of Knothole (Dictatorship transiting to Representative Democracy, CR 4); Angel Island (Representative Democracy, CR 3); United Federation (Representative Democracy, CR 4)

Worldline Data:
TL: 8, with pockets of lower and higher tech levels, varying from region to region. Eggman Empire's TL is 9 bordering on 10, while the Kingdom of Mercia seems stuck at TL3.
Mana Level: Normal.
Quantum: 6 Infinity Class: R4
Centrum: Red

A carefully monitored Research world, Mobius is Infinity's first encounter of a far future version of Earth, albeit one that has actually suffered a serious setback in it's development. It also appears to be part of a Skerry of worlds connected through a dimensional highway which the natives appropriatly called the "Cosmic Interstate". Infinity and Centrum agents infiltrating the United Federation have agreed to a Truce of sorts, recognizing the Eggman Empire as a serious potential threat to all worlds, should Dr Robotnik acquire Infinity/Centrum Parachronics technology (Especially since it has come to light that Robotnik is in fact from another Mobius himself).

[zorg]

Originally Posted by nerdvana

How would anyone work in the Lovecraft parallels? :)

Not at all. Which is why Taft-7 is probably *not* open for tourism :)

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by zorg

Not at all. Which is why Taft-7 is probably *not* open for tourism :)

To be fair, Taft-7 is a really unpleasant Lovecraft parallel - one where, apparently, all those Lovecraft protagonists lost, instead of just barely managing to seal the gate/complete the ritual/escape the shoggoth, at the cost of most of their sanity (not to mention the Adjectival Curse!). A "closer" Lovecraft parallel, one where the Elder Things haven't managed to devour anyone yet, might be a bit better place to go to. Mind you, I suspect they're still not popular destinations for the I-Cops, and I suspect that discovering that a parallel is a Lovecraft one is good for an immediate "Z" rating from Infinity.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

To be fair, Taft-7 is a really unpleasant Lovecraft parallel - one where, apparently, all those Lovecraft protagonists lost, instead of just barely managing to seal the gate/complete the ritual/escape the shoggoth, at the cost of most of their sanity (not to mention the Adjectival Curse!). A "closer" Lovecraft parallel, one where the Elder Things haven't managed to devour anyone yet, might be a bit better place to go to. Mind you, I suspect they're still not popular destinations for the I-Cops, and I suspect that discovering that a parallel is a Lovecraft one is good for an immediate "Z" rating from Infinity.

Taft-7 made me remember the adventure "Horror World", from the old HERO supplement Champions in 3-D. That world featured various horrors running amok after it's heroes failed to stop evil cultists from completing a summoning ritual. The adventure toyed with the idea that the players might want to 'stem the tide', but the situation there was pretty grim, as I recall. That book is no longer in my collection, unfortunately, though I remember being impressed with most of the content.

[jSarek]

Originally Posted by elShoggotho

Martian-X could be a group name for the various War of the Worlds settings. One where the Martians were defeated by our microscopic allies while invading the British Isles in 1898, one where the same thing happens in the US, forty years later, one where it happens in present day, one where the Martians were actually beaten by the British, one where the British Empire seized the Martian technology and took over the world before carrying the war back to Mars...

Would this designation include the one where the Martians were defeated by a germ warfare agent developed by Dr. Moreau, after it had been located by Miss Mina Murray and Mr. Allan Quatermain?

That world has been hit by so many reality quakes it's not even funny.