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Old 11-13-2018, 05:55 PM   #3771
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

You could destroy a lot of port cities. Submarines in the Mississippi wouldn't be practical though.
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Old 11-13-2018, 08:57 PM   #3772
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Either the US is considered a Great Power by the people handing out nike designs in which case they have as much lead time as the others to figure out how to defend and how much the risk is or they aren't. If they aren't they are highly unlikely to be a first target, the powers will use them on each other first so the US has time to plan against an attack. Either way you won't take the totally by surprise. Ships will be stopped and papers checked and searched when they are far enough out to not be a threat etc.
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Old 11-14-2018, 12:42 AM   #3773
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Either the US is considered a Great Power by the people handing out nike designs in which case they have as much lead time as the others to figure out how to defend and how much the risk is or they aren't. If they aren't they are highly unlikely to be a first target, the powers will use them on each other first so the US has time to plan against an attack. Either way you won't take the totally by surprise. Ships will be stopped and papers checked and searched when they are far enough out to not be a threat etc.
Stopping ships far from port would of course be the logical response, but it would only become a policy once junk freighter has been established as an effective delivery mechanism. And in any case, it wouldn't be that hard to hide a large enough bomb in a junk freighter hidden behind a genuine cargo, possibly even with genuine papers.

Also, once you've taken out the bulk of the port cities, you're probably in a good position for an aircraft carrier to launch more conventional bombers (although it's quite possible that carrier technology gets stunted in this timeline due to butterflies).

The bigger question I'm curious about is exactly which powers in Trinity-3 were given nuclear technology. The Wikipedia list for 1900 includes Austria, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and USA. However, a reasonable case could be made for including the Ottomans too.
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Old 11-14-2018, 06:31 AM   #3774
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Also, once you've taken out the bulk of the port cities, you're probably in a good position for an aircraft carrier to launch more conventional bombers (although it's quite possible that carrier technology gets stunted in this timeline due to butterflies).
Aircraft carriers weren't popular with anybody until the U.S. had to use them instead of their lost battleships. So aircraft carriers might not so up in most worlds.

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The bigger question I'm curious about is exactly which powers in Trinity-3 were given nuclear technology. The Wikipedia list for 1900 includes Austria, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the USA. However, a reasonable case could be made for including the Ottomans too.
Austria and the Ottomans were powers yes, neither could have used the data. And I don't know if late Tsarist Russia could have used the data either. They had the brains but not the infrastructures.
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Old 11-14-2018, 10:15 AM   #3775
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Try this one...

Change the outcome of The Affair of the Poisons and you can get rid of Louis XIV early.

Where that goes can vary. On La Voisin-1(named for Catherine Monvisin) the Regent who takes over for a too young heir is a diplomatic disaster. France finds its influence in total collapse. The local year is 1710 and England is the sole preeminent power of Europe and holds the balance of power without competitors. All of the minor powers are aligned against Britain. Russia, a rising power seeks its own preeminence through leading an alliance.

La Voisin-2 The heir, who died young in Homeline history, turned out to be a highly talented king. Most people don't see this because he has a serious lisp and many odd ticks. However, he's not only brought real economic growth to France, made an excellent diplomatic marriage alliance. and reformed the French military on highly practical lines, but he has reformed French legal codes in highly useful ways for the daily lives of the French people. The local year is 1700 and all Europe underestimates the French king.

There are other worlds with the La Voisin tag.
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Old 11-15-2018, 09:50 AM   #3776
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In this world Eleanor of Aquitaine got the chance to learn Arabic while on Crusade. Given her charm, wit, and brains, she soon had a far better take on the local politics than any leader of the Crusade. This allows Eleanor to have major positive influences at Council of Acre.

The changes of policy at the council allowed a more respectful dialog between the Arab lands and Europe. This lead to freer translations back and forth between Arabic and Latin, Arabic and Greek, and Latin and Greek.

Thus when the book The Incoherence of the Philosophers written by Al=Ghazali got into Europe it got vast amounts of counterblasts from European scholars. Eventually Thomas Aquinas read the book and issued a massive counterblast. Arab philosophers took the core of Aquinas' argument and ground Al-Ghazali's arguments to dust.

The local year is 1500AD in this world, the printing press was welcomed in the Arab lands and the supply of books is raising just as quickly as in Europe. Cultural exchange between Europe, North Africa, and Southwest Asia, is smooth and constant. Arab and Farsi join Latin and Greek in Europe as languages of Scholarship and sophistication.

This is basically a Swashbucklers/Arabian Nights crossover. PCs can logically move through a far wider area without the need for unusual backgrounds. Supernatural elements can be freely added, anything from Djinni in London to Vampires in Alexandria.
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Old 11-15-2018, 10:51 AM   #3777
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In this world Eleanor of Aquitaine got the chance to learn Arabic while on Crusade. Given her charm, wit, and brains, she soon had a far better take on the local politics than any leader of the Crusade. This allows Eleanor to have major positive influences at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Acre]Council of Acre[/url].
You might want to fix that link.
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Old 11-15-2018, 01:04 PM   #3778
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You might want to fix that link.
Opportunity taken.
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Old 11-16-2018, 01:30 PM   #3779
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Try this one...

Catherine the Great in Homeline history wanted a canal between the Don and the Volga. On this Q6 world Romannov-12 she got her way, but not really.

The canal was poorly designed and disastrously executed. Since the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea which is below sea-level there was a vast flood.

Now the topography of Asia was different in this world, so the new Caspian Sea extended from the Caucasus Mountains to the Western deserts of China. Britain is determined that Russia will not own China, nor will they use their ports on the far side of Afganistan to take India.

This is another Swashers/Arabian Nights crossover, but with more pulp favor because of the Central Asian setting.

This is meant to be a low mana setting that uses Path/Book Magic and Alchemy.
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Old 11-16-2018, 02:31 PM   #3780
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Interesting. Also potentially interesting would be to see a settlement -- even a kingdom -- that lives in the Caspian basin and has to deal with the water level rising 28 meters over a matter of weeks.
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