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Old 12-12-2016, 04:51 AM   #61
fchase8
 
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Default Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations

The Back Route

The Back Route first came to Infinity’s attention as a series of unconnected rumors. A timeline that can access any quanta. A ‘homeland’ for psionic world-jumpers. A land where all natives are psychics. A post-apocalyptic timeline where the world before the war was alien. An alliance between Reich-5 and Centrum. A post-apocalyptic timeline of savage mutants.

Roughly, it is all those things.


The Back Route is one quantum away from wherever a world-jumper leaves from, and acts like a world on that quantum to that jumper, but that jumper can rub shoulders with jumpers from other quantums, and jump away & back to range far and wide across the quantums.

It is only accessible via psychic world-jumpers - no mechanical parachronics work, and is no mana world. But it draws in world-jumpers who have failed to make it to their intended destination. It even draws them closer together, as accidental jumpers usually land near jumpers already on the timeline.

At year 1814, two centuries earlier, there was a cataclysmic world war, TL 8-9, including nukes & psionics. But whatever culture that was there was radically different from known cultures, with indecipherable languages. The natives, 'The BackBorn', are all mutated freaks, incomprehensible, and hostile to non-natives. And all are psychics (though apparently no world-jumpers).


The Back Route is the home to a group of renegade world-jumpers, The Routers. Begun by some Centran and Reich-5 jumpers who were out for themselves, they founded 'Valhalla' on The Rhine, and equipped with the best tech, technicians, and psychics they could steal. Even other world-jumpers were recruited.

The Routers rule a hierarchy based on psychic ability: psychics above non-psychics, world-jumpers above other psychics. They steal the people/goods they need from other worlds to live lives of luxury - and to hide out from Centrum, Reich-5, and Infinity. Everyone else has to live with it, because they can't leave the world, can't survive in the wilds, and still need the jumpers for survival (particularly importing food).

By consuming the flesh of the BackBorn, non-psychics turn into mutated psychic 'HalfBacks' (though never world-jumpers). There are lots of other Reich-inspired experiments, including psychics boosting their abilities by drinking BackBorn blood.
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Old 12-12-2016, 08:42 AM   #62
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Default Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations

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Originally Posted by fchase8 View Post
At year 1814, two centuries earlier, there was a cataclysmic world war, TL 8-9, including nukes & psionics. But whatever culture that was there was radically different from known cultures, with indecipherable languages. The natives, 'The BackBorn', are all mutated freaks, incomprehensible, and hostile to non-natives. And all are psychics (though apparently no world-jumpers).

[...]

By consuming the flesh of the BackBorn, non-psychics turn into mutated psychic 'HalfBacks' (though never world-jumpers). There are lots of other Reich-inspired experiments, including psychics boosting their abilities by drinking BackBorn blood.
If I were running this, I'd have Backborn world-jumpers. They just don't come back to their post-apocalyptic cesspool of a homeworld.
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Old 12-12-2016, 06:37 PM   #63
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If I were running this, I'd have Backborn world-jumpers. They just don't come back to their post-apocalyptic cesspool of a homeworld.
It could be that there are BackBorn world-jumpers, just that they all left, so it seems like there are none. Though being savages from a very different culture, they would find it hard on other worlds (perhaps acting more like parachronic gargoyles than world-jumpers).

The BackBorn are supposed to be mysterious, from the pre-war culture to how they act in the current day. They seem like TL 0 savages, but perhaps that's just from their alien culture & psionics.


BackBorn world-jumper could be how the player characters end up on The Back Route, 'recruited' to fight the Routers.

I already had the idea of a native 'resistance' in the form of BackBorn anti-psis, who are also not mutated and don't seem to be savages
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Old 12-13-2016, 01:58 PM   #64
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Default Re: Alternate Crosstime Organizations

The Sunset Assembly

Little is known of this organization. To date, only one member has ever been identified: James Ryder. He shows up shortly before something momentous, and usually catastrophic, occurs. He explains that he was sent to help the locals deal with the issue and, as soon as it’s resolved, he’ll be on his way. James is never sent anywhere with any devices or tools that would be useful, only his inherent (and limited) psychic powers. He is expected to improvise. No one, not even James, knows their agenda, or how they pick events to send agents to. It has been suggested that the Assembly is nothing more than a cover James has used to “explain” his uncontrolled world-jumping.
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Old 12-13-2016, 02:47 PM   #65
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Crossover: Coming from one of those worlds filled with spandex and strange abilities, Crossover is a team of superheros apparently created to hunt down villains who have had the brilliant idea of travelling to a world without superheros in order to rule. But they also have a sideline in fighting eldritch extradimensional horrors.
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Old 12-13-2016, 04:43 PM   #66
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The Collectors (Only because there's a TV series called The Librarians)

They appear as otherwise non-magical-psychic-etc. but extremely knowledgeable and talented individuals. They seem focused on acquiring some usually innocuous item and will do whatever it takes to get it. It may be heavily guarded jewels, or a forgetable paperback novel. But they approach every item as if it's of utmost importance.

When questioned, they merely say it's for their benefactor's collection. Some seem to know more than that, but many really are just cross-time moved "acquirers".

Most have no problem temporarily coordinating with other cross-timers. But as a group, they have no affiliation and will mess up other operations for their targeted item.
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Old 01-04-2017, 07:42 PM   #67
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A powerful and evil mage on a high-mana parallel rose to power and eventually dominated his world-line. His dark magic gradually polluted the world, slowly strangling the life from entire planet even as he achieved a necromantic form of immortality.

Though he was master of the world, only his vampiric lieutenants and the vast armies of the dead remained to serve him, and as the life of the world faded, so too did the flow of mana bleed out. As the decades passed, the mana level dropped to Normal, and then to Low.

As his lieutenants grew hungry, the Lich sought means to find new worlds to conquer. After only a century, he perfected his portal spells. With this and his great army, he sought to spread his mastery through the planes. He was cautious, however, for he knew that worlds long familiar with magic would have countermeasures against him. Some worlds would have advanced technology, perhaps sufficient to defeat him. And so, he found a perfect target: a world like many others, an echo of Homeline as it was in 1619.... with one difference. This world had a potential for considerable mana, with only a small adjustment. His most trusted lieutenants infiltrated the world, carefully executed a few plans to shift the worldline into the great transdimensional flows of mana that suffuse the multiverse.

And, in 1627, the now normal-mana parallel faced a many-sided invasion as the Lich manipulated and infiltrated the lords of Europe and terrorized the peasants with increasingly powerful armies of the dead.

Only one hope prevails; d'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Or your choice of adventuring heroes.
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Old 01-04-2017, 08:44 PM   #68
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Leinster (1964)

A world ravaged by a reality quake 30 years ago blames the Infinity and Centrum 'Quantum 6 Cold War' for it and is out to create as many problems as it can for both of them.

WORLDLINE DATA
TL: 7^
Mana Level: Normal to High
Quantum: 6
Centrum Zone: Red
Infinity Class: Z1

MAJOR CIVILIZATIONS
Western
Eastern

GREAT POWERS
USA (Democratic Republic, Control Rating 3)
Germany (Fascist, Control Rating 4)
Empire of Japan (Constitutional Monarchy, Control Rating 5)
Enindia (Democratic Republic, Control Rating 3)
Israel (Theocrocy, CR 4)

HISTORY

As far as Infinity could find out Leinster was a normal Quantum 6 echo until the mid 1930's when a reality quake hit which resulted in the world being peppered with pockets of alternate histories. Since it strongly resembled Murray Leinster's fictional world in his short story Sideways in Time it was dubbed Leinster.

Because it occurred in the middle of the Great Depression the reality quake is called the Great Shakeup by the locals. Some have seen it as a message from God but there is heated debate as to what the message meant. Others have seen it at a prelude of some form of attack which has resulted in hostility toward both Infinity and Centrum. The political and social fallout of the reality quake were enormous and are still felt.

Locales and Politics

USA

The US quickly moved to consolidate the pockets of alternate realities within its boarders trying to integrate as many as it could. The result has been a wild patchwork of culture that has slowly merged over the last 30 years. Thanks largely to a dozen 'South won the Civil War' pockets (one of which was Richmond, VA itself) the Civil Rights movement has gone exactly nowhere though thanks to the influence of the St. Louis Roman Legion the US military is one of the most respected in the world.

Nazi Germany

Hitler tried to full advantage of the chaos unfortunately for him as the history of areas changed so did the battlefield. One moment the Third Reich would be fighting Cossacks, the next Napoleonic forces, and then fantastic future weapons. However despite it all Hitler did manage to carve out a good hunk out of Russia before settling down and taking an assessment of what he had to work with. Much of the energy of the Third Reich has been spent on the Final Solution and improving the lot of the Aryan people (rebuilding the technology in areas reset to the Dark Ages) but everyone is edgy--worried that Hitler's successor will use his military might to expand into the chaotic region of India and China.

Empire of Japan

Emperor Yamoto Hirohito took full advantage of the region around his palace being changed as it was when Tokyo was known as Edo by asserting full authority with the help of a woman with fantastic magical powers claiming to be Amaterasu herself.

Thanks to many parts of Asia losing their technology or support network Japan quickly conquered the entire east coast of Asia and a good part of China much of which it still rules. While harsh by Western standards the conditions of many Asians are better than that under the warlord they use to be under and so Hirohito is often called the Benevolent Ruler. What rebellions do happen are quickly (and quietly) put down.

Enindia

This alternate pocket is about the only stable nation in what was India and Eastern Europe. While it is technically part of the British Empire it refuses to acknowledge the current Royal Family insisting that its governor a descendent of Richard III is the only valid Royal left. Fortunately the descendent is a level headed man who realizes that the Royal Family have been relegated to little more than figureheads and deals openly with the Prime Minster of England. Most people within Enindia enjoy prosperous lives having been full citizens of British Empire for generations.

Israel

This is another alternate pocket nation. From a history where the ancient state of Israel never fell it quickly went out with what is reported to be the Ark and conquered nearly the entire middle east. Taking advantage of the Gentile nations need for oil Israel has build itself into an economic power with only its Ark protecting it from threat of attack.

Technology

Other than there are no nuclear weapons, assorted magic items and beings, and Side Slipping everything is TL7. Due to a peculiarity of this reality any effort at Parachronic travel and its user is easily detected.

Society and Culture

The Great Shakeup has left a permanent mark on everyone. According to records it lasted a full year with some areas seeing as many as 10 alternate pockets. All denominations of Christianity that believed in predetermination quickly disappeared largely replaced by those who felt that the Great Shakeup was some sort of sign from God. The most pronounced effect however was on Physics. With the fact of alternate realities staring him in the face Einstein quickly excepted Quantum Theory and his work kicked off Sideslipping.

The encounter with Infinity and Centrum has produced fear concern and in some outright paranoia. Centrum hints that Infinity may have somehow created the Great Shakeup while they also try to infiltrate the governments of the world. Infinity seemed to be the better choice until they kidnapped a scientist who tried to understand their method of Sideslipping. As far as the man in the street is concerned Leinster is in the middle of a conflict they barely understand and while destroying either Infinity or Centrum is impossible that does not mean they can't throw as many monkey wrenches into their plans as possible.

Out-time Involvement

From what Infinity was able to determine Leinster has access to quanta as low as 2 and as high as 15. Unfortunately Infinity's efforts at keeping the secret backfired and Leinster not only learned about Infinity and Centrum but blames their actions for the reality quake of 30 years ago. However as Leinster learns more and more about Great Time War (their name for the Infinity-Centrum conflict) and other realities they have not had contact with their paranoia about being invaded grows. When Infinity learned that Leinster had turned one of its most trusted agents via brainwashing they created an elaborate reason to classify this reality Z1 and have been using the turned agent to try and convince Leinster that were not responsible for the Great Shakeup. So far it seems some piece of information Leinster got from Centrum has convinced them otherwise and so the careful cat and mouse game continues.

While Infinity gets distrust and fear Centrum got outright hatred. Their efforts to influence this reality were quickly found out and just as quickly crushed. Until the effort at Keeping the Secret backfired, Infinity actually had the potential to having good relations with Leinster but now they are regarded as just marginally better than Centrum. There has been talk at the League of Nations of taking the battle to Infinity and Centrum but little has been done due to problems at home.
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Old 01-06-2017, 05:49 PM   #69
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Reminds me of multiple WWII skerry in Weird War II, meets Rifts.

And wasn't there another RPG in like the eighties & nineties that had a similar idea - pockets of other realities showing up on Earth?
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Old 01-07-2017, 08:50 AM   #70
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Originally Posted by fchase8 View Post
Reminds me of multiple WWII skerry in Weird War II, meets Rifts.

And wasn't there another RPG in like the eighties & nineties that had a similar idea - pockets of other realities showing up on Earth?
Likely as it seemed everybody was on the "other realities" bandwagon in those days. D&D had a plot thread in Queen of the Demonweb Pits (Q1) - Oct 1980 where there were other realities you could access from a kind of nexus. The ones presented there were:

Cloud World: A world made up completely of clouds, fog
and mists. Perhaps it would be occupied by flying creatures,
floating castles, etc.
Tundra: A treeless plain of permafrost soil.
Jungle: A sweltering, steamy world of thick towering vegetation
and huge insects and reptiles.
Savanna: Endless, rolling plains of tall grasses—possibly on
large planet.
Airless World: A hostile world devoid of breathable atmosphere.
Woodlands: A world dominated by thick, lofty trees, fastrunning
streams and grassy meadows, populated by sylvan
creatures.
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