New Reality Seeds

[thorr-kan]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

Regarding fractured-time worlds -- I have a huge soft spot for Ken Hite's "Years of the Comet" from one Suppressed Transmission, though I've never quite got around to working out and running my very vague "Agents of Sir Francis Bacon" scenario idea. Having all the fragments coming from within a century or so of each other seems a bit too... tortuous, somehow, though.

You beat me to it!

My favorite Suppressed Transmission. I'd play the heck outta that setting.

[Prince Charon]

Here's something that might interest some of you:

Schwarzwald-3

It is 1939 on this recently-discovered Q5 worldline, and Germany and Switzerland are at war - but not with each other. They are allies in a war with the bizarrely expanding Black Forest. A war fought not with guns, but with axes, flamethrowers, heavy ramming tanks, poison, and strange powers. It is a war that they are slowly losing, as the forest expands by about one acre per day, and already threatens to cross into France.

Starting in the late 1920s, people living in or passing through the Black Forest showed an increasing number of reports of strange phenomena: Lights and shadows with no apparent source, odd noises or smells, a feeling of being unwelcome, animals growing hostile, running away, or otherwise behaving oddly, sightings of ghosts or other spirits, weird dreams, and so on. Many of those who could afford to, and some who could not, began moving out of the Black Forest, or at least moving to the edges of it. Prior to this, the worldline appears to have been a close parallel of Homeline, the most significant difference being that practitioners of 'magic' seem to have been luckier than would otherwise be plausible on a no mana world with no apparent psi abilities.

By 1935, the problem became more serious: Roads through the forest were being torn up and blocked by trees that hadn't been there before, and settlements in the forest were gradually or suddenly vanishing. Aircraft routes had to be changed as uncanny weather phenomena made overflights of the forest first unsafe, then practically impossible, and cars and other complex machines brought too deep in would break down. Moreover, the phenomenon was spreading, as the Black Forest seemed to be getting larger in places, with new trees and other plants appearing seemingly over night (attempts to film the phenomenon, or to observe or record it on the emerging technology of television, have met with failure: either nothing happens, or the equipment breaks down, and sometimes disappears, along with any operators). Some plants and a few of the animals taken from the forest also exhibit strange phenomena, are often hostile, and are hard to keep contained (though a few beloved pets are rather more helpful, and their humans have likewise demonstrated strange powers). The seers and magicians consulted have no satisfactory explanation, as this is far beyond their experience, though they know that it's going to get worse. It doesn't help that Hitler's favorite astrologer was a fraud and a skeptic, especially as der Feurher wanted no distractions from military expansion and the upcoming creation of a Greater Germany.

The expanding zone of strangeness entered Switzerland in January of 1937, and by the beginning of March, the forest itself had effectively crossed the border. At midnight, March 15, 1937, a number of Wehrmacht officers and other agents, assisted by magicians from the Thule Society, enacted a purge of Nazi leaders, called a second Night of the Long Knives. Among the dead are Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Rudolph Hess, Martin Bormann, Adolph Eichmann, Reinhard Heydrich, and many others. Herman Goering was spared to serve as the puppet leader of what amounts to a military junta governing the German Realm (though free elections are promised once the crisis is over). The Black Forest problem is finally being taken seriously by the government, though it may be too late.

By 1939, the Germans and Swiss have managed to slow down the expanding forest, but not stop it, and it's getting expensive, especially in Germany. Every day, calls for the junta to ask for help from other powers grow harder to ignore, despite the likely cost. Some suggest forcing France to help, by evacuating the remaining strip of territory between the Black Forest and the French border, but the generals are loathe to do that. Eventually, they may have to, as the French absolutely refuse to allow German military forces to stage from French soil.

(Somewhat inspired by the Blackwoods from GURPS Banestorm pp16, 18, & 98-99.)

MORE LATER


Thoughts?

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

A war fought not with guns, but with axes, flamethrowers, heavy ramming tanks, poison, and strange powers. It is a war that they are slowly losing, as the forest expands by about one acre per day, and already threatens to cross into France.

Like a lot of alternates, I think it underestimates the ability of industrial civilizations to smash things. Humans have been depleting the forests for centuries without actually trying to. If 20th century technology actually turned its hand toward destroying a forest....

I suggest that the flamethrowers and tanks not work - fires sputter out, engines fail if they get within a few feet of a tree, explosives burn vigorously, sometimes even vigorously to burn down a single tree, but fail to explode inside the forest. It's a war fought with axes and handsaws, and guys with spears to keep off the impossibly hostile and numerous wolf packs.

Realistically the forest is still probably doomed - modern armies are just *too big* - a million troops can ring the forest with men within arms reach of each other if they need too, and any soldier ought to be able to cut down a dozen trees a day, advancing the line hundreds of feet into the forest a day - plenty quick enough to count as progress for troops who remember World War I. But at least that really would be a logistical effort big enough it could be called a war.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by malloyd

Like a lot of alternates, I think it underestimates the ability of industrial civilizations to smash things. Humans have been depleting the forests for centuries without actually trying to. If 20th century technology actually turned its hand toward destroying a forest....

I suggest that the flamethrowers and tanks not work - fires sputter out, engines fail if they get within a few feet of a tree, explosives burn vigorously, sometimes even vigorously to burn down a single tree, but fail to explode inside the forest. It's a war fought with axes and handsaws, and guys with spears to keep off the impossibly hostile and numerous wolf packs.

Realistically the forest is still probably doomed - modern armies are just *too big* - a million troops can ring the forest with men within arms reach of each other if they need too, and any soldier ought to be able to cut down a dozen trees a day, advancing the line hundreds of feet into the forest a day - plenty quick enough to count as progress for troops who remember World War I. But at least that really would be a logistical effort big enough it could be called a war.

The idea was that it was expanding fast enough that the late 1930s armies of Germany and Switzerland were only able to slow it down a lot, which is why it's so very scary. Because I am fairly aware of how effective an early-to-mid twentieth century force is at deforestation. Part of the problem for the armies (that I think I missed making clear) is that the forest can mess with their minds, forcing people to retreat in places, among other things. It takes a strong will to stand against a Great Old One (if that's what this is - it's one of the options, at least), even when you stand with your fellows.

You're right that the machinery likely wouldn't last long, though.

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

If this world (Oberon-3 a newish designation for worlds highly similar to Homeline, except that they've got Fairies) would say that it's pretty much like Homeline, if they knew about Homeline. This Q6 world doesn't know about Homeline, but then they don't know they've got Fairies either.

This world is mainly Low Manna (85% Low/12% High/3% Very High) is a secret Magic World. Homeline suspects the Cabal's influence as does Centrum. The Cabal is flattered and wishes they were this good.

The local year is 1963, Kennedy was shot at in Dallas, but not injured. Homeline is aware that Oswald was replaced with a Ku Kluxer. This has lead to strong calls for a voting rights bill with teeth. At the same time the land reform ideas of Wolf Ladejinsky have been pushed through in Vietnam, and with stunning success. Where the poor farmers are given the land they drive out the Viet Cong and very quickly. Also the tech level is eight!

Clearly the Faeries seem to be blessing the USA. But why? Did a Liberal Democrat gain the alliance of a wishing fay? In spite of the accelerated tech level this world seems eerily like Homeline's December 1963. How could that be? Even with just the massive technological acceleration everything should be radically different.

Homeline and Centrum want to know what the Cabal is up to. The Cabal, while not wanting it's rivals to be aware of how confused they are, also wants lots of answers. Everybody is looking to find some fays and get some answers. And you know how that goes in a fairy tale.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

This Q6 Earth is a major, highly contested, and very tricky battleground in the Infinity/Centrum War. On this Earth, the year 1955 has a world recovering from World War Three, with the United Earth Government dominating the planet. Officially, anyway ... there is a massive Cold War going on, with nationalist and resistance movements trying to bring back the days of nation-states and open war. And all this is taking place in a background of schizo-tech Raygun Gothic hijinks, as Earth moves from late TL5 to TL9 with a few traces of TL 12.

And how did this state of affairs come about?

Aliens Did It.

On the world designated Roswell-5, First Contact came in November of 1942, when an alien ship laded in Germany and offered the Reich laser weapons in return for humans whose brains would be harvested and organs devoured. The Reich, being who they were, heartily agreed and by late December late TL8 laser arms were being seen on European battlefields.

During the Casablanca Conference in January of 1943, another alien ship arrived and grey-skinned aliens intruded on the conference, calling themselves "Just Tourists". They casually mentioned that planets without unified governments and lacking space colonies were considered "uncivilized" by Galactic Civilization "the same way European Imperialists considered the old civilizations of China, India, and the Americas to be 'Savages'". They also mentioned, in passing that uplifting a civilization was illegal but exploiting was not, which is why the Other Aliens could do business in Nazi Germany. They also "accidentally" dropped a note with a radio frequency and a specific message to be sent.

In February 1943, a distress signal sent by the Allied Powers ("The Provisional Earth Government") was received by the Assisting Planetary Evolution Society who just happened to be near Saturn at the time. Seeing what appeared to be a request from a developing planet for aid, they gladly sent some robofacs and some old TL8-9 war surplus equipment to some select locations on Earth. (Technically legal by the complexities of Galactic Law, but just barely)

World War Two spiraled upwards as the Provisional Earth Government fought the Axis. Japan was knocked out of the fight by November, leaving only the alien-backed Nazis to fight. The death toll climbed to over ten percent of the population.

V-E Day (Victory on Earth) in June of 1944 saw the Provisional Government victorious over the Reich. By August, the USSR collapsed into several nations as high-speed communications and the necessity of not allowing political apparchniks control of alien technology isolated the Stalinists in the own country. October of 1944 saw the signing of the United Earth Compact, with two-thirds of the nations (representing over eighty percent of the population) signing on and witnesses and news crews from Galactic Civilization in attendance.

By Galactic Law, Sol System is now Provisionally Civilized. If humanity has a fully-stable government and at least twenty percent of the population on self-sustaining colonies off-planet by the year 2000, then Humanity will be considered a Civilized Race entitled to the legal protections of Galactic Government.

But the organ-eating brain-harvesting Megacorp that backed the Nazis doen't want this to happen, and there are groups in Galactic Society that don't like the idea of upstart noobs just jumping into the Galaxy without a few dozen generations of "guidance". So they sent agents and "pirates" showed up in Sol System.

World War Three was fought from 1948 to 1953 at a lower key than World War Two, but it still cost another four percent of the world's population. Recidivist nation-states attempting to win "autonomy" and "self-determination" (and back by off-world interests) fought the Earth Government while space Pirates raided in suspiciously-timed strikes that helped the revolutionary movements.

Eventually the United Earth Military got it's act together (with assistance from some alien "observers") and ended the rebellion, and the newly-forged Space Patrol (using surplus alien gunships and aided by the Galactic Navy Anti-Piracy Division) cleared the pirates out of the solar system. Peace descended on Humanity with a thud and the war-weary population sought to rebuild. The First Minister of United Earth, Winston Churchill, stepped down in favor of the freely-elected Unity Party candidate, Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi.

It's now 1955, and of the 2.4 bilion humans in existence, 100,000 live off-world. Many of the divisions that formerly split humanity, exacerbated by the nationalism of World War Three, are being deliberately and painfully purged from society to prevent their exploitation in the future. Any city with over two million people will have a small "alientown". Civilian technology is in a strange schizophrenic state, with TL5 vacuum tube radios acting as speakers to TL9 spintronic Global Computer Net terminals, and internal-combustion cars driving alongside fusion-powered self-operating taxis.

And the Cold War is fought over Humanity's future recognition as a Civilized Race, with cultural revanchists, human nationalists, alien saboteurs, and space pirates struggling against United Earth Peace Enforcers and the Agents of the Assisting Planetary Evolution Society.

And in the shadows, invaders from other dimensions begin to play, as both Centrum and Infinity would love to sink their meathooks into the UEG and get all that sweet alien tech, but both are deathly afraid of the aliens finding out. The one thing neither crosstime power would want is a TL 10+ Galactic Civilization joining their little game. So they try and enter Roswell-5 gradually.

[Prince Charon]

Schwarzwald-3, continued

Researchers for Infinity and members of the Cabal have studied the mana levels of this worldline, and around the Black Forest: the world in general is mostly no mana, apart from patches at higher levels, of which the Black Forest seems to be the largest. The mana level as far into the forest as the researchers have been able to get is normal and wild mana, mostly aspected against humanity and technology rather than toward anything in particular, and remains so for about two or three miles outside of the forest itself. For another four to six miles beyond the normal/wild mana zone, the mana gradually ceases to be aspected, and the mana level fades to low/wild mana in most areas, but normal and not wild in a few. For about eight to twelve miles beyond that, the mana level is mostly either very low and wild, or low but not wild, and there are a few sections up to about twenty miles beyond that which are very low and not wild. Other mana zones likewise tend to have strong centres and weaker outskirts, sometimes aspected in some way (usually a way that fits the terrain, like a lake or seacoast being Water-aspected, but a few are strange, like a Technology-aspected zone in the middle of nearly-virgin wilderness); few are so wild or so hostile, though.

The trees of the Black Forest appear to have an area effect Mana Enhancer advantage, in many but not all cases aspected as above, which is reinforced where these areas overlap. Very few of them appear to individually have other clearly defined powers, not even the ability to cause other lifeforms to become Mana Enhancers. Clearly, something else in the forest is doing this. Some of the other plants, and a few of the animals, also have a Mana Enhancer advantage of roughly the same type. Animals with Mana Enhancer who are emotionally attached to a human (rather than just being neutral, or hostile to humanity in general) can serve as familiars, granting various magical advantages as per Basic Set p38 (and their Mana Enhancer advantage is either unaspected, or not aspected against humans, and sometimes not against technology). The most common advantages are Magery and either a few Charms perks, or less often Wild Talent with Focused: Magic, -20%, and often other enhancements or limitations (along with 'Granted by a familiar, -40%'), using the spell-based system. This is not limited to Germany, as the other mana zones also do this, and are slightly more likely to produce familiars, as their Mana Enhancer advantages are usually not hostile to humanity (though some that are hostile apply the Corrupting, -20% limitation to granted advantages). About 90% of witches (the term is gender-neutral) only have the spells found in the Basic Set pp243-253, and no known witches have Enchantment spells other than Scroll. The fact that spells usually have other spells as prerequisites is something the locals have only recently learned. Non-mages who know a spell can cast it ceremonially, and only ceremonially.

These new witches in many cases do what they can to help slow down the Black Forest, but they have limits, and the forest has been known to strike back in strange and mysterious ways. Some few witches have been corrupted by power, willingly or otherwise, and serve the forest, often gaining great power at the cost of their free will, sanity, and humanity.


The native 'magic' of this worldline has nothing to do with mana, and possibly not with other common sources of strange powers, instead being based on what appears to be non-psionic manipulation of probability. Visualization seems to be the key advantage, though Intuition, Luck, Oracle, and Serendipity are also common, either as separate abilities, or as sets of Alternate Abilities; other advantages are acceptable with GM permission, like various Afflictions. Mostly, the abilities require or are aided by a roll on some occult skill, such as Autohypnosis, a Combat Art skill, Fortune-Telling, Meditation, Occultism, Religious Ritual, Ritual Magic, or Symbol Drawing. Common enhancements for Visualization include Blessing, Cursing, Reduced Time, Reflexive, and/or Reliable. Serendipity with the Wishing enhancement is not that uncommon, though Serendipity with Reliable usually only appears paired with significant and/or thematically-appropriate limitations. Gadget limitations exist, as 'magic items' - these are either naturally lucky/unlucky, or caused by uses of Serendipity (see below). The Probability Alteration Perks from GURPS Psionic Powers p44 are not unusual on this Earth, though the versions found here are not psionic. A non-psionic, luck-based version of Weather Control (Psionic Powers pp45-46) is possible, but I suggest that it should require an Unusual Background cost, if allowed at all. Otherwise, Serendipity can be used to influence the weather, though not precisely control it.

Each use of Serendipity to permanently empower an item gives the Gadget a net point value +1 or -1, including all enhancements, limitations (gadget and otherwise), advantages, and disadvantages (a net cost of 0 is also an option, for items that balance advantages and disadvantages), meaning that powerful items, good or bad, are rare, and take a fairly long time to make. Using Serendipity to empower a one-use item does not have a specific system, and depends on what the player and the GM agree upon, though a range from +15 to -15 seems pretty good to me; for effects that last longer than a second or so, one 'use' might be anywhere from a minute to an hour or longer, depending on the trait and the GM. Using Serendipity to find an existing lucky or unlucky item is less limited, but the GM decides what you get (or how likely it is that you get something close to what you want, if you have the Wishing enhancement), and whether it's a temporary or permanent item (some items don't lose power, they just lose themselves, going to someone else who needs them). 'Gadgets Only' is a limitation for Serendipity worth -40%, while 'Lucky Gadgets Only' and 'Unlucky Gadgets Only' are each worth -60%. The limitation is usually paired with 'Wishing, +100%,' though. Note that all of these items are limited to influencing luck in some way - you aren't going to make a ring of fireballs this way, though you can make or find something that gives the user a luck-based bonus of some sort when dealing with fire. Interestingly, lucky and unlucky items taken from this world by Infinity and the Cabal continue to work on other worldlines.

Spirits and gods may or may not have manifested in this worldline before the rise in mana levels, but the locals certainly believe that they did. Whether they can act outside of the various mana zones is something the GM should decide, but might not tell the players until it becomes relevant. My default assumption is that if they do act, they tend to do so suntly, and are rarely or never visible outside a mana zone. Whatever it is that's bringing mana to this worldline, and whatever is making the Black Forest act like this (which may or may not be the same) could be a god, or a group of gods, or a group of spirits. I recommend GURPS Horror for this setting, especially around the Black Forest (less so for other mana zones, and much less for no mana zones, which still cover most of the world).


Thoughts?

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

The idea was that it was expanding fast enough that the late 1930s armies of Germany and Switzerland were only able to slow it down a lot, which is why it's so very scary. Because I am fairly aware of how effective an early-to-mid twentieth century force is at deforestation. Part of the problem for the armies (that I think I missed making clear) is that the forest can mess with their minds, forcing people to retreat in places, among other things. It takes a strong will to stand against a Great Old One (if that's what this is - it's one of the options, at least), even when you stand with your fellows.

You're right that the machinery likely wouldn't last long, though.

I'm about to finish reading the Voorh trilogy, by Brian Catling.

It has its problems, as a series, but it's full of great ideas for a vast, sinister, magical forest.

I plan to post a review in Geek Culture once I finally finish it.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

I'm about to finish reading the Voorh trilogy, by Brian Catling.

It has its problems, as a series, but it's full of great ideas for a vast, sinister, magical forest.

I plan to post a review in Geek Culture once I finally finish it.

Cool. I hope that I'll notice it, I don't check Geek Culture that often.

On another note, thinking about putting the 'it's all luck' version of Magic As Powers in another setting, but don't have much detail, yet. It seems like an interesting idea for a limited powers system, though I'm not really sure how much of that it my ego talking.

[thorr-kan]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

I'm about to finish reading the Voorh trilogy, by Brian Catling.

It has its problems, as a series, but it's full of great ideas for a vast, sinister, magical forest.

I plan to post a review in Geek Culture once I finally finish it.

Looking forward to that review.

Another gaming source for evil forest, if your tastes go to gonzo, off the wall: Rifts England and Rifts Triax and the NGR. There's a lot of sylvan stuff there that could be repurposed for an evil forest.