New Reality Seeds

[Astromancer]

Bohemia-3

The Bohemia tag covers worlds were the pre-20th century history of the Czech people is the source of change in a timeline.

In Bohemia-3 the change came in August of 1278. when Otakar II received intelligence that Rudolph von Habsburg planed a dishonorable sneak attack if Otakar was beginning to win at the Marchfeld plain.

Because of the heads-up, Otakar survived and Rudolph was killed by traitors after the battle. Prague, instead of Vienna, becomes the imperial city of central Europe.

As the Arpad dynasty of Hungary saw that Otakar was here to stay and that his sons would likely be powerful too the Arpads were more willing to respect and work with the marriage alliance they had already made with the House of Premysl.

The local year in Bohemia-3 is 1390. Kunigunda II of the House of Piast (the great-great-great-granddaughter of Otakar II) is struggling to hold the Triple Crown of Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland. Between the Teutonic Knights to the North, the German Kings to the West, and the Turks to the southeast, her kingdom is coming apart at the seams. She has wed her daughter to the Lithuanian King in exchange for his conversion to Catholicism. So the Eastern border is secure. Both Venice and the Pope are friendly, limiting problems due south. Still, the queen has a long bitter struggle ahead.

Basically, this is intrigue and warfare in a medieval setting which is both familiar and exotic. With Turks, Pagans, and Crusader knights, and an exotic landscape.

Note: Centrum wants the Triple Crown to survive and become an absolute monarchy like 17th century France. Homeline sees the Triple Crown as doomed because its territory isn't a logical unity. There isn't any way to hold it together. They don't want Centrum to create a dictatorship on a 20th century model, but that's it. They're mainly observers here. The Cabal, on the other hand, sees the Triple Crown as obscenity. They fear it will warp the development of magic throughout the multiverse. Why? They aren't saying but keeping them and Centrum from tearing this world apart is a major problem.

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

It's a commonplace of Hungarian historians that Matthais Corvinus, one of their greatest kings, was poisoned. There is no evidence either way. Still, it looks very plausible. On one Q7 world, it seems to have been the case. A World-Jumper of Hungarian nationality (reports suggest he may have psi powers too) seems to have exposed a poison plot.

Events are very much in flux. Matthias Corvinus was a very capable warrior, administrator, and diplomat. He built an efficient modern army and was well on the way to creating an empire. He has a healthy heir and the ability to get him elected King. He also has a hero-worshipping world-jumper probably with other psi powers determined to help him.

Centrum wants to exploit him, the Cabal wants to own him, and Homeline is simply spying on the two of them. They really don't have a dog in this fight.

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

In Homeline's history The Great Northern War marks the fall of Swedish power and the start of Russia's rise. However, on one Q6 parallel Charles XII decided to follow up his victory at Narva with an immediate attack into Russian territory. Peter used similar tactics to resist Charles. But without several years to improve his armies, which Peter had in Homeline history because Charles attacked Poland first, Peter couldn't match Charles troops.

Peter died in an attempt to ambush Charles. Sweden spent ninety more years as a great power and Russia regressed into Medieval stagnation.

The local year in this world is 1812. Napoleon has no interest in invading Russia. Instead, he's working on trying to beat the British navy. A man named Fulton, who had once offered him steamships, had proved that steam-powered vessels could work! On Bonapart-7 Napoleon is building a steamship fleet. Britain is laughing, for now!

[Curmudgeon]

The British of Bonaparte-7 can well afford to laugh.

In RLT (real-life timeline), the first successful sea-going steamship, as opposed to steamboat was Richard Wright's Experiment built by a British company in 1813. The first steamship, and first iron steamship, to actually put to sea was also British, the Aaron Manby and did so in 1822. The first steamship to cross the Atlantic is a little less clear. The American S.S. Savannah was technically the first, but made the voyage under sail; the British-built Cuacao made the crossing substantially using steam power in 1827; and the Canadian-built Royal William made the crossing in 1833, with sail being used only when the boilers were being maintained. Finally, the first steamship to use a screw propeller, instead of a paddlewheel, was the British-built SS Archimedes in 1839.

What Napoleon might make use of is steamboats. Even there, the French will be playing catch-up. Robert Fulton was inspired by the successful trials of the British-built SS Charlotte Dundas in 1803. In 1785, Patrick Miller had proposed a steam warship and presented a 100' small-scale version, Experiment to Gustav XIII of Sweden, though nothing came of it. The French had had a steamboat enthusiast, the Marquis de Jouffray, but he left France during the Revolution and the French effectively abandoned further work on steamboats.

The best bet for what you envision is a timeline where de Jouffray does not run out of funds and does not abandon France. Britain and France will probably end up in a steam arms race, with both sides achieving parity, but it's a less lop-sided proposition than Napoleon taking on a technologically superior Britain in a steam war.

[Astromancer]

Steampunk Napoleonics sounds like fun. Especially if the Brits get overconfident and get a few good scares.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Steampunk Napoleonics sounds like fun.

It’s not too hard to set up; see my piece in the latest Pyramid for a possible divergence point for a somewhat realistic version. But you’re stuck with the traditional problems of wartime-setting RPGs, of course.

I’d either go for a returning-PTSD-suffering-veterans screampunk game (more gothic, less tech), or make the PCs agents of Joseph Banks. (“Yes I know there’s a war on, but that’s no reason to stop talking to fellow gentlemen of science in France. I can give you a letter of introduction to Humboldt if you’ll just slip over the Channel to look into this latest spot of bother with Fulton and those hieroglyphs...”)

[Prince Charon]

An eccentric member of the Cabal copied the memories and skills of the Winston Churchill that most of us have heard of from a near-echo of Homeline in 1960 (has low to very low mana in most places), and very carefully inserted them into the mind of an earlier Winston Churchill in another near-echo of Homeline in 1640 (mostly low mana, with a few areas of normal or very low). The twenty-year-old Churchill retains his own memories, and has the Cabalist as a distant Patron who mostly want to see what he'll do.

This is as much a campaign seed as a reality seed. The other players might be lower-ranked (and much less powerful) Cabalists, regular locals, or even other locals who were given the memories of their descendants, but are probably not with Infinity or Centrum, unless things are weirder than I'm thinking.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

An eccentric member of the Cabal copied the memories and skills of the Winston Churchill that most of us have heard of from a near-echo of Homeline in 1960 (has low to very low mana in most places, and very carefully inserted them into the mind of an earlier Winston Churchill in another near-echo of Homeline in 1640 (mostly low mana, with a few areas of normal or very low). The twenty-year-old Churchill retains his own memories, and has the Cabalist as a distant Patron who mostly want to see what he'll do.

This is as much a campaign seed as a reality seed. The other players might be lower-ranked (and much less powerful) Cabalists, regular locals, or even other locals who were given the memories of their descendants, but are probably not with Infinity or Centrum, unless things are weirder than I'm thinking.

Given the simple facts that Churchill was A) very smart, B) processed outrageously high will, C) was visionary in some areas (Read Churchill's Bomb), and D) could pour on the charm when he needed to, the history of England is about to be transformed.

The 1640s would mean that either Churchill and Cromwell become foes or partners. The team of Ollie and Winne would transform the world.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

It’s not too hard to set up; see my piece in the latest Pyramid for a possible divergence point for a somewhat realistic version. But you’re stuck with the traditional problems of wartime-setting RPGs, of course.

I’d either go for a returning-PTSD-suffering-veterans screampunk game (more gothic, less tech) or make the PCs agents of Joseph Banks. (“Yes I know there’s a war on, but that’s no reason to stop talking to fellow gentlemen of science in France. I can give you a letter of introduction to Humboldt if you’ll just slip over the Channel to look into this latest spot of bother with Fulton and those hieroglyphs...”)

The Napoleonic era, when Mary Shelly was around, is certainly a good place to put gothic tales.

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Given the simple facts that Churchill was A) very smart, B) processed outrageously high will, C) was visionary in some areas (Read Churchill's Bomb), and D) could pour on the charm when he needed to, the history of England is about to be transformed.

The 1640s would mean that either Churchill and Cromwell become foes or partners. The team of Ollie and Winne would transform the world.

Memories and skills, but not other abilities. I assume that includes personality traits like Will and Charisma. Does the recipient retain his own skills? If not, the are going to be some serious TL hiccups....