[Infinite Worlds] When is an echo not an echo?

[David Johnston2]

It's canonically established that echoes have differences that aren't really differences. Vorp to an echo, shoot a scheming Centrum agent, leave a new unsolved murder for the cops and the media, and no matter how puzzled they are by it, that doesn't constitute a Point of Divergence...usually.

So what about a typical wainscot setting? All the nations are the same, and the same politicians are there. All the history books say the same things happen.

But it's normal mana, and the crime and "animal attack" rates are a percentage point or so higher, as is the birth rate to compensate. Are these clues enough to realize that this is not really an echo? At least not an echo of Homeline?

[johndallman]

Infinite Worlds leaves the GM substantial wriggle-room on this kind of issue, so answers need to come from the GM of a particular campaign.

In my Infinite Cabal campaign, the PCs think they have discovered where echoes come from, that many world have echoes, and are getting ideas as to why Infinity has only discovered echoes of Homeline.

This started by looking at Enigma as a possible venue for a rather dangerous experiment, noticing some things about the place that Infinity had never discovered (because Infinity don't have access to the Astral Plane) and then discovering where all the people went.

But this is all campaign-specific.

[Rocket Man]

Part of my own campaign echo (or it would be if I had a campaign at the moment) is that "Echoes are where alternates come from. " In every alternate world, you have a stretch of ordinary history before the divergence point -- and the echoes are the timelines where that divergence point is still ahead.

By that definition, I wouldn't include wainscot worlds among the echoes, since they likely DO have a divergence point, it's just an unknown one ... unless, of course, the same wainscot conditions apply on Homeline!

So yes, I'd say clues like that could be an indication that the timeline isn't all it seems. But they could also be a hint that Homeline itself has more going on than meets the eye. ("You mean *our* world has active Archangels and Demon Princes, too?")

[Flyndaran]

What about timelines that are echoes despite not having a recognizable history? Maybe echoes are simply mobile alternates, and similarity to homeline isn't absolutely required.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

What about timelines that are echoes despite not having a recognizable history? Maybe echoes are simply mobile alternates, and similarity to homeline isn't absolutely required.

I thought having a recognizable history was part of the definition?

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

I thought having a recognizable history was part of the definition?

According to Homeline's flawed theories.
What if there's some other more important feature they all share, but the fact that nearly all of them are superficially identical to Homeline's known history is a sign of their human centric bias?

[doctorevilbrain]

"Vorp to an echo". What is vorp?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by doctorevilbrain

"Vorp to an echo". What is vorp?

Just the sound effect for going there.