New Reality Seeds

[YankeeGamer]

Some time ago, a friend asked me to come up with a way that the Yamato could remain in existence as the pride of the Japanese navy through modern days. I tossed this together for him.
I know that it neglects a lot, but if anyone wants to use it as a framework for something feel free; I'd love to know what might come out of it.
Enjoy~

Saving The Yamato A/H

Late May, 1944:

British night bombers drone over Germany, dropping their deadly payloads on a Luftwaffe base. Goering and several other VIPS are touring the base, when an accident that will change the course of the war occurs. A stick of bombs smashes open a storage facility of Mustard Gas, and numerous people are gassed—including Goering. However, the fact that this was a storage depot for gas was lost in the outrage and confusion—the German High Command placed the blame squarely on the British—a deliberate attempt to assassinate Goering with gas.

Mid June—Germany retaliates. Using Mustard Gas, Germany launches a massive attack on the Allied Beachhead. In some places, the attack is devastating—in others, the Allied forces hold using their own gas masks. But…those units get attacked with the nerve gasses. In a matter of days, Germany has advanced, smashing the beachhead—and capturing huge amounts of equipment. The war in the west has just got uglier.

In the Pacific…fewer resources after D-Day disaster, but still, America is advancing. Russia is screaming, as Germany is dropping gas on them, too, and driving the Red Army back. (The Red Army’s retreat will only be temporary—but even so, it hurts the Soviets badly.)

Some Japanese see an opportunity to get out with some slight saving of face, and Togo and company are deposed. With much back alley discussion, surrender is finally negotiated, mere days before the Japanese are to send Yamato to Okinawa. (The prospect of gas coming to the Pacific played a part in the decision, as the American public was clamoring for the gassing of Japan now that the Axis had supposedly started it. The moderates were able to recruit some support among fence sitters when reports of American gas shipments to the Pacific started cropping up in Tokyo.)

Terms: Nearly unconditional surrender, with just enough to allow a semblance of saving face.

Emperor to remain on the throne.
Japan to withdraw from China on America’s timetable
Japan to keep only the home Islands, Okinawa to be held under (officially) joint control, demilitarized. In reality, it’s under American control.
American observers to be posted with the Japanese military.
The leaders who brought Japan into the war to be turned over to the Americans for trial. A quietly dickered understanding, never written down, was that the people on the list would be allowed to kill themselves.
The ones that chose not to kill themselves were “assisted” to do so.
Only a bare handful went to trial.
Japan’s army to be a token force, confined to the home islands. Japan may retain a limited number of tanks and other armored vehicles. Likewise, aircraft are limited
Japan’s fleet to consist of one battleship, 2 light cruisers, and 15 destroyers—NO amphibious craft or aircraft carriers.

In late 1945, there is an instant sunrise over Germany, and the war comes to an end. By that time, the Allies have landed in France again, and vast areas of Europe are more of a wasteland than before.

As peace returns to the world, Japan is a distinctly minor power (And subject to American influence in a BIG way), but one with the world’s greatest battleship. Yamato is a source of national pride, and gets every attention lavished on it. As Japan becomes more important in the cold war, the time comes when American aid is available. Modernization is less and less practical—but building a replacement is out of the question, so the ship gets the attention…

If you thought that 16” shells make a big hole in the ground, wait until Yamato delivers 18” HE shells to targets in Korea…

[maximara]

Originally Posted by fchase8

A rapid plague reducing population to 1% or so, like in Station Eleven.

Or just have 90+% of the world's population disappear in a moment, like the inverse of The Leftovers or the novel The Vanishing Point.

Indeed, there's even a canon example - Microworld. Earth's population shrinks to 1/100 their size. Could totally have Dungeon Fantasy adventures in the remains of the big world (even many years after the initial shrinkage, since buildings and such would be so hard to tear down), fighting unshrunken rats and the like.

We have other canon examples.

Enigma: everyone disappeared on local date July 12, 1982. Discovered by Homline (2012) in local year 1993.

Ariane: "In 1915, a mutant influenza virus (possibly a version of the “Spanish flu” that decimated Homeline history around that time) wiped out 99.9% of the population, leaving fewer than two million people alive on this Quantum 5 Earth." Current year: 10 years behind Homeline.

Gotha worlds: Effectively Night of the Walking Dead worlds ranging from TL1 to TL8.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by maximara

We have other canon examples.

Enigma: everyone disappeared on local date July 12, 1982. Discovered by Homline (2012) in local year 1993.

Ariane: "In 1915, a mutant influenza virus (possibly a version of the “Spanish flu” that decimated Homeline history around that time) wiped out 99.9% of the population, leaving fewer than two million people alive on this Quantum 5 Earth." Current year: 10 years behind Homeline.

Gotha worlds: Effectively Night of the Walking Dead worlds ranging from TL1 to TL8.

I believe the initial poster was looking for a modern Dungeon Fantasy world that's post-apocalyptic without an actual 'destroy most of everything' apocalypse (so not, like, nuclear war or asteroid strike).

Enigma has NO people, so would only work for Homeline visitors - who have high tech & parachronics.

I was never quite sure how much of the world was destroyed on Ariane. It's advanced enough to be able to wrought serious damage (think WWI), but not advanced enough for the plague to spread everywhere fast (not modern airline industry - and I think Tibet survived). GURPS Infinite Worlds did describe Homeliners making resort/vacation recreation of the time period, but did involve actual reconstruction.

And the Gotha worlds all have out-and-out apocalypse, thanks to zombies.


I always really liked the idea of a world where 90+% of people just disappear, ever since reading The Vanishing Point as a kid. Or watching Life After People on the History Channel.

And GURPS' post-apocalyptic supplements give lots of info on how to design abandoned human structures.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by fchase8

I believe the initial poster was looking for a modern Dungeon Fantasy world that's post-apocalyptic without an actual 'destroy most of everything' apocalypse (so not, like, nuclear war or asteroid strike).

Enigma has NO people, so would only work for Homeline visitors - who have high tech & parachronics.

World jumpers or mages with Gate spells are also able to reach Enigma (IIRC Coventry is the only reality that is expressly stated as being unaccessible to world jumpers...and that does not rule out gate spells).

Originally Posted by fchase8

I always really liked the idea of a world where 90+% of people just disappear, ever since reading The Vanishing Point as a kid. Or watching Life After People on the History Channel.

The idea has been done many times before. One of the earliest empty world stories I saw was Where is Everybody? (Twilight Zone).

Of course many of the apocalypse settings involve some huge disaster or zombies/vampires) all over the place.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by maximara

World jumpers or mages with Gate spells are also able to reach Enigma (IIRC Coventry is the only reality that is expressly stated as being unaccessible to world jumpers...and that does not rule out gate spells).

True - I was gonna mention that it could also be an adventure setting for other, more accidental arrivals.

The key thing is that, at least for Homeline, if the going gets tough, one has a way to a safe place (Homeline). And one would only be looking for expensive stuff, a much higher bar to risk one's life.

Though perhaps that's what Dungeon Fantasy is, as opposed to Post-Apocalyptic (characters don't have to go into the dungeon - they usually only do to look for gold & the like; post-apocalyptic characters might need to find tools to survive in an abandoned place).

Though if one got to Enigma and didn't know how to get back, it would become more survival-based.

Originally Posted by maximara

The idea has been done many times before. One of the earliest empty world stories I saw was Where is Everybody? (Twilight Zone).

Of course many of the apocalypse settings involve some huge disaster or zombies/vampires) all over the place.

Oh, yeah, 'Where is Everybody?' - I believe that was the first ever Twilight Zone episode.

But I specifically liked the idea of people just disappearing, and things falling apart on their own, as opposed to an actual wave of destruction killing people.

Even today, there's The Last Man On Earth, where the world most seems to be 'stuff left on its own, after people.'

[scc]

Originally Posted by PTTG

What changes could make a modern worldline collapse into anarchy without being triggered by widespread destruction?

Think like Mad Max except without the environmental devastation. Or, more directly, any situation which allows your classical Dungeon Fantasy style adventuring party to work more or less the same, except with modern tech and a familiar world map.

For Dungeon Fantasy simply have a world that is heavily reliant on magic, and then have magic go away for a generation.

[PTTG]

Around 1130, a minor Chinese bureaucrat -- an alchoholic and puppet on most worlds -- lived an all-around more capable life. This made him powerful enemies, and rather than stick around, he gathered some wise friends, a few peasant families, and some skilled craftsmen. His goal was to travel north until he found a beautiful new homeland, where he would establish himself to later return.

His four ships barely made it, but after years of hard sailing and incredible fortune, his ships arrived far east of where they had left. His plans had changed, of course, as this land was too far to be a suitable place to return to central land. Instead, he decreed that his new empire would expand eastward to the sunrise.

For almost three hundred years, he and his descendants fought their way across the continent, displacing, allying, and absorbing native groups they encountered. The Imperials left the local rulers to continue in their old ways, so long as they provided taxes to the Empire.

The Beautiful Empire grew, and the people learned to use gunpowder and many machines that the Imperial family knew of. At long intervals, a ship or two might make it back to distant western lands, to bring back horses or new knowledge, but the travel was so harsh that little true trade took place.

As the Empire extended, it became unstable; the native rulers demanded greater autonomy, and the bureaucrats refused to cede it (though by now it was impossible to distinguish an Imperial from a Native by any measure but language). In previous centuries, expansion calmed the conflict by providing an external foe, but now only the inhospitable north and the fierce and strong southern neighbors remained uncontrolled (with some local exceptions).

It was in 1302 when ancient maps and long-forgotten rumors were proved true; there as a rich and vibrant land even further east. A great naval invasion will soon come; it is too far to secure the land permanently, but with gunpowder, fierce horsemen, and fine steel, the Americans would soon invade Europe!

[Astromancer]

This Q6 world (Thatcher-2) diverged from Homeline in a minor battle in France late in WWII. Basically the allies lost far fewer men because the German leader wasn't killed at the start of the battle. The leader saw the battle was hopeless and that by pulling back he could get a better defensive position. However, his plan fell apart because of bungling in the German rear. Which made ultimately no difference to the WWII timeline, but spared the lives of many allied troops.

One key survivor was a French resistance leader (Clement Deville) who gained the reputation of a hero. He earned the reputation before the battle but events after the battle made him famous. His younger bother (Gabin Deville) gained a great deal from this as his hero brother could get Gabin into excellent schools. By the late 1960's Gabin Deville was a key aide to Valery Giscard d'Estaing finance minister to Charles de Gaulle. When de Gaulle decided to kick America off the Gold standard, as a means of putting American in its proper place, the young, and luckily highly charming and charismatic, aide explained how that would end The Bretton Woods System and ruin the French economy. De Gaulle sorely wanted America to realize the importance of France, but not at the cost of the French economy. So the Trente Glorieuses (which in Homeline got stopped by de Gaulle's actions) became "Quarante Glorieuses" and counting.

In the USA Nixon had fewer economic woes but still got kicked out for Watergate. Ford still barely kept Reagan from getting the 1976 GOP presidential nomination. However, due to the stronger economy and the Bretton Woods System weakening the power of the financial interests a Union Leader (Henry 'Hank" Polanski), whose life was saved by an American marine who survived the same battle as Clement Deville, got the Democratic nomination. He ran a lively and passionate campaign based on economic populism. He won easily as Ford was a famously wooden campaigner.

Hank Polanski basically used Keynesian economics to run a full employment high growth economy. Since fixed rates of exchange were still in place and the Financial system heavily regulated, this worked beautifully. Without those factors, Capital Flight would have crashed the economy. When Francois Mitterrand tried the same thing in 1981, it also worked, unlike in Homeline history were the end of the Bretton Woods System doomed him to failure.

Meanwhile, even with Reagan as the GOP nominee, Polanski sailed to an easy win and a second term in office. Even though the Oil Shocks and the rotten harvests of the 1970s had caused serious economic pain, by 1978 general prosperity was the norm, growth rates were high and full employment the norm. This world entered TL8 a few years early simply because more tech got out to the public sooner. Still, scandals and bad luck brought down the Labour Government and Margraret Thatcher became Prime Minister of Britain.

Margaret Thatcher was always ideologically motivated. She also had a plan for improving the British economy, basically, end the Bretton Woods System and radically expand the financial sector. She started exchanging reserve dollars for gold at an unsustainable rate (this is what de Gaulle did in Homeline's history). Complaints from the US president were ignored as working class union leaders, even when they were the president of the USA, meant little to Thatcher. However, the economic chaos unleashed when the Bretton Woods System collapsed got her kicked out of office.

Now the leaders of the world's major economies are gathered at a conference in Scotland dubbed by the press Bretton Woods II. Multiple out time factions are interested in this conference.

Homeline France is delighted with Mitterrand's France in this world. It was understood the Bretton Woods System was going to fail before the 1990s, which would dim French glory, but if this world could do what Homeline couldn't, French glory might recover magnificently. The USA favors stability in out time worlds. Besides, allying with the French in aiding this world is good for relations on several levels. Meanwhile, Homeline's Britain is fairly neutral about this world, some dislike the early fall of Thatcher, some rejoice in it. None care much. Russia and China see a revival of the Breton Woods system as bad for their local counterparts. Russia also sees economic turmoil and crisis in the late 1980s West as a means of preventing the collapse of the USSR. Both Russia and China want to sink the conference.

The ICops are very strongly allied with the USA and France. Both Swagmen and Centrum find this an easy world to reach for some reason. Economic chaos would cover a great deal of crime and skullduggery. Conversely, Centrum and the Swagmen see benefits for themselves in economic chaos and a longer Cold War.

The Cabal also wants to make the conference fail. The Cabal's wizards love manipulating financial institutions and markets. They prefer these institutions and markets opaque, you might even say occult;-) Breaking the Bretton Woods System and promoting the Paper Economy over the Real Economy would dramatically boost their practical power on this world.

Basically, this world is intrigue placed at a high level and high stakes conference. PCs will need high social skills as well as anything else the moment calls for.

[Astromancer]

Last Saturday night I watched Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers. The old film got me to thinking, when they recovered the saucers from the Potomic, what would they get from reverse engineering the saucer tech?

I envision a mid 1960s with American Saucers capable of going at 0.001C, one- thousandth of the speed of light. This would mean that Pluto was 412 days or so away from Earth and Mars was a little more than three days from Earth.

Basically, choose the supertech you want introduced to society at the same time as Rubber Soul and enjoy.

Note: fusion power generation would rewrite the world economy.

The USSR, among others, would kill for saucer tech. Good for Spy-Fi sixties style spy games.

[Astromancer]

Try this idea, it has similarities to the one above, but the differences make it interesting.

Krypton-12

In this world's 1965 a powerful supervillain travels to this Q6 world to conquer it and make it into a secret lair/power base. Soon a group of nine superheroes (The Knight Watch!) follow to thwart his plans.

The Captain: Basically Captain Marvel with Black Lightning's powers added in.

Rhiannon: Think Wonder Woman with all of Saturn Girl's powers added.

The Owl:Batman with all of Hawkman's skills and powers added.

Shockwave: Think the Flash with a wide variety of sonic powers added.

The Violet Ray:She has all the powers of Green Lantern and Dr. Strange.

Lord Triton: Think Aquaman with Storm's powers added in.

The Stranger: Basically Martian Manhunter with all of Doctor Who's powers, skills, and similar technological resources.

Morph!: Think Plastic Man with all of Chameleon Kid's powers added.

Hornet Queen: Basically the Wasp with multiple and powerful enhanced senses and psionic control over all insect life. She can also see, hear, and otherwise sense anything an insect under her control can. Note: This is the later Wasp with Superhuman Strength and resilience when at reduced size.

Together they beat the villain and shatter the mystic jewel that keeps him in our reality banishing him forever from any world even vaguely like our reality. The catch is they're stranded for awhile.

The Violet Ray explains that they can't leave until 1984. No worries though. Because of how they got here they won't age and little or no time will pass on the home plain. More importantly, they don't intend to be bad guests.

The Heroes, who come from a similar world's (similar as they see it) 2010s, decide to share practical knowledge with the people of this world. They teach about Cold Fusion and enough other tech that this world is TL9^ in the year 1990. They explain how the collapse of the Bretton Woods System disrupts economies for decades. They fill the locals in on the histories of a dozen worlds like their own in the later 20th century and even build the USA (which most of the heroes think of as home) a Moonbase.

The local year is 1991, life is good for the people of this world. The Icops, on the other hand, are freaked. A technologically advanced world in Q6 that has superscience and is aware of travel to other parallels as a practical reality. Centrum is also freaked out. Problem, the Knight Watch left means to call them for aide and they occasionally visit. A violent attack on this world would come with reprisals.

The PCs are sent to sabotage panchromonmic research on this world. Note: this world expects out time visitors and will be watching for touble.