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Old 11-05-2018, 12:41 PM   #3731
ericthered
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Griswold-1


Griswold is named after the old money family Griswold of Connecticut. In this timeline, the family became a political power-house during the first half of the 1900's, and the Roosevelt family made only minor contributions to politics. The resulting changes are usually ones of form rather than function, but a few of them are quite dramatic:


France did not fall in WWII. Germany was defeated on the western front without Soviet or American entry. A second phase of the war was fought against the USSR, ending in a minor soviet defeat.



The UK has stronger ties to France in this timeline, and weaker ties with the US.



Decolonization was much messier in this timeline, as a much stronger UK France, and low countries attempted to hold onto their territories. They still hold many of them, though with expanded rights and privileges.



The USSR maintained an iron curtain much like the old time line, but farther east than historically, and it fell during the early 80's, not the early 90's.




The United States has a much stronger public transportation system, with trains linking communities together. There isn't a federal interstate system. Cars and trucks are less abundant but still present, though they tend to be used commercially rather than privately.


The Democrats are conservative and the Republicans are liberal. Different locations in the US are still about as conservative or liberal as in homeline.
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Old 11-05-2018, 06:01 PM   #3732
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What are the space and nuclear programs like?
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Old 11-06-2018, 06:55 AM   #3733
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What are the space and nuclear programs like?

Present, but delayed. The space race and nuclear development was a race between the colonial powers and the US, for the most part, and as there was never any open conflict, it was much less urgent. The USSR did get involved, but it was clearer that the soviets were playing catch up. No one ever landed on the moon, and GPS is still very much a military technology. Civilian travel uses ground-based radio beacons to locate itself (and there is less automobile and air traffic anyways).



I'm unsure if China went Red or not.
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Old 11-06-2018, 07:26 AM   #3734
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I'm unsure if China went Red or not.
I suppose it comes down to how the Pacific War went. The Japanese probably would fear provoking the British and the French if they were winning the war in Europe at the time, but they might find themselves going to war anyway if the Americans got their embargo going anyway. If the Japanese never went to war (or won with a Pearl Harbor KO or something), they probably would have continued in China for a long time. If they lost, if Great Power competition started early enough, the Guomindang may have fallen apart in the wake of the CCP, or gone into a prolonged period of turmoil (perhaps with a British Formosa and other colonial enclaves). On the other hand, a "beat on the reds" focused West might have supported Chiang enough to knock out the CCP and unite China.
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Old 11-07-2018, 09:38 PM   #3735
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This is a magical world but it was less so once. Yeats, who in this world convinced Alister Crowley that his poetry needed a good editor ( in Homeline history Yeats was simply cruel and Crowley hated him for it) and won Crowley's undying friendship.

The two performed rituals together and discovered a unique synergy between themselves. This led to powerful rituals that made magic easier for everyone involved. Yeats' on again off again girlfriend, Maude Gonne suggested awakening the fearie nature of the Irish people. Both men were loopy enough to go for it.

The ritual was disastrous and potent. Everyone on Earth who has more than one Irish great-grandparent is now an Elf ( or as the Irish say it a Sidhe) they are plus two to all stats, unaging, beautiful or handsome, with regrow and fast regeneration, plus a few other goodies. This adds strongly to Irish nationalism and English paranoia.

The local year is 1912, twenty years since the transformation. The Irish want either Home rule or independence, and now. Britain fears the lost of Empire. Germany just wants Britain and Ireland at each others throats. Russia wants Istanbul and control of the passage between the Aegean and Black Seas. Which is what caused WWI in most worlds.

Neither Homeline nor Centrum want this world exploding into war. But their reasons and goals are so different their fights make them part of the problem.

Can your Cabalists keep the factions from ripping this world apart?
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Old 11-07-2018, 10:02 PM   #3736
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The local year is 1912, twenty years since the transformation.
You need to adjust something there. Crowley only joined the Golden Dawn in 1898, having become interested in occultism the previous year.
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Old 11-08-2018, 01:23 AM   #3737
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You need to adjust something there. Crowley only joined the Golden Dawn in 1898, having become interested in occultism the previous year.
Okay, it's ten years after the transformation. It doesn't change much of anything. WWI is dangerously near. "Home Rule," the "Irish Question," race issues, and the British Conservative party's period of furious irresponsibility( because of the House of Lords losing their veto and the Conservatives feeling betrayed) are all heated up and nastier than normal.

Elsewhere, the fact the Irish are at a profound advange and no longer fully human heats up race issues. Crib freely from old X-Men comic books.
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Old 11-08-2018, 07:36 AM   #3738
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I suppose it comes down to how the Pacific War went. The Japanese probably would fear provoking the British and the French if they were winning the war in Europe at the time, but they might find themselves going to war anyway if the Americans got their embargo going anyway. If the Japanese never went to war (or won with a Pearl Harbor KO or something), they probably would have continued in China for a long time. If they lost, if Great Power competition started early enough, the Guomindang may have fallen apart in the wake of the CCP, or gone into a prolonged period of turmoil (perhaps with a British Formosa and other colonial enclaves). On the other hand, a "beat on the reds" focused West might have supported Chiang enough to knock out the CCP and unite China.

You're right, it does matter how the Japanese invasion of China goes. I've been trying to stick with a "big things are the same, medium things are different" theme. I really don't see a way that the imperial Japanese survive to the modern day without a war vs. the US. So the pacific war still occurs, though a touch later than expected.



Japan won't strip the European colonialists of their southern Asian provinces, but it will wreck havoc on the spheres of influence in china, and with decolonization happening, elsewhere, its unlikely they will survive.



Russia ends the war rebuffed, not triumphant, but I don't think that will effect their ability to send arms to china. The Communists may need a boost in this world, and a communist cause led by China rather than Russia is interesting.
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Old 11-08-2018, 08:36 AM   #3739
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Try this...

On one Q6 world, a German spy in Moscow in June of 1914 manages to let his superiors know that the Russians really think they need to attack soon or be crushed. The Germans in Homeline history found out the Russians were mobilizing for war just early enough that the Russians lost any advantage of secrecy. In this parallel, the Germans attack before the Russian mobilization is more than just started. The main German attack is back towards France which declared war as soon as they knew Russia was attacked. A declaration given only as the troops started mobilizing. In this world, the Germans high command takes the British view of Belgium seriously. They don't risk touching Belgium soil and thus don't panic Britain early.

By early 1915 Russia has collapsed and Germany is at a massive advantage in France. Lacking a two-Front war, Germany pushes hard against France. Britain demands that all parties go to the negotiating table. The Kaiser mistakes British arrogance for fear. And the Brits mistake self-confidence for aggression. The Kriegsmarine is quickly and soundly beaten by the Royal Navy, but France, which never recovered from an early attack, falls hard.

This is basically a very nasty anti-glamourous Cold War with lots of Napoleonic qualities thrown in. Britain rules the seas and Germany, with Austria and Italy for allies (Italy decided to join the winners once they knew who would win, which was obvious early in this world) rule the continent of Europe. Neither France nor Russia is easy to hold. The Tsar is a prisoner in Bavaria and Lenin and Stalin have been shot. However Rosa Luxemburg, with Trotsky and Emma Goldman as her lieutenants, is proving to be more than the German state bargained for. Russia is a mass of pretty furious revolts and bleeding Germany slowly dry. Britain's economy is a mess and German submarine warfare is slowly collapsing the food supply.

Homeline favors Britain, Centrum sees the Kaiser as the path to world unity, the Cabal sees easy pickings.

What would you call this world? Maybe a Kaiserene (I think that's the Infinity designation for 'Germany wins WWI' worlds)?


Would Centrum overcome their Anglophilia to support Germany over the U.K.? The U.K. is still pretty hierarchical at this point (even more so than Homeline, without experience of battlefield WWI), and would seem to be the better bet than Germany, given Homeline history (which Interworld is well acquainted with).

Infinity would back the British over the Kaiser, but would have different aims than Interworld. Infinity would be focused on Germany collapsing peacefully, and not submitting to Britain or any Treaty of Versailles. Interworld would want a clear British victory leading to 'Pax Britannia'.


And presumably the U.S. would on the sidelines, staying out of European wars. But it would be hard to stay out of it, given the large oceanic war, from German submarines to larger British blockade.
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Old 11-08-2018, 09:22 AM   #3740
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What would you call this world? Maybe a Kaiserene (I think that's the Infinity designation for 'Germany wins WWI' worlds)?


Would Centrum overcome their Anglophilia to support Germany over the U.K.? The U.K. is still pretty hierarchical at this point (even more so than Homeline, without experience of battlefield WWI), and would seem to be the better bet than Germany, given Homeline history (which Interworld is well acquainted with).

Infinity would back the British over the Kaiser, but would have different aims than Interworld. Infinity would be focused on Germany collapsing peacefully, and not submitting to Britain or any Treaty of Versailles. Interworld would want a clear British victory leading to 'Pax Britannia'.


And presumably the U.S. would on the sidelines, staying out of European wars. But it would be hard to stay out of it, given the large oceanic war, from German submarines to larger British blockade.
I can see quite a bit of colonial bush wars going on here. Maybe the US starts becoming the gun runner for the world, with the difficulty of getting to European markets. How's Japan doing in this alternate? Western Russia might be a tempting target if Germany is having trouble...
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