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Old 07-11-2016, 04:21 AM   #1
warellis
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Default Great Powers of Frazer's World, Age of Gold, & Alchemical Baroque

GURPS Infinite Worlds is interesting for not only often telling some setting information about various worldlines but also providing a little infobox that that tells things like the local year, the great powers, the main civilizations, the TL, and so on.

An example of this infobox format is this:
Quote:
XXXXX, 2002
Current Affairs

Divergence Point

Major Civilizations

Great Powers

Worldline Data

Mana Level:

Quantum:

Infinity Class:
Centrum Zone:
As such, I was reading Frazer's World and it got me wonder, if someone were to write up a little infobox similar to the above about Frazer's World, from the information provided in the article, what would it be considered? What would its Great Powers be, it's Major Civilizations, it's TL, and so on?

I also found the same for GURPS Thaumatology: Age of Gold, & GURPS Thaumatology: Alchemical Baroque. How would one describe their current affairs, their major civilizations and Great Powers and special descriptions for their TLs?
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Old 07-11-2016, 09:55 AM   #2
Fred Brackin
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Default Re: Great Powers of Frazer's World, Age of Gold, & Alchemical Baroque

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Originally Posted by warellis View Post
I also found the same for GURPS Thaumatology: Age of Gold, & GURPS Thaumatology: Alchemical Baroque. How would one describe their current affairs, their major civilizations and Great Powers and special descriptions for their TLs?
Age of Gold is a variant 1930s. The variations are on a fairly small/individual scale. So use Real World history for the information.

Alchemical Baroque would be a lot harder. You're mostly looking at things that usually don't impact PC adventure sin the setting and that were left quite vague. I couldn't do more than re-read it and make guesses that wouldn't be more than re-stating what's in the pdf.
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Old 07-11-2016, 10:49 AM   #3
Phil Masters
 
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Default Re: Great Powers of Frazer's World, Age of Gold, & Alchemical Baroque

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
Age of Gold is a variant 1930s. The variations are on a fairly small/individual scale. So use Real World history for the information.
With TL6^ because the local magic (and pulp flavour) has a tendency to impinge on the technology.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
Alchemical Baroque would be a lot harder. You're mostly looking at things that usually don't impact PC adventure sin the setting and that were left quite vague. I couldn't do more than re-read it and make guesses that wouldn't be more than re-stating what's in the pdf.
Mmm. The book only really covers one part of the world, albeit probably the most advanced part (though GMs are welcome to play with that, dropping in, say, a China-analogue with terrifying ancient secrets, or a Brobdingnag-analogue that it would just be very silly to mess with). The basic concept is Empire-With-(Strong)-Rivals; the Solar Empire has immense clout, but can't afford to start wars with the others on whim. The technology is explicitly late TL4/Early TL5 musket-and-bayonet, Age of Enlightenment stuff, but with arbitrary chunks of superscience where it makes for a good story.

Alternatively, the cats run everything.
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Old 07-11-2016, 01:58 PM   #4
warellis
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Default Re: Great Powers of Frazer's World, Age of Gold, & Alchemical Baroque

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
Age of Gold is a variant 1930s. The variations are on a fairly small/individual scale. So use Real World history for the information.

Alchemical Baroque would be a lot harder. You're mostly looking at things that usually don't impact PC adventure sin the setting and that were left quite vague. I couldn't do more than re-read it and make guesses that wouldn't be more than re-stating what's in the pdf.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
With TL6^ because the local magic (and pulp flavour) has a tendency to impinge on the technology.


Mmm. The book only really covers one part of the world, albeit probably the most advanced part (though GMs are welcome to play with that, dropping in, say, a China-analogue with terrifying ancient secrets, or a Brobdingnag-analogue that it would just be very silly to mess with). The basic concept is Empire-With-(Strong)-Rivals; the Solar Empire has immense clout, but can't afford to start wars with the others on whim. The technology is explicitly late TL4/Early TL5 musket-and-bayonet, Age of Enlightenment stuff, but with arbitrary chunks of superscience where it makes for a good story.

Alternatively, the cats run everything.
Frazer's World:
Considering the stuff in the Terra Incognita article about Frazer's World, is there a fix on what its tech level is like or what its Great Powers would be you'd say? Because we have nations like the Russian Empire, the Triune Empire, and the Italian Papal States which are very different from OTL.

I ask this because it almost sounds like, in Frazer's World, that magic has been sort of around for some time (and was sort of known) prior to it being able to be used in a way for mass production and such by the Great Powers.

Does anyone have to plans expand the setting or make a GURPS PDF book about it?

Age of Gold:
With Age of Gold, would the Great Powers have been the US, the UK & colonies, the French, Japan, and possibly Russia? I don't quite know if Russia would've been considered a Great Power of the time.

Oh one thing I'm wondering, what is a "helix plane?" I see it mentioned a lot in Age of Gold but I don't quite understand what it's supposed to look like:
Quote:
Aboard the amazing helix-plane, its inventor and pilot
adjusted the controls and turned to his passenger.
Quote:
He cut power to one rotor, and the helix-plane slipped sharply down and sideways – just in time to avoid the claws of a great winged monster
that had appeared seemingly from nowhere.
Quote:
vertical take-off aircraft akin to helicopters (“the amazing helix-plane!”)
So is it like a V-22 Osprey?

Alchemical Baroque:
Well from what I remember with the Yrth worldline, it's possible to put in Great Powers for the local territory if other areas are unknown.

For Alchemical Baroque, do you guys know that the local "year" would be you'd say?

Heh I remember the cats. The talking cat sort of reminded me of that cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Yeah for the TL I do remember for Alchemical Baroque that it is late TL 4, bordering on early TL 5, except that it will probably become TL (4+1) instead of TL 5. At least that's what is says in the book.
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Old 07-11-2016, 07:07 PM   #5
Fred Brackin
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Default Re: Great Powers of Frazer's World, Age of Gold, & Alchemical Baroque

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Originally Posted by warellis View Post
[
Age of Gold:

Oh one thing I'm wondering, what is a "helix plane?" I see it mentioned a lot in Age of Gold but I don't quite understand what it's supposed to look like:



.
It's probably this thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw_61

Side-by-side twin rotors were pretty much a dead end in our time line as they have large disadvantages in terms of drag. It's only when you add in tilting for forward flight that the concept makes a comeback.
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