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Old 09-30-2019, 01:11 PM   #4351
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

This Q6 parallel (Low Manna, with rare and generally small areas of high manna mainly at places with a legend/myth/ occult reputation) diverges in spring of 1942 with a massive outbreak/resurgence of the Spanish Flu (although it's called the Russian Flu in this outbreak, Homeline researchers have discovered it's the Spanish Flu, locals don't have the medical science to comfirm this).

The Flu ripped through Soviet Society massively fouling up the war effort. However, a bonus was given in the form of Stalin's death. Zhukov took over the government and massively rationalised the War effort. But given the mess the flu caused, there's only so much that can be done. Russia suffers horrors beyond telling, as per usual.

In Asia, both Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai died in the first wave, allowing Chiang Kai-shek to focus exclusively on the Japanese. Gandhi, Jinnah, and Nahru all died early in the epidemic. This led to B. R. Ambedkar taking over and the desperate British (who also suffered brutally from the plague) to let him clean house. Ambedkar is promoting a "Don't fight the British, just take over India" line with some success. Mainly because his cooperation is so desperately needed. Japan, has been less brutalized than most Asian nations, but the military has had to face massive troop losses.

Britain, Germany, Japan, all suffered brutally. The USA took some nasty hits to, but FDR pushed National Healthcare through and organised highly effective national public health measures (greatly aided by the lack of bombs going off on American soil). The biggest outbreak of the epidemic in the USA was in New England and took the nastiest toll in Upper-class boarding schools (which generally sneered at the new regulations).

The local date is May of 1944. Marshall Zhukov is finally getting the USSR's act together. The death of Hitler in late 1942 gave the allies a breathing spell because Himmler and Goring fought for control of the Reich. Himmler died of the flu and now Goring is in charge.

Goring is no military genius, but unlike Hitler he knows when to get good advice and listen to it. Goring is no fight to the death fanatic, but he's not likely to give up with without serious effort and cunning attempts to grab off the best goodies for himself. Goring is an anti-Semitic bigot, but the Holocaust isn't something he cares for (and historically most of the murders have already happened, read Why?: Explaining the Holocaust), so he'll freely trade Jews, Gypsies, and other victims of the deathcamps for advantage. Goring has nothing like Churchill's or FDR's charisma, but he has charm enough to persuade the war weary to make deals.

WWII has just gotten much harder in the endgame.

Homeline wants at least as good an outcome as in Homeline history. However, with the USSR seriously weaker and China unlikely to go communist, that doesn't look so hard. Centrum wants the British Empire to thrive, a harder problem. Also, Centrum's normal fallback, the USA (which Centrum generally dislikes) is unlikely to have a Red Scare after the War. Centrum needs to find a way to destabilize things. Helping Goring might be the card they want to play. Meanwhile the Cabal simply wants no Cold War. They think there'll be some juicy mystic lore in this Europe given those tiny High Manna areas. A doctor who is an agent of the Cabal, has already made sure that FDR stays healthy and alive for several years more. Other Cabal agents have made sure that inconvenient Right-Wingers that would get in the way of FDR's plans for the post-war world "caught the flu."

Homeline might be looking at a full court war between Centrum and the Cabal in a time and place where the secret could become open knowledge to a nation's intelligence agencies without it ever becoming public knowledge. This would be nearly a worst case scenario.
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Old 10-01-2019, 03:24 PM   #4352
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Try this one...

Napoleon on this world decided to take a different tack. After George III was declared incompetent and the Prince of Wales made regent, Napoleon sent the Prince Regent a letter suggesting that two shrewd follows like themselves could negotiate a stable peace good for both sides. The Prince Regent, highly flattered, decide to meet Napoleon.

Given the Prince Regent's well known susceptibility to charm and Napoleon's superabundence of charm it's assumed by most statesmen that Napoleon will conquer the Prince.

This is a Q6 world, low manna with fay known to exist but largely like Homeline in period. Centrum wants to prevent the meeting. Meanwhile, Homeline's France wants this meeting as does Homeline's Russia. Each sees a better future for their local counterparts. Meanwhile, the Icops have noticed a Cabalist reputed to be skilled at healing magic living in a neighborhood near the place were George III is confined. If the old king were suddenly well and sane again that would be a massive wild card.
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Old 10-01-2019, 05:20 PM   #4353
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Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
This Q6 parallel (Low Manna, with rare and generally small areas of high manna mainly at places with a legend/myth/ occult reputation) diverges in spring of 1942 with a massive outbreak/resurgence of the Spanish Flu (although it's called the Russian Flu in this outbreak, Homeline researchers have discovered it's the Spanish Flu, locals don't have the medical science to comfirm this).

The Flu ripped through Soviet Society massively fouling up the war effort. However, a bonus was given in the form of Stalin's death. Zhukov took over the government and massively rationalised the War effort. But given the mess the flu caused, there's only so much that can be done. Russia suffers horrors beyond telling, as per usual.
You didn't mention Beria. That damn maniac was Stalin's immediate successor in OTL. Of course, that was ten years later than this, with less time to build his power base. But this scenario would give the maniac more room to practice his arts - he would be more capable of throwing potential rivals in a Memory Hole and claiming "plague".
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Old 10-01-2019, 07:00 PM   #4354
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You didn't mention Beria. That damn maniac was Stalin's immediate successor in OTL. Of course, that was ten years later than this, with less time to build his power base. But this scenario would give the maniac more room to practice his arts - he would be more capable of throwing potential rivals in a Memory Hole and claiming "plague".
A nightmarish scenario to be sure. However, if he's not the leader, everybody else would want Beria dead. Stalin knew this, which is why Stalin trusted Beria to watch his back.
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Old 10-02-2019, 12:21 PM   #4355
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A nightmarish scenario to be sure. However, if he's not the leader, everybody else would want Beria dead. Stalin knew this, which is why Stalin trusted Beria to watch his back.
True. This is why I tend to have him either not take power or die pretty fast, in alternate history scenarios that involve Stalin dying early. A timeline where Beria died under suspicious circumstances (without Stalin knowing about it in advance) while Stalin was alive could be interesting, because Stalin's paranoia would be ramped up a fair bit.
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Old 10-02-2019, 01:00 PM   #4356
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True. This is why I tend to have him either not take power or die pretty fast, in alternate history scenarios that involve Stalin dying early. A timeline where Beria died under suspicious circumstances (without Stalin knowing about it in advance) while Stalin was alive could be interesting, because Stalin's paranoia would be ramped up a fair bit.
True. But if you have a literal plague, Beria's death could slip under even Stalin's radar. Still, a USSR run by Beria is a deadlier threat. Beria thought that the USSR should go for Martial Plan aid and actually cooperate with US plans. Then after they rebuilt the USSR they could use their new image to stay as non-threatening as possible for awhile. In other words, Beria had an understanding of the USSR's strengths and weaknesses. He wanted the same things as Stalin but he was willing the be pleasant and charming to get them. He cared more for gaining the end goal than being perfect along the way.

All in all, a far greater threat. A man probably more evil than Stalin, but able to see the benefits of kindness towards others, the benefits to himself of course.
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Old 10-02-2019, 01:25 PM   #4357
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All in all, a far greater threat. A man probably more evil than Stalin, but able to see the benefits of kindness towards others, the benefits to himself of course.
Probably? No probably about it he was more evil. Remember he was so twisted that Stalin panicked one time when he found out that his daughter was alone in the same house with Beria
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Old 10-02-2019, 01:53 PM   #4358
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Probably? No probably about it he was more evil. Remember he was so twisted that Stalin panicked one time when he found out that his daughter was alone in the same house with Beria
Good point, still, even if a man was only about half as evil as Stalin, I wouldn't want anyone I loved anywhere near him. The real point is that Beria, scum that he was, was more flexible than Stalin. That alone would make him a more deadly threat.
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Old 10-02-2019, 05:08 PM   #4359
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Probably? No probably about it. Remember he was so twisted that Stalin panicked one time when he found out that his daughter was alone in the same house with Beria
Beria was a serial rapist on a huge scale, exploiting his power as the head of NKVD. Stalin must have known about it.
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Old 10-03-2019, 12:50 PM   #4360
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Roger's Island

Try this one...

This mission goes to an echo of Homeline, maybe more than one. The echos involve an examination of a site known to be of interest to Cabalists in both Homeline and any other world fairly near to Homeline. The site is an amusement park in California called Roger's Island.

In Homeline the park is long closed and serious info on the park is rare. However, these basics are known. Josiah K. Jackson built an Interurban in an area of mountains just west of a brutal desert (many details of the local will be vague in order to slot it into the GM's interests more easily) starting in the year 1903. The local roads were poor and the railroads didn't go to most of the towns in the county so the Interurban was popular. In order to make a quicker connection between the two largest towns in the county (the one with the mine and the railroad, and the one with the farms, the interurban went down the sides of the mountains to where a small river (the New Colt, after how trying to ride the river in a canoe felt) drained into a shallow salty lake. The trolley line went over a small island with the only nice beach in the county, Roger's Island.

Mister Jackson wanted to name it "Jolly Roger Island," but his cousin the mayor saw that as improper, and named it Roger's island after a pioneer. It was started in a typical way for the period, a two story pavilion with a restaurant on the first floor (and beach rentals) and a dance floor and band on the second. Soon a Merry-go-Round and a Ferris Wheel joined them and by 1912 rides, sideshows,a movie theater, a playhouse, a puppet theater, arcades, restaurants, and similar businesses were in the area. The island was in a Microclimate between the desert and the mountains. It was warm and springlike most of the time. Because of the new Colt river flowing into the lake from the mountains, the water near the island varied from fresh, behind the island, to brackish, on the beach. Thus neither the nasty little sand flies nor the vile smelly weeds that ringed the rest of the lake could live there.

Like most interurbans the local trolley system was always deep in debt and financially unstable. Between the 1029 stock market crash and the state of California building some good roads through the area, the interurban collapsed. When the mine played out in 1931, turning one of the towns into a ghost town, and the New Colt river was diverted for irrigation, thus drying up the lake and making the whole thing part of the desert, Roger's Island closed down. By 1936 the buildings were known to have burned down. But no mention of when precisely that happened is preserved.

Why an amusement park that lasted only a few decades would be of importance to the Cabal is perplexing. Although the presence of a Beer Garden on the island whose owners were relatives of Fritz Julius Kuhn and also two known members of Midwinter Aton the Nazi renegade Cabalists, suggests they looking for clues to their most bitter foes.

Another possibility involves rumors of a tribe of Native Americans living near the lake who stayed hidden from both other Native American tribes and White Society. The tribe supposedly had a way of being unseen in plain sight. There were rumors that some of the old women that worked at the little "Mexican" Cantina and the Jade Moon Garden a Chinese restaurant, were members of the tribe who knew the magic of going unseen and unrecognized in public. They were supposed to use their jobs to both spy on Whites and to maintain the few contacts the tribe had with other Native American tribes. Once the lake dried up, all rumors about the tribe stop. Possibly because they had to leave their homes for good.

The GM can make either of both of these true. Or, since amusement parks were a safe place in early 20th century American society to be an oddball, something equally as wild. Basically, you want to send the PCs to echos that are either ahead or behind of important events. If something the group wants to investigate happened in 1927, allow them to get to 1923 and 1931. Either they're way too early or late. piecing the mystery together for a kaleidoscope of either premature or long cold clues. Be sure to stress the changes time brings to the island. Amusement parks, even today's massive high investment ones, change constantly, and outside of the Disney corporation, past records are few and far between.

Note: fun bonus, It's always possible that rare silents might be showing at the movie theater. Most pre-1927 films were discarded when their run was over. Reels of important movies might be just sitting rotting at the movie theater. Sure, it burned down before 1936, and closed it doors permanently by 1930, but some of the old films might still be important finds on Homeline.
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