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Old 01-03-2021, 11:40 AM   #5291
Willy
 
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

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Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
I'm basically turning dictatorships into the national equivalent of cornered and wounded beasts. I'm forcing a fight. Brezhnev or Stalin would have launched a nuclear war even at the risk of human extinction if they thought they'd lose power. I think Putin would do the same. Putin's Russia is far weaker than the USA, if they decline much more will they even be a power? But Putin takes a far more agressive attitude towards the USA than most other living dictators. The Iranians talk agression, but Putin acts out agression.

Putin sees Russia in freefall. Obama was right, in thirty years Russia is going to have collapsed again. Putin knows it to. So he lashes out to prevent collapse. Foolish? Yes. But commonplace. WWII happened when it did because Hitler had the choice between economic collapse and conquest. Many dictators attack powerful foes or anyone available when their rule is threatened.

It's a commonplace.
You are quite right about russia, Putin may be smart, and in fact he is, BUT he has inhertited a whole bunch of problems. Nobody can solve this. He stated once the fall of the Sowjetunion as the greatest tragedy in history. He is megalomanic but his megalomania is focused on russia and the former ( as he feels it ) greatness. In the end he makes all the same mistakes that leaded to the fall of the sowjetunion again. A few examples to much money for the military, itīs even more % from the total income as the USA. The various military intervention and asymmetric wars have leaded to an overstretch. He has a very small basis of income namely gas and oil and both have had there global importance maximum, and the prices are dropping. To keep that system running he needed to shorten welfare, annoying a lot of his voters. The last reform concerning foreign companies, leaded to the fact that 2020 7 % less german companies than 2019 are there , the most advisors for market entering are now advising to leave the russian market. The territory is to large to keep infrastructure running. I could go on like this for pages, feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further, but this is a GURPS forum not political discussion. The only question in the end is what he will do if he finds out he is at the end of the line, or worse what his sucessor will do ( since Putin is trouble but a known trouble ).

Last edited by Willy; 01-03-2021 at 11:40 AM. Reason: spelling error
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Old 01-04-2021, 06:53 PM   #5292
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Try this one...

In the year 1916, Pancho Villa decided that the Battle of Columbus, which was highly successful for Villa in this parallel, showed serious weaknesses in the USA's military defense. So he decided on a full-court invasion of the USA. He had no illusions of conquering the USA or even gaining territory lost in the Mexican-American war. But booty and humiliating the USA would be enough.

Villa failed to take into account the sheer bitter reaction his hit and run tactics would stir up. The Punitive Expedition if no more successful than in Homeline history was as shocking. It led Carranza to far rasher actions than in Homeline history and attempting to reconquer the Southwest (or El Norte from the Mexican point of view).

It's now 1917 the USA is fully mobilized to invade Mexico, the Mexican Government is beginning to see they've made a major mistake. Europe, deep in WWI can't offer any help. Meanwhile, Germany likes this war because it keeps America out of Europe. France and Britain want this war stopped so they can bring the USA into the European war on their side.

Basically, a wild west military campaign. Espionage in Mexico, Berlin, London, or Paris, also makes sense. Native American groups with little or no allegiance to either Mexico or the USA could be caught up in the crisis. A group of Native American PCs trying to keep their people out of the way of the fighting would be an epic campaign.

This is a Q6 mainly low manna world with about 2% of the planet surface being normal manna areas of about half an acre at most and normally less than an eighth of an acre, and 0.1% of the planetary surface being high manna areas a yard or two across. The Tech Level is six, but about half a decade advanced on Homeline in the same period.

Centrum wants to collapse the Mexican government and have the USA conquer Mexico. They feel this would be good for imperialism. They feel they can foul up the Germans too and have Britain and her empire come out better. Homeline wants to thwart Centrum's plans without helping either the Kaiser now or Hitler later. The Cabal believes an American conquest could make many messo-American sites easier to access. Still, they don't want the bother of a German-dominated Europe.
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Old 01-04-2021, 06:59 PM   #5293
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This is a Q6 mainly low manna world with about 2% of the planet surface being normal manna areas of about half an acre at most and normally less than an eighth of an acre, and 0.1% of the planetary surface being high manna areas a yard or two across. The Tech Level is six, but about half a decade advanced on Homeline in the same period.
I gotta say, I just do not understand this paragraph at all. What's the point in including magic in this setting when it has absolutely nothing to do with anything else and seems to have no bearing on the story? How is the setting five years more advanced than it should be with only a one-year POD that would seem to have little impact on technology?

Last edited by awesomenessofme1; 01-04-2021 at 08:17 PM.
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Old 01-04-2021, 08:11 PM   #5294
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What's the point in including magic in this setting when it has absolutely nothing to do with anything else and seems to have no bearing on the story?
For visiting mages from other Infinite Worlds settings, I'd guess.
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Old 01-04-2021, 08:38 PM   #5295
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For visiting mages from other Infinite Worlds settings, I'd guess.
You're right. It's to hook in the Cabal. It's easily left out. But that leaves a major faction out
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Old 01-04-2021, 08:47 PM   #5296
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At 2% of the surface area and a quarter acres being the average size, that ends up being 51.2 normal mana areas per square mile, which means magic would be ubiquitous. Now, it might be interesting to have no mana regions follow the same rules, so that there are a few dozen normal mana patches and a few dozen no mana patches every square mile. In the case, normal mana and no mana areas would be a source of wealth (normal mana because it allows for the normal utilization of magic and no mana because it protects against the utilization of magic).

Banks would likely highly value no mana areas because ~1200 square yards would be ideal for a vaults, tellers, offices, etc.. While it might be annoying to their employees to lack access to magic at work, the fact that no mage is going to going to mind control their employees or teleport in to loot their vaults is worth the inconvenience. At TL6, they are capable of using electricity to compensate for most of the inconveniences of lacking magic.

Conversely, dentist offices, medical clinics, veterinary clinics, etc. would likely value normal mana areas because they would allow for the effective use of magical healing. By combining mundane medicine to stabilize patients in low mana areas with magical healing to treat patients in normal mana areas, medical technology could easily reach the equivalent of TL8^. Of course, TL8 physicians would likely suffer massive penalties if they had to work under such conditions, as they would lack the spells required properly examine their patients and the Magery required to properly use the enchanted tools.

In large facilities, like military bases, no mana areas would be utilized for secure installations (armories, brigs, communication centers, etc.) while normal mana areas would likely be used for entertainment, healing, and maintenance. Of course, naval vehicles would need to be able to operate without mana, as there it might be impossible to avoid no mana areas during a battle. Air forces would likewise need to be functional without mana, as it would be impossible to avoid no mana areas while flying at high speeds. Civilian aircraft and watercraft would likewise need to function in no mana areas, for many of the same reasons.
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Old 01-04-2021, 08:50 PM   #5297
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Now I'm even more confused. You're describing the setting as if its magical nature is well-known, and yet somehow, until the original divergence, it was entirely identical to no-mana Homeline?
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Old 01-05-2021, 02:55 AM   #5298
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Clearly I need to reduce the magical areas. I was going with a "spots on the fawn" approach not a "spots on the leopard" one. That a US county might have a normal manna area shouldn't be strange. That a given county might lack a normal manna area shouldn't be odd either. Most normal manna areas would be small and unobtrusive, easy to miss, unless you know what to look for.
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Old 01-05-2021, 06:15 AM   #5299
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Maybe manna zones are harder to detect? Like, they can't just be sensed: you have to try some magic right on top of them. So they're randomly scattered about over the whole of Earth, and unless you go unit of measure by unit of measure across the terrain you might have no idea.
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Old 01-05-2021, 06:22 AM   #5300
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Honestly, I don't see the need for the setting to have magic at all. I really like the idea. It can stand on its own. Also, I still don't understand the line about how somehow it's advanced technologically at a ridiculous rate.
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