01-03-2021, 11:40 AM | #5291 | |
Join Date: Dec 2020
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Re: New Reality Seeds
Quote:
Last edited by Willy; 01-03-2021 at 11:40 AM. Reason: spelling error |
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01-04-2021, 06:53 PM | #5292 |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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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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01-04-2021, 06:59 PM | #5293 | |
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Re: New Reality Seeds
Quote:
Last edited by awesomenessofme1; 01-04-2021 at 08:17 PM. |
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01-04-2021, 08:11 PM | #5294 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
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Re: New Reality Seeds
For visiting mages from other Infinite Worlds settings, I'd guess.
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01-04-2021, 08:38 PM | #5295 |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: New Reality Seeds
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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01-04-2021, 08:47 PM | #5296 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: New Reality Seeds
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. |
01-04-2021, 08:50 PM | #5297 |
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Re: New Reality Seeds
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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01-05-2021, 02:55 AM | #5298 |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: New Reality Seeds
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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01-05-2021, 06:15 AM | #5299 |
Join Date: Jun 2017
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Re: New Reality Seeds
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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01-05-2021, 06:22 AM | #5300 |
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Re: New Reality Seeds
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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