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Old 11-12-2017, 02:13 PM   #31
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: Changing History

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Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
I should probably read the book one day.

ETA: So what happens if an echo changes quantum?
Nothing too dramatic for the echo. But shift enough echoes and the reality they are echoing will be moved. They act as "anchors" holding it in position and cut the anchors and in theory Homeline itself could be moved to some remote quantum. This would of course cut it off from all of it's trade operations and colonies. The short term economic impact would be serious for Homeline but nothing it couldn't recover, provided it wasn't flung somewhere really dangerous. The colonies however are too young to really be self-sufficient. They'd probably fall into a dark age from which they might not recover.
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Old 11-13-2017, 08:29 AM   #32
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Default Re: Changing History

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In general, it does seem like a pointless exercise though, as there'll be countless timelines that follow a similar path without your interference anyway, and a myriad that revert to a set future. There might be a couple of valid reasons to do this though:
- Practical historical/sociological experimental research. Historical study doesn't normally have much opportunity for experimentation.
- Satisfying the egotism or megalomania of the meddler
- As a form of entertainment for Homeline observers
- An attempt to gain power or some other benefit by living in the Echo
- An attempt to invent something new to bring back to the Homeline: if Tesla and Einstein had worked together on chronotech, for example.
You missed the most important one for me: To change the lives of the people in that echo for the better.

This involves admitting that these people are real people. And that there are not "Countless" echos known to infinity. The name is a little grandiose. They know of around one thousand worlds. Actually, in campaigns page 526 they list off how many known worlds are on each quantum, and the list totals to 841, including 140 worlds out of projector reach in centrum territory. New worlds can be discovered, but the worlds aren't countless, and changing a future as a humanitarian effort is not "pointless".

Yes, this may fall under "satisfying megalomania". But there is a difference between "I shall twist this world to my will!" and "I'm going save millions of lives!"
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Old 11-13-2017, 08:41 AM   #33
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Default Re: Changing History

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The colonies however are too young to really be self-sufficient. They'd probably fall into a dark age from which they might not recover.
Campaign seed! AtE/IW crossover.

Also, consider: what if this had already happened to an earlier time-travelling civilization? What would the ruins look like?
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Old 11-13-2017, 08:42 AM   #34
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Default Re: Changing History

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You missed the most important one for me: To change the lives of the people in that echo for the better.

This involves admitting that these people are real people. And that there are not "Countless" echos known to infinity. The name is a little grandiose. They know of around one thousand worlds. Actually, in campaigns page 526 they list off how many known worlds are on each quantum, and the list totals to 841, including 140 worlds out of projector reach in centrum territory. New worlds can be discovered, but the worlds aren't countless, and changing a future as a humanitarian effort is not "pointless".

Yes, this may fall under "satisfying megalomania". But there is a difference between "I shall twist this world to my will!" and "I'm going save millions of lives!"
Let's go for "altruistic egotism" then.

I'm not sure about there not being countless worlds though. I think the book states in a few places that there are an unlimited number, and this would be deliberate on the writer's part to give GM's leeway to invent any number of worlds they like for their purposes.
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Old 11-13-2017, 09:11 AM   #35
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Default Re: Changing History

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I'm not sure about there not being countless worlds though. I think the book states in a few places that there are an unlimited number, and this would be deliberate on the writer's part to give GM's leeway to invent any number of worlds they like for their purposes.
Yes, you don't want to actually limit what a GM can add, world wise. But my point is that you don't get the "hopeless cause" that some cross time stories get, because changing history doesn't split off a new timeline where you failed. At least not one you can detect. At any given point there is a finite number of worlds that YOU know about, and discovering new ones is hard. So yes, that other world exactly the same except for what you saved MIGHT exist, theoretically. But you'll never really see it, statistically speaking, and not because you don't bother to look for it either.
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Old 11-13-2017, 01:06 PM   #36
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Default Re: Changing History

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Let's go for "altruistic egotism" then.

I'm not sure about there not being countless worlds though. I think the book states in a few places that there are an unlimited number, and this would be deliberate on the writer's part to give GM's leeway to invent any number of worlds they like for their purposes.
In this case "unlimited" just means "there is no known upper limit". The number that Infinity specifically knows of is of course limited but constantly growing.
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Old 11-13-2017, 01:33 PM   #37
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Default Re: Changing History

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You missed the most important one for me: To change the lives of the people in that echo for the better.
Given how difficult development economics is and how hard it is to change people's lives for the better in developing countries in the real world I wouldn't know where to start. Improving people's lives in Sudan seems like a more manageable problem then doing it on Earth 1500, and nobody is really sure how you do that. Also if you destabilize them you may be making people's lives worse, ultimately including people on Homeline. Not to mention if you are caught you will go to prison.

Also there's no reason to do this on an echo abs every reason not to. You could have a legal nonprofit NGO that does this on parallels instead with none of the risks.
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