Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-21-2019, 08:06 PM   #691
tshiggins
 
tshiggins's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

Quote:
Originally Posted by warellis View Post
Been looking at an old entry, Operators, and I think this part is incorrect:

While the US military, like all portions of society, has cut down on tobacco use in comparison to the 1940s, tobacco use is still certainly far more prevalent in the military than the general population.

In fact currently, in our timeline in 2019, vaping has become more popular than smoking.

So honestly, I think special forces would still be smoking, because generally militaries have higher rates of tobacco use than civilian populations currently.
Meh. It's a relative thing, right?

During WWII, tobacco companies received contracts to provide packs of cigarettes for inclusion in military rations. For years, the military leadership tacitly condoned cigarette use, with breaks during training or regular duties where soldiers were told to, "smoke 'em if you got 'em, and pick up butts if you don't."

The inclusion of cigarettes in MREs stopped more than a decade ago; barracks are mostly smoke-free (as are other buildings on military bases); and most soldiers are actively discouraged from damaging their health by smoking.

That said, a greater percentage of military do smoke as compared to civilians, but compared WWII, the rate is much, much lower.

One notable exception does appear in Spec Ops. They like their cigars, and use them to troll the regular troops.

My friend, Dave, was a member of a signal intelligence team attached to the 82nd Airborne, and was based at Fort Bragg.

Once a month, on a regular schedule, every troop based at Bragg had a timed, long-distance road run. They had to complete a run of five or 10 miles (IIRC) within a set period, with full kits.

Generally, the various units could make the necessary time if they hiked up the hills and ran down the slopes. Everybody hated it, Dave said, and most troops were exhausted by the end.

Except the Spec Ops guys. They ran the whole way in 90-lb packs.

Backwards.

While smoking cigars.

Those units that didn't run it backwards did it while hauling tree trunks on their shoulders, eight or 10 operatives per log.

While smoking cigars.

I used that story as part of that write-up.

As noted in the thread at about that time, modern Spec Ops troops look a whole lot like super soldiers, and come about as close as possible to Capt. Rogers as it's possible to get without magical serums.

So, "a lot more frequently than 21st Century civilians," is still a lot less than even the general population in the 1940s.
__________________
--
MXLP:9 [JD=1, DK=1, DM-M=1, M(FAW)=1, SS=2, Nym=1 (nose coffee), sj=1 (nose cocoa), Maz=1]
"Some days, I just don't know what to think." -Daryl Dixon.

Last edited by tshiggins; 11-07-2019 at 06:04 PM.
tshiggins is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-21-2019, 09:11 PM   #692
warellis
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

I see. Okay then I accept that.

Hmm what do you think 40's people would think of vaping?
warellis is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-2019, 03:39 PM   #693
tshiggins
 
tshiggins's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

Quote:
Originally Posted by warellis View Post
I see. Okay then I accept that.

Hmm what do you think 40's people would think of vaping?
It probably satisfies nicotine cravings just fine; it's not as bad for one's health; and it comes in a variety of flavors. So, the potential is there for a substantial growth market, and tobacco companies on both DP-Earth and Stp-Earth will be sweating hard about what happens when the link between tobacco and cancer makes it across the void from Ip-Earth.

The question is, do those two worlds have the technology to manufacture vaping devices that are both safe and affordable?
__________________
--
MXLP:9 [JD=1, DK=1, DM-M=1, M(FAW)=1, SS=2, Nym=1 (nose coffee), sj=1 (nose cocoa), Maz=1]
"Some days, I just don't know what to think." -Daryl Dixon.
tshiggins is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-23-2019, 07:01 AM   #694
Prince Charon
 
Prince Charon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

Quote:
Originally Posted by tshiggins View Post
It probably satisfies nicotine cravings just fine; it's not as bad for one's health; and it comes in a variety of flavors. So, the potential is there for a substantial growth market, and tobacco companies on both DP-Earth and Stp-Earth will be sweating hard about what happens when the link between tobacco and cancer makes it across the void from Ip-Earth.
The link is known on both Earths, in the sense that the information has been conveyed, but it will be a while before scientists on both Earths are willing to admit that they've been wrong about smoking being a healthy way to clear the lungs out (apparently this was actually believed in real life in the past). They want to test the information first, and it's rather difficult to convince someone of something when they think that they'll get more money from not believing it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tshiggins View Post
The question is, do those two worlds have the technology to manufacture vaping devices that are both safe and affordable?
Not as easy as on Earth-1, and with rather great difficulty on Earth-3, but a vaping pipe is possible, it's just that the ones on Earth-3 would look like a hookah with a steampunk casemod. The first marketable ones on Earth-2 are likely to be fairly heavy, and look like someone dieselpunked one of Bilbo's longer pipes from the Rankin-Bass Hobbit cartoon (he has a collection of pipes to smoke 'pipeweed' with, but two of them are so long that they can almost rest on the ground when he has the stem in his mouth - it's possible that one only appears in the publicity material, and the other in the movie), or like a small flashlight/electric torch with a hose or pipe to vape through.
__________________
Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.

Last edited by Prince Charon; 08-23-2019 at 09:13 AM.
Prince Charon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2019, 04:43 AM   #695
warellis
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

Research on aerosoling nicotine has been around aince 1963 apparenty?: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5432409/
warellis is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 09-02-2019, 05:52 AM   #696
sn0wball
 
sn0wball's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Schleswig, Germany
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
Austrian Navy (Österreichisches Bundesmarine)
I ought to be called the Österreichische Bundesmarine
__________________
No unconsenting english phrases were harmed during the writing of this post.
sn0wball is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-02-2019, 07:43 AM   #697
Prince Charon
 
Prince Charon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

Quote:
Originally Posted by sn0wball View Post
I ought to be called the Österreichische Bundesmarine
I think I copied it off of some website, or used Google Translate, so getting the German wrong is certainly plausible. Thanks.
__________________
Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
Prince Charon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-06-2019, 12:47 PM   #698
Prince Charon
 
Prince Charon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

RogerBW and johndallman have started a free GURPS fanzine called The Path of Cunning. The first issue has an article called 'The organisation and regulation of magic in the post-war world,' which I feel is potentially quite relevant to Earth-1, despite being written for a different setting during WWII.
__________________
Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
Prince Charon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-29-2019, 09:29 PM   #699
Prince Charon
 
Prince Charon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

A video somewhat relevant to this setting: Rocket U-Boats: V-1 Missile Attack New York 1945 (it's a bit under sixteen minutes long). Obviously, Germany on Earth-2 is rather further along than they were in our 1940s, but even in OTL, they could potentially have done a lot more in that direction if they'd had more time, or if they'd had different priorities in terms of which projects got how much funding and personnel. Still wouldn't have saved them, of course, and as you might have guessed, it won't here, either.

Mark Felton Productions has a lot of interesting stuff about WWII, for those of you who are curious (and have time).
__________________
Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
Prince Charon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2019, 04:54 AM   #700
Prince Charon
 
Prince Charon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Default Re: Five Earths, All in a Row

How much detail do you the readers think is needed on who and what is going on the third Operation Pencil Sharpener expedition, given that I plan to have a space battle going on when they get to the Earth 2 universe?
__________________
Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
Prince Charon is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
5 earths in a row, alternative earths, infinite worlds

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:02 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.