New Reality Seeds

[scc]

If you really want the UK getting involved in the ACW, probably the best way to do it is to have them declare war in the CSA and take some terrotory away from the CSA (Interesting note that after the revolution what is now Florida remained in British hands, just saying) and post war that would give the UK a big bargining chip.

And for something different, I remember there being an interest a while back in situations where Infinity is portrayed in a different light, well the backstory for the latest version of the Starfire game provides a good opportunity: After the ACW Lincoln's pardon/amnesty doesn't extend to allowing voting rights. Well in such a situation Infinity is very much likely to meddle to restore what it views as 'right' and try to restore those rights, Centrum on the other hand isn't going to like it.

[Astromancer]

Simon Girty seems like a prime choice for a Centrum catspaw. Girty was kidnapped as a child and became culturally assimilated into Native American society. He became both a brillant diplomat and a fearsome warrior. He allied with the Brits durring the American Revolution because he wanted to stop any westward expansion of Anglo-American settlement and create a recognized Native American state in the Ohio Valley.

Given his wide range of talents and his involvement with politically and militarily vital events from 1774-1815 Centrum would want to ally with any form of this man.

[YankeeGamer]

This is a wild idea I had, and am most unlikely to implement; I thought someone might find the concept interesting, if odd.

Post apocalypse fantasy world

A lot of fantasy worlds have a huge underdark, with enormous caverns, underground oceans, etc. Somehow, the surface oceans don’t flood them—probably some divine protection added into other things.

But, the ongoing war between elves and drow, and between dwarves and deep dwarves, combined with a surge of illithid problems, resulted in a change to that.

One group of heroes was faced with the consequences of this war again and again, and gradually grew more and more willing to adapt extreme measures. In particular, three great Drow cities and the primary Ilithid nation were the targets. It was a welcome bonus that a few other dark communities were in the expected flood zone. The Deep Gnome communities and a few others were categorized as “acceptable losses.”

It took a century, but they broke the protections against flooding—and at the same time, shattered the barriers between the greatest ocean and the underdark in several places, including the great inner sea.

The results were more than the association had expected. Fault lines they had triggered broke with more violence than they’d dreamed of, and the oceans poured into the underdark, accompanied by earthquakes and volcanoes. Cities below were wiped out, miles wide sinkholes opened up above ground. The great Inner Sea was reduced to a few small lakes separated by miles of exposed sea bottom, and a massive sinkhole.

The association DID accomplish their desired results—the Drow are all but extinct, Mind Flayers likewise. Essentially, the entire western underdark has been destroyed. And there are connections between various regions—and every so often, another one gives way, and more of the underdark is opened to flooding.

Even underground seas were all but depopulated of everything smaller than microbes, as the pressure change crushed almost everything.

Now, decades later, the old inner sea bottom has collapsed into the sinkhole, and in one place, is over 10 MILES deep. (Not an error; it’s the deepest known sea in the world, since it flooded into two subterranean seas) Its sea level is much lower than it used to be, only a little higher than the ocean.

This is geologically unstable, and the shore is bound to collapse soon.

Here and there enclaves survived by one means or other—usually mighty magics. Some of them have continued to survive, but others fell as, for example, Drow and Deep Gnomes that had combined their power to survive, fell back to fighting.

The surface is a MESS! Sea Levels have dropped a few hundred feet, devastating portside economies. In some places, the earthquakes created Tsunamis, wiping out coastal communities. Even now, decades after the crash, massive shifts are causing more earthquakes throughout the continent. Places that see earthquakes are seeing them more often, and more severely, and there’s a few regions that have not seen earthquakes in living (elvin) memory until the event, are now major quake and volcano zones.

I came up with this after seeing game world after game world with vast underdark realms, and thought, "Someone will want to break it."
As mu fantasy gaming has always used the Forgotten Realms, the different species are described using those terms, but filing off the serial numbers isn't hard.

[PTTG]

An indepentent Chinese- or Japanese- descended nation on the west coast of North America would be fascinating, especially if it occurred early enough to ensure that it was culturally isolated from the homeland, that the tech gap between the colonizer and the natives was small, and that there would be enough time for the natives to adapt to the diseases.

Let's make the Song dynasty able to resist the Yuan/Mongol invasion (somehow). A few decades on, they start exploring and find their way along the Aleutians to the Pacific Northwest.

This sparks a wave of exploration (probably caused by some social upheaval, not sure what. Religious prosecution?). The knowledge of the Beautiful Land far to the east isn't kept secret, so there are many other maritime powers in the region that also expand eastward. Japan, China, Goryeo, and other groups soon dot the mountainous landscape and use gunpowder, steel, and horses against restive natives.

However, this earlier invasion means that the travel is even more difficult, and the largest, most urbanized nations of the Beautiful Land/Turtle Island/Cēmānāhuac are well insulated from the initial arrivals. Also, the Aztec empire is only just rising, rather than in the midst of political upheaval.

[mr beer]

Originally Posted by YankeeGamer

This is a wild idea I had, and am most unlikely to implement; I thought someone might find the concept interesting, if odd.

Post apocalypse fantasy world

Add to this, aboleths survived the underdark purge and are using the thin fabric of reality between the 10 mile deep sea and the Elemental Plane of Water to do something horrible, probably flood the planet.

[Astromancer]

It seems to me several interesting alternate Americas might be based on giving Ben Franklin a few extra years of good health and literary productivity. According to Jonathan Israel's new book, Franklin was largely marginalized in his last years in spite of his being important at the constitutional convention. Franklin was a fire eating democrat, a proponent of religious liberty, and both anti-slavery and anti-racism. As late as the Madison administration proposals that favorable mentioned Franklin's name were hissed in the US senate by senators from all around the nation.

Give Franklin more health and energy in his last years and a few more year as well and you could get a very different America. Plus a more bitter reaction against Ben Franklin could also create several interesting America's too.

One difference that would be dramatic was that Franklin was a unicameralist, so was Washington for that matter. A more energetic Franklin, especially if he writes is own pro-constitution essays, might aid Washington in getting a Unicameral national legislature based on the popular vote and apportioned by population. That would swing the USA to the political left from the start.

Franklin wanted to absorb the larger Indian nations as states of the USA. Just think what a profound difference that would make.

Playing around with a more energetic Ben Franklin and giving him another decade or more of life could either push America toward his radical visions or backfire and leave America a pathetic nasty little oligarchy.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by scc

If you really want the UK getting involved in the ACW, probably the best way to do it is to have them declare war in the CSA and take some terrotory away from the CSA (Interesting note that after the revolution what is now Florida remained in British hands, just saying) and post war that would give the UK a big bargining chip.

While the idea of UK intervening on the Union side of the Civil War, and taking Florida, is tempting, Florida really wasn't worth much back then, to anyone but American expansionists.

And such an intervention would anger everyone on both sides of the Civil War. Indeed, it could have weakened northern support for the war, making (white) northerners more sympathetic to (white) southerners, while the CSA would have a new cause to fight against, British imperialism.


What about France seizing Florida, instead of trying to set up an emperor in Mexico? Napoleon III might be tempted to do ridiculous stuff like that...

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by fchase8

While the idea of UK intervening on the Union side of the Civil War, and taking Florida, is tempting, Florida really wasn't worth much back then, to anyone but American expansionists.

And such an intervention would anger everyone on both sides of the Civil War. Indeed, it could have weakened northern support for the war, making (white) northerners more sympathetic to (white) southerners, while the CSA would have a new cause to fight against, British imperialism.


What about France seizing Florida, instead of trying to set up an emperor in Mexico? Napoleon III might be tempted to do ridiculous stuff like that...

Although France was far more powerful than the USA at that time, Louis Napoleon knew, that without strong allies or the rest of Europe staying neutral, France would get kicked out of Mexico if the USA decided they couldn't stay. America's homeground advantage was to strong by then. Invading to take Florida would have played to the USA's strengths and France's weaknesses. Besides with the USA building an ironclad navy to fight the French, Britain would see a major threat to their naval dominance being created by French foolishness. They'd have made Louis Napoleon stop for their own reasons.

[YankeeGamer]

Originally Posted by mr beer

Add to this, aboleths survived the underdark purge and are using the thin fabric of reality between the 10 mile deep sea and the Elemental Plane of Water to do something horrible, probably flood the planet.

Alternatively, someone's thinking about opening a gate to the plane of water temporarily (HAHAHA) to restore the old sea levels, though with the underdark destroyed.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Although France was far more powerful than the USA at that time, Louis Napoleon knew, that without strong allies or the rest of Europe staying neutral, France would get kicked out of Mexico if the USA decided they couldn't stay. America's homeground advantage was to strong by then. Invading to take Florida would have played to the USA's strengths and France's weaknesses. Besides with the USA building an ironclad navy to fight the French, Britain would see a major threat to their naval dominance being created by French foolishness. They'd have made Louis Napoleon stop for their own reasons.

That makes sense.


What if post-Civil War USA allowed & supported the French in Mexico? A friendly 'Empire of Mexico' could change things.

Of course, if it was primarily French-backed, it would collapse with Paris' defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. But maybe that collapse leads to direct U.S. intervention, setting up a protectorate, or even annexing, Mexico. Maybe Washington gets an early taste of colonial imperialism - and likes it.

This could fuel an early Spanish-American War, further intervention in Latin America, maybe even colonial activities further overseas. American gunboats intervene early in the Meiji Restoration, and get a sphere of influence over Japan? Liberia becomes a base for America to take part in the Scramble for Africa?

And if America is intervening in the Old World, rubbing right up against European powers, perhaps they respond in kind, with more European intervention in the Americas. For instance, Kaiser's Germany gets more involved in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, etc.



What if the United States acquired Cuba before the Civil War? There was certainly a desire on the part of Southerners, looking to expand slave territory in the Union.

If Cuba (and maybe Puerto Rico) had been taken in some early Spanish-American War (like a follow-up to Jackson's invasion of Spanish Florida), could that have saved the Confederacy?

Dixie is based on slave-holding Nicaragua, which conquered Cuba, breaking the Union's blockade of the Confederacy. Could just a Confederate Cuba have pulled it off?

Or what if the success in Cuba prompted further Union imperialism southwards, perhaps forestalling the Civil War? Or at least delaying, and when it does come, the Confederacy includes most of Mexico?