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Old 10-19-2019, 11:51 PM   #4401
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

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Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
Thank-you. As soon as I heard, in a YouTube documentary, of the speculations of von Schleicher's aide, I knew the alternate history the aide proposed would be great for these boards. The Documerian was Time Ghost. He delivers his lectures dressed like a reporter of the historical period.
I will try to remember to look him up later, sounds interesting.
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Old 10-21-2019, 01:04 PM   #4402
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Try this one...

White Russia-2

The White Russia designation covers worlds where the Anti-Bolshevik forces won either a full or partial victory.

In White Russia-1 the Russian Civil War was less conclusive. White Russian states existed into the 1940s. Hitler conquered all of Russia West of the Urals but becamed bogged down in holding/controlling the country and the British got to Baku and controled the Azeri oilfields first. WWII is now going slowly but inexorably against the Axis. Local Year 1946, Q4.

White Russia-2 is different. Stalin and Trotsky (mainly because as in Homeline history Stalin ignored Trotsky's orders in search of personal glory) have been beaten back by the Poles. Unlike Homeline history a renewed outbreak of Spanish Flu cripples the Red Army. Trotsky and Lenin are dead of Flu within weeks. Stalin tries to grab power but lacks the secure base he'll have later. The Non-Bolshevik Left takes over the revolution. The local year is 1921 on this Q6 world. The new Red and Black Army is challenging the Poles and the crumbling remnants of the old Red and White Armies.

Centrum sees this new egalitarian Russian army as obnoxious, and a long term threat to Imperialism. Their total rejection of Racism, Sexism, and Class Bigotry, is attractive, but it would spell the deaths of the empires Centrum prefers. The Cabal sees opportunity. Normally Russia is a hard place to do good research in the 20th century. An Anarchist Russia might be a serious improvement. Homeline's main concern is WWII. They don't see an Anarchist Russia standing up to the Nazi's. Homeline's Israel, Germany, and USA, are teaming up to eliminate key Nazis early so that Germany never causes WWII in Europe.

PCs can be Homeline agents hunting down right-wingers and either killing them or just wrecking their lives so they never become a threat. Anarchists fighting reactionary Poles, or Reactionary Poles fighting Anarchists (your game your choice) are also interesting choices.
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Old 10-21-2019, 01:17 PM   #4403
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Try this one...


In White Russia-1 the Russian Civil War was less conclusive. White Russian states existed into the 1940s. Hitler conquered ….
I don´t see Hitler ever gaining power without communism being seen as the major threat by much of germany. An austrian corporal leading germany and prussia?
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Old 10-21-2019, 01:22 PM   #4404
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Centrum sees this new egalitarian Russian army as obnoxious, and a long term threat to Imperialism. Their total rejection of Racism, Sexism, and Class Bigotry, is attractive, but it would spell the deaths of the empires Centrum prefers.
Whoa whoa whoa. From IW87 (Emphasis Mine):

Quote:
Transnationalism: Centrum believes that all nations should unite; it tries to strengthen global forces such as the British Empire, Napoleon’s empire, the U.N., the early Communist movement (but not Soviet Russian imperialism),
Assuming that the new Reds are as internationalist as you're implying, this is something that they will be rather pleased with. Centrum seems like it would be the most likely to be promoting even further foreign goals, spreading the revolution around.
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Old 10-21-2019, 01:32 PM   #4405
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Whoa whoa whoa. From IW87 (Emphasis Mine):



Assuming that the new Reds are as internationalist as you're implying, this is something that they will be rather pleased with. Centrum seems like it would be the most likely to be promoting even further foreign goals, spreading the revolution around.
Then Homeline has two problem fronts. Preventing the rise of the Nazi's and preventing the Russian Marxists from being absorbed into Centrum's empire.
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Old 10-21-2019, 01:35 PM   #4406
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I don´t see Hitler ever gaining power without communism being seen as the major threat by much of germany. An austrian corporal leading germany and prussia?
Remember that the German Communists were the second largest party in Germany by the early 1930's. Also, conservative groups in Germany saw little difference between the mildest Social Democrats and Bolsheviks. Hitler's rise came from but reasonable and unreasonable fears.
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Old 10-23-2019, 10:01 PM   #4407
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Try this idea...

Kaiser-3

In most worlds Frederick III died after ruling less than three months putting the unstable Wilheim II on the throne. In this world Frederick only had a cough. Frederick sadly came to realize his son was unstable and with Bismark's blessing had him put away and removed from the succession.

Frederick, generally dismissed as to mild and non-aggressive, was quietly cunning. He allowed France enough rope to keep on strangling themselves. He had Germany play second fiddle to Britain in such a way as to be indispensable and pretty much in the driver's seat. Russia was shown sympathy in such a way as to keep them busy elsewhere. America was allowed to stay blissfully isolationist. Japan was shown respect and slyly made an ally. And China was shorn of many key provinces in a way that almost seemed like good manners. In short, Frederick got more for Germany than Wilheim tried for, and without upsetting the power balance.

However, all good things... It is now August 1914 and Frederick is dying. His heir Prince Henry, though competent and diplomatic, is childless. Henry's heir is his brother's son August Wilheim is very conservative (his older brothers have been disqualified for various scandals).

Kaiser Henry is said to be ailing, what future awaits?

Basically, a later WWI with a much stronger Germany.
Frederick III is a great 'what might have been', a dream of a liberal Hohenzollern Germany. Though this Frederick III sounds a little utopian - not out of bounds, viable as an alternate, but not the 'most likely scenario' (which pretty much no canon GURPS Infinite Worlds is, to be fair).

Frederick III having his son put away sounds extreme, but Wilhelm's physical disability could contribute to it.

If Frederick III had his son Wilhelm put away and removed from succession, would Wilhelm have ever married/had kids/had August Wilhelm?

This timeline could have been one of the 'Bismarck' timelines named by Infinity. The last Pyramid (R.I.P.) has a Bismarck-2, where Germany didn't unify. Though this timeline's divergence wouldn't revolve directly around the Iron Chancellor, he still would have been close to its great change.
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Old 10-26-2019, 09:04 AM   #4408
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And now to contradict canon:

Melos, 2027 Quantum 7

Melian history diverged in the late 1960s. The Cultural Revolution in China spiraled completely out of control. The Red Guards turned against the Communist Party entirely, declaring that capitalist-roaders inside the party had subverted Mao's will. This was apparently persuasive, as elements of the PLA joined with the Red Guards, starting a brief civil war.

By 1970, the Red Guards had seized control over all of China and began what foreigners called the "Permanent Revolution". Mao was taken effectively prisoner while remaining head of state and government, at least in theory. The Red Guard led communist party focused primarily on ideological correctness, beyond all realism and reason.

Nixon never went to China in this world, instead travelling to Taiwan to reassure American treaty commitments. In 1972, when North Vietnam entered into peace talks with the United States, the Chinese launched a punitive expedition against Hanoi. While this did not stop the peace talks, it was enough to inspire a retreat for the North Vietnamese Army, giving the South Vietnamese a badly needed respite.

Chinese aggression frightened its neighbours. India stepped up its nuclear programme, and South East Asian nations rallied around their superpower patrons. Pakistan and North Korea were the few nations that were relatively calm in the wake of a more active China. Russia and America experienced warming relations, as they cooperated to contain China.

In 1979, a few years after the death of Mao, the Chinese invaded India, citing unresolved territorial claims and atrocities in the Naxalite insurgency. Early victories by the Chinese provoked the Indians into deploying tactical nuclear weapons against the Chinese. The Chinese escalated, and responded with strategic attacks on Indian cities. The Indian response was limited to the interior of southern China.

While the Sino-Indian war raged, the UN did little but castigate the whole affair. It wasn’t set up to deal with rogue nations waging war. After the nukes started flying, there was more hand wringing and castigating. However, the war had global effects quickly. The mass firestorms injected soot into the stratosphere, which in turn, caused a nuclear winter.

The nuclear winter had several knock on effects that would carry over into the next few decades. Famine broke out all over the world. Some governments, like the Carter Administration, were given a degree of stability through a rally around the flag effect. Others, like the Argentine Junta or the Shah, were given a push and collapsed. In the wake of the crisis, border wars broke out to distract from the climate catastrophe, and chaos generally reigned. The cold war basically ended, as both Russia and America cooperated to minimize the humanitarian tragedy.

Thirty years later, the climate crisis was largely resolved, but the great power conflict was subdued. Between the necessity to contain China and the fears of what a large nuclear war could cause managed to temper aggression. Power games and competition remained but full scale war became completely unthinkable.
Gorbachev did come to power in the 1980s, but his reforms were limited because of the harsher winters demanding more governmental control, not less, and because Xiaopism didn’t provide a working model from Gorbachev to emulate. However, going more slowly kept the Soviet experiment alive, while bringing in necessary reforms to ensure future progress. Other members of the Soviet bloc emulated the Soviet Union.

In the east, the threat of China was terrifying all countries. North and South Korea were at warmest relations, as they feared Chinese blitzkrieg conquering the whole country in about five months, similar to how the Korean War played out. In Vietnam, relations are cooler, and heavy Soviet arms shipments keep the communist regime in Tonkin secure against China. The southern regime in Cochinchina has made major strides economically, and has stabilized. Lawless Annam separates the two of them, and unification is off the menu.

In 2013, Centrum discovered Melos. They had mixed feelings about a world where the great powers were apparently scared straight from total war, but didn’t all unite under one banner. The same date as Centrum was also of great concern, as it indicated that the world could build conveyors. China was considered exceptionally problematic, with their mix of brazen nationalism and irrational continuation of the class struggle being a major destabilizing influence. Replacing China’s leadership was the key move that Centrum would begin with, but difficulties finding Chinese speakers and the discovery of Homeline put this on the backburner.

In 2023, Homeline discovered Melos. They too saw the necessity of replacing the Chinese regime, and they had no trouble finding Chinese speakers, in fact the Survey Team had two. Unfortunately, Centrum was also finally ready to move ahead with their coup. Both Centrum and Homeline worked at cross purposes from each other, disrupting each other’s plans as much as helping each other’s plans. At the end of the day, China ended up with an odd power sharing agreement between Centran-backed Technocrats, old-line Marxists, and Homeline-backed Liberal Democrats.

Unfortunately, local CIA and KGB agents on the prowl in China managed to capture Infinity and Centran agents, and get a very good look at a conveyor leaving. The cat was out of the bag as far as the Secret was concerned. Homeline decided explaining everything and politely asking for their agents back was the best move. When they got a Centran back too, they repatriated him to Centrum as a token of goodwill.

Both sides now knew that the other side knew about Melos. Both sides were concerned that this would be used to build projectors to interfere with Q8 or Q5 respectively. The decision of Centran top-brass and Homeline low-level grunts was to declare Melos neutral ground. They would keep tabs on any projectors that happen to be built on Melos. Everyone could trade there freely. They would reveal the Secret here, but forbid the locals from building their own Parachronics.

Four years going, Melos has had severe contortions. The Soviets have learned of their fate on Homeline, and grew paranoid. The locals have realized how far behind they are relative to Homeline and Centrum that they realize the need to get their act together, quick. Homeline and Centrum can finally talk to each other, but it’s less constructive and more bickering.
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Old 10-26-2019, 01:27 PM   #4409
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Hofmann-1 is named for Dr Albert Hofmann, Swiss Chemist who in 1938 discovered the substance now known as LSD. The year is 2010, and is considered a recovering post-apocalypse world.

On Homeline, LSD's psychedelic properties weren't discovered until 1943. In Hofmann-1 they were discovered almost immediately and a Nazi sympathizer in Dr Hofmann's employ stole the data and moved to Germany in 1939.

The Nazis were anxious to use this new substance, some for enhancing their own soldiers, some for dumping on the enemy. Both were done in small scale and the results were mixed. The major successes were against Russian civilians, and at the end of WWII the Soviets managed to confiscate the LSD research.

The Stalinists employed LSD as a suppression chemical, spraying it on rioters and dumping it in water supplies. The rebellions in Hungary and the Ukraine were the most massive chemical warfare operations in history, affecting millions.

A natural tipping point was reached, and LSD entered the water cycle. By the late 1950's the first "acid rains" were falling, driving all animal life in the vicinity into hallucinogenic fits. Water supplies all over the world were showing more and more contamination, and soon outbreaks of what was named Spontaneous Hallucinatory Onset Syndrome were occuring worldwide.

Mass insanity, both temporary and permanent, spread, and the ecosystem was damanged by the majority of animal life undergoing dangerous fits of psychosis. Human civilization crumbled. By 1965, there was not a functional nation of more than a few thousand persons anywhere in the world.

Slowly, the LSD broke down and the water cycle was purified. The human population is a fraction of what it was, and less than a hundred million of those are rational enough to form societies. The animal life is slowly recovering.

Civilization consists of small nations of hundreds or thousands or a few millions of people, with independent cities and tracts of wilderness seperating them. The tech levels are around TL 6 to early 7, and the economies are largely self-contained. Cultures are wildly different, ranging from totalitarianism to Athenian democracy, theocracy to state atheism, and everything in-between. Fortunately, this makes civilized war rare but suppression of barbarians not uncommon.

Water-filtering technology is very advanced and most adults have their own personal water filters. Just about everyone is afraid of rainstorms, to the point where "rainfall" is a vulgar swear word. Dry-bathing and oil-scraping are common methods of bathing. Swimming is almost a lost art.

There are also "Mad Tribes" and "Mad Nations" where the effects of terminal LSD poisoning has been established in the culture, with "divine revelations" and "spiritual insights" warping small easily-manipulated populations. These can range from eccentrics to cannibals. Be warned.

Journeying between civilized areas is still an advanture, with decayed roadways, deserted cities, mutated and insanne animals and humans, and general lawlessness. The larger nation-states have begun returning to the air, but the bulk of nations still have limited knowledge of what exists more than a few day's travel from their borders.

An interesting development in the remnants of western civilization is the evolution of superhero tropes. Most major cities have a small subculture of Masked Men commiting acts of justice and villainy. Super-powers are rumored by not confirmed. The Mad Peoples of the wilderness are also rumored to be evolving super-powers, but again there is no confirmation, mery urban legends and folk tales. Ghosts and monsters are wildly reported, but still nothing concrete.

The one biological oddity that has been confirmed is that just about eveyone born after 1980 has a genetic immunity to LSD which creates an enzyme that can be transfused into other people, acting as a very effective treatment for schizophrenia and Alzheimer's Disease. While special operatives extract the enzyme from blood-bank donations, Homeline geneticists work on creating bacteria to produce the enzyme.

Outtime sociologists, psychologists, and biochemists anxiously study this wretched world. Shelldrake Section also has investigators to see if this is really a super-hero world in it's dawn or simply a planetary case of drug-enhanced PTSD.
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Last edited by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2; 10-26-2019 at 01:33 PM.
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Old 10-26-2019, 06:32 PM   #4410
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Is the idea of dumping enough LSD into the water cycle to cause psychoactive dosing planet-wide... plausible? Not that it matters for a setting seed -- LSD could always "work differently" here -- but it does sound barely plausible, depending on what exactly the soviets were trying to do.
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