Catalog of the Weird Parallels

[Flyndaran]

Like the Corruption rules in Horror. Each operation or youthening procedure invokes another roll. The end goal could be a macabre callous monster, or something worse.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Dipping toward the Eloi and Morlocks. That may or may not be what one wants.

What did Spock say about humans getting what they DIDN'T want? The powerful may want something they don't choose to understand.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Like the Corruption rules in Horror. Each operation or youthening procedure invokes another roll. The end goal could be a macabre callous monster, or something worse.

Oh, yeah - that's a great idea & way to in-game handle it! The more 'treatments' one has, and/or the bigger the 'treatment', the greater the risk.


I really think, being another Frankenstein parallel, Infinity would also name it 'Gothic', even if it's all the way to 1957.

Infinity might be tempted to split it & Gothic-2 into 'Frankenstein' name, but Infinity would want to keep this 'Frankenstein-2' secret (making Gothic-2 into 'Frankenstein-1' or even just 'Frankenstein' would make people wonder if there are other Frankenstein parallels). And Infinity seems to have a hard time renaming parallels (witness the Genghis Khan 'Attila' parallel) - particularly one where they can't restrict its access like Gothic-2.

[Flyndaran]

Homeline could change it to a descriptive yet vague label of Proteus, the god of the ever changing sea and the overarching concept of mutability.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Homeline could change it to a descriptive yet vague label of Proteus, the god of the ever changing sea and the overarching concept of mutability.

Not a bad choice.

[Flyndaran]

Thanks. It does raise the idea of public parallel names that nevertheless contain hidden secondary meanings.

It could act as a way to subtly give clues to players that something is amiss.

[fchase8]

Actually, I like Proteus too.

Putting a secret parallel in the same name group as public ones could create questions if there's a 'missing slot'. Like, if there's a public Gothic-2 and Gothic-4, but no Gothic-3, people will want to know what Infinity is hiding on Gothic-3.

Like, what if another Reich parallel is discovered, by non-Infinity researchers who want to make it public? If it's named 'Reich-6', people will want to know about the secret Reich-5. Or Infinity will have to name it Reich-5, and then change the secret parallel's name.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by fchase8

Actually, I like Proteus too.

Putting a secret parallel in the same name group as public ones could create questions if there's a 'missing slot'. Like, if there's a public Gothic-2 and Gothic-4, but no Gothic-3, people will want to know what Infinity is hiding on Gothic-3.

Like, what if another Reich parallel is discovered, by non-Infinity researchers who want to make it public? If it's named 'Reich-6', people will want to know about the secret Reich-5. Or Infinity will have to name it Reich-5, and then change the secret parallel's name.

Another cholce might be numbers for "public" parallels and letters for secret parallels.

Reich-5 might become Reich-Alpha.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Another cholce might be numbers for "public" parallels and letters for secret parallels.

Reich-5 might become Reich-Alpha.

Oh, yeah, that makes sense.

There already is a Reich-A in the 'Nine Worlds' of GURPS Lost Worlds, one of the nine worlds in that WWII dimensional skerry.

And the full-on Gotha zombie world in GURPS Words of Horror is Gotha-Z, separate from the numbered Gotha worlds. That world is the rare case of the Infinity renaming, as it went from the mythic near parallel of Oppenheim to the hell world of Gotha-Z after Homeline attempts to stop the Spanish Flu virus somehow mutated into a zombie version of the Gotha virus.

[Flyndaran]

Now I'm wondering about a horrific combo of Gotha, Reich, and Hell worlds.
A weird reality where some infectious agent turns people into pseudo-Nazis.

Not just extreme xenophobia and paranoia a disease could plausibly cause, but cliched specific behaviors and interests to hammer home the weirdness.