New Reality Seeds

[Astromancer]

Pixie

This parallel seems a lot like Homeline except for three things. First, this world is about twelve times larger than Homeline's Earth, but with the same gravity. All the lifeforms are also twelve times larger in linear scale than on Homeline's Earth, and this seems to cause no problems for the lifeforms. This would have led to this world being called Brobdingnag even with the second difference, it's a High Mana world. But it's the third difference that got this parallel it's name. The local humans (which are the same size as Homeline humans, live as Pixies. They even fly!
The Pixie wings seem to be a mental phenomena. Mages on the Homeline payroll describe the Pixie wings as an "Ectoplasmic Projection."

Some Homeline people have joined the Pixie tribes and now have their own wings!

Basically, epic wilderness adventures among the giant flowers! Join the wars of the fierce Pixie warbands!

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

Gog and Magog

On this Q4 parallel, during the horrors of WWI, suddenly, out of the Caucasus Mountains come the tribes of Gog and Magog (basically giant orcs) to conquer the world. This is a low mana parallel with some secret magic but otherwise a great deal like Homeline in 1915. Although these "Orcs" are twelve feet tall, they are amazingly stealthy and skilled at hiding. If they attacked modern troops in open battle, they would lose, but the Tribes of Gog and Magog prefer to ambush and pick off stragglers and the weak.

As of yet, these Orcs are restricted to a radius of roughly eight hundred miles around the Caucasus Mountains. However, the Tribes are spreading quickly.

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

This Q6 low mana world seemed like an Echo until a few years ago. At that time Stalin choked on a fishbone. His replacement was Zhukov. Neither a saint nor a democrat, but someone both FDR and Truman could work with. After the war, Zhukov wanted to focus on rebuilding Russia and securing the peace. Unlike Stalin, Zhukov found Mao repulsive, and supported the other leaders of the Chinese Communist party ousting him. This led to the Communist Chinese forces attacking the Japanese imperialists seriously, rather than letting the Nationalists do all the work. This meant the Japanese Imperialists were kicked out of mainland China by the fall of 1944. Japan surrendered by February of 1945.

Once Germany was beaten, Truman and Zhukov focused on building a stable peaceful world order. However, Britain was focused on holding its empire together. They had no choice but to let India go, but Britain determined (as in Homeline history) to hold Egypt (or at least the Suez canal) and their Iranian oil concessions at all costs. With Russia and the USA friendly, not close, friendly, they soon expressed the opinion (popular in both America and Russia at the time on Homeline) that hunger for empire caused the World Wars. Both nations firmly suggested that Britain was threatening world peace.

Basically, the Cold War with different sides. In 1945 it was Britain not the USA that was the superpower in terms of being able to project military power and diplomatic influence. In spite of America being first to break the sound barrier, Britain was universally acknowledged to be well advanced in aviation and several other fields over any other nation on Earth. Moreover, Britain was far more likely to strike out at perceived foes historically that either the USA or Russia. Even worse, the Brits know they can't play a waiting game.

Homeline wants to prevent a war. Centrum wants to give Britain the needed tech to blindside the USA and the USSR, and establish a new Imperial order. The Cabal sees a chance to use Centrum's plots to further their own desires.

This is a twisted spy versus spy game with the USA struggling to catch up with the best spies going.

[dcarson]

A possibly interesting divergence would be to have the settlement of New England have more historical impact. No not that one the earlier one in Crimea. A couple hundred Anglo-Saxon ships fleeing the Normans.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by dcarson

A possibly interesting divergence would be to have the settlement of New England have more historical impact. No not that one the earlier one in Crimea. A couple hundred Anglo-Saxon ships fleeing the Normans.

If all the Anglo-Saxons succeeded in doing was introducing hogs five centuries early, world history would be tossed in a Cuisinart set on puree. The Native Americans would either rebuild immune to Eurasian diseases after a great die off or their cultures would be obliterated.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

If all the Anglo-Saxons succeeded in doing was introducing hogs five centuries early, world history would be tossed in a Cuisinart set on puree. The Native Americans would either rebuild immune to Eurasian diseases after a great die off or their cultures would be obliterated.

dcarson is talking about the time some Anglo-Saxons fled England after the Norman conquest and went to Constantinople, then were given land in the Crimea to settle.

Nothing about North America.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Basically, the Cold War with different sides. In 1945 it was Britain not the USA that was the superpower in terms of being able to project military power and diplomatic influence. In spite of America being first to break the sound barrier, Britain was universally acknowledged to be well advanced in aviation and several other fields over any other nation on Earth. Moreover, Britain was far more likely to strike out at perceived foes historically that either the USA or Russia. Even worse, the Brits know they can't play a waiting game.

I think you've got to stick France as Britain's partner in this scenario, and India probably has to end differently, I think, to maintain a semblance of west European economic parity with the US and soviets.


One interesting trick to play in this scenario would be to keep the US mostly out of the war, playing around the fringes like it did in WWI. If The soviets and western allies present Germany with a united front from the start, you might be able to keep the US mostly out of the war, or confined to the pacific, which means the US might not have the prestige it gained after the war.

[Apollonian]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I think you've got to stick France as Britain's partner in this scenario, and India probably has to end differently, I think, to maintain a semblance of west European economic parity with the US and soviets.


One interesting trick to play in this scenario would be to keep the US mostly out of the war, playing around the fringes like it did in WWI. If The soviets and western allies present Germany with a united front from the start, you might be able to keep the US mostly out of the war, or confined to the pacific, which means the US might not have the prestige it gained after the war.

I think I'd do something like: A failed invasion of Poland leads to a more democratic-socialist government in Russia. The Anglo-French alliance exploits its colonies even more and repels the Blitzkrieg. A grinding war of attrition is ended by Hitler's overthrow and a demonstration detonation of an A-bomb over Germany. Anglo-French occupation of Germany is brutal. Meanwhile the Japanese have a short, sharp war with the Russians and the Americans over China, which they lose but not totally.

So by the '50s... Japan retains Korea, China's a playground for all the imperial powers, and the Russians and Americans have common ground in the Pacific. Occupied Europe and the colonies are hotbeds of unrest and insurrection, put down in increasingly brutal fashion by imperial troops. The USA and Russia develop nukes in short order - the US thanks to a huge industrial advantage, the Russians thanks to espionage. So you have three major powers and a few minor ones, all with reasons to distrust each other, but only one is liable to get desperate or crack apart (unless Russia has a few bad harvests).

[Willy]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Moreover, Britain was far more likely to strike out at perceived foes historically that either the USA or Russia. Even worse, the Brits know they can't play a waiting game.

The Brits would have lost such a confrontation even before the first shot falls. If WWII goes nearly to ´45, but saves the fight for Berlin the russians will have still this soldiers which in our timelime died storming Berlin, that´s a million veterans of infantry, tanks and airforce, the US will have builds up the industry that won the war for them, and the germans while occupied are another optional force that can be reactivated against albion.

In your scenario the british navy is nevermore dominating the oceans, and the airforce relies on US parts. Also you need troops to keep a grip on your colonies, but they don´t have enough for the job. Also the brits aren´t a nuclear power the US are. Even a firehead and ultra falcon in downing street could count, the best he can get for his side is keeping the best colonies aka suez chanel and let the rest go. Also at that time the brits were nearly dead broke, you need money to fight wars. Just take a look at our world and the forces which the mayor powers had ´45 at the end. The brits would be outnumbered 10 to 1 or more in most places. The have colony forces formed out of the colonies, quite a huge number but will they fight for the brits or independence?

A real world scenario like this would be french and algeria, keeping the colony just meant to much trouble over time, better go after a so called victory.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Comrade, where is my Tsar?

This time the PCs actually get to participate in the divergence! They play people hired/recruited by the post-Tsar provisional government to smuggle the Tsar and his family out of Russia before another faction executes them.

GMs could run this as a serious stealth survival game.....or as a whacky comedy of errors in which the PCs keep misplacing the Tsar!