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 > Roleplaying in General

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-05-2025, 07:37 AM   #1
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Conspiracy Theories

I'm preparing to start a new campaign, in a style that I think of as slow apocalyptic: It's set in a world where technology has been ceasing to function, not precipitously but gradually, month by month. One of the players has asked for his character to have an Enemy: A political opponent who subscribes to conspiracy theories. Now, I don't want just to have this be one of the theories of the present; I think that eight years from now there can be new conspiracy theories, and I'd like not to make this an excuse to propagandize about present issues (propaganda makes for bad art). And my player has said he's fine with either a right wing or a left wing belief system going into the theory. So I've come up with a couple of ideas:

* A theory that proposes that Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged wasn't simply a pulp novel on a heroic scale, but a plan of action: People with technological capabilities are "going Galt" and retreating into hidden enclaves, withholding their skills from the larger society, whose technology is breaking down. Given Rand's Jewish ancestry, this can fit into anti-Semitic paranoia, as part of a secretive Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world. That element could be either old-style right wing or linked with leftist support for Palestinian irredentism; but the anti-capitalist aspect makes it somewhat more left wing.

* A theory that focuses on harmful effects of green technologies: wind turbines that kill bats or traumatize whales, solar panels that give birds heat injury, solar panels and turbine blades that become toxic waste and aren't degradable, lithium batteries that catch fire. The belief here is that green technology is a massive corporate fraud that doesn't actually protect the environment but harms it. This obviously looks like right wing views of green ideas, but it also can fit in with left wing anti-corporate attitudes.

* A more general attack on corporations that says that all advanced technology is not merely environmentally destructive but inadequately tested and unreliable. This has an overtly anti-capitalist agenda, though it can be blended with various types of right wing and left wing demonization. It could go either with a call to restore technology in a more workable form or with a call to abandon it.

I'm not settled on any of these at this point. I'd welcome either elaborations on any of them, or alternative proposals.

I want to note that I don't really want this to become a dominant focus of the campaign; the conspiracy theorist is intended only as a minor Enemy, mostly a nuisance or irritant.
__________________
Bill Stoddard

I don't think we're in Oz any more.
whswhs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2025, 08:26 AM   #2
ak_aramis
 
ak_aramis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
Default Re: Conspiracy Theories

Just a bizarre thought...

In Mage: The Ascension, modern high tech is actually due to major magic worked by the technocracy...

said political opponent might be accusing the PC of being a mouthpiece for some faction of wizards in a hidden war of wizardry... or a dupe of them.

which may or may not have any "real" bearing upon the causes of the tech loss.
ak_aramis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2025, 11:19 AM   #3
DeadParrot
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Default Re: Conspiracy Theories

These may be a bit close to current events but:

All of the AI hype is really a cover for Colossus/Guardian to get the populace used to computers controlling everything. Also covered by Terminator - Genisis.

The not so gentle nudges away from physical ownership and to the subscription model is really a big tech cover for slowly taking full control of people's lives. When you own nothing, you control nothing.

The "Enshitification" of search on the Internet is a way to obscure the "Truth". If you can control what people see when doing Internet searches, you can control what they think.

Some of the more popular weight loss drugs really do contain nano-bots that will eventually control your minds. You will be healthy, but controlled.

China(or pick your country of choice) has been including subtle defects in exported goods that causes things to break in weird ways. Might even be via remote signals.

The Solar Cycle is out of whack. The sun is putting out odd radiation that is causing modern tech to degrade. Only non electronic stuff is immune.
DeadParrot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2025, 12:50 PM   #4
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: Conspiracy Theories

Quote:
Originally Posted by DeadParrot View Post
These may be a bit close to current events but:

All of the AI hype is really a cover for Colossus/Guardian to get the populace used to computers controlling everything. Also covered by Terminator - Genisis.

The not so gentle nudges away from physical ownership and to the subscription model is really a big tech cover for slowly taking full control of people's lives. When you own nothing, you control nothing.

The "Enshitification" of search on the Internet is a way to obscure the "Truth". If you can control what people see when doing Internet searches, you can control what they think.

Some of the more popular weight loss drugs really do contain nano-bots that will eventually control your minds. You will be healthy, but controlled.

China(or pick your country of choice) has been including subtle defects in exported goods that causes things to break in weird ways. Might even be via remote signals.

The Solar Cycle is out of whack. The sun is putting out odd radiation that is causing modern tech to degrade. Only non electronic stuff is immune.
The sunspots theory might be plausible as a popular belief system, though it's not only electronics that's degrading; fossil fuel devices are also breaking down. But that's not an insuperable obstacle to a crazy belief system. On the other hand, I'm not seeing the conspiracy element. Any thoughts?

Several of the others seem to assume that artificial intelligence is taking over, which is diametrically opposed to the ongoing breakdown of advanced tech. They seem like more of a stretch.
__________________
Bill Stoddard

I don't think we're in Oz any more.
whswhs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2025, 01:11 PM   #5
ravenfish
 
Join Date: May 2007
Default Re: Conspiracy Theories

Proposed theories:

All modern technology is intentionally designed to eventually break to ensure further sales; someone's just turned a setting up a bit too much.

There's lots of groups out there who want to drag the world back into the dark ages in a cultural sense, it was only a matter of time before one of them decided to do so technologically as well.

Big Amish is responsible. When all technology more complicated than a horse-and-buggy ceases to function, the masters of the horse-and-buggy will be positioned for world domination.

As above, but it's the Society for Creative Anachronism.



The actual reason:

All the world's mechanics are posting conspiracy theories online rather than doing their jobs, so things are breaking down and not getting fixed.
__________________
I predicted GURPS:Dungeon Fantasy several hours before it came out and all I got was this lousy sig.
ravenfish is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2025, 02:25 PM   #6
DeadParrot
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Default Re: Conspiracy Theories

Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
The sunspots theory might be plausible as a popular belief system, though it's not only electronics that's degrading; fossil fuel devices are also breaking down. But that's not an insuperable obstacle to a crazy belief system. On the other hand, I'm not seeing the conspiracy element. Any thoughts?

Several of the others seem to assume that artificial intelligence is taking over, which is diametrically opposed to the ongoing breakdown of advanced tech. They seem like more of a stretch.
The wonderful thing about conspiracy theories is they don't have to be fully rooted in reality. Queue up the RL Flat Earth Society.

Even in a world with a failing advanced tech issue, very possible that a group would still fear an AI take over. They might even use the failures as proof of their beliefs. "That hospital server failure was caused by Big AI in an attempt to kill our Leader." and "Fred's car crash was due to Big AI taking over his car..."

As for the Solar Cycle thing - adjust the supposed damage from the magic rays as needed to fit your world reality. The conspiracy theory is that a group believes the Sun is the fault. The real story is something else. For that matter, maybe a sect of the "Sun is at Fault" group is making sacrifices to the Sun God to bring about the fall of tech. Maybe your player's Character is on their list.

A new one - the back to nature Hippy movement from the 60's is re-emerging and exerting its nature witchcraft to kill tech devices.
DeadParrot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2025, 02:35 PM   #7
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: Conspiracy Theories

Quote:
Originally Posted by ravenfish View Post
All the world's mechanics are posting conspiracy theories online rather than doing their jobs, so things are breaking down and not getting fixed.
Heh. I've already decided what the actual reason is, and it's not that.
__________________
Bill Stoddard

I don't think we're in Oz any more.
whswhs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2025, 06:04 PM   #8
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Conspiracy Theories

"Planned obsolescence" was a test run. The Truth is, the Elites have slowly made the technology available to common folk less and less reliable so that they can eventually be the only ones with functioning advanced technology, making them the undisputed rulers of the world. We're currently in the final stages of their plan, which is why everything is failing now. All cases of apparent Elites suffering from tech failure are either puppet "elites" who were never in control or play-acting on their part - sometimes even willing self-sacrifice (or being punished by other Elites for missteps, slights, etc). I think this is more a Libertarian-leaning conspiracy theory than one that's actually Left or Right, as it's against the Authoritarian Elites. You can also certainly sprinkle it with other conspiracy theories - the Elites are a secretive Jewish sect, are Reptilians/Aliens/Atlanteans, are the Deep State, whatever.

Note if the setting follows our own history up to the present, you could have them point to things like the recent global computer crash (due to a bad update) as a part of it.
__________________
GURPS Overhaul
Varyon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2025, 12:41 AM   #9
Irish Wolf
 
Irish Wolf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Earth, mostly
Default Re: Conspiracy Theories

The shape-shifting space lizard people started this. They're slowly taking away our technology so we can't resist them when they invade in force. And the conspiracy theorist is hunting the PC because, of course, the PC is one of them! Only I know the TRUTH!!
__________________
If you break the laws of Man, you go to prison.

If you break the laws of God, you go to Hell.

If you break the laws of Physics, you go to Sweden and receive a Nobel Prize.
Irish Wolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2025, 01:15 AM   #10
cptbutton
 
cptbutton's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Default Re: Conspiracy Theories

Astrology is real, and technology is only possible when The Stars Are Right. The Astrological Ages each lead to a new advancement, and now as The Age of Pisces ends technology is dwindling, or transforming to a new form. The exact dates are wrong, or the change is very fuzzy.
Code:
Age of Libra	15150 BCE	13000 BC	Visual imagery
Age of Virgo	13000 BCE	10750 BCE	Pottery
Age of Leo	10750 BCE	8600 BCE	Better pottery
Age of Cancer	8600 BCE	6450 BCE	towns
Age of Gemini	6450 BCE	4300 BCE	metalworking
Age of Taurus	4300 BCE	2150 BCE	writing
Age of Aries	2150 BCE	1 CE		Empires and ironworking
Age of Pisces	1 CE		2150 CE		Organized knowledge, science
Age of Aquarius	2150 CE		4300		???
__________________
--
Burma!
cptbutton is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply

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 05:42 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.