New Reality Seeds

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by adm

The U-boat risk is, of course, the counter point. IF the Med is an Allied lake, a lot of shipping from India will be going through the Med, reducing chances for U-boat attacks, and saving more ships. The Bay of Biscay is shallow enough that the U-boats were always at risk there, which got worse as the war went on. More U-boats in the Atlantic will also increase the risk of hitting US shipping, that may get them in the war faster, as well as speeding up other Allied power involvement. Brazil, in particular, made a significant difference in the Caribbean Sea, and the South Atlantic.

At the end of WW II (from Wikipedia)

The Brazilian Expeditionary Force (Portuguese: Força Expedicionária Brasileira, FEB) consisted of about 25,900 men arranged by the army and air force to fight alongside the Allied forces in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II. This air–land force consisted of (replacements included) a complete infantry division, a liaison flight, and a fighter squadron.[1]

If I remember correctly most of the equipment was US made. With this sort of scenario I'd expect that they would build a larger force which would have repercussions after the war.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by Micah Davis

• In 1521, Martin Luther left the Diet of Worms stripped of all legal rights, including legal protection from murder. His patron had him "kidnapped" on the road and Luther spent the next six months in hiding, translating the Bible into German (and thereby codifying the German language). If Luther were killed before this kidnapping, the Reformation could spin out in basically any direction - Fury at Luther's death would probably radicalize many Reformation-leaning people, but the more mellow and (relatively) humanist Melanchthon would be the most likely to replace Luther in Wittenburg. Melanchthon and Zwingli were both substantially more humanist than Luther, so it's possible to imagine a more conciliatory Reformation that spreads further in Europe. It's equally possible that Luther's death would spark a spiral of radicalization and reprisal that ends with much of the Reformation's heirs as a larger but still marginalized form of staff (pacifist) Anabaptists and the Catholic Church triumphant in Europe. Protecting Martin Luther from Centrum assassins would be a fairly standard adventure.

I believe that the Diet of Worms was described in the old GURPS Timeline, including as a divergence point.

(yes, the entry started with acknowledging how funny the name is)

Originally Posted by Micah Davis

• The U.S. Presidential Election of 1884 was a narrow victory for the Democrats and there was a plausible, more popular candidate for the Republicans - Chester A. Arthur, the sitting President. On Homeline, Arthur's poor health led him to spend relatively little effort trying to win the nomination - The Republicans instead nominated James G. Blaine, who was beaten in narrow election by Grover Cleveland because of concerns over corruption. A healthier Arthur, or simply a less circumspect one, might go on to win re-election and pass it off to a successor. A Republican administration might be more willing to do something (anything) to stop the election suborning in the South but even if it didn't, the spoils system sticking with the Republicans would empower the Readjusters of Virginia.

I love the idea of a timeline turning on "President Chester A. Arthur" (someone in the seance in the second Bill & Ted movie wanted to talk to him across the great beyond).

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Try this one...

After the Indian Mutany of 1857 control of india was transfered from the British East Indian Company to the English government. This in many ways facilitated the Indian Independence movement.

Among the many causes of the Mutany was the adoption of Romanticism in European thought. This led to the Church of England developing a new missionary zeal which alienated both Hindus and Muslims, the intensification of Racism and ethnonationalism, and the rejection of the idea of "Brown Englishmen" or co-opting talented Indians into the government.

However, in this Q6 low manna parallel, John Company remains an outpost of the Enlightenment in a Romantic world. The CofE is discouraged from annoying the locals. "Brown Englishmen" is the ideal and intermarrige between English men and Indian women becomes and stays commonplace. All of the key figures in Homeline's Indian Independence movement are working for John company in this parallel.

The local year is 1898, Queen (not Queen-Emperess) Victoria reigns over an India totally content to stay British. Centrum loves this world, this British Empire has staying power. Meanwhile, Homeline wants to know how this all came about and why is India in this world swaming with Cabalists? Centrum knows its rivals are fascinated with India and wants to thwart whatever they're doing.

The concept of "Brown Englishmen", and indeed the British East India Company not dissolving in favor of direct rule from Westminster, is part of Britannica-6. No Queen (or Queen-Empress) Victoria, but a less brutal British rule of India, including mixed marriages.

[Phil Masters]

The traditional snag with the East India Company was that they tended to be corrupt as bejasus. When you have, not only a business running a country, but a business which is treated as somewhere for younger sons to scrabble a lump of cash together over a few years, that tendency is Inherent In The System.

This was perhaps downplayed in Britannica-6 because that’s a slightly tongue-in-cheek setting, and anyway it’s implicitly prone to corruption everywhere — but if you’re talking about the danger of inducing revolutionary feelings in India, good old John Company bribery and corruption could suffice. Even if some of the people screwing the lesser castes for kickbacks and running stuff ineptly happen to have brown skins.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

The traditional snag with the East India Company was that they tended to be corrupt as bejasus. When you have, not only a business running a country, but a business which is treated as somewhere for younger sons to scrabble a lump of cash together over a few years, that tendency is Inherent In The System.

This was perhaps downplayed in Britannica-6 because that’s a slightly tongue-in-cheek setting, and anyway it’s implicitly prone to corruption everywhere — but if you’re talking about the danger of inducing revolutionary feelings in India, good old John Company bribery and corruption could suffice. Even if some of the people screwing the lesser castes for kickbacks and running stuff ineptly happen to have brown skins.

Agreed. And the idea, on which my setting is based, of John Company being less bigoted than the cultural norm, is silly. John Company was always fashionable in the most self-destructive ways, at least when it comes to Anglo-Indian relationships. Still, there are dozens of interesting worlds based on the old British Empire being at least as shrewd as the Romans at co-opting potential troublemakers into being part of the Empire. Just imagine the changes to world history if Britain had grabbed their chance to co-opt Ben Franklin, George Washington, Daniel O'Connell, Gandhi, or Nehru, into the service of the Empire.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

The traditional snag with the East India Company was that they tended to be corrupt as bejasus.

Not that this stood out particularly among the world's governments....

I don't know if it matters all that much. Sure it's a nice advantage for your state treasury if you can persuade a lot of talented people to enter its service for the national glory, trivial cost honors, or pure sense of duty, rather than for personal enrichment, but few of the world's states have been able to pull that off, and have often done OK despite that.

[Astromancer]

Try this one...

This Q6 Low Manna world seems to be a Myth Parallel based on the film Island of Terror the Chinese lab seen at the end of the film unleashed Silicates (the monsters in the film) in an acident implied at the end of the original film.

That was in the year 1966, it's now the year 1976. China, as a state, a culture, and a people, no longer exist on mainland Asia. The Silicates find saltwater poisonous, sodium cloride is toxic to them in multiple ways, so the Silicates are always blocked by the sea. The Silicates also seem to dislike extreme cold, so both the high Himalayas and the tundra are limits. Still, both India and Russia are fighting losing battles against the silicates.

The USA has helped Egypt to widen and deepen the Suez Canal in order to protect Africa from the Silicates. They are also helping Israel to dig a canal from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Dead Sea Basin. And another canal in the North between the Mediterranian Sea and the Dead Sea Basin. Denmark and Germany have also deepened the Kiel Canal and flooded it with salt water.

Large numbers of Europeans and Asians are fleeing Eurasia.

The Silicates are tough enough to shurg off any attack less than artillery. Salt and any signifigant amount of radiation kills the Silicates as does starvation. They seem to be unable to evolve or adapt.

Homeline wants to figure out how these monsters came about and to prevent Swagmen or Centrum Agents from grabbing Silicates and using them as bioweapons. Centrum wants to gain influence in the USA and grab a few silicates to use as bioweapons. The Cabal is simply interested in scavaging what they can.

Note: Humanity will eventually destroy the Silicates, but the cost will be brutally high.

[AlexanderHowl]

A species that finds saltwater poisonous enough to matter in combat will not be a major threat to a TL6+ civilization. It sounds like a group of school children armed with water balloons filled with saltwater would be a major threat to them. It would make a perfect 'Minors on Bicycles' setting though if the adults insist on using guns that don't work when water balloons do work.

[dcarson]

In a piece of fanfiction that crosses with that movie they used strontium-90 and radium-228 to kill them. Chemically similar, so inject it into animals and let them eat them. https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-2861...+Alex+Mack.htm

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

A species that finds saltwater poisonous enough to matter in combat will not be a major threat to a TL6+ civilization. It sounds like a group of school children armed with water balloons filled with saltwater would be a major threat to them. It would make a perfect 'Minors on Bicycles' setting though if the adults insist on using guns that don't work when water balloons do work.

Well in your campaign they simply hate/always avoid salt water.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by dcarson

In a piece of fanfiction that crosses with that movie they used strontium-90 and radium-228 to kill them. Chemically similar, so inject it into animals and let them eat them. https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-2861...+Alex+Mack.htm

Doubtless many of the silicates were killed, I also assume that higher powered explosives and guns than were available on the island worked too. It's the sheer numbers and fast breeding rate that makes the silicates a threat. Placing the initial outbreak in Maoist China slows down practical efforts against the silicates until their numbers are truely vast.