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Old 07-23-2020, 05:48 AM   #41
maximara
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Default Re: Infinite Worlds Timeline

[QUOTE=WineShark;113008]
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Originally Posted by quarkstomper View Post
I'm in the process of putting together an Infinite Worlds campaign and was curious about the history of Homeline, in order to get background material for Homeline characters.

As I understand it, Homeline is pretty much identical to our world up to 1995 when Paul Van Zandt invents parachronic travel. In 1998 he goes public and establishes Infinity Unlimited. The campaign is set in the early 21st Century. I'm not finding the exact date in the IW chapter of the Basic Campaigns book, but the old GURPS Time Travels suppliment it originally appeared in set Homeline in 2015.

2027 is the nominal year on Homeline, but I'm not finding where I picked that number up... It's in IW or Campaigns. I just can't seem to find the page ref.
The GURPSwiki provides this information in the listing for Homeline and the years just don't line up. There are two "smoking guns" regarding this: when Centrum learns of Homeline (2003 in Time Travel; 2015 in Infinite Worlds) and the present of Centrum-Beta (1910 in Time Travel; 1895 in Infinite Worlds)
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Old 07-23-2020, 08:34 AM   #42
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Default Re: Infinite Worlds Timeline

[QUOTE=maximara;2334789]
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Originally Posted by WineShark View Post


The GURPSwiki provides this information in the listing for Homeline and the years just don't line up. There are two "smoking guns" regarding this: when Centrum learns of Homeline (2003 in Time Travel; 2015 in Infinite Worlds) and the present of Centrum-Beta (1910 in Time Travel; 1895 in Infinite Worlds)
Which makes it clear that there are two Homelines.

What if nobody on both Homelines noticed it? (veg)
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Old 07-23-2020, 11:22 AM   #43
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Default Re: Infinite Worlds Timeline

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Which makes it clear that there are two Homelines.
Yep, Occam's Razor 101.

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What if nobody on both Homelines noticed it? (veg)
Why would they?
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Old 07-24-2020, 05:22 AM   #44
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Default Re: Infinite Worlds Timeline

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Which makes it clear that there are two Homelines.
That was my thinking with our homebrew chronology, use the mismatches between the books as existence of two Homelines.

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Yep, Occam's Razor 101.
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Why would they?
With the expanse of the Multiverse highly probable they probably wouldn't encounter each other even within the immensity of Quanta 5, however I like the more assertive/aggressive stance of HL2 which in my mind brings them into contact with each other on Q5 Worlds.

Even if HL1 stumbles into the Skiddoo and onto one of the Skerry Worldlines, the existance of Parallel mirrors would terrify them but not surprise either.

In fact either or both Homelines might actively look for a mirror Homeline or Centrum, if only to identify another Cross-time power they might have to worry about.

Last edited by arcanus; 01-10-2021 at 12:01 PM.
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Old 07-24-2020, 07:33 AM   #45
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Default Re: Infinite Worlds Timeline

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That was my thinking with our homebrew chronology, use the mismatches between the books as existence of two Homelines.

With the expanse of the Multiverse highly probable they probably wouldn't encounter each other even within the immensity of Quanta 5, however I like the more assertive/aggressive stance of HL2 which in mind mind brings them into contact with each other on Q5 Worlds.
HL2 is more assertive/aggressive in finding more realties (finding about 10 per year in its 2015) but HL1 is not that far behind where HL2 would be in its 2027 (it would know about 60 more realities if it had the same pace)

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Even if HL1 stumbles into the Skiddoo and onto one of the Skerry Worldlines, the existance of Parallel mirrors would terrify them but not surprise either.
Actually Homeline knows of the Nine Worlds skerry and thanks to nearly loosing four conveyors (implying the -8 to accessing other Earths applies to a conveyor returning to Homeline) has classified all of the Nine Worlds as Z4. (GURPS Infinite Worlds: Lost Worlds)

As for terrifying I think finding out that not only is Red Moon actually in Quantum 5 (putting Centrum in their backyard) but Reich-5 is there would eclipse any alternate Homeline/Centrum. Though I think the fanwork Five Earths, All in a Row skerry would give it more nightmares.

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In fact either or both Homelines might actively look for a mirror Homeline or Centrum, if only to identify another Cross-time power they might have to worry about.
Actually Reich-5 is an another Cross-time power which with the exception of the aforementioned Red Moon reality is effectively expanding its influence to as much of Quantum 3 as it can handle.
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Old 07-24-2020, 12:10 PM   #46
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As for terrifying I think finding out that not only is Red Moon actually in Quantum 5 (putting Centrum in their backyard) but Reich-5 is there would eclipse any alternate Homeline/Centrum. Though I think the fanwork Five Earths, All in a Row skerry would give it more nightmares.
The Five Earths skerry, once HL1 (or HL2) becomes aware of them, will be rated Z-something due to all the crazy bull$#!+ going on there (not least being that you can cross multiple Quantums using normal spacecraft, including going from Q3 where Reich-5 is straight to Q5 where Homeline is), and yeah, it would give them nightmares. The fact that the locals can generally detect conveyors arriving and departing some of the Earths will also deeply concern them when they find out.
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Old 07-25-2020, 07:06 AM   #47
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Default Re: Infinite Worlds Timeline

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As for terrifying I think finding out that not only is Red Moon actually in Quantum 5 (putting Centrum in their backyard) but Reich-5 is there would eclipse any alternate Homeline/Centrum. Though I think the fanwork Five Earths, All in a Row skerry would give it more nightmares.
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The Five Earths skerry, once HL1 (or HL2) becomes aware of them, will be rated Z-something due to all the crazy bull$#!+ going on there (not least being that you can cross multiple Quantums using normal spacecraft, including going from Q3 where Reich-5 is straight to Q5 where Homeline is), and yeah, it would give them nightmares. The fact that the locals can generally detect conveyors arriving and departing some of the Earths will also deeply concern them when they find out.
This is the interesting areas for me in progressing HL1s timeline 10 years, the battlegrounds become a lot more complex now that Infinities encountering more Quantum bridge Worldlines and anomalies.

Red Moon and The Five Earths Skerry support its adoption of Earth Beta to counterbalance Centrums ability to enter Q5.

The other thing of interest is the development of Cliodynamic weaponry by HL1 or 2 govements or Centrum if only to maintain a deterrant and stopping the war going Hot!
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Old 07-16-2021, 09:59 AM   #48
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Default Re: Infinite Worlds Timeline

I always found the geopolitcs of Homeline poorly managed and full of American-centered prejudices. And it is a pity, because Homeline and the VERY BAD consequences of the Voyage are in my opinion the most interesting part of the setting. Thus, I made a detailed timeline of Homeline.

Before reading, please note that it is based on three personal non-canonical assumptions. However, it can be helpful for you, nonetheless.

1) Nobody in the scientific community seems to fully really understand interdimensional travel in all its nuances. While the practical applications and engineering for conveyors are relatively easy, the principles of how it works baffle most scientists. This is because (unknown to players) Van Zandt is not human. He is a demigod exiled from his own (fantasy) world with a superior intelligence that makes easy, for him, to manipulate human society. Its motivation is not of interest here, though they were central to my campaign.

2) I anticipated of some years his discovery of the Parachronic Travel.

3) As I am Italian, a student of International Relations and mastering a campaign set in Homeline's Wales, my timeline is centered on Europe and is less US-centric compared to yours.



*HOMELINE TIMELINE*

1980: Van Zandt arrives on Homeline.

1990: posing as human, van Zandt obtains a master's Degree in Particle Physics

1991: end of the Soviet Union. Van Zandt is admitted to CERN, while privately he begins investing in Stock Market [with his inhuman intelligence, market values are easy predictable to him].

1993: Maastricht Treaty enters into force and the EEC becomes the EUY. Van Zandt is millionaire. His book, "a money game", becomes a best-seller. The case of the scientist-investor reach media popularity. In December, he is expelled from CERN for "not enough dedication" to his work.

1994: Dayton Agreements put a stop to Yugoslavia’s war. Milosevic is kept in power, while Karadzic goes missing.

1995: with pure speculation and without any industrial asset, van Zandt is the richest man in the world. Time dedicates him his cover. The millionaire ex-scientist talks for the first time of his "Theory of Parachronic".

1996: Scientists laugh at van Zandt pretenses. The millionaire founds Infinity unlimited to prove his theory.

1997: van Zandt announces he has been doing world-hopping. Nobody believes him, but he organizes a private demonstration for UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

1998: Blair announces that "van Zandt world-travelling machine actually works". An international Scientific Committee is created in Geneve to examine for the first time van Zandt theory. While many postulates remain obscure, scientists are forced to admit that van Zandt machines work and, therefore, his theory must be correct.

July 1998: nations are scared that import of infinite resources would mean zeroing values of nearly everything, destroying the premise of world economy. The UN Security Council call van Zandt. Infinity Unlimited is confiscated and put under UN jurisdiction and charged to regulate import of all off-word resources to avoid economic disruption, the Big Five explicitly renounce in the Treaty to any sovereign multiverse exploration, while using their power to enforce the Treaty to minor powers.
Times give van Zandt its cover for the second time.

1999: The Euro is born. The New UN Infinity begins to operate. NATO expands to the east. NATO fights and win the Kosovo war. In December, Boris Yeltsin is substituted by Vladimir Putin as President of Russia.

2000: the UN gives the firs world-colonies to the Five Big of the Security Council, plus India and Japan.
EU in turmoil. All nations accuse France and UK of "betraying" the Union keeping the world for themselves, against a previously held position of giving assigned worlds to the entire Union in order not to alter its internal equilibrium.
George Bush becomes President in the US.

2003: oil price is at its lowest because of off-world import. OPEC and Arabian regimes are bankrupts.
In Israel, Ariel Sharon denounces the Interworld Treaty and begins "Operation Exodus", in order to create a Great Israel with all Jews from all worlds.

2004: France is forced to concede its off-world colony to the EU. Following that, two new worlds are assigned by the UN to Germany and Italy and given from them to the EU. As a result, for the first time the EU has direct control over soil and resources of its own. The UK refuses to comply, get his second world, and "Brexit talks" start to mount in its public opinion. Tories begins of talking of a "second British Empire".

2005: Infinity announces the import of an off-world cancer cure and the finding of an enemy: Centrum.

2007: international trade of resources is ats its minimum as globalization unravels in front of rich nations using their colony worlds instead of Earth-based resources. Entire economies in the third and fourth world crumble.

In the US, despite Al-Qaeda still being a threat, people ask themselves what the purpose is of investing billion of dollars on meddling with foreign earth affairs when there are dozens of worlds to explore. Bush goes down in polls, and Democrats rise.
Apple commercialize I-Phone. Infinity Unlimited answers with his Infinity Phone: endless battery (from Centrum) and holographic screen (from Alexander I). Nobody cares about the Apple smartphones and Infinity becomes the new big player in communications.

2008: Scientists William and Khor make the "Parachronic Observer Principle" and win the Nobel Price.
Barack Obama President of the United States. As his first act, he concedes independence to the US off world colony of Malcomia, who becomes the first off-world nation to enter Homeline UN.
Unilateral US retreat from Iraq and Afghanistan.

2010: Infinity imports cold fusion on Homeline.
In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is accused of having bought a real Helen of Troy from an Echo world for his parties in his Villa in Arcore. Berlusconi defends himself saying that “She is actually the crazy daughter of Mubarak" [Egyptian president], but the woman brought in tribunal to testify correctly speaks Mycenean and denounces obscenities.
Berlusconi is arrested. His lawyer, Mr. Ghedini, contends that "we cannot condemn my client for a crime of kidnapping that in this universe never happened". New elections in the country brings center-left to power.

2011: Infinity license small fuel battery. Fusion-propelled electric cars sold to the public. Italian group FIAT buys US group Chrysler and create FIAT-Chrysler Automobile (FCA).
Infinity admits there are some worlds where "magic works", trough it tries to downplay its implications.
The Guardians publishes leaked classified documents about the existence of Reich V.

2012: the EU reforms itself with the definitive approval of the new European Constitution. A President of the EU succeeds the former President of the Council and President of the Commission. An EU Foreign Ministers succeeds to the High Representative for Foreign Relations and the European External Actions Service is renamed European Diplomatic Corps.

The UK secedes from the EU, deeming the new constitution "unacceptable" (in the words of PM David Cameron). The EU and the UK are in tense relations.

2014: Jean-Claude Juncker is President of the EU.

2016: John Kerry is elected US President.

2019: Suspected outbreak of Gothavirus in Wuhan, China. Images of real zombies are on media all over the world, but China closed down the city and proclaims that "everything is under control.

2020: present day.
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Old 07-16-2021, 03:47 PM   #49
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Default Re: Infinite Worlds Timeline

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Originally Posted by arcanus View Post
This is the interesting areas for me in progressing HL1s timeline 10 years, the battlegrounds become a lot more complex now that Infinities encountering more Quantum bridge Worldlines and anomalies.

Red Moon and The Five Earths Skerry support its adoption of Earth Beta to counterbalance Centrums ability to enter Q5.

The other thing of interest is the development of Cliodynamic weaponry by HL1 or 2 govements or Centrum if only to maintain a deterrant and stopping the war going Hot!
I would like to point out The Five Earths Skerry involves more alternate realities:

*The Barsoom John Carter from Dieselpunk Earth accesses is not part of the five main Earths.
*Oct 5, 2013 (InP Date) saw Banestorms on all the Earths that indicated at least two different realities with the other three being possible echoes.
*Two Earths that are in their 30th century with variants of the Legion of Super Heroes that Kal-El traveled to

There are hooks on the GURPSwiki to bring Infinite Worlds and the Five Earths setting together: Infinity is Coming and On a Clear Day You Can See Infinity and they both involve a book taht doesn't exist in our Earth's history: GURPS Infinite Worlds: Five Earths Deluxe Edition
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Old 07-16-2021, 09:06 PM   #50
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Default Re: Infinite Worlds Timeline

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Originally Posted by Ellrelion View Post
2000: the UN gives the firs world-colonies to the Five Big of the Security Council, plus India and Japan.
EU in turmoil. All nations accuse France and UK of "betraying" the Union keeping the world for themselves, against a previously held position of giving assigned worlds to the entire Union in order not to alter its internal equilibrium.
George Bush becomes President in the US.
From what Madness Dossier implies, it's possible Bush may not have become President of the US in Homeline:
Spoiler:  
At least that is how it reads to me.
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