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Old 06-18-2020, 04:30 PM   #4841
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The main problem with this scenario is that, until well into the 20th century, Mexico's conservatives saw industrialization as a threat not an opportunity. If Kaiser Bill married a Mexican heiress, he would be fiercely determined to prevent anything like Mexican industrialization. Mexico would be used as a colony, a Mexican revolt, at least from Chiapas and the Quintana Roo would be nearly inevitable.

Also, as all of Central America to the northern border with Panama was part of Mexico in 1820, the Kaiser will want to take these all back. There would be several Americo-German wars.
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Old 06-18-2020, 07:39 PM   #4842
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Try this one...

Mexico has had a fairly brutal history of revolts against the Mexican state. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Texas, all successfully broke away from Mexico. California, New Mexico, Chiapas, The Quintana Roo, Campeche, and the Yucatan, all revolted more than once against the Mexican government. So the idea that Mexico might fall completely apart is hardly outrageous. If we assume that Baja California North and South, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Durango, and Coahuila,(all of which have made noises at multiple times about joining the USA for a better deal, and done so repeatedly many times in three different centuries) join the USA, that still leaves a cluster of new nations just South of the US border.

People tend to think of the Monroe Doctrine as either a joke or a relic. But in the decades between the AWC and WWII, several European powers tried to get new colonies in the Americas. In the 1930s Britain strongly supported a revolt in the Quintana Roo, with an eye to adding the Quintana Roo to its colonies much as it had once done with British Honduras(Belize) in the 1860s. Thus if Mexico broke up in the late 19th century, the European Great Powers would be seeking advantage and colonies.

Basically, a more realistic The Wild Wild West, cowboys, and superspies. If this is set in the 1890s during the transition to Tech Level Six, cutting edge tech could be a tech level above the local norm. Note: If you want to throw in Aztec Mummies and other wacky goodies from Mexican films, go for it. Base your next superspy on Cantinflas. He wasn't just funny, he was seriously cool!
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Old 06-19-2020, 08:36 AM   #4843
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Try this one...

A Greek philosopher in the generation after the death of Alexander started promoting the idea of using knowledge for practical means. Although the Ptolemys set up the Great Library to pursue knowledge for its own sake Ptolemy II saw that this philosopher could be useful.

The achievements of the Alexandrian practical school of philosophy were limited, if for no other reason than classical philosophy sneered at pragmatic usefulness. Still, the school did achieve several useful innovations in civil engineering and agricultural technology.

By the time of Cleopatra this wasn't a scientific or industrial revolution (although introduce all innovations of the Arab Agricultural Revolution if you like) but Egypt's in far better shape than in our history. It took Rome a generation to undo the neglect that the later Ptolemys with their constant brutal infighting inflicted on Egypt. In this parallel Cleopatra gains control of an Egypt that had someone taking care of the irrigation canals and rebuilding the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea. This means Egypt has the resources to face Rome as near equals.
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Old 06-22-2020, 05:46 PM   #4844
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Try this one...

Alexander, after his conquest of Batria is told of the Silk Lands and the road to these vast riches. Alexander decides he will conquer lands that even Dionysus never saw.

Basically, Alexander the Great in China. Zhou dynasty china is glamourous and the time period of Confucius and Sun Tzu, but both are dead in Alexander's time. Still, you can always say the historians are wrong and have Alexander go up against Sun Tzu.

You could also have Alexander conquer China and then figure out how to rule them.

Or just go a century or two ahead and visualize the Sino-Hellenic world this would create.
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Old 06-22-2020, 07:19 PM   #4845
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http://documents-macedon.blogspot.co...ved-on-69.html If Alexander the Great had lived on Arnold Toynbee
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Old 06-24-2020, 02:48 PM   #4846
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Try this one...

For the elites and scholars, there is little doubt that the Pax Romana was magnificent. Others had problems and scholars in the modern-day have questions, but for those that wrote down records for us, the "Roman Peace" was seen as a wonder. In this Q4 world, it has lead to wonders. Basically, a Greek Scholar, from a small city that Rome totally obliterates in most worlds, makes major breakthroughs in magic. This means that Path/Book magic is introduced as a practical skill in an otherwise normal Roman world. In fact, the only difference Homeline knew of in this world from Homeline norms was the small Greek city in question rebelling against its local tyrant and welcoming the Romans instead of forcing the Romans to make an example of them.

Arcadius the Pious started gathering students in the reign of Nerva. By the reign of Hadrian magic was a respectable profession. Especially after Arcadius attended Hadrian during his illness in AUR 891 (AD 138) and the now seventy-five-year-old emperor openly praises these new magi.

Basically, it's 151 AD (AUR 904) Rome is mostly unchanged although cumulative changes are happening. Arcadius, who is nearly 100 years old and looks like a vigorously healthy fifty-year-old, has both synthesized his magic system out of the various minor local traditions around the Eastern Mediterranian Basin (most of which had demonstrable power but were so limited and involved as to be pragmatically useless most of the time). There should be a limited set of paths and books available, Arcadius introducing a new book and/or path should be a campaign event.

Because this world is only now beginning to see major changes because of magic, social, economic, military, and governmental, structures are as yet unchanged and the PCs can be part of that change.

Big changes are certain, Arcadius both holds that magic ought to be used to make life better for others and sees knowledge of the natural world as a way to amplify magic. Arcadius has not only acted as a physician, but he has also used his civil engineering skills amplified and aided by his magical skills to drain swamps in Italy. This both made malaria less common and increased the local farmland supply. Arcadius has introduced the Horse Collar, after making a study of the anatomy of horses. This has transformed the land transport system throughout the Empire. In both Gaul and Britannia, new plow designs are being used. The traditional Greco-Roman disdain for applying technological innovations to daily life is slowly dissolving.

PCs in this setting can be many types of adventurers. Wanderers looking for wisdom and opportunity were a type in later classical literature. Scholar Magicians sent out to explore distant lands for both trade opportunities and mystic knowledge would be fun too.

Homeline would be interested in this world both because of its shot at getting mystic lore without useless accretions and to witness the transformation of society with the introduction of functional magic.

The Cabal also wants the local lore and to keep Homeline from learning too much.

The Swagmen want quality contraband and slaves.

The Icops want to close down the swagmen and rescue any and all slaves the swagmen have trafficked to other worlds.
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Old 06-24-2020, 06:13 PM   #4847
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The year is 2001. The timeline has no name, as it has a Z-classification. It is considered a significant threat to Infinity and other parachronic powers.

This is a timeline in the midst of a World War. Battlesuits and genetically-engineered super-soldiers fight against the drone-soldiers of the Computer Tyrant Zed, trying to liberate the Cyber-Enclaves and their hostage populations. Meanwhile, the Collective Brain that rules the Communist World unleashes mutant soldiers and super-spies to subvert the Western World. In the major cities, super-heroes struggle to maintain a status quo that seems more endangered every day.

How did all this happen?

This timeline was a rather ordinary one until 1966. Then a dimensional portal opened and the Robot Legions of the Mad Doctor Diabolicus seized the city of Toronto. In his cackling Proclamation of Conquest, the Mad Doctor stated that he chose this dimension for his conquests because there was no world government or super-heroes to oppose him. Conventional military forces fell before his Robot Soldiers, Antigravity Platforms with Laser-Guns and Force-Fields, and Mind Control Rays.

After two weeks, another portal opened and the Imperial Champions came through. Seven individuals did what the combined forces of the US and Canadian Armed Forces failed to do and liberated Toronto. They captured Doctor Diabolicus and took him back to his home dimension.

In the aftermath of the Toronto War, Canada had a surplus of advanced devices left on the battlefield, including wrecked war robots, discarded laser weapons, and crashed antigravity vehicles. Relations with the US were tense, as the Canadians were not willing to turn over the goodies to them for "safekeeping".

It was about this time that the first super-heroes became active. While a few had low-level powers (I-class, in Supers terms), the bulk were simply "costumed adventurers".

By 1970, Canada was the leading technological power, with antigravity-aided spaceflight and orbital colonies, force-field defenses for vehicles and cities, and the first battlesuit-and-laser-equipped special forces. The environment was beginning to get healthier, too, as power-cells allowed electric cars to become more practical than gas-powered ones.

The Communist and Western Powers responded with espionage to steal Canadian technology and attempts to create their own "super-beings" in the mold of the Imperial Champions. But unlike the technology, there were no super-beings to back-engineer, and the results were a lot more "hit and miss" (mostly miss). But one of those projects - an attempt to create artificial psychics - resulted in the creation of the Collective Brain, the super-intelligence that sometime in the early 1970's began to take over the USSR and eventually other Communist nations.

In 1976, World War erupted as a number of areas around the world - mostly urban but several rural areas in Asia - were abruptly overrun with Diabolicus-style Robot Legions. Their local governments were revealed to have been infiltrated by androids. It was soon revealed that these areas were controlled by Entity Zero, the robot henchman of Doctor Diabolicus, who had escaped when his master was defeated. After ten years of preparation, he seized power in strategic locations ("Cyber-Enclaves") and proclaimed himself the Computer Tyrant Zed. The Collective Brain's existence was soon revealed and the mutant and robotic legions of the two super-intelligences waged fearsome war.

While the big super-villain empires fought, the rest of the world ramped up their military production. By 1979, the first United Nations Peacekeeper Legions began Operation Luddite and attacked the Cyber-Enclaves.

The world is now divided into three power blocs: the United Nations (ostensibly an international alliance but becoming more centralized); the Communist Union (with no more internal divisions) and the Cyber-Enclaves. The UN controls the bulk of the world, but the Communists are the most willing to use their population as hostages, and the Cyber-Enclaves have at least one TL advantage over the rest of the world plus control of strategic ports and resources.

While there are super-heroes and super-villains, the bulk of them are simply people in costumes or with exotic gadgets. There are less than three hundred real super-beings worldwide and no one has the extreme power levels of the Imperial Champions (The most powerful supers are still I-class, except for monsters). TL 9 military hardware exists, but is heavily controlled. The bulk of the world is TL 8 with TL 9 power cells.

Anti-mind-control technology is common and plentiful in the UN-controlled regions, but mind-control tech is routinely used in the other two power blocks. This adds an emotional quality to the UN efforts to liberate the rest of the world.

Orbital space is an armed camp between the three powers, with kill-sats, KKVs, aerospace gunships, and armed platforms everywhere. Brief Kessler events have taken place, which has persuaded the combatants to limit their military actions to "cold war" activities.

Infinity is worried that interworld travel is known about - and justifiably feared - in this timeline. While they have no parachronic ability yet, they know it exists and likely have secret projects to develop it. With the warping of development due to super-tech contamination, there's no way of predicting what they are capable of. But if they do achieve parachronic capability, they are likely to view other temporal powers with suspicion and paranoia.
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Last edited by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2; 06-24-2020 at 06:19 PM.
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Old 06-24-2020, 09:00 PM   #4848
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Four color supers made scary indeed Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2.
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Old 06-25-2020, 08:14 AM   #4849
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Try this one...

Each of the major powers at the start of WWI made huge mistakes. Russia could have won the war before Christmas or even Thanksgiving if they'd thrown all of their troops at Berlin instead of trying to expand into Austria were they were expected. France made an alliance with Russia, a nation that despised both their form of government and their people, and ended up sacrificing themselves for an ally that never even intended to aid them. The Ottomans, once they made the mistake of ditching neutrality, lined up with Russia's foes, which meant Russia got a license to attack them at will with blessings and aid of Britain and France. Germany made the fatal error of invading Belgium and forcing Britain into an alliance with France and Russia when they had wanted to stay out of the war.

On this Q6 world, the Germans were shrewd enough to avoid forcing Britain into the war. Also, the Ottomans allied with France, which both means Russia can't attack them and Russia can still be supplied through the Black Sea.

Basically, a very different WWI. Russia and France are far more of a threat to Germany because the Russian economy doesn't collapse so quickly. Further, with the Ottomans allied with Russia and France, most of the Balkan states would either join the allies or stay neutral, this could mean an early collapse of Austria-Hungary.


The local year is 1916, Centrum is desperately trying to get Britain into the war many because they fear the rise of either Germany or Russia will become the dominant world powers and break up the British Empire. Homeline has the burden of both Homeline France and Homeline Russia wanting to interfere in this parallel which the Icops would rather leave alone.

It's espionage in a glamourous time period.
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Old 06-28-2020, 11:19 AM   #4850
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Try this one...

For unknown reasons, the only clue being a sudden abundance of ice burghs south of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, after 1750 the seas slowly began to rise on this Q5 parallel. The Dutch and various north German states made deals with Britain to go to the King of England's American plantations. The floods of new immigrants go to the western woods and begin to clear the land. Of course, the Native Americans object, but the tide can't be stemmed. The locals are seen as mere ignorant peasants by the refugees. The elites among the refugees disdain the lack of nobles and the elected governments. The locals soon had little love of the refugees and found common ground with pass foes including the Native Americans and free Blacks.

The British crown now finds itself with the threat of a civil war and French aggression against British territory motivated by their own desperate problems.

Basically, a reworked revolutionary war. Much more of the action would be on the frontier. The French would be a steady threat from both Canada and Louisiana. Given that some tribes have linked up with the older colonists against the refugees, others have allied with the English or the French, this is a complex multi-faction fight. The local year is 1795.

Note: Speed up the sea level rise and heat up the fight.

Homeline France is giving this France forms of aid that just avoid violating the rules. Meanwhile, Homeline Russia has had heavy traffic to this world's Russia, and no one outside of Russia knows why. Meanwhile, hoards of swagmen pop over to this parallel and set up their bases. Some clearly want to set up kingdoms.
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