New Reality Seeds

[Flyndaran]

I feel that no one ever uses the man vs. nature adventure anymore. It's always man vs. the individual beatable monster/man.
My idea that it's simply a facet of reality that overrules those we know makes for more unique campaigns. But that's just my aesthetics.

[fredtheobviouspseudonym]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Have any people gotten across the Atlantic?. . .

Yes.

A small number of explorers, fishermen, etc. made contact with the American peoples beginning in the sixteenth century -- as in Ezcalli (see Alternate Worlds II, GURPS 3rd Ed.) the horrible effects of exposure to European illness have occurred but when the Euros were not in a position to take advantage of it.

The Turks have trading stations in Central and South America and many of the Mexicans (near the coast) have converted to Islam. A majority of the interior populations, including the Aztec, have not and are actively opposed to the Turkish presence. So there is a de facto cold war going on.

The Ottoman empire would, of course, be quite happy to convert the Americas but don't want the spend the time, effort, or $. So there are religious volunteers who try to spread the teachings of the Prophet -- and who often wind up as sacrifices. It might be of interest to PCs to try to aid or rescue such -- who often don't want to be aided by unbelievers or rescued --martyrdom is often popular.

And, of course, the Americas seem to offer a refuge for Christian, Jewish, or other folk who do not wish to live under the rule of the Ottomans -- so there are "secret" (to the Ottomans) settlements in the Americas, often just behind the fall line on the east coast of what is in Homeline the USA. Of course, such settlements don't have the power to overawe or conquer the indigenous peoples -- so you get a much more negotiated, compromised civilization between the Native American and the European. Should be of interest for PC sociologists.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by ericthered

You had me until you dragged Lovecraft into it.

I assume otherwise its just a normal 1935 near parallel?

I'd be fun to have worlds that have considerably more influence on the local quanta structure than others -- they'd have more people on them, and allow exactly the kind of situations described above

The real reason why so many accessible time lines have people? Similar species dependent imaginations and story tropes bring them all together.
Meaning that a time line where the humans fall into truly alien ways of thought cause it to diverge and drift away.

Maybe too much Lovecraft could act as push.

Heck, that alone could be why most ultra tech universes are unavailable. It naturally produces "inhuman" cultures.

[PTTG]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

The real reason why so many accessible time lines have people? Similar species dependent imaginations and story tropes bring them all together.
Meaning that a time line where the humans fall into truly alien ways of thought cause it to diverge and drift away.

Maybe too much Lovecraft could act as push.

Heck, that alone could be why most ultra tech universes are unavailable. It naturally produces "inhuman" cultures.

Interesting thought...

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by ericthered

You had me until you dragged Lovecraft into it.

I assume otherwise its just a normal 1935 near parallel?

I'd be fun to have worlds that have considerably more influence on the local quanta structure than others -- they'd have more people on them, and allow exactly the kind of situations described above

I like the basic idea that some world are unpredictable to Centrum's scientists, but please, my reallity seed was built around a mad Lovecraft fan (with magical powers).

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by PTTG

While I agree that 'thulu is overplayed, a pan-dimentional creature would explain why this worldline is tied into the other worlds...

I agree that Cthulhu isn't an ideal creature to fit in. But some other kind of colossal cosmic monster, perhaps the store-brand version of Cthulhu, might be quite interesting.

One way to have an interesting multiparallel Yog-Sothoth/Cthulhu set-up would be to take some ideas from George T. Wetzel's The Cthulhu Mythos: A Study. Wetzel's essay ties up several threads in Lovecraft's works with a fine insight. The richest of which is that Lovecraft's Dreamlands are the underworld of his Mythos. The more pleaseant areas are the equilivents of Elysium in the Greek Myths and the dark kingdoms of the gugs, ghouls, and the Plateau of Leng are the Tartalus.

If the Dreamlands/underworld cross connects serveral worlds, then a dreamer from one world could land up on any of a dozen others durring their dreams. And as our dreamselves act by the rules of the subconcious, your pal's dreamself could be a deadly foe if he was jelous of you. The walking self would keep unworthy impluses in check, but not the dreamself.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

...
If the Dreamlands/underworld cross connects serveral worlds, then a dreamer from one world could land up on any of a dozen others durring their dreams. And as our dreamselves act by the rules of the subconcious, your pal's dreamself could be a deadly foe if he was jelous of you. The walking self would keep unworthy impluses in check, but not the dreamself.

Creepy, I actually had a dream like that. My naturally not fully aware but super powered self was acting in a real world plagued by destructive dreamers from ours.

[PTTG]

Divergence: 1912, the Titanic's Second Officer, David Blair, informed the rest of the crew of the location of his binoculars when he departed from the ship before its first crossing. On the 14th of April, the binoculars allowed the lookouts to spot the iceberg several seconds earlier.

Captain Edward Smith, informed of the approaching ice with more time to plan, orders engines to full forward instead of full reverse, counting on the thrust to assist the turn. The ship very nearly escapes unscathed- but one central compartment is punctured. A dozen sailors and two idiot passengers messing about in a cargo hold are locked in when the bulkheads are sealed, but the designer believes the ship can complete the voyage on her own power.

The news of the Titanic's now-proven unsinkabilty reaches the mainland with the dawn. She later spends 8 months in a New York dry-dock for repairs, but virtually all the passengers are impressed. It is a confirmation of the western ideal of technology triumphing over the hazards of nature.

Of course, the subtle knock-on effects are firstly that there is no disaster to catalyze the formation of safety regulations in shipping. Secondly, a broader lack of concern for safety continues decades longer in this TL. Most likely, the opening period of WWII sees catastrophic losses during German submarine warfare, since there are fewer lifeboats and more fragile ships.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by PTTG

Divergence: 1912, the Titanic's Second Officer, David Blair, informed the rest of the crew of the location of his binoculars when he departed from the ship before its first crossing. On the 14th of April, the binoculars allowed the lookouts to spot the iceberg several seconds earlier.
...
Of course, the subtle knock-on effects are firstly that there is no disaster to catalyze the formation of safety regulations in shipping. Secondly, a broader lack of concern for safety continues decades longer in this TL. Most likely, the opening period of WWII sees catastrophic losses during German submarine warfare, since there are fewer lifeboats and more fragile ships.

Well, now we know where all those movies that show No OSHA Compliance are set... <g>

[adm]

Originally Posted by PTTG

Of course, the subtle knock-on effects are firstly that there is no disaster to catalyze the formation of safety regulations in shipping. Secondly, a broader lack of concern for safety continues decades longer in this TL. Most likely, the opening period of WWII sees catastrophic losses during German submarine warfare, since there are fewer lifeboats and more fragile ships.

The U-Boat sinkings in WWI were numerous and wide spread, lack of lifeboats would be discovered then.