12-22-2018, 04:47 PM | #51 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
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12-22-2018, 04:54 PM | #52 |
Join Date: Jun 2017
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
I don't know if I conveyed what I was going for in terms of morality or if you can just see the consequences better than I can, but yeah that's an unfortunate possibility.
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12-22-2018, 08:06 PM | #53 | |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
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Of course, remaking Rome into a just society would require both ending slavery and making the government less oligarchical and plutocratic, both of which would require profoundly shaking up society. Violence would be highly likely. Meanwhile, other societies could be aided with less trauma. Eliminating (preferably by kidnapping) figures like Hitler, Stalin, Robespierre, or other opportunistic dictators, could make many societies far better even if better does not equal good. Subtle interventions, mainly kept quiet would be more likely to turn out well.
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12-23-2018, 01:37 AM | #54 |
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
A society of philosophers (make it a lodge if you like), perhaps lead or composed of various kinds of immortals, with the dictate of identifying historic evils and mitigating them. They have excellent cliodynamics (they've studied history for eons), but only the crudest chronophysics (they use borrowed, stolen, and eccentric techniques, and might not fully understand that other timelines aren't their own past).
They might have a small portfolio of worlds they can reach, but they've been manipulating those worlds for centuries. Often, their interventions take the form of a wizened traveler asking a likely party of locals to take care of something. Or perhaps the society keeps a team of expert warriors on call in some kind of stasis, since immortals no doubt get tired of their favored servants just up and dying all the time. The society could be large or small; a vampire or two, a handful of sorcerers and inventors, an honest-to-god deity, an AI, a couple of animist spirits, and maybe a guy who just keeps getting reincarnated (good to have somebody in touch with the natura; cycles, after all). Studying history, societies, and philosophy, there's no way there could be internal arguments over the best way to intervene in a given world, right? |
12-23-2018, 08:29 AM | #55 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
They could also take special interest or even recruit a PC that seems immune to aging or in some other way immortal.
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12-23-2018, 08:40 AM | #56 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
The Goblin Court: Residing in a pocket realm is a giant hodge podge of various hybrids, of a magical, scientific, etc. nature. Most of them escaped accusations of monsterhood and mob "justice", only to be rescued/recruited by the court.
Who actually is in charge is a matter of debate, but they seem to care greatly about sapient hybrids and to a much lesser extant generic racism. It seems to be about the only consistent feature of the members. They can be encountered using any method of travel that exists in the game. But they will remain very defensive and secretive with anyone not suffering extreme ostracism due to their nature.
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Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
12-23-2018, 08:48 AM | #57 | |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
Quote:
The Goblin Court could be a wildcard equally hostile to Homeline, Centrum, or the Cabal.
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12-23-2018, 09:28 AM | #58 | |
Join Date: Jun 2017
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
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I know it's probably nit-picky. But I don't want this thread to turn into something that other thread already is and obscure the original intent. Or I could just need some more explanation of why these two have been posted here. |
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12-23-2018, 12:21 PM | #59 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
Oops. That is right. I guess I just read the last few entries and the thread title. My memory is notoriously poor.
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12-27-2018, 07:31 PM | #60 |
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Re: Alternate Versions of Inifinite Worlds
Redirecting things back towards the topic...
Jump nukes were long theorized on Homeline, but so far haven't been used anywhere. A related problem is elseworld nuclear weapons, particularly ones from post-apocalyptic worldlines where they can be had easily. The main way the book deals with these issues is with an expansive sweep of the hand and a confident, "arrangements... are made." What if those arrangements fail? Most nations are outside of the parachronic club. They get to lease conveyors, sure, but their best and brightest are taken to more prominent countries to become scientists and technicians... and likely stay there. Their extraction industries collapse as prices plummet, and their military rapidly becomes obsoleted by elseworld tech. With dwindling resources, absolutists the world over scrabble for an option. Fleeing to some other timeline has its charms; becoming warlord of some other version of their own continent along with their picked men would be a nice alternative. But Infinity owns all the keys, and they don't like seeing historic echoes tampered with (some no doubt see this as "historical imperialism;" why do Americans get to tell us what to do with our own history?). Even with one stolen conveyor, you'll never funnel enough of your shrinking resources elsewhen in order to make a proper civilization on the other side... one wants one's air conditioning, after all. And so the decision becomes clear: only when all of Infinity's tendrils (and those other meddling imperialists) are burned away can one finally take the deserved first steps into the cosmos. And tensions remain high; the cold warriors still have their nukes. All it should take are, say, a half-dozen nukes at the right time. We will want an extra conveyor or two in order to capture a small fleet of vehicles so we can quickly export our civilization to a less radioactive world. So pick a dictator, give them some time and a stolen conveyor, and have them start a nuclear war on Homeline. In the chaos, homeliners flee everwhen. Teams on outworld missions, especially across quantums, are screwed. And the secret is soooo dead. |
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