New Reality Seeds

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by talonthehand

I realize you mean Neptune the god, but I really want a setting of Rome vs Neptune (the planet). Or at the very least something John Carter of Mars esque. Umm, Calvinus Corculum of Neptune.

Bringing this over because this feels like the right place, given the existence of Roma Univeralis.



Obviously Neptune is a planet of seas and storms, populated by fish men, who regard the expanse of the sky as their rightful domain. The question is who is invading who, and how?

[Phil Masters]

Lucian of Samosata’s True Story might help with inspiration there.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

Lucian of Samosata’s True Story might help with inspiration there.

I'm certain it's the original inspiration for the whole thing. However mixing in men with cabbages for tails riding Kaiju sized insects through deep space will add to the fun.

[Astromancer]

Here's a fun bit of horror. In December of 1943 Winston Churchill had pneumonia. What would be the outcomes of Churchill dieing in late 1943?

Would Churchill's replacement have tolerated F.D.R.? Would D-Day have happened? What about Britain's post war political history?

We think of the USA as in superpower in 1945. We simply weren't. Britain, although they couldn't sustain it, was a superpower in the 1945-1950 period. America only had the time to become a superpower, and keep the USSR out of Western Europe, because of Britain. What does Churchill's early death do to that?

Speculations?

[johndallman]

The successor to Churchill would be either Eden or Atlee. Both were well-informed on Churchill's ideas, and would have stuck with the alliance. The British had a lot of military force at the time, but they were going broke fast, and the US was essentially paying for the war. Rather less changes than you might think.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by johndallman

The successor to Churchill would be either Eden or Atlee. Both were well-informed on Churchill's ideas, and would have stuck with the alliance. The British had a lot of military force at the time, but they were going broke fast, and the US was essentially paying for the war. Rather less changes than you might think.

I wonder if an earlier Atlee or Eden premiership would have led to the same massive election victory Labour had in 1945. Or if the new PM would have the foresight to help prepare for rebuilding in the post-war era.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by TGLS

I wonder if an earlier Atlee or Eden premiership would have led to the same massive election victory Labour had in 1945. Or if the new PM would have the foresight to help prepare for rebuilding in the post-war era.

That would be the biggest danger. Either a lack of foresight or a lack of mandate. Either could have meant Russian dominance in Europe as far as the Atlantic Coast. Both Britain and Ireland would be silent neutrals. The GOP was anti communist but also isolationist. The Dixiecrats would have also preferred isolationism, less threat to Jim Crow.

[Astromancer]

Ottoman-9

In this Low Mana parallel Kara Mustafa got and listened to solid military advice. Basically waiting till next year and starting way early in the spring of 1684. The additional time and preparation paid off, but that was long ago. The long slow fade out of the Ottoman state was caused by two basic problems. First, control from the Sublime Porte, all military campaigns had to start each year from the Bosporus, printing was politically impossible even when the court promoted it, no provencal points of view could have standing. Second, improved nautical technology made it easier and cheaper to go around the Ottomans and around Africa to trade with Asia. Which slowly strangled the Ottoman economy.

By 1870, when Germany unified, Turkish rule in Austria was long over, but not forgotten. Adolf Hitler saw the violation of the German lands by the Turkish hoards as the greatest evil in history. He proposes a final solution to the Islamic question!

Basically, an alternative WWII with Hitler focused on conquering the Levant first. A much more effective strategy. Both the British and the French find their colonial subjects far more agitated in this war.

Basically, Hitler is focused on getting Near Eastern oil first. He's waiting to attack Russia later. Stalin assumes that the "Imperialists" (anyone that isn't him) will destroy themselves in the war. Leaving him to pick up the pieces.

Homeline, Centrum, and the Cabal all want to prevent a Nazi victory mainly because they are all aware of Midwinter Aton being involved on this parallel. The thought of Reich-5 gaining a foothold on Quantum Six is terrifying.

The PCs will be involved in wartime espionage to both aide the Western allies and foul up the Germans.

Further pain. The Japanese aren't in the Axis in this parallel, if they attack America, it might keep the USA out of the European war.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Further pain. The Japanese aren't in the Axis in this parallel, if they attack America, it might keep the USA out of the European war.

One possible way to deal with that: Start a civil war between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy. They were on the verge of it already, if the historical inertial is as high as implied.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Ottoman-9
…
By 1870, when Germany unified, Turkish rule in Austria was long over, but not forgotten. Adolf Hitler saw the violation of the German lands by the Turkish hoards as the greatest evil in history. He proposes a final solution to the Islamic question!

I’m not sure why you’re making this an “Ottoman” timeline, then imposing industrial quantities of historical inertia to make it another WWII timeline with no Ottomans but a different German strategy. All you actually need is a slight rewiring in Hitler’s brain, to make his xenophobia slightly broader so the idea of marching into Muslim lands appeals to his emotions, and/or to improve his strategic sense a little to see the advantages of going all-in for oil supplies.

There’s two possible timelines here; an 18th century Ottoman world in which they got smarter in the 1680s but are now hitting problems anyway, and a 1941 WWII world with that Drang Nach Südosten going worryingly well. They’re completely separate.