Welcome back! I’m still alive.

Great! Feel free to insert commentary as I bring the fight to a close and set up for a debriefing session. No need for die rolls, except for our resident (potential) Martyr.

Hi all!

Thanks for the opportunity, I’m really looking forward to it.

A bit of background… Studying as an exorcist when the bridges dropped Antoine found himself transformed to the Cyberpapacy and part of the Order of St. Columbia (The Witch Hunters). When he got sent after a witch and her family, the witch got the better of him and instead of killing him, she opened his eyes to the reality of the Cyberpapacy, bringing to the fore a lot of doubts he already had.

When a cyber police squad showed up to support him, he helped the witch eliminate the patrol and fled.

So if anyone might have a way to connect for that, I’m game. :)

<Waves to Void>

Cool deal with Antoine.

Case doesn't have a connection to that, he's only been to the Living Land and onboard the Roosevelt for now (which is in the wrong darn ocean;-).  Besides Aharmartia of course.

Ash is from the Cyberpapacy.

Not sure Case is easy to connect to, but for anyone else he was pretty much between the NYC and Philadelphia until recently (and latest mission which has him in Copenhagen).

He's a Core Earth psychic that bounced from three foster homes in upper state New York before he was ten and then disappeared from the system before he could be convicted of arson (suspected for setting multiple fires over the years).  Instead of being locked away in some mental institution, he spent the rest of his life until Day One hidden in a complex beneath a small university... the Stevens Institute of Technology (or SIT) in NYC.

Opening day gave him a chance to escape and with a few other 'special' refugees and some ords he walked to Philadelphia and lived there until Quinn Sebastian showed up to recruit him for the Delphi Council.

Juvenile court cases are generally pretty tight about releasing pictures of the accused but some North Eastern US & Canadian PCs may remember something about it (the case was @7 years ago).  The Oneida tribe was pretty mad about the Oneida Indian Nation Casino in upstate New York burning to ashes, not to mention a few deaths and serious injuries resulting from his suspected string of arsons.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:32, Mon 29 Apr.

Hey, there is a potential for at least knowing each other.

US Air Force Captain Alex Wilson (callsign Ash) was a Cyber Warfare Officer stationed in Stuttgart, Germany but was on leave in Paris when the bridges dropped. He was transformed to the local reality, with his prosthetic arm (replacing his arm that had been blow off in an IED attack) transforming into a cyberarm. He quickly joined the resistance, using his considerable hacking skills to aid the cause, and discovered a newfound talent with cyberwitchcraft.

So it's possible they might have met if Antoine joined the resistance.

Definitely could be a connection there. :) he would have recently at least worked with the Resistance since his change of heart. It's even possible they were introduced by the witch he had been hunting and ended up saving?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Mon 29 Apr.

1. It would make sense if Ballon Rouge knows Ash and Antoine through the Resistance.

2. Is there some sort of standard equipment package the Delphi Council provides?

1. Feel free to add in a connection from La Resistance.

2. The Delphi Council will usually provide a Survival Kit for the Reality your mission starts from. So if you go with the storyline we started last Act, this would by an Ayslish kit, whereas if you pursue the Ethiopian storyline, it will be a Nile Empire Desert Survival kit.

In reply to Antoine LeCoeur (msg # 273):

Wait a second.

There is a guy with a robot arm who works with another guy with a super shield?

I think I have heard this one before...and I am worried Marvel's lawyers are gonna find out!

:P

Hehehe
This message was last edited by the player at 23:33, Fri 03 May.

In reply to Solar Shield (msg # 276):

You forgot the guy in red power armor...
Just sayin'

The ion samurai.

And of course, the telepath...

I would like to state for the record that I exerted no influence in character concept to any of these. You hear that, Marvel??

*walks away wondering what he got himself into*

Since it is all Disney now, as long as we don't have a princess talking animal, we should be fine.

Fortunately, Tongue Lasher Frold doesn't count on either scale...

Considering some of their latest takes, Void might count as a Princess.

I already mentioned the Rocket Rangers, as did Chase, and thier armor is red...

Pretty sure Johnny's electric samurai power armor is also red;-)

Neither here nor there but just something that crossed my mind...

Every time I look at the invasion map I look at it through a geo-strategic lens considering sea lanes, trade, economics, etc, and think what a disaster.  Only a free for all nuclear exchange with Cold War arsenal levels would be worse.

The US could still feed itself (and due to the nature of the Living Land even those areas would be able to eat) and feed the neighbors but overall it's food exports are severely limited (lopping off @25% of the global food market).  I'd guess the Cyberpapacy could use tech to increase production and Aysle would have magic, but Orrorsh and Nile Empire would be lean (Egypt, because of Nasser, has to import a huge percentage of its daily caloric intact to this day).

That's without getting into the overall economic disruption.  A lot of countries depend on the huge continent sized US internal free market for their GDP.  That's severely disrupted even if they sneak in by playing 'let's pretend we really aren't invaders' like Pan-Pacifica.  Worst affected I see is Germany (well besides India;-) since it needs both a lot of resources imported to export finished goods out and just lost huge chunks of access to both.  It's still open but it now has to face south I'd think.

Anyway just some random thoughts.  Case I think would be oblivious to what was loss/tragedy things have become.  He cares about the invasion but...hrm...his life now is better post-invasion than it was pre-invasion.

In some of these places, magic and miracles can supplement the economy.

Or tech.  Orrorsh and Nile Empire local populations I think would in the worst situation overall.  Aysle has high magic and pretty high odds of miracles keeping the pre-war population alive (still a bit mass death but more to feed the gospog fields).  But there's places on Core Earth that could be very bad as well even if they weren't touched directly for the simple fact some of those major shipping lanes and transportation networks are defunct.

At least Orrorsh isn't sitting astride the world's major sea lane gaps in Torg Eternity.  What's left of Europe is screwed for energy though with the Nile Empire sitting on the Suez canal and I can't imagine they are getting much from Russia in the scenario.  Orrorsh though... a death scenario I could easily see around 250 to 500 million people until things reached an equilibrium of sorts.

Pan-Pacifica could be very bad in total as well but they edited out the virus due to current events.  I sort of liked the zombie horror thing though.  I mean in general I do like semi-post apocalyptic games but Torg was intended to go lite on those themes.  Still hate Skippy though;-)

It is my intention that the only Skippy you will run into comes in a jar and has only a small chance of Disconnection in the Living Land. ;-)

I'm thinking now maybe the Nile Empire uses weird science to produce enough food.  And Doctor Mobius, as a super genius unfucks the food distribution issue.

Just a little background, Nasser moved a lot of Egypt's food processing into the cities for political control reasons.  The dictators that followed (yeah they have elections;-) kept it because it serves their purposes.  But Egypt has to pay extra fuel prices (which it has to import) to move the food from where it's grown (resulting in more spoilage) to the cities for processing, then ship the processed goods out again.  Imported food is the stopgap for the inefficiency.

Edit- I don't see a way for Orrorsh not to go into major mass death mode though.

And now you have me thinking about Skippy peanut butter and where most of the peanuts are grown;-).  Though iirc a part of that area canonically becomes what-ifs.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:52, Tue 07 May.

"Fear is the Mind Killer"...People can get used to a lot of things. Monsters ate your neighbor? I forgot it was Tuesday already. Your daughter became a demon because her teddy bear corrupted her? Again? But one thing is scarry even when you know it's there and has been there since your grandfather's great-grandfather's time: Hunger. Not knowing if you will get to eat again, ever, let alone when or what, scares the daylights out of people who have never known food stability. So, for Orrorsh, what you have mentioned is a feature for the Gaunt Man, not a bug; and he can always use the occult to make food* for people if it suits his purposes.
*Eat at your own risk to your immortal soul.

Nile is at its heart a superhero world. "Good triumphs over Evil" world laws will have kicked in to make sustenance easier to provide. Pluss, the Guy built an artificial sun for gossake as you mentioned is a genius who needs people to spread his reality. He won't even have to try hard to Weird-Science up some 1950s Hydroponics with Miracle Controlled delivery systems. Imagine, if you will, "Mom, there's a crocodile on our front doorstep...delivering grocieries?..."

In the Cosm, Aysle's entire economy is Magic Driven. Their Horseless Carriages are actually carriages moved by magic. The one thing I miss most from Classic is the interlude in the original Aysle sourcebook explaining how magic works, because it is still the Best Magic System Of Any Game Ever™ so far (and yes, I have played Ars Magica(2 editions), Mage, ...[how'd that soapbox get under me?] Point is any breakdown in services in the Aysle realm will be corrected in short order once Ardinay gets involved.

Living Land, "Economy? Do you cook that or eat it raw?"

Tharkold, "The world is a bleak and hopeless landscape where the best you can hope for is the pain hits someone else. And that's the upside"

Cyberpapacy, "God is watching you. If he wants you to eat, he will provide. Maybe you should repent and submit yourself to the inquisitors, Hmmm?" They may be the worst set to restore a normal economic structure of those who would try, but the whole "God will provide" thing actually works there. Even the witches use it, on Earth anyway. On Magna Verita they don't have access to a deity, but WE have supplied them with a multitude who are REALLY unhappy with this upstart Pope.

Pan Pacifica: There is no Pan Pacifica, they don't exist, like the Original TORG's Ninja, Just ask anyone of them and they will tell you without hint of deceipt that you are falling for a conspiracy threory‡.
‡See Core Earth

Core Earth: the situation you have described is how the invaders work. In their domains, people are as well off as the HighLord allows. This is USuaLLY significantly better off than the neighbors who have been invaded and don't even know the rules of engagement for their war for survival. The disparity in living conditions funnels people to the invader's side escalating the invasion process. Two major world laws have worked agains this process in this invasion: The Law of Hope, and the Law of Intrigue (which doesn't exist, remember that). The Law of Hope has kept Core Earthers from giving up, and the traitor among the highlords certain Kanawa um Megacorporations from the technologically driven Asian lands have delivered solutions to these production, shipping, and distrobution problems across the globe. After all that Non-Ninja Japanese Business man with his Korean wife just gave a speach about how this invasion has brought even the oldest of core</c>Earth enemies to each other's side and those among <s>Kanawa the technological powerhouses have a duty to spread their reality help wherever they can so we Coreearthers of Earth can drive the other invaders away.

Man, did I really just write all that?

Yes, yes you did;-)  I think it's interesting to think about it and every time I look at how badly the Living Land really limits the major export market of a lot of nations (cutting down their GDP) and then the Nile Empire and Aysle by their nature hitting those vital sea lane chokepoints...

The big limiter I see for Pan Pacifica are resources.  It still needs oil (a lot of it) and for Asia that's the Gulf states.  All of which are either conquered or under immediate threat.  China sucks for natural resources (except lower quality coal) and Japan...;-).  Modern container ships & tankers can't operate in Nile Empire waters so Pacifica is going to be scrambling to seize other oil markets in CE (driving up the price of oil for most nations).

North Korea has some good natural resources (it got the lion's share in the split) but well Best Korea is a hole;-).  Canada's Atlantic sea access is gone so even more of it's resources are likely monopolized by the interior US.  Geographically Mexico is as isolated as Afghanistan but fortunately borders the US.  It does lose it's major port for trade (Veracruz) do to the LL blocking the Gulf of Mexico.

Still a lot of death and destruction on Opening Day in a few realm- Pan Pacifica's zombie outbreak, LL- 'nuff said (very few people escape NYC which is a few million right there), Orrorsh- probably eventual death toll in the hundreds of millions tho, Aysle gets nasty on Day 1, Tharkold where nukes are used... IIRC the estimated initial death toll for full nuclear attack WW3 was around a 300 million estimate.  I think the Invasion beats that imo even if it is 'apocalypse lite'.  Not sure folks that lived through that will make the post-9/11 crowd/vibe seem like a happy bunch/goldentime;-).

That said, I think Will Blackwell is an interesting concept.  Possibility rated folks I'd figure would eventually replace the mortally wounded old political order...possibilities would be a tremendous advantage for a Pol on the campaign trail or just dealing with any political obstacle really (whether they were Storm Knights or Stormers).  And interesting enough I think we're seeing that process in game with Copenhagen.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:34, Yesterday.