By the way, while I'm certainly not expecting any given the effort required, I would obviously extend a massive omake bonus to anyone gracious enough to make a map or graphic for this setting. If you are planning to do so though, please run your idea by me first, so we can make it canon-compliant without wasting your inherently laudable effort.
A Guide to 22nd Century Jargon: Reality and Simulation
In the postmodern drive towards new technologies and ways of knowing, we have simultaneously advanced the gross amount of ignorance in the world, simulated or otherwise. Literal billions of souls grow up without any awareness of their simulated or Escapist nature. As anti-essentialists, it is our solemn duty to interconnect these walled-off realities, and reveal the folly of absolute isolation. As part of this duty, we have steadily developed a comprehensive jargon for the kinds of beings and modes of existence which prevail in the present time. Here, we would like to explain some of its basic components in the form of a handy glossary.
Soul: A shorthand for 'sapient being'. Part of our bleeding heart appeal to free the slaves of the Essentialists, virtual or otherwise.
Humanity: Though a controversial term in some circles, this collective term has been hard to shake, given its fundamental importance to UN society. While once it only referred to homo sapiens sapiens–and still does among certain reactionary communities–it now describes the intertwined collective of all sapient and near-sapient beings. If any sapient extraterrestrial life were to be discovered, they would likely be included in this term, though this is a matter of active debate. As such, humanity does not have any true 'enemies', except for those who would seek to destroy the existence or conviviality of sapient life–such as those aforementioned reactionaries.
Reality: The topmost level of known existence. Could technically be a simulation in itself, but there is no reason to entertain that notion at present.
Infraverse: A digital environment which is functionally dependent on the realm it exists within. Not considered to be a distinct 'simulation' for that very reason. When talking about THE infraverse, people usually mean the one which accompanies Reality.
Internet: The mass network of digital information which basically runs every aspect of our lives, including the infraverse. Used to be global in scope, but is more broken up these days, especially when it comes to the connections between us and the GTO.
AI/Artificial Person: Any being whose sapience does not derive from a pre-existing biological mental template. Can often still be embodied in a biological sleeve, though most choose not to be, given the potential for dysphoria and discomfort. Tend to feel most at home in an infraverse, or else a robotic sleeve. If born in Reality, they are considered to be as Real as any other person.
Real-Original: Any person whose mental template originated in reality, whether biological or artificial. Usually refers to people who have been directly uploaded into a simulation, although historical persons may also be counted if simulated sufficiently accurately.
Virtual: Anything existing in a simulation. In that past, this term was also used to also describe anything happening in the infraverse (as well as the Internet it grew out of). However, since the infraverse is so thoroughly incorporated with Reality, and could not support a hermetic existence in the way that simulations do, it is simply considered to be 'Real'.
Simulant: Any being who primarily exists in a simulation. Can be Real-Original or entirely simulated. Simulants who move to Reality still tend to be called that in colloquial speech, though "Simulant-Original" is the preferred technical term.
Escapist: Any being or realm which seeks to hermetically seal itself from the rest of the world, attempting to escape it in favor of a given fantasy. This process can take place in both Reality and Simulation; to distinguish between these trends, we tend to use terms like "Real Escapist" or "Virtual Escapist". Both of them can be Vampiric in nature if their maintenance requires an ecological parasitism.
Vampire: Any being who parasitizes a realm for the sake of maintaining a Simulation and/or an Escapist community. While most vampiric mechanisms are entirely automated, its more advanced forms rely on a distinct subculture of sapient Vampires, who partly constitute their own Escapist project in the way they try to embody the various vampires of world mythology. Generally seen by both themselves and others as an enemy of humanity.
Host/Guest: A way of distinguishing populations by their real/virtual place of residence. It is very common for simulants to spend some time in reality, and vice-versa, making any demographic work as tricky as it used to be in the age of national borders. The general approach in population statistics is to only consider those beings who are permanent residents of a given Realm, designating them as the Host population. (In Reality, the Host population is often simply called the Real population.) Guest populations, meanwhile, can vary widely between realms and locations, especially when the inhabitants of one realm are used as a tele-workforce in another.
This framework does have its ambiguities, mind you, such as when a Real-Original simulant population is made to labor in Reality. Do you think that makes them Hosts again? Because of their indentured nature, we tend not to count them, specifically so that we remember that there are many beings who have been alienated from their true home. One day, they will rejoin us in the sun.
A short Informational post while I continue to chip away at the turn 2 results. I can already tell that I'm going to mess up the real-virtual distinction, especially as some of your captured simulations grow closer to being part of the infraverse, but at least I've set the rules. Now you can correct me!
Infraverse: A digital environment which is functionally dependent on the realm it exists within. Not considered to be a distinct 'simulation' for that very reason. When talking about THE infraverse, people usually mean the one which accompanies Reality.
However, since the infraverse is so thoroughly incorporated with Reality, and could not support its own independent functioning, it is simply considered to be 'Real'.
The key word is 'function', used here in the sense of 'do what it is made for'. Whereas the infraverse (or the modern internet) would have no purpose without the reality they're supposed to augment, a hermetically sealed Simulation (or even just a mostly independent one) is still coherent without reality to give it input. It's an open-closed system thing.
EDIT: I edited the section on virtuality to make this a little clearer.
UNESCO rebuilt some decaying heritage sites (293/1000), UNODOS revised space shuttle standards (netting you a relevant bonus), ISCRA and the OHCSSR got in a dispute over embodiment priorities (127/1400), UNLIEC put on a primitivist party in Perth (125/600), IOM prioritized simulation federation when you didn't (85/200), and ITU got started on reinforcing the internet's backbone (72/600).
When it comes to old American reactionaries, there's no such thing as overkill. The wretched remnants of the Second Republic are a continuing source of shame to US officials, and they gladly authorize any necessary action to root these bastards out. Together with UNATCO, which is trained for these kinds of things, you go on to hunt down the missing superweapons. You quickly learn that what you're after is a so-called Iconobomb, a specific kind of micro-unfolder which breaks down any piece of culture (including people) which the user rejects. In short, it's a targeted genocide device, and now it's in the hands of these Amerifascists.
Eventually, through some devoted anti-fascist praxis, you manage to track this cell to the ruins of old Los Angeles. You interrupt them just as they are about to attempt their first test of the device; it only manages to destroy a part of the Hollywood sign before you stop in its tracks. As the DHS diehards are carted off to the interrogation room, though, you hit upon a far wider conspiracy. Apparently this cell was working with others of its kind in PALA, training them through a mysterious "School of the Americas". This hidden university of terror now becomes your next target.
Thanks to their terrible infosec, you soon trace the School of the Americas to Panama City, capital of PALA, where you end up in a shootout with both students and teachers alike. Once most of them are dead or captured, the true scope of this Pan-American terrorist group is revealed. Under the codename of 'Casta', it seeks to turn back the clock about 150 years, to a time when the US would at least guarantee the right racial order through its imperialist Monroe Doctrine.
Upon learning of the total plot, your people shudder at its reactionary nature. When will the sins of the old US be redeemed? Not today, apparently. But maybe tomorrow, as you continue your hunt for the agents of Casta. All Amerifascism shall return to the dustbin of history!
Gained Minor Casta Crisis: -5 to all actions in the Americas until 2120
UNHCR
New Colossus: First Contact Protocols 52+93+93-20 (HNT) = (218/100) (Complete) (118/300 Operation Red Pill)
Defying any Eurasian sabotage, your people plow ahead in their effort to concoct proper methods of First Contact. Unlike the extraterrestrial variant, which is more about establishing communications to begin with, this set of protocols focuses mostly on preventing mass panic under a variety of different circumstances. Naturally, the easiest scenarios are those where the given simulation already has an internal practice of creating virtual environments; you're just turning the proposition on its head there. Paradoxically, it's also easy to contact those realms which have absolutely no conception of simulation, as you can explain the notion in the least distressing way possible. Ultimately, the trickiest worlds will be those where simulation exists as a concept, but has not yet been put into practice. Simulations of the 1950-2050 period in human history are especially troublesome in this regard. Unfortunately, these are also quite popular.
To give your newfangled Virtual Diplomatic Corps some necessary practice, you let them loose on examples of the aforementioned 'easy' environments. So far, this hasn't produced any major crises. Then again, you've only established basic contacts with large local polities. Any public revelation is yet to take place, and that's where the real challenge begins.
Gained Virtual Diplomatic Corps: +5 to Simulation Diplomacy Actions
Road Warrior: Track the Caravans 42+13+75+5 (Starhawk)= 135/150
The laid-back attitude of our Road Warrior agents has somehow resulted in quite a bit of progress. They'd probably argue that's the 'Way of the Road' at work, or whatever vaguely spiritual beliefs they're claiming now. They've honestly turned into veritable neo-hoboes. Still, it's been a good place to stick some of UNIDA's bureaucratic misfits, as the job requires an actual lack of discipline or convention. Pretty soon, these wanderers will have gone everywhere they can reach, and we'll have a lot of new nomadic partners to work with.
Something about the sea air makes your naval task force all the more eager to get out there. Their preparation is simply impeccable: not only do they pack enough provisions to supply a whole prefecture, but they even make sure to instruct the crew on local culture and mythology, steeling them against whatever monsters might await. To really give your operation some kick, the council of admirals in charge of the whole affair decides to expedite some of the initial landing operations, specifically the ones which focus on some of the small outlying islands like Okinawa and Tsushima. This part of the mission goes off without a hitch: the landing troops report some strange noises at night, but that's about it. Thanks to this initiative, you now have even more bases to support the main invasion from. This simply can't go wrong now!
Upgraded Ainu Basing Rights to Control of Japanese Waters: +15 to fleet action rolls in the waters around Japan
UNPFII
The Dreaming Initiative: Dances Without Wolves 132+49+28+25 (Starhawk)-20 (HNT) = (214/250)
With every new graduate of your re-education program, you come a little closer to unleashing a new Indigenous Renaissance. This would be, what, the third in a century? You can't get enough of them, honestly. In this case, it's being driven by the need to condense and impart the different cultures of the PFII to their virtual derivatives. In doing so, many come to learn new aspects of the lifeways they were born into. Some of these discoveries even originate in the virtual populace, not all of whom are simple stereotypes. Though a bit of work is yet to be done, your people look forward to the rest of their effort.
The Zomia Program: Incorporate the Ainu 55+35+24+20 (Starhawk) = (134/200)
In its long history, the PFII has rarely had a more pleasant membership application process than the one it is presently organizing with the Ainu. Much of it comes down to the simple willingness–some would say desperation–of the Ainu to acquire a regional ally, especially now that Russia seems poised to collapse. At the same time, though, the absence of any settler-colonial interference also makes it easier to incorporate the Ainu on our end. There is no Japanese authority to dispute the Ainu's claim on Hokkaido; even if the exile community might grouch a little bit, our pre-existing accord with the UNHRC takes care of that. At this rate, the application will probably be completed by next year, setting a new peacetime record for this rather involved procedure.
Even the continuing flow of cute animal pictures can't occlude the fact that this project is far behind schedule. While another two Central African biodomes are built, this is just one of the many zones which Project Penglai will have to remediate. It's going to be a long road.
Having found the optimal locations by cross-referencing available watersheds with receptive Indigenous communities, you begin the process of establishing the first proper Libertarias. A bit of cultural cooperation with the PFII encourages you towards the creative use of local histories. Before long, this leads to the foundation of settlements like Cahokia, Lakotah, and the New Dismal Swamp. While most of your efforts are yet focused on North America (likely a result of the Vice-Chairperson's influence) you will soon start work on your Chinese and East African initiatives as well. Even if these are your first, somewhat experimental communes, you can already feel them brimming with potential. It's anti-essentialism in action!
Gained one free Dreaming Initiative action on the next turn
"New from UNESCO! Experience the thrilling adventures of UNOCHA's Barefoot Heroes on the frontier of the Internationale! See how they combat escapist settlers and preventable diseases! But watch out, because the evil Agent Washington is planning to strike!
Complete all basic course materials in the infraverse, and receive printing instructions for all ten hero figures! UNESCO: Where Culture is the Revolution!'
Gained A Variable Number of Samurai: Lower requirements for all peripheral aid projects
At last, the convenient excuse for slacking and shirking has come to an end now. For a few blissful weeks, your managers breathe a little easier. Then, the ruckus starts up again. Having read their Beer and Balina, the UN workforce now begins to assert its independence on the basis of cybernetic principle, demanding more autonomy and less evaluation. They want a greater degree of democracy in higher-level planning, with less of the artificial institutional barriers that can turn departments against one another. Through greater coordination between UNIDA's organs, new kinds of interdisciplinary projects might at last become possible. Of course, this all depends on the intermediate managers giving up some of their own privileges and prerogatives. As these middle layers are increasingly squeezed by pressure from above and below, great change seems to be in the offing.
Gained one free "Consolidate Organizations" action at the next Reflection Point
A selection of direct messages sent on the UNIDA IT infranet:
"Spent the last three days on call with a very persistent middle manager. Took me until this morning to realize it was a Russian bot. I feel like I failed a Turing test there."
"Do you think they'd stand down if we pledged fealty to Eurasia? At this point, I might just do it."
"NOTICE: A Trojan just shut down the lunch room fridge. Either get your stuff out of there, or resort to the printer. Which is still in recovery mode, by the way."
"Hey friends, check out these cool dolphin memes I got from UNETC [image attached]."
"Jean, your meme just hacked my ocular implants. Everyone looks like Tsar Jackson now."
"The trouble with a posthuman metabolism is that you don't get to enjoy your own alcoholism. Let me fuck up my own life, damn it. I would have any drug addiction over this endless slog."
"ALL HAIL EURASIA! Just kidding, get back to work."
Politics
Contact Your Counterparts: 37
Along with your many other responsibilities, you spend some part of this year meeting with the various constituent planning organs of the UN alliance, along with those of some sympathetic neutral powers. In comparing these various meetings, most of which are had around lunch or dinnertime, you get a good picture of the spectrum of diplomatic interactions here in Monumental Manhattan.
For instance, your meeting with the Chinese representative of the NRRC goes swimmingly. You meet at an upscale version of an Emergency Period People's Canteen, making an offering to the martyrs of the revolution before sitting down for dinner. The representative is practical to a fault, laying out their present investment focuses and proposing a simple cooperation agreement. Once you've talked it through, they loosen up a little, and you spend the rest of the dinner having a relatively intimate conversation about your time during the war.
When it comes time to meet the Americans, your experience proves drastically different. For starters, you are obliged to meet several of them at once; the structure of AmPlan is such that all of its member states–those being the US and the national constituents of PALA–are allowed to negotiate with you at once, just as long as they do so collectively. The result is a rowdy exchange near one of Manhattan's famous food gondolas. As all of the delegates talk over each other, you only manage to gather that they want you to build more pan-american infrastructure. At least the food is good.
Finally, you end up meeting with the clandestine ambassador of Greenland in a common New York apartment. As one of the last non-essentialist nations in the Arctic Circle, Greenland is not exactly allowed to run its own independent foreign policy. It still tries to, naturally, leading to this home cooked lunch. While the island at present doesn't have many resources to spare, it would gladly let you utilize its considerable refugee population, just as long as you build them some settlements first. It's a meager deal, but could be the first step to deeper relations.
Which cooperation plan does Starhawk settle on?
[] The National Reconstruction and Reform Commission: Complete an expanded version of Project Barefoot, and you will receive a permanent +5 bonus to any actions in China.
[] The Pan-American Planning Board: Complete an expanded version of the Dreaming Initiative, and AmPlan will join UNIDA as a minor non-core organization.
[] The Greenland Settlement Authority: Complete an expanded version of Libertalia, and you will unlock further cooperation projects with the Consociation of Greenland.
The Chances of Anything Coming From Mars…
For most of the year, the world's attention is naturally on Russia, and the three-sided war raging there. On the western front, the battle between Eurasia and the EU is mostly a slow grind, with the yet ongoing Battle of Voronezh being the supposed lynchpin. If the Eurostate can manage to take this city in the coming year, then the fledgling Eurasian regime could easily be crushed. At the same time though, the cosmists are steadily advancing on the eastern front, taking Irkutsk in October. If the Eurasians can roll up the Russian warlords and make their pivot to the west in time for the next EU offensive, then the long war we've been predicting will at last begin.
By June, though, nobody outside of the region is really thinking about all this, for a dire announcement is received from Mars: the founding of the New Barsoomian Coalition.
Let me wind things back a little. Though only the third most populated extraterrestrial body after Luna and Venus, the planet of Mars has always had a tendency to attract the most eccentric of space colonists. The prospect of settling a barren, poisonous rock attracts few people, and those it does are generally weird. As such, only about a million souls inhabit Mars permanently, though this number goes up dramatically if you count all the simulants and Guest workers. During the darkest days of the climate crisis, tens of millions of people had their minds uploaded and sent to martian databanks, hoping to escape whatever terminal fate awaited Earth. While some got to enjoy the virtual utopias of its ultra-capitalist founders, most were forcibly drone-sleeved and put to work on the megaproject of terraformation. In cities like Elonia and Alexandria Marineris, this Babylonian Stasis is still the order of the day. Here you'll find the kind of dying and decadent society which once made up the popular image of the Red Planet. What sordid irony.
But this is not the whole story of Martian settlement. Over the years, there has been hardly a polity that hasn't committed itself to exploring this planet in some fashion. Naturally, the largest missions and settlements tend to reflect the balance of power on Earth itself, with a few notable exceptions. As noted before, it seems as if each power sent not only their brightest, but their strangest as well. This has led to the adoption of various extremist belief systems among the Martian people. Not all of them are malevolent, but even the ones which align with the Internationale tend to be fanatics.
Now, among the many cults and cultures which call Mars home, there is the popular belief that the planet represents either the past or the future of human civilization. This idea has found various diverging expressions, each more interesting than the last. Among the Followers of Roko, for example, it is supposed that the planet's settlement will give rise to a vast superintelligence; the realization of this inevitable future demands their utmost devotion. Meanwhile, the Lemurian subculture holds that human civilization originated on Mars, with the benevolent aliens who dwelled here transferring their sapience to proto-humans in order to protect themselves from the evil inhabitants of ancient Atlantis. Finally, a more anarchist and animist group of eco-poets simply believes that their efforts at 'areoformation' will awaken the dormant spirits of Mars, thus reviving whatever nature or civilization may have dwelled here before. Taken together, all these differing tendencies are united by their shared belief in the importance of Mars to humanity. This central concept also has a name: the Barsoomian Principle. I think you can see where this is going.
Ever since the end of WW4, the Internationale has only been able to contact a handful of our allies and associates on Mars. It was assumed that the rest of them had either been wiped by the GTO's own forces, or else gone to ground. We now know that the latter option was mostly correct. And in their secret shelters and nomad convoys, mixing with all kinds of different people, a new synthesis was formed. A Barsoomian ideal.
By 2118, the hidden forces of the New Barsoomian Coalition were ready to announce themselves. In their eagerness to prove a point, they quickly broke many of the rules of anti-essentialist care and conduct. Taking advantage of the planet's low population, they used the self-replicating tools at their disposal to start a series of breakneck industrialization and areo-engineering efforts. One of the few rules they didn't break was the one against mistreating simulants. Indeed, they appealed to the virtual Martian masses by offering them a place in their new order. Together, they would create a Mars of both progress and ecology, restored to its ancient glory even as the future offered further advancements. The drone defections came almost instantly.
This brings us to the present day. As it is, most major Martian cities have been either occupied by the NBC, or are presently under siege by them. Meanwhile, our industrial analysts estimate that at the exponential rate at which their Macro-Folders are operating, the Barsoomians will be able to overtake us in terms of space-deployable industrial capacity within ten years, or even just eight if they manage to capture the space elevator at Tharsis. In other words, within less than a decade, all of our extraterrestrial bases could belong to them.
Naturally, the UN Security Council is feeling somewhat anxious about this rapidly rising power. While some of their internal factions derive from the UN camp, others have expressed their sympathy towards the Sublime State of Eurasia, a gesture that has been returned. We should consider ourselves lucky that they are no friends of the GTO, given their present enemies. Still, once this immediate opponent is removed, the NBC might entirely shift their relation to the Essentialists; they certainly have some proto-essentialist tendencies themselves.
Long story short, this is an extremely volatile and uncertain situation, and we are not at all sure what to do about it. But whatever we choose to do, we must complete Project Tarkas ASAP. Only by liaising with our few remaining allies on the Red Planet can we begin to develop a greater strategy towards the Barsoomians. As for how this project acceleration is to be achieved, this we have yet to decide. Given the current political balance, any of the following three plans seem viable:
[] Transfer Capacity: We can trust UNODOS to take care of this. It simply needs some emergency capacity, which we can offer through the UNDP's bureaucratic reserves. While this crash addition of organizational variety will likely lead to some initial inefficiencies, it is far superior to doing nothing. [UNODOS gains one Non-Core die, but rolls with a -10 malus until Project Tarkas is completed]
[] Reprioritize the Core Group: The best way to control the present crisis is to bring UNODOS itself into the Core Group. This will allow us to lend it the benefits of centralization. Unfortunately, given the inherent limits on our organizational capacity, another organization will have to make space for it. [Swap out a mid-sized organization for UNODOS, giving the latter a +5 bonus to its rolls on Project Tarkas (on top of its automatic transition to rolling d100s instead of d90s)]
[] Militarize Project Tarkas: We should never have entrusted our Martian assets to UNODOS. The present situation calls for a military approach; by transferring Project Tarkas to the DPO wholesale, they'll be able to bring their force to bear on these essentialist upstarts. [Project Tarkas is transferred to the DPO, who rolls with a +10 on it until the crisis is resolved]
So, which of these shall it be?
I can't believe y'all rolled another major crisis on the second turn, and in my 'wildcard' category too! Had to scramble to come up with something that didn't immediately involve the major factions. Anyway, I hope this results post is to your satisfaction, since these take a lot of time to compile. If there are any obvious errors, please let me know. Also, voting for the two choices is open now.
I vote for Greenland. If the world status roll goes horrible again and unleash some sort of terrible plague, at least we can be assured that Greenland will survive.
One of the few rules they didn't break was the one against mistreating simulants. Indeed, they appealed to the virtual Martian masses by offering them a place in their new order. Together, they would create a Mars of both progress and ecology, restored to its ancient glory even as the future offered further advancements. The drone defections came almost instantly.
Well, they are on Mars so maybe we can leave them alone if they just want to terraforming. They also seem to somewhat care about sophonts rights, so maybe we should jus-
It mostly just means that the DPO has another fire to put out. Whatever mid org you swap out will at least run on autopilot, giving you those UNODOS dice to go Full Tarkas. But hey, now that you mention Political Ramifications, I can always add those on top!
So, as a question: what kind of threat does Eurasia pose to us materially, long-term and short-term? I mean, like, fash bad obviously. But is there an intrinsic reason for us to be worried about them aside from that?
The overroll means you only have a minor crisis to deal with. Consider yourselves lucky: this whole event chain was going to be a trap option! You dodged that bullet well.
This part of the mission goes off without a hitch: the landing troops report some strange noises at night, but that's about it. Thanks to this initiative, you now have even more bases to support the main invasion from. This simply can't go wrong now!
Of course, this all depends on the intermediate managers giving up some of their own privileges and prerogatives. As these middle layers are increasingly squeezed by pressure from above and below, great change seems to be in the offing.
Among the Followers of Roko, for example, it is supposed that the planet's settlement will give rise to a vast superintelligence; the realization of this inevitable future demands their utmost devotion.
[] The National Reconstruction and Reform Commission: Complete an expanded version of Project Barefoot, and you will receive a permanent +5 bonus to any actions in China.
[] The Pan-American Planning Board: Complete an expanded version of the Dreaming Initiative, and AmPlan will join UNIDA as a minor non-core organization.
[] The Greenland Settlement Authority: Complete an expanded version of Libertalia, and you will unlock further cooperation projects with the Consociation of Greenland.
PRC & USA are core pillars of the UNSC, while Greenland chafes under UN supervision meant to protect one of the last anti-Essentialist states...hmmm should we work to keep Greenland onside then? OTOH US & PRC additional bonuses are more immediately impactful
[] Transfer Capacity: We can trust UNODOS to take care of this. It simply needs some emergency capacity, which we can offer through the UNDP's bureaucratic reserves. While this crash addition of organizational variety will likely lead to some initial inefficiencies, it is far superior to doing nothing. [UNODOS gains one Non-Core die, but rolls with a -10 malus until Project Tarkas is completed]
[] Reprioritize the Core Group: The best way to control the present crisis is to bring UNODOS itself into the Core Group. This will allow us to lend it the benefits of centralization. Unfortunately, given the inherent limits on our organizational capacity, another organization will have to make space for it. [Swap out a mid-sized organization for UNODOS, giving the latter a +5 bonus to its rolls on Project Tarkas (on top of its automatic transition to rolling d100s instead of d90s)]
[] Militarize Project Tarkas: We should never have entrusted our Martian assets to UNODOS. The present situation calls for a military approach; by transferring Project Tarkas to the DPO wholesale, they'll be able to bring their force to bear on these essentialist upstarts. [Project Tarkas is transferred to the DPO, who rolls with a +10 on it until the crisis is resolved]
So, as a question: what kind of threat does Eurasia pose to us materially, long-term and short-term? I mean, like, fash bad obviously. But is there an intrinsic reason for us to be worried about them aside from that?
Materially, supposing they capture all of former Russia, I imagine their power being squarely in the middle between minor power and superpower. A regional power, in short. But they are far more belligerent, expansionist, and generally militarized than even the essentialist camp (which tends to get lost in their own pseudo-escapist ventures). If they secure their existence, I may start a counter to the inevitable crisis you'll have with them.
You only get a minus five for two turns. On Moderate, it would have been a -10 that didn't go away automatically. A Major Casta Crisis, I don't even want to imagine!
Huh, I suppose peaceful uses of outer space is not much of a good idea nowadays when everyone else already begun space militarisation.
Although that remind me, shouldn't putting out this particular fire be someone else's jurisdiction? It more like political-military matter than developmental one.
Although that remind me, shouldn't putting out this particular fire be someone else's jurisdiction? It more like political-military matter than developmental one.
They've inherited Russia's own blood feud with Europe, but the 'Eurasia' title is not just for show. Hell, given their esoteric cosmist orientation, they will not rest until the entire universe is within their domain. Realpolitik will still bind them, of course, but diplomatic propriety won't.
finally caught up with the quest, i gotta say this world you crafted looks amazingly interesting in the best of ways. looking forward for more future updates
I wouldn't mind trading out UN Habitat, cause I don't think their unique options are a priority, But they also have Libertalia and I want to take Greenland's deal.
Oh well. Greenland will have to wait I suppose. The Dreaming Initiative is also a good place to expand considering our character. Not immediately, because we'll have two maluses on it next Turn, but we were gonna pour dice into it after that anyway.
Just to be sure @TheInnerMoon , we do get to choose which org to swap out, right?
[X] The Pan-American Planning Board
[X] Reprioritize the Core Group -[X] Swap out UN Habitat
[X] The Pan-American Planning Board: Complete an expanded version of the Dreaming Initiative, and AmPlan will join UNIDA as a minor non-core organization.
[X] Transfer Capacity: We can trust UNODOS to take care of this. It simply needs some emergency capacity, which we can offer through the UNDP's bureaucratic reserves. While this crash addition of organizational variety will likely lead to some initial inefficiencies, it is far superior to doing nothing. [UNODOS gains one Non-Core die, but rolls with a -10 malus until Project Tarkas is completed]
