21 Mar Pan-Pacifica Preview #1 – One Year Later…

It’s time to begin previewing the next crowdfunding for Torg Eternity, Pan-Pacifica!  As usual, please remember that previewed material may differ in the final products. The crowdfunding will be taking place on Kickstarter, and will be in April, with the exact date being announced soon.

Meanwhile…

The State of the Possibility Wars on D+365

The Torg Eternity core book describes the world as it stands at the end of the third month of the war. Each of the cosm sourcebooks details what happens over the following nine months. The High Lords have been busy, but the Delphi Council is trying to push back.

Art by Dimitar Spasov

A Reality in Flux

Out of all the invading realities, Pan-Pacifica (and its home cosm, Marketplace) is the one which changed the most over the past year. Reiko Kanawa is now the CEO of Kanawa Corporation and her brother Ryuchi is on the run. The Delphi Council, and most of the planet, now knows there was a seventh invader (even if the nations that were invaded don’t believe it). Most importantly, a cure and vaccine for the Contagion was discovered.

The realm’s boundaries expanded into Southeast Asia and right at the end of the year, Australia.

However, very reality of Pan-Pacifica changed significantly six months ago.

Pan-Pacifica’s Axioms

Pan-Pacifica is a high Tech, high Social reality, with low Magic and Spirit Axioms.

However, six months ago, Reiko used the Law of Acquisition (see below) to rapidly advance biotechnology. Although genetic engineering was already available, further advances now allow people to have their DNA modified to manifest aspects of other living organisms. Acceptance of these GeneMods spread rapidly, and people with cat ears and tails, or even octopus arms, is becoming somewhat commonplace.

That wasn’t the only change though…the Spirit Axiom rose at around the same time, and now matches Core Earth’s Spirit 10, allowing faithful to invoke truly miraculous powers, and the spirits of the land are acting on their own.

Pan-Pacifica’s World Laws

Even Pan-Pacifica’s World Laws changed. The Law of Intrigue still holds (and in fact is the one World Law of Marketplace which cannot change) and the Law of Tenacity remains as well. However, the Law of Vengeance was replaced by the Law of Rationalism, which suppresses supernatural powers (magic, miracles, and psionics) and encourages technological advances.

Additionally, the Law of Intrigue now imposes the following effect on those within Pan-Pacifica:

Intrigue: Persuasion tests based on deception are Favored. Any ability that involves mind reading, mind control, or memory alteration has its range reduced to Touch and tests take a -4 penalty.

Pan-Pacifica’s Minor World Laws

Like the other invading cosms, Pan-Pacifica has three Minor World Laws which derive from the major ones.

Law of Acquisition: The High Lord may quickly modify the axioms or two of the major World Laws of Marketplace (Pan-Pacifica’s home cosm) by tapping into realities which stelae are exposed to, or by draining Eternity Shards.

Law of Adaptation: This World Law represents Marketplace’s ability to adapt to cosms it encounters.  Factories in Pan-Pacifica may use advanced techniques to manufacture lower Tech items (which can then be sold and used in other realities without contradiction). The rate of transformation within the stelae boundaries of Pan-Pacifica is slower, and the border reality storms are more subtle. Additionally, some Possibility Energy from Mixed Zones may be absorbed by the stelae network and siphoned to the Darkness Device (something which cannot normally be done in Mixed Zones).

Law of the Perversity: This World Law is Murphy’s Law manifest. No matter how much control politicians or scientists try to gain, something will always go wrong to remove that control. For this reason, despite being the High Lord, Reiko Kanawa does not truly rule Marketplace, even if she does have the most power. This also aids lone wolves and small organizations from being immediately found by the advanced surveillance in the realm. Additionally, this Law impacts the utility of the Law of Acquisition; even though the High Lord can modify her reality more easily than others, this ease comes with unforseen consequences (such as the Spirit Axiom rising in response to the Law of Rationalism taking effect).

Coming Soon!

Over the next several weeks we’ll be highlighting different parts of upcoming products for Pan-Pacifica including new Perks, GeneMods, psionic powers, martial arts abilities, power suits, miracles, and Threats. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this preview, head on over to the Ulisses Spiele Discord server!