How I Would Plan Out The Minion War On Rifts Earth

[jaymz]

As a follow up to my mini-fiction "The Press Conference" ... This is very roughly how I would plan out the ongoing and eventual end to the minion war. It would be an in-world decade long series of events.

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110PA - Present day. Coalition Heroes of Humanity (Arsenal and Disavowed if we ever get them). Megaverse In Flames. Atlantis is opting to significantly and indirectly aid all opponents of the Demons and Dyvals. They also intervene directly where necessary. Lemuria and the NGR make a formal alliance with one another and go on the offensive as best they can to help the worlds nations.

111PA - Demons and Dyval's are consolidating their forces while trying to expand their influence and domain all over the world. Clashes with the CS, Free Quebec, Lazlo, Federation of Magic, Merc companies, the Tundra Rangers, NGR, Gargoyle Empire, Brodkill Empire, Yama Kings, Sovietskii, Russian Warlords and others are commonplace as the weeks and months go by.

112 PA - In North America CS and magic nations are fighting side by side more and more rather than against each other to fend off their common enemy. Similar things are happening elsewhere; the NGR are being aided and are indirectly aiding their once sworn enemies of the Gargoyles and Brodkil. Neither beast empire wants to be brought under heel by the demons or Dyvals. Warlords have a cease fire among themselves as well as with the Sovietskii. Various nations in South America are also putting their differences aside.

Fall 112PA - Tragedy. Karl Prosek is assassinated along with a number of his closest and oldest confidantes and consultants. The CS is mourning as Joseph Prosek the Second takes the reigns and throne as Emperor. Rumours abound as to how this could happen.

see here - viewtopic.php?f=8&t=184924

114PA - A Hell Pit is destroyed in Magic Zone. Joseph Prosek declares a formal cease fire with all Magic Nations citing the Demon and Dyval hordes are greater threat to us all. Lazlo reciprocates this formal declaration as do other a number of smaller independent kingdoms while no word is heard from the Federation, though hostilities all but cease in that area of North America towards CS forces.

115PA - A Hell Pit destroyed in New Mexico. The CS along with their informal allies from Lazlo as well as with other independent kingdoms are finally driving back the Demons and Dyvals respectively.

116PA - A Hell Pit destroyed in France. The NGR along with the Russian Warlords, Sovietskii, Gargoyles and Brodkil are pushing back the Demons and Dyval in Europe.

117PA - Hell Pits are destroyed in Dinosaur Swamp and Cuba. The Yama Kings are successful in eliminating any localized Demon or Dyval threats in China.

118PA - A Hell pit is destroyed in the Canadian Tundra. South American nations are finally driving back Demon and Dyval forces across the continent.

119PA - Multiple Hell Pits are destroyed in Calgary.

120PA - Victory is effectively declared in most areas of the world having rid many places of the Demon and Dyval threats. Only a couple Hell Pits have survived in any capacity though greatly diminished. Emperor Joseph Prosek declares the cease fire with Lazlo and other magic kingdoms will remain in place indefinitely as they have demonstrated to be heroes of Earth. He pledges they will be left to their own devices as long as they do not interfere with CS activities. An uneasy cease fire remains between the various kingdoms and nations in Europe but all is well for now. South America is in a state of calm for the time being as well. All nations are in a state of recovery with so many lives and resources lost to combat with the Demon and Dyval hordes. For the first time in decades the Earth is at relative peace...even if it is only to be short lived as everyone rebuilds their nations and lives.

Twist (I am sure most if not all who read my mini fiction linked above understood this to be the case) - by manipulating the Vanguard to his own purposes, as well as those loyal to the Demon or Dyval hordes, Joseph is the actual mastermind behind Karl's assassination. To him, his father had lost the way and had missed an excellent opportunity to turn the enemy to his favour. Remembering the stories his mother had told him about her rescue from the Federation as well as seeing for himself the sacrifices so many from the magic communities were making to protect not just CS citizens and soldiers but all innocent peoples, he had an epiphany. He decided it was time this regime had to end with a newer more open minded one replacing it. Using the Vanguard and sacrificing several of their number in the process to make this happen, Joseph spun into a two pronged PR campaign that only one as devious as he was could be capable of. In the end the CS mourned for their fallen Emperor, they screamed for Demon/Dyval blood and they tempered their hatred for magic users seeing with their own eyes the magic users who freely and unselfishly sacrificed their lives in trying to protect their beloved Emperor, Karl Prosek.

[Fenris2020]

I hope they do the Minion War more like the Xiticix Invasion book, where they give out some broad strokes and then individual gaming groups work it out... instead of like the Tolkeen boondoggle, where the player characters have basically no effect and logic and previous books are completely ignored.

[Warshield73]

I really like Jaymz's timeline, it is pretty similar to my own.

I hope they do the Minion War more like the Xiticix Invasion book, where they give out some broad strokes and then individual gaming groups work it out... instead of like the Tolkeen boondoggle, where the player characters have basically no effect and logic and previous books are completely ignored.

While I understand this sentiment I am forced to disagree. The Xiticix invasion is big but it is not as big as the MW. While I hope PB leaves a few things open it is going to have to make the big decisions canon just to advance the story of Rifts afterward. I think this is more in line with the Four Horsemen and the Mechanoid Invasion with PB saying they were defeated but how and what your PCs had to do with it is up to you.

[Fenris2020]

I really like Jaymz's timeline, it is pretty similar to my own.

I hope they do the Minion War more like the Xiticix Invasion book, where they give out some broad strokes and then individual gaming groups work it out... instead of like the Tolkeen boondoggle, where the player characters have basically no effect and logic and previous books are completely ignored.

While I understand this sentiment I am forced to disagree. The Xiticix invasion is big but it is not as big as the MW. While I hope PB leaves a few things open it is going to have to make the big decisions canon just to advance the story of Rifts afterward. I think this is more in line with the Four Horsemen and the Mechanoid Invasion with PB saying they were defeated but how and what your PCs had to do with it is up to you.

Glad you agree with me, since the Four Horsemen and the Mechanoids were also left up to individual gaming groups... Again, unlike the Tolkeen thing.

[jaymz]

Well the "how" is left up to game groups. The outcome with the Mechanoids and The Four Horseman was not.

Just to be clear.

[ZINO]

Twist (I am sure most if not all who read my mini fiction linked above understood this to be the case) - by manipulating the Vanguard to his own purposes, as well as those loyal to the Demon or Dyval hordes, Joseph is the actual mastermind behind Karl's assassination. To him, his father had lost the way and had missed an excellent opportunity to turn the enemy to his favour. Remembering the stories his mother had told him about her rescue from the Federation as well as seeing for himself the sacrifices so many from the magic communities were making to protect not just CS citizens and soldiers but all innocent peoples, he had an epiphany. He decided it was time this regime had to end with a newer more open minded one replacing it. Using the Vanguard and sacrificing several of their number in the process to make this happen, Joseph spun into a two pronged PR campaign that only one as devious as he was could be capable of. In the end the CS mourned for their fallen Emperor, they screamed for Demon/Dyval blood and they tempered their hatred for magic users seeing with their own eyes the magic users who freely and unselfishly sacrificed their lives in trying to protect their beloved Emperor, Karl Prosek.

I love this !!!

[Kagashi]

I liked the SoT series as well as 4 horseman, ARCHIE, Mechanoids, Xicticx, Juicer Uprising, and the Minion War. I wish they would finalize the outcome of the Minion War in a similar fashion that Jaymes lays out. What I didnt like about all but SoT, is you had to look into other books to find the outcomes and they were cryptic at best. I liked when PB picked a direction and stuck with it.

[Warshield73]

I really like Jaymz's timeline, it is pretty similar to my own.

I hope they do the Minion War more like the Xiticix Invasion book, where they give out some broad strokes and then individual gaming groups work it out... instead of like the Tolkeen boondoggle, where the player characters have basically no effect and logic and previous books are completely ignored.

While I understand this sentiment I am forced to disagree. The Xiticix invasion is big but it is not as big as the MW. While I hope PB leaves a few things open it is going to have to make the big decisions canon just to advance the story of Rifts afterward. I think this is more in line with the Four Horsemen and the Mechanoid Invasion with PB saying they were defeated but how and what your PCs had to do with it is up to you.

Glad you agree with me, since the Four Horsemen and the Mechanoids were also left up to individual gaming groups... Again, unlike the Tolkeen thing.

No, not really.

Well the "how" is left up to game groups. The outcome with the Mechanoids and The Four Horseman was not.

Just to be clear.

Exactly. It is also important to point out that Mechanoids, Four Horsemen, Juicer Uprising, and Xiticix are all smaller (in terms of number of books, set up and scale) than SoT and MW. Yes if any of these evils had succeeded it would have ended the world but the impact of the actual conflict on the major powers to defeat them was minimal.

When it comes to SoT and MW there is going to be more narrative provided just by virtue of it involving the...primary antagonist (is that the best term?) of Rifts, the CS. Your PCs could interact with the war in any way they wanted, and even had minor impacts on it, but they could not change the outcome of the SoT.

For Rifts to move forward no matter how great your PCs did or how bad they failed Tolkeen had to lose, the CS had to win, and they had to win in very specific ways. With all the additions to the CS due to the MW war I think we can expect something similar.

Now, you can ignore this if you want, and have it play out any way you please, but future books are going to be harder and harder to use.

Twist (I am sure most if not all who read my mini fiction linked above understood this to be the case) - by manipulating the Vanguard to his own purposes, as well as those loyal to the Demon or Dyval hordes, Joseph is the actual mastermind behind Karl's assassination. To him, his father had lost the way and had missed an excellent opportunity to turn the enemy to his favour. Remembering the stories his mother had told him about her rescue from the Federation as well as seeing for himself the sacrifices so many from the magic communities were making to protect not just CS citizens and soldiers but all innocent peoples, he had an epiphany. He decided it was time this regime had to end with a newer more open minded one replacing it. Using the Vanguard and sacrificing several of their number in the process to make this happen, Joseph spun into a two pronged PR campaign that only one as devious as he was could be capable of. In the end the CS mourned for their fallen Emperor, they screamed for Demon/Dyval blood and they tempered their hatred for magic users seeing with their own eyes the magic users who freely and unselfishly sacrificed their lives in trying to protect their beloved Emperor, Karl Prosek.

I love this !!!

This is one of the parts that I am not sure of. From a narrative standpoint it's interesting and if Rifts were a novel it could be interesting if done correctly. Similar to the changes in the Republic of Haven in the Honor Harrington novels. In a game setting it might be too much of a change to really keep North America interesting. I also just don't see this in Joseph's character. Yes, he seems more willing to use certain things like magic in a clandestine/deniable/arm's length way but a fundamental change like this would risk his own power and I don't see him doing that. IMO

I liked the SoT series as well as 4 horseman, ARCHIE, Mechanoids, Xicticx, Juicer Uprising, and the Minion War. I wish they would finalize the outcome of the Minion War in a similar fashion that Jaymes lays out. What I didnt like about all but SoT, is you had to look into other books to find the outcomes and they were cryptic at best. I liked when PB picked a direction and stuck with it.

I love the meta plots too. I disagree about your assessment of the earlier plots/books. Mechanoid SB. WB 4 Africa, WB 10 Juicer Uprising and WB 23 Xiticix all give the broad strokes of how things end while leaving speciiffc details up to the players and GMs. JU goes so far as to tell you which areas the CS takes over and what happens to juicers as a group while Xiticix Invasion tells you how veterans of the Xiticix War will be treated compared to veterans of the SoT.

[Fenris2020]

I just don't want to see the Minion War turn out completely insane like Siege on Tolkeen did. I'd compare it to season 8 of Game of Thrones, really.
I'm curious also how it would be rationalized for the CS forces wouldn't attack the non-CS forces also fighting the demons and deevils. They've been indoctrinated to do so for a long time, after all.

[jaymz]

"I'm curious also how it would be rationalized for the CS forces wouldn't attack the non-CS forces also fighting the demons and deevils."

I missed this a while back so my apologies...

They've already touched on this in Heroes of Humanity (I think) and definitely touched on this in Megaverse in Flames.

Let us also keep in mind that from day one Palladium has said troops in the field may not fully adhere to the indoctrination and the further away one was from Chi-Town the more likely it would be that they may turn a "blind eye" to d-bees or magic users depending on the situation.