Divergent Earth: Parallel 34.21.12

It is the early 20th Century, around 1910.

The Southeastern part of North America is populated by what could be called Voodoo Vikings, who settled in the 12th century.

The West sees an organized federation of First Nations people who protect their borders and their sovereignty, and who were given a leg up by ancient aliens.

In the Northeast is this parallel's version of the United States, which maintains military advantage through alliances with other-dimensional beings and sentient parasitic fungi.

Parallel¹ 34.21.12 is a homebrew setting for Mythras. It's a mashup of core Mythras, After the Vampire Wars (ATVW), Luther Arkwright (LA), Worlds United (WU), and some homebrew rules.

¹ The term parallel is from Luther Arkwright; it means parallel dimension or timeline. The number for a parallel denotes its distance from the "origin" or root dimension.

Please see the note on historical revisionism and fictionalization.

The Mythras game system, rules, etc., and all settings published by them, are copyright The Design Mechanism.

Material on this site not covered by other ownership or copyright statements is Copyright © 2023 Robert Prince.

Making a Character in Parallel 34.21.12

See below for sources/source books and character sheets. Reference copies will be provided at the table.

Character Creation Steps

1. Roll characteristics: 4d6 discard lowest for STR, DEX, CON, POW, and CHA, and 3d6+6 discard lowest for INT and SIZ.
2. Refer to the Powers Cost Table; using 8 points, first choose from Human or Skinwalker, and C. plexus subtracting the points for your choice. Note that your species choice may alter your characteristics (see Skinwalker powers, C. plexus powers); make those changes now.
3. If you want to choose Gifts, do that before further power selection.
4. Choose from the other powers¹² with your remaining points, noting that
   1. Only Humans can use Sorcery and Psionics
   2. Only Humans and Skinwalkers can use Mysticism
   3. Only C. plexii can use Pheremone Control
   4. Humans can use Psionics or Mysticism, but not both
5. Calculate your attributes (Action Points, Damage Modifier, Experience Modifier, Healing Rate, Hit Points, Initiative Bonus, Luck Points, Movement Rate).
6. Your Culture in North America is Civilized (note for Cultural skills selection).
7. Select a Career and your Skills; alternately use the Skill Pyramid.

Character Powers Cost Table

Sources/Source Books

Core Rulebooks

• Core Mythras Rulebook
• ORC Licensed Starter Set Rules (free)

Destined combat rules are used (movement rules are better/more clear).

Settings

• After the Vampire Wars
• Luther Arkwright
• Worlds United

Here's a very brief overview of the Mythras system for those familiar with other RPG systems. If you're not familiar with any RPG system, there's a lot of places to start; here's one.

Character Sheets

Here's a Google Sheet Character Sheet (make a copy of it in your Google drive for your use).

Here's a PDF character sheet and a form fillable PDF character sheet.

Species and Powers

Species Capabilities

• Human, Skinwalker, and Cordyceps Plexus are available species.
• Every species has access to Gifts (but, see descriptions).
• Every species has access to Hex (Folk Magic is called Hex, Hocus, or Hoodoo depending on the region; the skill is called Hex).
• Only humans can use Psychic Powers and Sorcery.
• Humans and Skinwalkers can use Mysticism.
• Humans can use Psychic Powers or Mysticism, but not both.
• Only C. plexii can use Pheremone Control.

Humans

In Parallel 34.21.12, only humans are psychics, and only humans have the ability to contact other-dimensional beings, a requirement for Sorcery. Humans also have access to Hex Magic and Mysticism.

Skinwalkers

The "Lycanthropes" of 34.21.12 are not influenced by the cycle of the moon, and the only currently known variant is Alligator. This form of lycanthropy is genetic or represents a sub-species of human; all are born into Skinwalker families.

Skinwalkers are known to exist, although outside of the Vattmarch they are mostly thought to be the result of a curse or dark Sorcery.

In the Vattmarch, Skinwalkers have been present since Scandinavian and local Creole culture blended. It is unknown whether the Vikings brought it with them, but since only Gator 'Walkers are known, it is suspected to originate in the New World. Skinwalkers are rare outside of the Vattmarch.

The Lycanthropy skill is called Skinwalk in 34.21.12; so, a Skinwalker Skinwalks (or just 'Walks) into and out of their animal form.

Skinwalker Powers

• Skinwalker characters get 4 extra characteristic points to distribute across STR, CON, DEX, and POW.
• Skinwalkers get the Skinwalk Skill, starting at CON + POW. This can be increased during character creation with both cultural and bonus points but cannot start higher than 50%. Skinwalk Intensity is Skinwalk/10.
• Skinwalkers have a Feral Form.
• Skinwalkers have Bloodlust.
• Skinwalkers get the Creature Power Night Sight
  • Treat partial darkness as illuminated and dark-ness as partial darkness
• Skinwalkers get rapid healing:
  • Minor Wounds: Hours
  • Serious Wounds: Days
  • Major Wounds: Weeks
• Skinwalkers can learn Hex and Mysticism.
• Skinwalkers cannot learn Sorcery or Psychic Powers.

Skinwalker Bloodlust

1. If the 'Walker is attacked or threatened with lethal violence while in feral form, they must make a Hard Skinwalk roll to avoid attacking the threat.
2. When encountering someone they possess a Hate Passion towards, if this person acts at all hostile or disrespectful, the 'Walker feels an overwhelming urge to attack. To resist this urge, 'Walkers can make a Skinwalk roll, opposed by their Passion against this individual.

Skinwalker Feral Form and the Skinwalk Skill

It costs 2 Power Points to invoke the Feral Form, and requires a successful Skinwalk roll. The transformation takes 1 turn (1 Action Point if in combat).

The Skinwalker Feral Form is not a total transformation - until Skinwalk Intensity reaches 9. At that point, it is possible to transform completely into the 'Walker's animal form. Once Skinwalk Intensity reaches 9 (81%+), the player should roll STR, CON, and DEX for their Full Feral Form from the table below, and note those characteristics for use when 'Walked into that form.

Claws and bite in the Partial Feral Form inflict appropriate damage:

The Partial Feral Form grants one step increase in Damage Modifier, +1 Armor Points in all locations, and +2 meters of movement.

Starting at Intensity 4, Skinwalkers can incorporate metals into their Feral Form bodies if they are in skin-to-material contact when they Skinwalk. This gives them the following benefits at each level (additive, in other words at Intensity 9 a 'Walker gets a total of +4 AP and +4 points of damage w/claws and bite, assuming enough metal is brought along on the 'Walk).:

Note that a nominal amount of metal must be used for each point of Intensity. For level 4, a large Bowie knife would generally be enough metal for the benefit. For level 6, two large crowbars or a sword would suffice... etc. Use your judgement and make a good case for the GM.

At Intensity 9, a Skinwalker is capable of a complete transformation - while Skinwalked to their animal form, they would be indistinguishable from a normal animal of that form (if only relying on normal vision).

Full Feral Form Alligator Stats

Cordyceps Plexus (C. plexus, C. plexii)

C. plexus is a species of sentient parasitic fungi. Humans are their preferred hosts, although there are rumors that any sizable mammal can support a C. plexus. The fungus becomes a symbiote with its host, merging consciousness and personality.

Most often, hosting a C. plexus is voluntary. The fungi have a belief in mutual benefit and do not force themselves on unwilling hosts. Somewhat like legends of vampires, there are many people who desire living well beyond their years, with a romanticized notion of what "living" means in that scenario. Cults and other organizations exist where people make themselves available to host a C. plexus symbiote.

C. plexii are long lived, slowing the aging of their hosts to a rough maximum of 250 years. When a C. plexus infects its first host, it takes on most of that person's personality (called Imprinting), making that person not quite immortal but much longer lived than most humans. When it comes to the ability to migrate to a new host and retain most of the symbiote's/host's personality, a form of immortality is suggested.

The situation with a mature C. plexus migrating to a new host is nuanced. Since the fungi's personality stays largely intact after Imprinting, infecting a new host means in some sense that the new host "dies". Anecdotally, this is rare. Stories tell that usually the donor body is someone in a coma or otherwise brain dead. The truth around this is not clear, but there are C. plexii known to be 800 years or older. They haven't been very open on the subject.

C. plexii were originally named C. ganglia, but a prominent C. plexus writer suggested that they were more properly called "plexus", that is, a network of ganglion nerve structures.

Their origin is unknown, but C. plexii appear in all recorded history. Older, more powerful C. plexii are known as "Cords"; lesser or younger C. plexii are called "Threads". Cord alliances are known to exist for protection and cooperation but it is not known whether there is an agenda beyond this.

C. plexus Powers

C. plexus characters start by rolling baseline human characteristics.

• C. plexii get 5 additional characteristic points to distribute as desired.
• C.plexii get tougher as they age. Every 20 years of age from the date of Imprinting they gain 1 Armor Point from increasingly tough fibrous flesh (age within a single host).
• C.plexii get stronger as they age. Every 30 years of age from the date of Imprinting they gain 1 point of Strength (age within a single host).
• C.plexii can spend 10 Power Points for an extra Action Point, twice per day.
• C. plexii can modify Skill difficulty grades; the effects depend on their age (total age, not just age within a single host):
  • Up to 50 years: 1 level for 5 Power Points
  • 50 - 199 years: 2 levels for 7 Power Points
  • 200+ years: 3 levels for 10 Power Points
• C. plexii can augment their Damage Modifier; the effects depend on their age (total age, not just age within a single host):
  • Up to 50 years: 1 level for 5 Power Points
  • 50 - 199 years: 2 levels for 7 Power Points
  • 200+ years: 3 levels for 10 Power Points
• C. plexii can learn Hex.
• C. plexii cannot learn Sorcery, Psychic Powers, or Mysticism. A human with any of these powers loses them as soon as the C. plexus Imprints.

Pheremone Control

C. plexii can generate and emit powerful pheremones that, when applied to humans' skin through touch, affect the recipients similarly to Disease and Poison (Mythras 3rd Printing, page 75). Potency is equal to the character's Pheremone Skill. Duration is equal to one tenth of the Pheremone Skill in minutes unless otherwise noted. The following effects are available through Pheremone Control.

Suggestion Pheremone

The Suggestion Pheremone works a bit like truth serum; for the duration of effect, a victim must resist each question using Willpower. The victim will remember the discussion - it does not cloud memory or confuse the victim. If the victim succeeds in their Willpower roll, they may freely lie in answer to that question. For the duration, the victim will not attempt to flee or physically resist, but if left alone they may act normally.

Others

Currently, other species (Vampires, Half-Fae, Shifters, others) are not part of Parallel 34.21.12.

This could change at any time.

Please see the note on historical revisionism and fictionalization.

The Mythras game system, rules, etc., and all settings published by them, are copyright The Design Mechanism.

Material on this site not covered by other ownership or copyright statements is Copyright © 2023 Robert Prince.

Gifts

Unique humans, Skinwalkers, and C. plexii are gifted with extranormal abilities, called Gifts. Gift definitions come from a subset of Luther Arkwright Traits and Worlds United Gifts.

At character creation, Supernatural Points may be spent to roll on the Gifts table.

If Mysticism or Psionics are rolled, go to the Powers Workshop and roll for Disciplines (for Psionics) and Talents.

Gift Table

Agile

The character has superb reflexes. The character adds one tenth of their Athletics skill to Initiative Bonus.

Assimilation

The character can read and absorb information at an astonishingly fast rate. They glean important points and inferences from reading text at the rate of 2 seconds per page (thus, a 300 page book can be understood in 10 minutes) . The character must obviously be able to read the text in the first place. This is not the same as Eidetic Memory; it's fast reading comprehension, not recall.

Charming

The character is highly charismatic. Any skill with CHA as a base characteristic is always one grade easier.

Danger Sense

The character has an uncanny intuition of personal danger and never suffers the negative game effects for being surprised.

Deadshot

The character is a natural marksman. Aiming for one round reduces the situational Difficulty by two grades instead of one.

Eidetic Memory

The character has an eidetic memory and can memorise an image, page of writing, scene, sound, etc. perfectly by spending 1d6 minutes studying it. The character can recall or recite the precise details and nature of the subject at will. Details do not fade with age or time.

Enhanced Balance

The character’s sense of balance is acute. Athletics and Acrobatics are always one grade easier. If forced to use Evade to avoid an attack, the character is never left prone.

Enhanced Sight

The character can see normally in near-total darkness and suffers no modifiers due to the absence of light. All Perception rolls involving vision are one grade easier.

Exceptional Luck

The character has 1 additional Luck Point each session.

Forgettable

The character’s face and voice are indistinctive and cannot be remembered by most witnesses. Strangers or casual acquaintances require a Herculean Willpower roll to remember the character or details about them.

Inhuman Perfection

Increase one characteristic by 1d6.

Insightful

The character is a remarkable judge of character and agenda. All Insight rolls are one grade easier.

Iron Mind

Willpower rolls are one grade easier.

Linguistic Savant

The character is a preternatural linguist. They begin with 1d3+1 additional languages covered under their Linguistics skill. Communicating in an unfamiliar language is always one grade easier, and the character can learn any language they have been exposed to for more than a few hours by spending 1 Experience Roll.

Mathematical Savant

The character is adept at complex mental mathematics and deductions of probability. Any skill requiring the application of mathematics, including Commerce, Engineering, Gambling, and Science (any) are always at one grade easier. In addition, all uses of Science (Mathematics), including breaking codes, are always two grades easier. In addition, the character can accurately perform in one Round of intense concentration any mathematical calculation that an ordinary person would require many hours of work with pencil and paper.

Mysticism

Human and Skinwalker characters only. The character has a natural talent for Mysticism and automatically gains both the Meditation and the Mysticism skills without training. The character starts play with a number of Talents equal to one tenth of their Mysticism skill. Additional Supernatural Points spent on Mysticism provide 2 Mysticism Talents instead of 1.

Natural Liar

The character can lie with ease and conviction. All Deceit rolls are two grades easier than the norm. Truth drugs have no effect on the character, and both mechanical lie detectors and the Psionic Mind Probe Talent reveal that the character is telling the truth even when they are lying.

Null-Psychic

Human characters only. The character can never gain Psychic Powers, and their mind is immune to their influence. The character cannot be detected or influenced/harmed through any psychic means. The character can, however, still be injured through the physical manifestations of a psychic power (such as something hurled by Telekinesis). A character cannot be both Null-Psychic and Psychic. If a Null-Psychic character spends 2 Power Points and succeeds at a Standard Willpower roll, they can create an area around themselves where no Psychic Talents function. This area is equal in radius to one twentieth their Willpower skill in metres. Anyone inside this area cannot use or be affected by any Psychic Talent, although they could still be struck by e.g. a telekinetically thrown object, as long as the the object the telekinetic was throwing was outside this radius. This area persists for 10 minutes.

Perceptive

The character has enhanced powers of perception. All Perception rolls are one grade easier. Stimuli related to their enhanced perception are that much more vivid, apparent, intricate, distinct, and so forth.

Psychic

Human characters only. The character starts with one Psychic Discipline and two Psychic Talents. A character cannot be both Psychic and Null-Psychic.

Quick

The character's movement rate is double the species norm. The character can disengage from melee combat without using an Action Point or requiring an opposed skill test.

Regenerative

The character’s Healing Rate is 2d2 points higher than normal. Not only does the character heal faster, but wounds do not leave any scar tissue. The character cannot regenerate amputated body parts but if a body part suffers a Major Wound and remains attached to the body, it will regenerate given enough healing time.

Resilient

The character is incredibly resilient to the effects of wounds. Their Hit Points are calculated using STR+CON+SIZ.

Shadow

The character is innately stealthy. All Stealth rolls are one grade easier, and the character can attempt to hide in plain sight if they are not currently being observed.

Please see the note on historical revisionism and fictionalization.

The Mythras game system, rules, etc., and all settings published by them, are copyright The Design Mechanism.

Material on this site not covered by other ownership or copyright statements is Copyright © 2023 Robert Prince.

Skills

Choose a Career and then Culture, Career, and Bonus Skills using the steps below. Or, use the alternative Skill Pyramid method.

Careers

Vattmarchers

Vattmarchers can have any occupation reasonable for late 19th/early 20th century America. Many Vattmarchers find employment as wranglers - hippo wranglers. Use Beast Handler, Hunter, or Scout for hippo wrangler skills.

Humans

Any occupation reasonable for late 19th/early 20th century America.

C. Plexus

Any occupation reasonable for late 19th/early 20th century America. Many C. plexii find employment in the USNA's Department of Wartime Defense, whether as soldiers, technicians, or spies.

Characters start out with base Standard Skills, and from these three sources:

• Cultural Skills
• Career or Professional Skills
• Bonus Skills

Standard Skills

Calculate Standard Skills base (this is a starting point; some of these will be added to in the next steps):

Cultural Skills

Culture in Parallel 34.21.12 is generally Civilized (for the purposes of Skill selection).

Allocate 100 Skill Points across (each Skill that points are allocated to must receive at least 5% and no more than 15%):

• The listed Cultural Standard Skills
• 3 chosen from Cultural Professional Skills
• A single cultural Combat Style if desired (from table below or Combat Styles)
• Hex Magic, Meditation/Mysticism, Psionics, Sorcery, Skinwalk, or Pheremone Control Skills if relevant
• Customs and Native Tongue automatically get +40% each (this does not draw from the Cultural Skill Point pool)

Career Skills

Allocate 100 Skill Points across (Not all skills must be improved, but no one skill can receive more than 15%):

• Career Standard Skills
• 3 chosen from Career Professional Skills
• Hex Magic, Meditation/Mysticism, Psionics, Sorcery, Skinwalk, or Pheremone Control Skills if relevant

Bonus Skills

Allocate 150 Bonus Skill points across:

• One additional Professional Skill or Combat Style, chosen as a hobby
• Any Cultural or Career Skills that you've already allocated points to, giving each a maximum of 15%
• Hex Magic, Meditation/Mysticism, Psionics, Sorcery, Skinwalk, or Pheremone Control Skills if relevant

Please see the note on historical revisionism and fictionalization.

The Mythras game system, rules, etc., and all settings published by them, are copyright The Design Mechanism.

Material on this site not covered by other ownership or copyright statements is Copyright © 2023 Robert Prince.

The Skill Pyramid

Instead of using Cultural, Career and Bonus Skill pools, the Skill Pyramid divides 350 points into five levels of pre-chosen Skill values:

It can be visualized as a pyramid:

     50
   40 40
  30 30 30
 20 20 20 20
10 10 10 10 10

15 individual Skills are chosen, using the breakdown above. Alternately, here's another Skill pyramid:

    40 40
 30 30 30 30
20 20 20 20 20
10 10 10 10 10

In both cases/using either pyramid:

· All points from the pyramid must be used
· Only one allocation per Skill
· Native Language and Customs are treated normally (+40%, other allocations can be made as with normal rules)
· No Skill can be made to be over 80%
· Six of the allocations must go to Professional Skills
· Career/Culture can be chosen normally; players may use those sets of Skills for allocation or choose freely

Combat Styles

General Combat Styles

Big Knife Fighter

"Big Knife" means a large dagger, something like a Bowie knife or a large seax. The fighting style is somewhat like a street brawler with knife skills.

Weapons

• Dagger
• Unarmed

Traits

• Knife Fighter Prowess: Permits the user to treat both their Unarmed and dagger blocks and parries as ‘Medium’ sized.
• Throw Weapons: The dagger/knife used in the style can also be thrown at no penalty to skill, but the damage roll is halved.

Vattmarch Combat Styles

Viking Fighter

Vattmarch Viking Fighters often pair an axe and a large knife, or rarely a shield. Also rarely a sword. It should be noted that wearing swords and shields would draw unwanted attention in all but the most backwater settlements... perhaps not so much in the Vattmarch, but even there in larger towns or cities it's not something you'd expect to see.

Weapons

• Axe
• Dagger
• Shield
• Long sword
• Long bow or short bow

Traits

• Shield Wall
• Intimidating Scream

Hippo Wrangler

Weapons

• Axe or Dagger
• Pistol or Shotgun
• Whip or Net

Traits

• Hippo Rider: Ignore Ride skill cap when shooting while riding a moving hippo.

City Combat Styles

Backstreet Brawler

A street brawler with skills. Anything goes - bite, scratch, broken bottles, hidden guns.

Weapons

• Dagger
• Club
• Unarmed
• Hideaway pistol

Traits

• Impromptu or Improvised Weapons: Treat any remotely club-shaped object as a club; most (reasonable) objects can be used at Unarmed Skill level attack for +1 damage over Unarmed
• Sucker Punch: On an Unarmed attack, you get Surprise if the opponent fails an Opposed Roll of their Perception against your attack roll

Pistol Duellist

A specialist with the pistol.

Weapons

• Pistol

Traits

• Ranged Marksman: When using a pistol, shift a Hit Location roll to an adjoining body location.

Rapier Duellist

Frontier Combat Styles

Rifle Sharpshooter

Weapons

• Rifle
• Pistol or Shotgun

Traits

• Mounted Combat: Ignore Ride skill cap when shooting while riding a moving horse or vehicle.

USNA Military Combat Styles

Squad-Trained Soldier

Marksman

Special Operator

Please see the note on historical revisionism and fictionalization.

The Mythras game system, rules, etc., and all settings published by them, are copyright The Design Mechanism.

Material on this site not covered by other ownership or copyright statements is Copyright © 2023 Robert Prince.

The World

Living in early 20th Century North America

Areas of North America in this parallel are still very much frontier lands. While it's rare (bordering on abnormal) for anyone to wear armor or carry shields, carrying firearms is considered normal in rural or frontier areas. Some towns and cities, depending on location and local culture, might be more or less friendly to openly wearing firearms. Throughout the Vattmarch, knives (big or small) and hand axes are considered normal everyday carry items. In the USNA, it being a rather militant culture, firearms and knife carry is considered normal.

North America in Parallel 34.21.12

First Nations of North America (FNNA)

The FNNA was originally a loose association of First Nations peoples across western North America. Early contact with what are today suspected to be aliens provided them the basics of technology and a massive increase in agricultural efficiency. By 550 CE various tribes in the west had joined in a confederation of peoples reaching from southern Mexico to Vancounver and from the Pacific to east of the Rockies: The First Nations of North America.

After the brief conflict with the expanding Vattmarch, FNNA determined to enforce their sovereignty and borders - they had been warned by their alien patrons to be vigilant or be wiped from existence.

The Vattmarch

In 1107 CE, King Sigurd 1 of Norway launched the Norwegian Crusade, the first time a European king personally led a crusade into the Holy Land. In response, several caliphates invaded Scandinavia, engaging in a savage genocidal rampage, a kind of counter Crusade. Over the next 20 years tens of thousands fled Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

The Scandinavian refugees sought safety in Vinland (Newfoundland), across the Atlantic Ocean. They continued south, eventually settling in the Southeastern part of North America. They mixed with immigrants from Spain, French Canadia, Africa, and the Caribbean. The resulting Creole people are a cultural blend of pagan/Norse, Spanish, French, and African traditions and religion. Thor, Jesus, and Baron Samedi all have their parts to play. They named their new homeland "Vattmarch", or "wet land" in their blended language.

By the mid 1400s, this culture had spread from modern day South Carolina to eastern Texas, including all of the swamplands of the Gulf coast. Agriculture and population growth pushed them west, and in 1440 they came into contact with FNNA settlements. The Vattmarchers employed their typical Viking tactics of violent plunder; however, the First Nations people were unexpectedly resilient. After a few years of skirmishing, they came to a reasonable peace and trading relationship.

European colonization attempts in North America largely stayed clear of the Vattmarch, although each country clearly had designs on it. The Vattmarchers made it clear that while temporary military control of smaller regions of the Vattmarch might be possible, such things were not well tolerated by the Voodo Vikings, and they always ended in violent defeat of the invaders. Survivors told horrific stories.

United States of North America (USNA)

British colonization during the 1600s resulted in the formation of 11 colonies, from North Carolina in the south to Maine in the north. In 1775, the colonies declared their independence from Britain, and with help from the Vattmarch¹ to the south and France via Canadia to the north, by 1788 the British were widely recognized to have lost. The British do not acknowledge this defeat, and continue to attack the USNA both in North America and abroad.

In the wake of their successful break with Britain, USNA expanded west as far as the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and part of Texas. The FNNA had already established clear borders by this time, so the USNA had reached the conclusion of its "manifest destiny" by the time they reached Colorado.

Please see the note on historical revisionism and fictionalization.

The Mythras game system, rules, etc., and all settings published by them, are copyright The Design Mechanism.

Material on this site not covered by other ownership or copyright statements is Copyright © 2023 Robert Prince.

Nation-State Factions

United States of North America

The United States of North America (USNA) is ostensibly the single most powerful nation in the Americas, but in reality it controls things east of the Rockies, north of the Vattmarch, and south of Canadia.

The USNA is a fiercely patriotic, militant culture that tends to the puritan in rural areas but is more progressive and open minded in cities. The USNA has a standing military which includes land, sea, and air branches.

Department of Wartime Defense

The Department of Wartime Defense (DWD) oversees all USNA military operations and governance. The Special Operations (specops) branch is rumored to be run by a C. plexus. Many C. plexii serve in the DWD. It's known that the fungi are strong supporters of USNA, although why is the subject of rumor and conspiracy theory.

Military Branches

• Army: Standard land war fighting
• Navy: Ships and submersibles
• Air Corps: Airships and aircraft
• Special Operations: Dirty jobs

Office of Horology

The Office of Horology (OH) is USNA's primary technology research and development organization. OH projects tend to research and practice sorcery as much as anything else.

First Nations of North America

The First Nations of North America (FNNA) control North America from the Pacific Ocean to the Rockies, and from southern Mexico to just north of Vancouver. Great Falls and Denver are the recognized trade cities with the USNA, and Dallas and Houston are the main points of trade between FNNA and the Vattmarch. There are many rail lines into these cities.

The FNNA's borders are not known to necessarily be patrolled, but visitors without the proper paperwork are known to disappear. The FNNA's official Visitor Program manages who from outside the FNNA can enter and how long they can stay. Only a few tourist-oriented settlements are available for visitors in the FNNA.

The FNNA does not have a permanent army, but every adult citizen of the Nations spends 6 months every 3rd year serving in whatever capacity makes sense at the time.

The FNNA openly trades with the Vattmarch, the USNA, Canadia, Japan, and Korea. Relations are polite if not necessarily friendly with European countries.

The Vattmarch

The Vattmarch ("wet land" in the Dane/Spanish/African pidgin of the area) is a vast area of the southeast of North America populated by the Vattmarchers, a Creole people who come from a blend of Middle Ages-era Viking settlers, French Canadian settlers, and Spanish and African settlers from the Caribbean. Vattmarch culture seems somewhat savage from the outside, but the Vattmarch is a wealthy land due to large tobacco plantations and hippo ranching.

Vattmarcher culture is a blend of Northern European, Spanish, and African traditions and religion; Thor, Jesus, and Baron Samedi all have their parts to play.

The Vattmarch does not have a standing army. Every Vattmarcher is required to be a warrior when the Vattmarch is threatened.

In the mid 18th century, some enterprising traders introduced hippopotami to the swamps of the Vattmarch in the hopes of raising hippos as a source of meat. The hippo ranch trade thrives to this day, as does the wild hippopotamus population.

The Vattmarch openly trades with the USNA, the FNNA, Canadia, and various European governments. The Vattmarch does not have friendly relations with Britain.

British Government

Americans won the Revolutionary War, and everyone except Britain agrees. Britain continues with aggressions in North America, including occasional bombing runs over populated areas from airships. Occasionally they land an invasion force and occupy a city here and there. They've conquered France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark, giving them a big war chest.

Canadia

Other Factions

Vattmarch Skinwalkers

Cordyceps plexus (C. plexus)

Hippo Ranchers

Please see the note on historical revisionism and fictionalization.

The Mythras game system, rules, etc., and all settings published by them, are copyright The Design Mechanism.

Material on this site not covered by other ownership or copyright statements is Copyright © 2023 Robert Prince.

Fraternal Organizations/Secret Societies

Mysticism, Hex Magic, Psychic Powers, and more rarely, Sorcery, are taught by various fraternal (i.e., occult or secret) organizations in Parallel 34.21.12.

These organizations tend to be extremely secretive, and hoard their extranormal knowledge for loyal and supportive members.

Organization Structure

Secret societies tend to be organized in one of three structures:

1. Cell
2. Military-style authority pyramid
3. Masonic-style Lodge

Cell Organization

Authority Pyramid Organization

Masonic Lodge Organization

Occult, Theological, or Political/Financial Foundations

Secret societies can often be categorized as occult/magical, theological, or political/financial in nature (organized crime falls under the financial categorization, and military or national interests fall under political).

Organizations