u/CherryNomad

Brazil's coffee and sugar industries were largely enabled by huge amounts of slave labour, and following the abolition of slavery in 1888, plantation owners lost a significant amount of their sway over the nation, and thus began "milk coffee politics", wherein dairy and coffee oligarchies -- less reliant on enslaved labour than the sugar industry -- dominated the country's local governance.

My answer to my own question is that Uruguay (aka Cisplatina, which historically had a small slave population, would have made it so that Brazil's economy was proportionally more reliant on free dairy farmers, and less reliant on subtropical sugar and coffee production, thus hastening the disenfranchisement of slaveholding plantation owners. It probably wouldn't have had a profound effect on the abolition of slavery, but I imagine that it wouldn't have been nothing.

The best counterpoint that I could raise is that landowners in Uruguay would have taken advantage of the availability of slave labour in Brazil, compared to Uruguay (or rather, the region which is now recognised as Uruguay) which was already in the process of gradual abolition prior to the Cisplatine War. Hence, the territory would not have remained low on slaves; eventually reaching a similar slave-per-head ratio to Minas Gerais, Brazil's largest dairy-producing state historically.

Rules:

- As of the 1st of January, 2000, one in every ten babies is born 'evil'

- Evil people want to individually cause as many human casualties as possible (so, only their personal kill count matters to them). They are not forced to cooperate in any way.

- Evil people are born with a basic understanding of strategy and planning, so they comprehend the concepts of 'staying in character' and 'maintaining cover'. They are otherwise mentally and physically human.

- Evil people are born with an innate ability to understand their local langauge of majority, and the language(s) of their parents.

- The definition of 'killing someone' is determined individually. One evil person might decide that killing people indirectly through maximising fossil fuels emissions is sufficient; another might decide that a kill only counts if they accomplish it with their own two hands.

Win Conditions:

- Victory: Humanity is extinct, or human civilisation has collapsed, or the concept of society has been irreparably damaged within 100 years

- Defeat: Any non-totalitarian, technologised, sustainable community of more than 100,000 humans exists as of 2100 AD.

Rules

- America is 10x smaller. The land, the people, the buildings, the weapons, everything. Alaska and unincorporated territories are included.

- Canada and Mexico are NOT moved, and the continental USA is shrunk towards its centre. Thus, there are now giant tracts of ocean separating Mexico and Canada from the United States (to the south of Canada, to the north of Mexico).

- Trade still works 'as normal', proportionally speaking. Anything being exported from America becomes 10x bigger. Anything being imported becomes 10x smaller, as long as it's going to the United States' economy.

- America cannot call upon any allies. Any American troops abroad also become miniaturised. Anyone immigrating to America, or attempting to join the American side, similarly becomes ten times smaller. This includes anyone working for America under duress (prisoners of war, for example).

- Victory over America is defined as the occupation of the American capital, and the formal surrender of its government. America wins if the opposing side's win condition is not fulfilled within ten years.

Rules:

• If the chosen person ("The Captain") canonically owns a ship, they get to bring it. Otherwise, they receive a ship from their setting or time period (for example, Blackbeard from real life would sail the Queen Anne, and Maverick from Top Gun would receive a Nimitz Class Supercarrier or whatever).
  • Aircraft are not allowed, but land vehicles are.
  • If the person receiving a ship from their time period would trivialise the challenge, then they are simply put in charge of the original twelve ships of Odysseus' men.
• If The Captain canonically has a crew or a team, they get to bring those people along as well, but only their subordinates. Anyone who is of equal or greater standing within the group cannot be taken on the journey.
• If The Captain has any knowledge of the original myth of The Odyssey, they lose that knowledge. It is replaced with the same knowledge that Odysseus had at the outset of his journey (i.e. a general awareness of what Sirens are, knowledge of Poseidon as a literal physical deity, etc)
• The Captain is forced to encounter each of the challenges within The Odyssey and replicate some of Odysseus' actions, though the exact methods and context can be altered as they wish:
  • They are forced to enter Polyphemus' cave, steal a wheel of cheese, and make visual contact with Polyphemus.
  • They must at some point enter the realm of the Laestrygonians.
  • The same storms which waylaid Odysseus also affect The Captain's ship.
  • At least one member of the crew must hear the songs of the Sirens.
  • The crew are forced to spend a month on Helios' island, with his sacred cattle.
  • The Captain must meet with Circe and have a conversation with her.
  • The Captain must forage for food on the island of the Lotus Eaters. As a reminder, preexisting knowledge about the myth of The Odyssey is erased, so nobody in the crew would know what the lotus does.
  • They must sail through the strait where Scylla and Charybdis can be found.
  • Calypso can be ignored, as this impediment could not be overcome except through divine intervention.
  • The Captain must kill the one hundred suitors by the end. They get to do this with whatever crew they make it through the journey with. Keeping Telemachus alive and meeting with Penelope are not required.
• "Least capable" refers to an aggregate of a person's abilities, intelligence, physical stats, and the technological sophistication of their ship.
• While the original challenge was written with the intention of there only being one ship, you can include a fleet of twelve vessels if you want to be true to the original myth, or however many ships accompanied The Captain on their most famous expedition (e.g. 17 ships on Columbus' Second Voyage)
• There is no divine intervention whatsoever except for the summoning of storms by Poseidon to devastate the fleet. If the cows of Helios are slaughtered, assume that Zeus strikes The Captain's ship(s) with lightning bolts with sufficient force to destroy a 17th century ship-of-the-line.

Rounds:

• R1: All threats are based on Homer's "The Odyssey" as depicted in the Epic Cycle
• R2: All threats are based on Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" as released in 2026
• R3: All threats are based on Jorge Rivera-Herrans' "Epic: The Musical" as released between 2022 and 2024

Rules:

- The eight foot tall man weighs 210kg, based on the weight of Sultan Kosen (8'3", 225kg).

- The four foot tall men weigh 35kg, based on Herve Villechaize (3'11", 36kg)

- EDIT: I originally assumed that everyone would be healthy and able to move without assistance (mostly out of ignorance), but you can decide whether to factor in the disabilities that come with being extremely tall/short (needing stilts, heart issues, etc)

Rounds:

- R1: Two four foot men, for a combined height of 8'0"

- R2: Six four foot men, for a combined weight of 210kg

- R3: However many four foot men it would take, if bloodlusted

Rules:

- The German Military -- about 13 million people throughout the course of the war -- is replaced by an equal number of 'large' (T-rexes, stegosauruses, etc) dinosaurs of any kind. Alternatively, they can receive five 'small' dinosaurs (raptors, pterydactyls, etc) instead of one large dinosaur.

- The German Empire cannot use ground troops, offensive aircraft, artillery, or any other form of armed ground force; they must utilise the dinosaurs for any engagement taking place over solid earth. However, they retain access to their navy.

- The dinosaurs do not require food or water. Their morale is also unshakeable.

- The dinosaurs are Ally-Lusted and will only attack allied troops and civilians. They have a very limited understanding of human speech and can be commanded to move towards specific strategic objectives and cities. However, they cannot be ordered to do anything requiring lateral thinking or creative interpretation (e.g. building fortifications or waiting to ambush a troop column).

- The German Empire retains access to its logistical network and engineers, meaning that they can still construct trenches, observation posts, and fortifications, as well as move the dinosaurs around by plane and train.

Rounds:

- R1: The German Empire is forced to use dinosaurs for all non-naval combat.

- R2: The German Empire can still utilise indirect methods of warfare (chemical warfare, artillery, strategic bombing, etc) but are still restricted in the use of ground troops

- R3: The German Empire is completely unrestricted; the 13-65 million dinosaurs are simply added to their existing troop counts at the start of WW1.

All food sources besides human meat no longer provide any nutrition. One human body weighing 70kg will provide ample nutrition for a healthy adult male for approximately 70 days (based on a real figure of ~140,000 calories per human body), assuming no spoliation or wastage. Hence, 1kg = 1 day of good eating.

Human flesh magically becomes capable of perfectly fulfilling the nutritional needs of a person. Human hair, nails, teeth, bodily secretions, excrement, and other materials which can be harvested without harming the individual in question are not viable for consumption.

Everyone is aware of the fact that non-human food sources no longer do anything as soon as the challenge begins.

A country "lasting" is essentially defined as their current government continuing to exist. Any government which succumbs to anarchy, becomes a rump state, or which is turned into a puppet by another is considered to have lost.

Rounds:

- R1: No prep time

- R2: Prep time of 5 years, during which food continues to provide nutrition, but everyone is aware that within 5 years they will only be able to survive by eating humans.

Sorry if this is a rule 11 violation.

The poorest 10% of people in each country on Earth (so, the poorest 10% in the USA, 10% in Italy, 10% in Indonesia, etc) decide to kill every other human on the planet. They win if they become the planetary majority. They lose if human extinction occurs (or becomes imminent) or if they haven't succeeded within twenty years.

The poorest 10% are bloodlusted, and any children they have are also considered part of their coalition. Someone becoming rich or becoming poor after the round has begun does not change what side they are on.

- Round 1: The poorest 10% are able to identify each other by sight, name, and voice, but otherwise have no means of coordinating

- Round 2: The poorest 10% are part of a hive mind and can make decisions on overall strategy in real time

- Round 3: The richest 1% are affected instead, but world leaders and politicians are excluded.