1. Introduction

1.1. Author's notes

This book is intended primarily for the GM. While much of the material in it will be available to player characters, some information (such as the details of NPCs and certain organisations) should be kept secret until it is discovered in play.

Throughout this book, the terms "he", "his", "him", etc., are used to refer to characters of either gender. There are several reasons for this (choose or roll one):

1. This mode of usage has a long and honourable tradition.

2. The new styles of "hisr", "himr", etc., are considered by the author to be extremely ugly.

3. The author is a narrow-minded, sexist pig.

Several Russian words and phrases are used in this document; my transliterations are intended to provide a pronunciation guide, not to be an accurate rendering of the Cyrillic letters into the Roman alphabet. The pronunciation used is Muscovite Russian, which can be considered accurate for most regions of the game world.

It is not my intention to offend anyone; the inclusion of real-world religions in the game world is necessary in order to simulate that world accurately. These religions are included here for game purposes; if you don't feel comfortable with that aspect of the world, don't use it. The same applies to anything else that may cause the reader offence.

1.2. World orientation

Two universes have become merged. One of them is Earth, shortly after the discovery of hyperdrive; the other is Quar, where technology has not developed beyond gunpowder, but magic is an accepted fact.

This supplement is set about 20 years after large scale contact has begun. This allows the first groups of Earth-trained magicians to be available for play.

The Terran setting is at approximately GURPS TL12, though some areas of technology (notable hyperspace engines and biotechnology) are somewhat retarded, while others are significantly advanced.

Nations remain mostly recognisable, though there have been some major changes. For example, it was predictable even in 1990 (when Dual Worlds was first written) that the Soviet Union would split up, but even Africa and South America have changed beyond easy recognition.

As the universes met, Astral Travellers of Quar found it far easier than normal to open gates to Earth. Soon, there was a great flow of concepts across the bridges; some governments attempted to block contact, but the sheer number of Quari mages with ability and curiosity made this a futile effort. Magic was found to function normally on Earth, just as technology functions on Quar.

However, the transfer of culture was fairly slow. Quar, obviously, had no manufacturing base, so almost all high-tech goods had to be imported. Conversely, there were no Terran wizards, so magical training was conducted almost exclusively on Quar. The only exception was the Novosibirsk Institute of Power, which is believed to have been staffed by Quari wizards.

Many Quari factions resisted Terran "contamination", and eventually even the Quari mages stopped going where they weren't wanted; so on both worlds there were large areas which have not, at the time of the game, been significantly affected. These include (on Earth) most of Australia, and many of the ephemeral African states; on Quar, the state of Vastrek.