Messing with a world for the lulz

Okay, I've got an idea where someone who's been exploring the multiverse for a long time arrives in a rather crapsacky world and instead of doing what he'd normally do (turn around and leave) decideds on a whim to try and shake things up a bit, more or less for fun. Thing is, I'm having trouble figuring out just how much upheaval someone without any special powers beyond the aforementioned multiverse travelling (which he has far more control over then the average slider), a tendency to go unnoticed, and more then his share of good luck, but with a fair amount of cunning and smarts could realistically cause.

edited 23rd Nov '11 6:04:53 PM by Weaver

1) I have no idea what multiverse or slider mean. Do not explain it, I'm just mentioning that so you'll know.

2) Is this a novel or a short story? Since short stories generally span shorter lengths of time, they will automatically allow for less amounts of change, or a more limited scope such as that of a single family instead of a city/planet, which could take years.

3) The only way he can hope to make significant change on the entire world is to run for office of some sort, or work with a native inhabitant who already has the leverage.

4) He will either need to be established as excessively noble, or excessively evil.

In regards to #4, it's hard to see how nobility good possibly come into this given his motives. This definitely sounds like a bad guy to me.

I am going to assume that by "multiverse" you mean "metaverse" and that you are actually a teenage Neal Stephenson from the past concieving the first ideas for Snow Crash.

Yes, Neal Stephenson, definitely write Snow Crash! I'd leave out the special powers bit, though, and aim for more of a cyberpunk angle like what William Gibson had going on. I'll definitely read this when you're done, and in fact, I already have. It's actually one of my favorite books.

EDIT: Oh and don't forget the linguistics derails.

edited 23rd Nov '11 6:44:11 PM by annebeeche

1) Okay, noted.

2) Short story.

3) Neither of those would really work since a) the character has no legal identity, b)and be couldn't be bothered. Bear in mind that causing significant change isn't really his goal, he's just trying to stir things up because he felt like doing so.

4) I'm aiming more for Chaotic Neutral combined with a firm belief that in the grand scheme of things (which, from his perspective, is very, very grand indeed) nothing that doesn't affect him personally really matters.

Is multiverse really that unusual a word, or am I just too used to seeing it in the context of Magic The Gathering?

It's unusual. Also, even if I'd known what it was, I don't know what multiverse it's referring to. Like saying "This takes place in a country" when you specifically mean "Belarus."

The idea of multiple multiverses makes very little sense, so I'm not quite clear on why that part is a problem.

I meant that "multiverse" doesn't do enough to describe the specific world that the story it's set in.

Ah, makes sense.

I don't try and apply D&D character alignments to anywhere else, but this description, again, suggests a fairly villainous figure.

@nrjxll: To be honest, I only used the term 'Chaotic Neutral' because it was a convenient way of summing up a character who on one hand isn't actively cruel or malicious but on the other is fairly heedless due to being effectively immune to concequences for years and has a morality system screwed up by the knowledge that there are billions of versions of the same person in different realities, with the number constantly increasing.