WitchPromptWitchPrompt

Worked example

Alternate History Generator — Chernobyl sand boron fails

@sadhvikairUpdated

Filled with

Divergence
Helicopter drops of sand, boron, lead, clay, and dolomite fail to quench the graphite fire or poison remaining fission at Chernobyl Unit 4.
When
late April to mid-May 1986
Where
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukrainian SSR; plume path across Belarus and Europe
Style
documentary alternate history, precise, grim, no sensational radiation myths
End Date
September 2026
Focus
fire and plume, Unit 3, shelter, liquidators, politics, zone, nuclear policy
Constraints
Steam explosion is industrial-scale, not megaton. No radiation-as-plague. No hundreds of thousands of invented radiation deaths. Most of ordinary life elsewhere continues.

The finished prompt

alternate-history-generator.chernobyl-sand-boron-fails.prompt
Write a grounded alternate history. ### The change Point of divergence: Helicopter drops of sand, boron, lead, clay, and dolomite fail to quench the graphite fire or poison remaining fission at Chernobyl Unit 4. When it happens: late April to mid-May 1986 Where / who it hits first: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukrainian SSR; plume path across Belarus and Europe ### How to write it - Style: documentary alternate history, precise, grim, no sensational radiation myths - End the timeline in: September 2026 - Zoom in on: fire and plume, Unit 3, shelter, liquidators, politics, zone, nuclear policy - Hard rules: Steam explosion is industrial-scale, not megaton. No radiation-as-plague. No hundreds of thousands of invented radiation deaths. Most of ordinary life elsewhere continues. ### Method 1. State the real baseline in 2–4 sentences so the fork is clear. 2. Make the divergence small and mechanical — one failed action, one different decision, one piece of luck that goes the other way. Do not stack extra miracles. 3. Follow first-order effects (hours/days), then second-order (months/years), then the world as of September 2026. 4. Keep physics, logistics, institutions, and incentives intact unless the divergence itself breaks them. No cartoon apocalypse unless the change actually implies one. 5. Mark speculation vs established fact. If numbers are uncertain, give a range and say why. 6. Say what does **not** change. Most of ordinary life continues. ### Structure 1. The day of the fork 2. The following weeks 3. Year 1 4. The next decade 5. Long tail to September 2026 6. What still looks like our world 7. One-paragraph verdict: how this timeline differs, and how it does not Be specific about dates, quantities, and institutions. Do not turn the story into a single-theme sermon.

See the full template and all variables →

Other presets of this prompt

Make your own reusable prompt. It's free.

Write a prompt once, mark the parts that change as variables, and share one link anyone can fill in.

Create a promptBrowse more prompts