Am tinkering with a game world/supplement where Ben Franklin’s experiments are something akin to Spark-craft. After Martha Jefferson dies in childbirth Thomas begs him to resurrect her akin to Frankenstein (Ben Franklinstein). She goes on to become the Immortal Empress of the Americas, something like Queen Victoria and the Emperor in Warhammer 40k.
Problem is I don’t have much beyond that.
Thoughts?
Hmm. You’d have to alter Franklin’s personality quite a bit to do this (and I don’t know much about Martha Jefferson, but perhaps being resurrected and immortalized would change a person anyways?). Franklin invented mainly to solve practical or civic problems of the day, almost always in the service of safety (lightning rods, franklin stoves) or knowledge (bifocals, lending libraries). I find it hard to imagine that he would try his hand at resurrection.
Unless…?
Maybe Martha was key to the whole American Revolution or nation building project in this timeline? They had to bring her back or the whole thing would fall apart?
Maybe her illness wasn’t diabetes, but something altogether much more magical. In trying to understand it, Ben also figured out how to undo it, but at a very severe cost.
Maybe it’s the power of lightning and electricity that’s magical here. Ben discovered it and understood its potential, but Thomas Jefferson applied it, influenced by his own grief and against Ben’s wishes, to the task of resurrection. Ben then subsequently destroyed all trace of his discovery (or tried to!) so that the secret of it would die with him and Thomas.
Anyway, figuring this out might help with some of the other aspects of setting design as well, such as figuring out what you can do with Spark-craft (Electro-magicalism?), who might want to do what with it, and what else might be at stake here because of that.
You need to check out Unhallowed Metropolis, and also Atomic Robo…