I've always had an office who is, essentially, Governor-General -- the personal rep. of the Emperor on a given planet. Now this person is often -- but by no means always -- the high ranking system noble. They often act as the arbiter of when, say, a noble is permitted to act beyond the scope of local law -- while nobles who are inconveineced by this often ignore the GG, they do so at their peril. Since, in the very rare case ( <.01%), the things can and do get appealed all the way to Capital and to the office of the chancellor or even the Throne itself.
High Law and Huscarles
- Thread starter TheBrain
- Start date
BrennanHawkwood
SOC-12
Brought my friends copy of GT:Nobles to work today
Huscarles are mentioned a number of times in the book. These are several of the important points...they are a special type of household troops which only high nobles may have that have special standing under Imperial law. They are sanctioned Imperial troops which are considered a part of the Imperial Army even though they are maintained and commanded by their noble patron. They do have some exemption from weapons laws as long as they are in uniform and on official business. They also share some of the nobleman's special legal status...an example is made that shooting at huscarles would be treated legally the same as shooting at their noble. The size of unit allowed varies depending on the authorization given to the noble by the emperor. They can be used for anything from mercenary work to law enforcement to really well armed bodyguards.
(Note that the book goes into some more detail and has several examples...)
Wow, it looks like there ARE some parallels to MTU in the GTU.
Seriously, since IMTU, the "landed" Nobles feifs are the starports, that means the Huscarles are in fact the starport defense forces. And sometimmes,the power behind the current leadership on-world.
They are IMTU, Part of the Army, and troops are often seconded from local Armies, and sometimes from the IM's. Like all imperial forces on active duty, they are immune to local weapons laws while on duty and/or in uniform. (The two are NOT always co-occurrant.) They usually are both the working guards of the starports, plus the starport police, plus the bodyguard of the noble, plus the nail forces used to enforce imperial will on a local government.
That last use is important: If a local world decides to make a nuke or biochem weapons plant, the Huscarles will be sent in to whac-a-thump said plant into rubble, and take all the records, too... then find out who ordered it, who paid for it, who was manning it, and dissapear them... either to an unmarked grave or grease splotch, or to a prison planet.
They also sometimes provide the security for civil transitions of local power, as the smoother the transition, the better.
Seriously, since IMTU, the "landed" Nobles feifs are the starports, that means the Huscarles are in fact the starport defense forces. And sometimmes,the power behind the current leadership on-world.
They are IMTU, Part of the Army, and troops are often seconded from local Armies, and sometimes from the IM's. Like all imperial forces on active duty, they are immune to local weapons laws while on duty and/or in uniform. (The two are NOT always co-occurrant.) They usually are both the working guards of the starports, plus the starport police, plus the bodyguard of the noble, plus the nail forces used to enforce imperial will on a local government.
That last use is important: If a local world decides to make a nuke or biochem weapons plant, the Huscarles will be sent in to whac-a-thump said plant into rubble, and take all the records, too... then find out who ordered it, who paid for it, who was manning it, and dissapear them... either to an unmarked grave or grease splotch, or to a prison planet.
They also sometimes provide the security for civil transitions of local power, as the smoother the transition, the better.
Drakon
SOC-14 1K
"The history of the European city states and the nobility indicates that this is a recipe for disaster and civil war."
That may be the point. Remember we are talking about gaming this kind of political setting, playing an RPG inside it. A set up that is too stable has little room for high adventure. So by proposing a system that appears unstable to revolt and rebellion, it increases the opportunities for adventuring by your merry band of travellers.
In other words, maybe that is not a bug. Maybe that is a feature.
That may be the point. Remember we are talking about gaming this kind of political setting, playing an RPG inside it. A set up that is too stable has little room for high adventure. So by proposing a system that appears unstable to revolt and rebellion, it increases the opportunities for adventuring by your merry band of travellers.
In other words, maybe that is not a bug. Maybe that is a feature.
