MT Q&A with Marc Millier
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It's always a bad idea when a game company gives in to fan pressure and changes some underlying truths about a game. The 'real' Strephon should have stayed fake. Otherwise where's the explanation of his disappearance and letting everything fall apart?
These fans were a vocal minority of fans who found the notion of Strephon, the 'true' emperor still being alive, too romantic to resist -- in fact the very thing that the real-fake Strephon capitalized upon with the Imperial populace.
In my games the real Streph was always a fake, a flawed clone put together from a recorded memory imprint of Strephon. IMTU Strephon had actually gone through several clones - he had decided he wanted to be the eternal emperor and put on a high tech brainscanning skullcap each night as he slept. A new body was cloned up and put into deep lo-berth, ready to be imprinted in the case of Strephon's death. But just as identical twins aren't completely identical, and also due to an accumulation of minor recording errors, each Strephon had a slightly different personality, and some were more stable than others. This was party responsible for Strephon's slightly schizophrenic reputation.
Strephon was also reported to have survived several accidents and other mysterious close calls. The public assumption was that prompt, high tech medical care was the reason for his survival. In fact, he had died several times, once in a previous assassination by Dulinor. In the first assassination, however, it wasn't possible to trace it back to Dulinor, and that's how he learned about the clones. It's also the reason for the very public 2nd assassination, so it couldn't be brushed under the rug.
IMTU, since Dulinor knew about the clones, he had the ones in cold storage sabotaged as well. But a group of admirals, generals, and planetary rulers who wanted to seize power of the 3i acquired the last memory recording and a genetic sample of Strephon, and grew their own clone to manipulate. They attempted to 'program' the clone using psionic intelligence agents, but had only partial success.
The players in my game eventually figured this out through forensic data, both current, and from the past. They tracked down personal items of Strephons from the Imperial Palace and other Imperial residences, and found fingerprints on his personal items. The oil of the prints contained skin cells, and while the samples from different times and locations were genetically identical, the prints themselves were sometimes different...
These fans were a vocal minority of fans who found the notion of Strephon, the 'true' emperor still being alive, too romantic to resist -- in fact the very thing that the real-fake Strephon capitalized upon with the Imperial populace.
In my games the real Streph was always a fake, a flawed clone put together from a recorded memory imprint of Strephon. IMTU Strephon had actually gone through several clones - he had decided he wanted to be the eternal emperor and put on a high tech brainscanning skullcap each night as he slept. A new body was cloned up and put into deep lo-berth, ready to be imprinted in the case of Strephon's death. But just as identical twins aren't completely identical, and also due to an accumulation of minor recording errors, each Strephon had a slightly different personality, and some were more stable than others. This was party responsible for Strephon's slightly schizophrenic reputation.
Strephon was also reported to have survived several accidents and other mysterious close calls. The public assumption was that prompt, high tech medical care was the reason for his survival. In fact, he had died several times, once in a previous assassination by Dulinor. In the first assassination, however, it wasn't possible to trace it back to Dulinor, and that's how he learned about the clones. It's also the reason for the very public 2nd assassination, so it couldn't be brushed under the rug.
IMTU, since Dulinor knew about the clones, he had the ones in cold storage sabotaged as well. But a group of admirals, generals, and planetary rulers who wanted to seize power of the 3i acquired the last memory recording and a genetic sample of Strephon, and grew their own clone to manipulate. They attempted to 'program' the clone using psionic intelligence agents, but had only partial success.
The players in my game eventually figured this out through forensic data, both current, and from the past. They tracked down personal items of Strephons from the Imperial Palace and other Imperial residences, and found fingerprints on his personal items. The oil of the prints contained skin cells, and while the samples from different times and locations were genetically identical, the prints themselves were sometimes different...
It's always a bad idea when a game company gives in to fan pressure and changes some underlying truths about a game. The 'real' Strephon should have stayed fake. Otherwise where's the explanation of his disappearance and letting everything fall apart?
These fans were a vocal minority of fans who found the notion of Strephon, the 'true' emperor still being alive, too romantic to resist -- in fact the very thing that the real-fake Strephon capitalized upon with the Imperial populace.
In my games the real Streph was always a fake, a flawed clone put together from a recorded memory imprint of Strephon. IMTU Strephon had actually gone through several clones - he had decided he wanted to be the eternal emperor and put on a high tech brainscanning skullcap each night as he slept. A new body was cloned up and put into deep lo-berth, ready to be imprinted in the case of Strephon's death. But just as identical twins aren't completely identical, and also due to an accumulation of minor recording errors, each Strephon had a slightly different personality, and some were more stable than others. This was party responsible for Strephon's slightly schizophrenic reputation.
Strephon was also reported to have survived several accidents and other mysterious close calls. The public assumption was that prompt, high tech medical care was the reason for his survival. In fact, he had died several times, once in a previous assassination by Dulinor. In the first assassination, however, it wasn't possible to trace it back to Dulinor, and that's how he learned about the clones. It's also the reason for the very public 2nd assassination, so it couldn't be brushed under the rug.
IMTU, since Dulinor knew about the clones, he had the ones in cold storage sabotaged as well. But a group of admirals, generals, and planetary rulers who wanted to seize power of the 3i acquired the last memory recording and a genetic sample of Strephon, and grew their own clone to manipulate. They attempted to 'program' the clone using psionic intelligence agents, but had only partial success.
The players in my game eventually figured this out through forensic data, both current, and from the past. They tracked down personal items of Strephons from the Imperial Palace and other Imperial residences, and found fingerprints on his personal items. The oil of the prints contained skin cells, and while the samples from different times and locations were genetically identical, the prints themselves were sometimes different...
These fans were a vocal minority of fans who found the notion of Strephon, the 'true' emperor still being alive, too romantic to resist -- in fact the very thing that the real-fake Strephon capitalized upon with the Imperial populace.
In my games the real Streph was always a fake, a flawed clone put together from a recorded memory imprint of Strephon. IMTU Strephon had actually gone through several clones - he had decided he wanted to be the eternal emperor and put on a high tech brainscanning skullcap each night as he slept. A new body was cloned up and put into deep lo-berth, ready to be imprinted in the case of Strephon's death. But just as identical twins aren't completely identical, and also due to an accumulation of minor recording errors, each Strephon had a slightly different personality, and some were more stable than others. This was party responsible for Strephon's slightly schizophrenic reputation.
Strephon was also reported to have survived several accidents and other mysterious close calls. The public assumption was that prompt, high tech medical care was the reason for his survival. In fact, he had died several times, once in a previous assassination by Dulinor. In the first assassination, however, it wasn't possible to trace it back to Dulinor, and that's how he learned about the clones. It's also the reason for the very public 2nd assassination, so it couldn't be brushed under the rug.
IMTU, since Dulinor knew about the clones, he had the ones in cold storage sabotaged as well. But a group of admirals, generals, and planetary rulers who wanted to seize power of the 3i acquired the last memory recording and a genetic sample of Strephon, and grew their own clone to manipulate. They attempted to 'program' the clone using psionic intelligence agents, but had only partial success.
The players in my game eventually figured this out through forensic data, both current, and from the past. They tracked down personal items of Strephons from the Imperial Palace and other Imperial residences, and found fingerprints on his personal items. The oil of the prints contained skin cells, and while the samples from different times and locations were genetically identical, the prints themselves were sometimes different...
It's always a bad idea when a game company gives in to fan pressure and changes some underlying truths about a game. The 'real' Strephon should have stayed fake. Otherwise where's the explanation of his disappearance and letting everything fall apart?
These fans were a vocal minority of fans who found the notion of Strephon, the 'true' emperor still being alive, too romantic to resist -- in fact the very thing that the real-fake Strephon capitalized upon with the Imperial populace.
In my games the real Streph was always a fake, a flawed clone put together from a recorded memory imprint of Strephon. IMTU Strephon had actually gone through several clones - he had decided he wanted to be the eternal emperor and put on a high tech brainscanning skullcap each night as he slept. A new body was cloned up and put into deep lo-berth, ready to be imprinted in the case of Strephon's death. But just as identical twins aren't completely identical, and also due to an accumulation of minor recording errors, each Strephon had a slightly different personality, and some were more stable than others. This was party responsible for Strephon's slightly schizophrenic reputation.
Strephon was also reported to have survived several accidents and other mysterious close calls. The public assumption was that prompt, high tech medical care was the reason for his survival. In fact, he had died several times, once in a previous assassination by Dulinor. In the first assassination, however, it wasn't possible to trace it back to Dulinor, and that's how he learned about the clones. It's also the reason for the very public 2nd assassination, so it couldn't be brushed under the rug.
IMTU, since Dulinor knew about the clones, he had the ones in cold storage sabotaged as well. But a group of admirals, generals, and planetary rulers who wanted to seize power of the 3i acquired the last memory recording and a genetic sample of Strephon, and grew their own clone to manipulate. They attempted to 'program' the clone using psionic intelligence agents, but had only partial success.
The players in my game eventually figured this out through forensic data, both current, and from the past. They tracked down personal items of Strephons from the Imperial Palace and other Imperial residences, and found fingerprints on his personal items. The oil of the prints contained skin cells, and while the samples from different times and locations were genetically identical, the prints themselves were sometimes different...
These fans were a vocal minority of fans who found the notion of Strephon, the 'true' emperor still being alive, too romantic to resist -- in fact the very thing that the real-fake Strephon capitalized upon with the Imperial populace.
In my games the real Streph was always a fake, a flawed clone put together from a recorded memory imprint of Strephon. IMTU Strephon had actually gone through several clones - he had decided he wanted to be the eternal emperor and put on a high tech brainscanning skullcap each night as he slept. A new body was cloned up and put into deep lo-berth, ready to be imprinted in the case of Strephon's death. But just as identical twins aren't completely identical, and also due to an accumulation of minor recording errors, each Strephon had a slightly different personality, and some were more stable than others. This was party responsible for Strephon's slightly schizophrenic reputation.
Strephon was also reported to have survived several accidents and other mysterious close calls. The public assumption was that prompt, high tech medical care was the reason for his survival. In fact, he had died several times, once in a previous assassination by Dulinor. In the first assassination, however, it wasn't possible to trace it back to Dulinor, and that's how he learned about the clones. It's also the reason for the very public 2nd assassination, so it couldn't be brushed under the rug.
IMTU, since Dulinor knew about the clones, he had the ones in cold storage sabotaged as well. But a group of admirals, generals, and planetary rulers who wanted to seize power of the 3i acquired the last memory recording and a genetic sample of Strephon, and grew their own clone to manipulate. They attempted to 'program' the clone using psionic intelligence agents, but had only partial success.
The players in my game eventually figured this out through forensic data, both current, and from the past. They tracked down personal items of Strephons from the Imperial Palace and other Imperial residences, and found fingerprints on his personal items. The oil of the prints contained skin cells, and while the samples from different times and locations were genetically identical, the prints themselves were sometimes different...
Personally I was convinced that it was a pseudo-biological robot made by Theodore Krenstein, but that turned out not to be the case
. According to MT canon he was definitely a clone.FWIW, at the GURPS Nobles playtest we had quite a discussion about the nuts and bolts practicalities of having a couple of clones running around and the likelihood of keeping them a secret. I believe that Jon in the end decided to change canon a bit and made him a surgically altered double instead of a clone. You get the same effect with a lot fewer problems.
My own take on the situation is that Dulinor knew that he was shooting a double. Strephon had a sceduled meeting with Dulinor but had been called away. Naturally (remember, this is all merely my opinion) Dulinor would have been informed when he arrived that for Reasons of State Strephon had had to skip out on him. Apologies and so forth and please play along with the charade, we'll get together as soon as I'm back, toodles.
But at that point Dulinor was already committed. He had to go ahead and hope for the best. And if he had managed to secure control of Capital, he might still have gotten away with it. But he had to retreat.
Enter the real villain of the story: Archduke Tranian. As the highest-ranking Imperial noble on Capital, the Major-domo (or whatever the official who runs the Imperial Palace is called) informs him that the dead emperor is actually just a double, and, BTW, Varian is dead too, but Lucan survived. Tranian decides to gamble for the highest stakes. He is sure he can control Lucan. So he tracks down everyone in the palace who knows about Strephon's double and eliminates them, gambling that he can secure enough control of the Imperium before the real Strephon returns.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Hans
Personally I was convinced that it was a pseudo-biological robot made by Theodore Krenstein, but that turned out not to be the case
. According to MT canon he was definitely a clone.FWIW, at the GURPS Nobles playtest we had quite a discussion about the nuts and bolts practicalities of having a couple of clones running around and the likelihood of keeping them a secret. I believe that Jon in the end decided to change canon a bit and made him a surgically altered double instead of a clone. You get the same effect with a lot fewer problems.
My own take on the situation is that Dulinor knew that he was shooting a double. Strephon had a sceduled meeting with Dulinor but had been called away. Naturally (remember, this is all merely my opinion) Dulinor would have been informed when he arrived that for Reasons of State Strephon had had to skip out on him. Apologies and so forth and please play along with the charade, we'll get together as soon as I'm back, toodles.
But at that point Dulinor was already committed. He had to go ahead and hope for the best. And if he had managed to secure control of Capital, he might still have gotten away with it. But he had to retreat.
Enter the real villain of the story: Archduke Tranian. As the highest-ranking Imperial noble on Capital, the Major-domo (or whatever the official who runs the Imperial Palace is called) informs him that the dead emperor is actually just a double, and, BTW, Varian is dead too, but Lucan survived. Tranian decides to gamble for the highest stakes. He is sure he can control Lucan. So he tracks down everyone in the palace who knows about Strephon's double and eliminates them, gambling that he can secure enough control of the Imperium before the real Strephon returns.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Hans
Personally I was convinced that it was a pseudo-biological robot made by Theodore Krenstein, but that turned out not to be the case
. According to MT canon he was definitely a clone.FWIW, at the GURPS Nobles playtest we had quite a discussion about the nuts and bolts practicalities of having a couple of clones running around and the likelihood of keeping them a secret. I believe that Jon in the end decided to change canon a bit and made him a surgically altered double instead of a clone. You get the same effect with a lot fewer problems.
My own take on the situation is that Dulinor knew that he was shooting a double. Strephon had a sceduled meeting with Dulinor but had been called away. Naturally (remember, this is all merely my opinion) Dulinor would have been informed when he arrived that for Reasons of State Strephon had had to skip out on him. Apologies and so forth and please play along with the charade, we'll get together as soon as I'm back, toodles.
But at that point Dulinor was already committed. He had to go ahead and hope for the best. And if he had managed to secure control of Capital, he might still have gotten away with it. But he had to retreat.
Enter the real villain of the story: Archduke Tranian. As the highest-ranking Imperial noble on Capital, the Major-domo (or whatever the official who runs the Imperial Palace is called) informs him that the dead emperor is actually just a double, and, BTW, Varian is dead too, but Lucan survived. Tranian decides to gamble for the highest stakes. He is sure he can control Lucan. So he tracks down everyone in the palace who knows about Strephon's double and eliminates them, gambling that he can secure enough control of the Imperium before the real Strephon returns.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Hans
