So I´ve cooked up my own ATU, and I´m taking this opportunity to show it off - and of course I would appreciate any comments.
The working title for the ATU is "Terran Alliance universe", because the Terran Alliance is the big 1,000 dton gorilla in that particular monkey house.
The TA universe approximately half the physical size of the OTU, but is very sparsely populated with planetary systems; as a rule of thumb, expect about 200 stars with planetary systems per sector. About 1 in 4-5 of these will have at least one habitable world, and 1 in 3 of those have more than one (the current record for a randomly rolled system is 5 habitable worlds).
The time is about 1,000 years after humans discovered jump drive; they have spread out and colonized most suitable world, and encountered three spacefaring and around 20 non-spacefaring alien civilizations.
Currently roughly 1/3 of all colonized worlds are united (to use the term loosely) by the Terran Alliance, which consists of a number of larger and smaller member states (essentially pocket empires of up to a few dozen systems each) and plenty of single systems that never were organized above the system level. The TA consists of most of the oldest, most highly developed and densely populated systems, and thus probably has more industrial capacity, military power and population then all the rest taken together.
I´ve chosen an ostensibly representative government as a "replacement" for the Imperium because I think a more loosely organized, bureaucratic instead of feudal state makes more sense, especially in a universe with no Ziru Sirka around that could give those Terrans ideas. The TA has elements of the Third Imperium, as well as the real-world Holy Roman Empire, European Union and United Nations, plus the Old Republic of Star Wars.
There are also quite a few smaller nations who are no part of the TA; most are typical pocket empires, but one, the Realm of Midgard, while of course not as strong as the TA, is certainly strong enough to worry them, and perhaps too strong to defeat without stripping their defense everywhere bare - Midgard has so far had three major wars with the TA in the last couple of centuries, and they´re still there. Midgard got quite a few of the xenophobic and supremacist elements of the OTU Solomani, except their culture and mindset is derived more for Victorian age Europe - complete with the delusion that they are the rightful masters of mankind.
The three spacefaring cultures derived (sometimes loosely) from the Vegans, the Aslan and the Droyne.
My "Vegans", the Duanai, are amphibious Cephalopods, who have adapted to the overwhelming presence of humans around them and are now securely a part of the TA - that is, perhaps, until they see a chance to leave...
My "Aslan", the Leonidae, are fairly close to the original, and their Khanates (which are probably more like the Vargr Extent than the Aslan Hierate) are the other big external challenge to the TA, besides Midgard.
My "Droyne" are the Oni, an insectoid species present on several dozen worlds within the human area of influence, yet without any overall organization, and without any indication that they are native to any of these worlds. "Oni" is Japanese and means "demon", more or less, and the human named them for their looks - they´re deep inside "I get a feeling we´re no longer in Kansas" territory, even compared to the rest of the aliens.
There are various minor alien civilizations as well, which I have not yet all fleshed out; so far the Ursa and Vargr are in, under different names, with the Vargr also being uplifted by human scientists; the Ursa have changed only in that they are now uplifted polar bears, in part because I have watched The Golden Compass a few times too often. A third originally minor civilization, derived from the Ithklur, is now also fairly ubiquitous - the Ceti (their homeworld is Tau Ceti IV, which gave them their shorthand name).
The area in which I´m planning for adventuring to place primarily is the "Crescent", a (vaguely) crescent-shaped (duh!) area that was relatively recently annexed by the TA; it consists mostly of fairly newly colonized worlds, not all of which are completely explored (and thus could have a surprise or three in store), bordered on one side by the main TA territory, on the second side by client states of the Realm of Midgard (except tensions here, especially since relation with Midgard are chilling once again), on the third by two theocracies engaged in more or less perpetual Holy War, and on the fourth side, opposite the TA, by the Gap. That Gap is a rift too far to cross with TA jump technology, so anything beyond that is unexplored; however rumors abound all over the Crescent that somebody lives over there, and they know how to cross the Gap - in other words, expect the occasional UFO encounter.
So, what do you think?
The working title for the ATU is "Terran Alliance universe", because the Terran Alliance is the big 1,000 dton gorilla in that particular monkey house.
The TA universe approximately half the physical size of the OTU, but is very sparsely populated with planetary systems; as a rule of thumb, expect about 200 stars with planetary systems per sector. About 1 in 4-5 of these will have at least one habitable world, and 1 in 3 of those have more than one (the current record for a randomly rolled system is 5 habitable worlds).
The time is about 1,000 years after humans discovered jump drive; they have spread out and colonized most suitable world, and encountered three spacefaring and around 20 non-spacefaring alien civilizations.
Currently roughly 1/3 of all colonized worlds are united (to use the term loosely) by the Terran Alliance, which consists of a number of larger and smaller member states (essentially pocket empires of up to a few dozen systems each) and plenty of single systems that never were organized above the system level. The TA consists of most of the oldest, most highly developed and densely populated systems, and thus probably has more industrial capacity, military power and population then all the rest taken together.
I´ve chosen an ostensibly representative government as a "replacement" for the Imperium because I think a more loosely organized, bureaucratic instead of feudal state makes more sense, especially in a universe with no Ziru Sirka around that could give those Terrans ideas. The TA has elements of the Third Imperium, as well as the real-world Holy Roman Empire, European Union and United Nations, plus the Old Republic of Star Wars.
There are also quite a few smaller nations who are no part of the TA; most are typical pocket empires, but one, the Realm of Midgard, while of course not as strong as the TA, is certainly strong enough to worry them, and perhaps too strong to defeat without stripping their defense everywhere bare - Midgard has so far had three major wars with the TA in the last couple of centuries, and they´re still there. Midgard got quite a few of the xenophobic and supremacist elements of the OTU Solomani, except their culture and mindset is derived more for Victorian age Europe - complete with the delusion that they are the rightful masters of mankind.
The three spacefaring cultures derived (sometimes loosely) from the Vegans, the Aslan and the Droyne.
My "Vegans", the Duanai, are amphibious Cephalopods, who have adapted to the overwhelming presence of humans around them and are now securely a part of the TA - that is, perhaps, until they see a chance to leave...
My "Aslan", the Leonidae, are fairly close to the original, and their Khanates (which are probably more like the Vargr Extent than the Aslan Hierate) are the other big external challenge to the TA, besides Midgard.
My "Droyne" are the Oni, an insectoid species present on several dozen worlds within the human area of influence, yet without any overall organization, and without any indication that they are native to any of these worlds. "Oni" is Japanese and means "demon", more or less, and the human named them for their looks - they´re deep inside "I get a feeling we´re no longer in Kansas" territory, even compared to the rest of the aliens.
There are various minor alien civilizations as well, which I have not yet all fleshed out; so far the Ursa and Vargr are in, under different names, with the Vargr also being uplifted by human scientists; the Ursa have changed only in that they are now uplifted polar bears, in part because I have watched The Golden Compass a few times too often. A third originally minor civilization, derived from the Ithklur, is now also fairly ubiquitous - the Ceti (their homeworld is Tau Ceti IV, which gave them their shorthand name).
The area in which I´m planning for adventuring to place primarily is the "Crescent", a (vaguely) crescent-shaped (duh!) area that was relatively recently annexed by the TA; it consists mostly of fairly newly colonized worlds, not all of which are completely explored (and thus could have a surprise or three in store), bordered on one side by the main TA territory, on the second side by client states of the Realm of Midgard (except tensions here, especially since relation with Midgard are chilling once again), on the third by two theocracies engaged in more or less perpetual Holy War, and on the fourth side, opposite the TA, by the Gap. That Gap is a rift too far to cross with TA jump technology, so anything beyond that is unexplored; however rumors abound all over the Crescent that somebody lives over there, and they know how to cross the Gap - in other words, expect the occasional UFO encounter.
So, what do you think?
