Two Visions of Empire
- Thread starter Golan2072
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Jason M Durkish
SOC-10
What about your other species ?
Such as
1.The Fanja-Kanja
2.The Ph'noonk
3.The Sselessian
4.Zhzzh
Such as
1.The Fanja-Kanja
2.The Ph'noonk
3.The Sselessian
4.Zhzzh
Also, another advantage of Vision #1, especially if set two years after the War (which i intend to do so that ALL PCs have fought in it), is that death in CT chargen is very easy to explain... You died a heroic death in the Terran Liberation War! The war was brutal enough for CT-LBB1 survival rates... Plus you get a bonus (1 extra skill-point?) for your next character if you write me a long paragraph about the heroic combat death of your previous, dead character!
Some (post-)human "aliens":
The Matriarchate - (formerly) Human belters who have embraced post-planetary life and post-humanism to the hilt. All are heavily enhanced by cybernetics and fully adapted to zero-G life, and all are linked to the collective data-net of their Mothership. This collective consciousness of each Matriarchate Collective did not completely destroy the individual, but rather diffused it quite a bit; imagine people who are subconsciously and instinctively connected to Facebook-Twitter-Whatsapp and automatically share most of their thoughts with the rest of the collective. Each Mothership has a digital Mother Computer which sums up this constantly-changing consciousness, wired to a living Matriach - who adds her human spirit to the Mother Computer's mechanical calculations. The Matriarch, contrary to popular Baseline (i.e. ordinary Human) belief, is not a ruler, but rather a component in the collective-consciousness network; the decisions made are by the collective networking of the entire Collective, not by her. The end result is an absolute direct democracy - all major decisions count literally every member's opinions, and the system always knows exactly what to produce with neither a market nor a central planner because everybody's material wants are networked (and tallied by the Mother Computer to generate work allocation for the manufacturies and hydroponic farms).
Contrary to popular belief, the Matriarchate lacks a centralized leadership (each Collective is independent), and is also not interested at all in adding anyone else to their networks or conquering anybody. HOWEVER, the Matriarchate Collectives show utter disregard for Baseline property rights and have an annoying tendency to simply emerge from Jumpspace in the middle of a rich asteroid field and mine it for raw materials despite the fact that whatever corporation owns it under Imperial law.
Each Matriarchate member rarely strays far (over a few light-seconds) from her (or his or its) Collective or at least a sub-collective (centered on a smaller ship), as the disconnection from the network would be crippling. Only those with special training to serve as Emissaries can function individually away from the mother-network.
The Matriarchate - (formerly) Human belters who have embraced post-planetary life and post-humanism to the hilt. All are heavily enhanced by cybernetics and fully adapted to zero-G life, and all are linked to the collective data-net of their Mothership. This collective consciousness of each Matriarchate Collective did not completely destroy the individual, but rather diffused it quite a bit; imagine people who are subconsciously and instinctively connected to Facebook-Twitter-Whatsapp and automatically share most of their thoughts with the rest of the collective. Each Mothership has a digital Mother Computer which sums up this constantly-changing consciousness, wired to a living Matriach - who adds her human spirit to the Mother Computer's mechanical calculations. The Matriarch, contrary to popular Baseline (i.e. ordinary Human) belief, is not a ruler, but rather a component in the collective-consciousness network; the decisions made are by the collective networking of the entire Collective, not by her. The end result is an absolute direct democracy - all major decisions count literally every member's opinions, and the system always knows exactly what to produce with neither a market nor a central planner because everybody's material wants are networked (and tallied by the Mother Computer to generate work allocation for the manufacturies and hydroponic farms).
Contrary to popular belief, the Matriarchate lacks a centralized leadership (each Collective is independent), and is also not interested at all in adding anyone else to their networks or conquering anybody. HOWEVER, the Matriarchate Collectives show utter disregard for Baseline property rights and have an annoying tendency to simply emerge from Jumpspace in the middle of a rich asteroid field and mine it for raw materials despite the fact that whatever corporation owns it under Imperial law.
Each Matriarchate member rarely strays far (over a few light-seconds) from her (or his or its) Collective or at least a sub-collective (centered on a smaller ship), as the disconnection from the network would be crippling. Only those with special training to serve as Emissaries can function individually away from the mother-network.
This is exactly the reason why the Empire is at a constant, low-intensity war with the Matriarchate Collectives. They show up in asteroid belts and start processing the choicey finds, then the Empire sends in the Navy, then fighting ensues. This is one reason why the Empire is so conservative with information technology - fighting such a war with such a group of superb hackers makes any easy-access network system a liability and a security risk.
I have decided: For now, if I work on Traveller for anything other than Outer Veil, I'll work on Vision #1 of Empire: These Stars Are Ours! Politics, patriotism, reconstruction, low-intensity war, trade and exploration; big ideas, big missions, big explosions when the dice are rolled.
Ruleset? Classic Traveller, and with all its quirks justified by this setting!
As for Ashes of Empire, I have something planned for it, but it is much longer-term than this...
Ruleset? Classic Traveller, and with all its quirks justified by this setting!
As for Ashes of Empire, I have something planned for it, but it is much longer-term than this...
Jason M Durkish PMed me GREAT idea: that, instead of two distinct "Visions of Empire", these would be two milieux; one at the Terran victory over the Reticulan Empire, and another, centuries later, after the Terrans have absorbed much of Reticulan space (but not all of it), forming their own Empire and discarding the United Terran Republic (ala Caesar and Napoleon) in favour of an aristocratic/plutocratic Imperial system; and now, the Terran Empire is itself dying.
Several (one? more?) provinces of the old Reticulan Empire would have remained independent even after the Terran ascendance, possibly going through a revolution replacing the old Imperial system and the Great Houses (or bloodlines?) with a more rational Technate ruled by scientists and engineers. As an ironic twist, now that the Terran Empire has collapsed into multiple warring factions, the "Grand Terran Emperor" on Mother Terra is actually a puppet for the Reticulan Technate (and possibly also for a Cicek warlord), so the New Terran Republic can claim to want to return to the mission of the old UTR - and liberate Terra from the alien yoke! And also re-establish the UTR.
I love this! Thanks for the great idea, Jason!
Several (one? more?) provinces of the old Reticulan Empire would have remained independent even after the Terran ascendance, possibly going through a revolution replacing the old Imperial system and the Great Houses (or bloodlines?) with a more rational Technate ruled by scientists and engineers. As an ironic twist, now that the Terran Empire has collapsed into multiple warring factions, the "Grand Terran Emperor" on Mother Terra is actually a puppet for the Reticulan Technate (and possibly also for a Cicek warlord), so the New Terran Republic can claim to want to return to the mission of the old UTR - and liberate Terra from the alien yoke! And also re-establish the UTR.
I love this! Thanks for the great idea, Jason!
Jason M Durkish
SOC-10
Your welcome .
I am glad you like it .
I am glad you like it .
Politics of the UTR in 2259 - there are four factions on two axis.
Axis I - Hawks vs. Doves. Hawks favor military solutions, Doves favor diplomatic solutions.
Axis II - Universalists vs. Nationalists. Universalists focus on the rights and future of all sentient species, Nationalists seek to focus on Terran matters.
So you have:
Dovish Universalists - desiring gradual change and transformation of the Reticulan Empire into a more democratic state through peaceful and diplomatic channels, towards a galactic commonwealth; supporting sophont rights, cultural exchange, and the rights of sentient species for self-determination. Opposed to re-militarization and strongly supporting the de-mobilization of Terran military. Highly popular among intellectuals, professional diplomats and certain parts of the 'new' middle class.
Dovish Nationalists - focused on Terran interests in the current Terran space. Uninterested in expansion; willing to abandon the cause of galactic revolution for a Terran sphere as an independent state focused on local economic matters. Typically also support economic liberalization and the privatization of the UTRs many state-owned industries. Strongly opposed to military spending. Rapidly growing in popularity due to the promise of much lowered taxation and focus on local economy and quality of life. Considered almost treasonous by almost any Hawk, as this means essentially abandoning the Grand cause people fought and died for during the Terran Liberation war for shorter-term economic benefit. Popular among the 'new' middle class. Official ideology tends to this direction right now.
Hawkish Universalists - supporting a Universal Republic, and the dismantlement of the Reticulan Empire in the favor of such a Republic. Willing to use military force to carry forth the Revolution. During the early-mid Terran Liberation War, the UTR government, and the majority of population, supported this position. Now it is more and more becoming the province of the Old Guard, as Dovish politics, especially Nationalist ones, are gaining ground. This view is typically viewed with nostalgia, but is less popular today. AS common view among veteran soldiers, older politicians and the industrial working class.
Hawkish Nationalists - desiring a Terran dominion over all of known space, with Terra and the Terrans on top rather than the more egalitarian commonwealth or republic proposed by the Universalists. Popular among younger military officers, especially those who enlisted well into the war (rather than at its start), who see Terra's strength much more than her weakness. This short of views eventually were used to justify the foundation of the Terran Empire in the 2330's. Considered highly cynical by Universalists.
Axis I - Hawks vs. Doves. Hawks favor military solutions, Doves favor diplomatic solutions.
Axis II - Universalists vs. Nationalists. Universalists focus on the rights and future of all sentient species, Nationalists seek to focus on Terran matters.
So you have:
Dovish Universalists - desiring gradual change and transformation of the Reticulan Empire into a more democratic state through peaceful and diplomatic channels, towards a galactic commonwealth; supporting sophont rights, cultural exchange, and the rights of sentient species for self-determination. Opposed to re-militarization and strongly supporting the de-mobilization of Terran military. Highly popular among intellectuals, professional diplomats and certain parts of the 'new' middle class.
Dovish Nationalists - focused on Terran interests in the current Terran space. Uninterested in expansion; willing to abandon the cause of galactic revolution for a Terran sphere as an independent state focused on local economic matters. Typically also support economic liberalization and the privatization of the UTRs many state-owned industries. Strongly opposed to military spending. Rapidly growing in popularity due to the promise of much lowered taxation and focus on local economy and quality of life. Considered almost treasonous by almost any Hawk, as this means essentially abandoning the Grand cause people fought and died for during the Terran Liberation war for shorter-term economic benefit. Popular among the 'new' middle class. Official ideology tends to this direction right now.
Hawkish Universalists - supporting a Universal Republic, and the dismantlement of the Reticulan Empire in the favor of such a Republic. Willing to use military force to carry forth the Revolution. During the early-mid Terran Liberation War, the UTR government, and the majority of population, supported this position. Now it is more and more becoming the province of the Old Guard, as Dovish politics, especially Nationalist ones, are gaining ground. This view is typically viewed with nostalgia, but is less popular today. AS common view among veteran soldiers, older politicians and the industrial working class.
Hawkish Nationalists - desiring a Terran dominion over all of known space, with Terra and the Terrans on top rather than the more egalitarian commonwealth or republic proposed by the Universalists. Popular among younger military officers, especially those who enlisted well into the war (rather than at its start), who see Terra's strength much more than her weakness. This short of views eventually were used to justify the foundation of the Terran Empire in the 2330's. Considered highly cynical by Universalists.
Note on the Rise of the Terran Empire.
Contrary to many predictions, the United Terran Republic did not fall in a violent coup or an alien invasion. Rather, it was (mostly) peacefully dissolved into the Terran Empire. Why so? The main reason was that the old UTR was a very militarized state, born as it was out of the struggle for Terran independence from the Reticulan Empire. In its early years, the citizens of the UTR were very happy with that - they were proud of how their small, backwater state kicked out a much more powerful and much older polity and brought freedom to the Terrans. But as time progressed, and, especially, after the Second Reticulan War, these military-centered policies and attitudes became less and less popular, with their greatly inflated military budget (requiring high taxes), universal draft and strong political power held by the military.
Meanwhile, the corporations, growing rich and powerful in the wake of the Second Reticulan War and the conquest of massive swathes of Reticulan space, found this militarized setup to be a burden on their profits. So, eventually, Karl Durnhal, heir and owner to the massive Durnhal Enterprises and richer than any man in recorded history, proposed in the 2340's the Imperial system, ironically enough inspired by the conquered Reticulan Empire; it would be a mercantile society, a polity run by businessmen, by people whoi produce, who sell, who provide services, and not by militaries and their insatiable thirst for war. This charismatic vision of peace and prosperity was too much for the majority of the war-weary Terran public to resist. So, in 2345, the Act of Dissolution was passed in Parliament, dissolving the republic and installing an Empire in its place, with the ten greatest and richest megacorporation-owning families becoming Great Houses and governing space, Durnhal on top, of course. Only a relative minority bemoaned what they saw as a gross betrayal of what their forefathers fought for a century before. But the majority of Terrans rejoiced as the universal draft was abolished, the military cut back and the taxes greatly reduced. And so the Republic became an Empire. At its very heart, the Terran Empire was a glorified price-fixing scheme, a deal amongst monopolies to divide known space between their interests.
Some resisted, and, for several decades, a low-intensity insurgency was carried out by those loyal to the old Republican ideals against the Empire, but the vast wealth of the megacorporations, and the brilliant future of plenty and prosperity they promised, prevented the opposition from gaining much ground. For 43 years, the republican holdout, officially called the United Terran Republic - Emergency Administration but unofficially called the Terran Freehold, lingered on, becoming more and more authoritarian and eventually totalitarian, only to collapse under its own weight in 2388 and be absorbed by the Empire.
Contrary to many predictions, the United Terran Republic did not fall in a violent coup or an alien invasion. Rather, it was (mostly) peacefully dissolved into the Terran Empire. Why so? The main reason was that the old UTR was a very militarized state, born as it was out of the struggle for Terran independence from the Reticulan Empire. In its early years, the citizens of the UTR were very happy with that - they were proud of how their small, backwater state kicked out a much more powerful and much older polity and brought freedom to the Terrans. But as time progressed, and, especially, after the Second Reticulan War, these military-centered policies and attitudes became less and less popular, with their greatly inflated military budget (requiring high taxes), universal draft and strong political power held by the military.
Meanwhile, the corporations, growing rich and powerful in the wake of the Second Reticulan War and the conquest of massive swathes of Reticulan space, found this militarized setup to be a burden on their profits. So, eventually, Karl Durnhal, heir and owner to the massive Durnhal Enterprises and richer than any man in recorded history, proposed in the 2340's the Imperial system, ironically enough inspired by the conquered Reticulan Empire; it would be a mercantile society, a polity run by businessmen, by people whoi produce, who sell, who provide services, and not by militaries and their insatiable thirst for war. This charismatic vision of peace and prosperity was too much for the majority of the war-weary Terran public to resist. So, in 2345, the Act of Dissolution was passed in Parliament, dissolving the republic and installing an Empire in its place, with the ten greatest and richest megacorporation-owning families becoming Great Houses and governing space, Durnhal on top, of course. Only a relative minority bemoaned what they saw as a gross betrayal of what their forefathers fought for a century before. But the majority of Terrans rejoiced as the universal draft was abolished, the military cut back and the taxes greatly reduced. And so the Republic became an Empire. At its very heart, the Terran Empire was a glorified price-fixing scheme, a deal amongst monopolies to divide known space between their interests.
Some resisted, and, for several decades, a low-intensity insurgency was carried out by those loyal to the old Republican ideals against the Empire, but the vast wealth of the megacorporations, and the brilliant future of plenty and prosperity they promised, prevented the opposition from gaining much ground. For 43 years, the republican holdout, officially called the United Terran Republic - Emergency Administration but unofficially called the Terran Freehold, lingered on, becoming more and more authoritarian and eventually totalitarian, only to collapse under its own weight in 2388 and be absorbed by the Empire.
Jason M Durkish
SOC-10
I like it you have great ideas .
Long live the Terran Empire . LOL
Long live the Terran Empire . LOL
Jason M Durkish
SOC-10
I agree even though the politics in my gaming universe tend to be a little more black and white .
But you did give me good ideas to gray it up a bit .
