Polities

[Maedhros]

A question for all you Traveller grognards:

I just picked up the core rulebook and am in the middle of building a Sector. I haven't read up on Traveller canon, so my understanding of the Imperium is limited.

How is the Imperium structured? There are references to "polities" and borders in the world-building section, but I'm unclear as to whether these are intended to be within the Imperium or bordering it. Clearly, the Zhodani et al. are outside, but are there "client states" within the Imperium? Do these war with one another, resulting in Gov Type 6 (Captive Government) or is this Gov Type meant to imply that the Imperium has invaded territory and occupied a world (or an enemy has invaded and occupied an Imperium world)?

Is the Imperium a human enterprise, or are there non-humans as well? Would the Imperial Navy have non-human members? (I sort of like the flavor of Jerry Pournelle's Second Empire of Man, but I'm game to open up the throttle a bit...).

(On a related note, and to threadjack my own thread, one of my players was really surprised to see that the Aslan have a -2 Dex. Quote: "Really? Cat-people are clumsy? Does the game designer own a cat?")

Any insight is much appreciated...

 

[GypsyComet]

Welcome to Traveller!

All questions answered, possibly even in ways that will make sense!

First, the caveat. The main rulebook is only loosely associated with the official Traveller universe of the Third Imperium, and if you are generating your own sector, use the tools to build what you want to play in.

The Third Imperium is both monolithic and internally chaotic. Each world is theoretically self-governing, and there are areas of strong common social origin within the Imperium, but nothing so strongly independent as the term "polity" would suggest.

At the "whole Imperium" level, the structure is somewhat feudal, in that there are Dukes, Barons, Marquis', and Counts who "rule" (or oversee, or stand responsible for) chunks of the Imperium in the Emperor's name. Depending on *your* take on this, the feudal structure may be fairly benign, or it may be darkly competitive and bloodthirsty (ala Dune). In general, though, the Imperium does not interfere with local affairs unless trade between worlds is interfered with. Interstellar trade is what feeds the Imperium as a whole, and the spi... ahem, *trade* must flow.

In past incarnations, Client States tend to be small polities (there's that word again) clustered around the edges of the Third Imperium or some other large state. Ranging from single worlds to clusters of 50 or more, these are independent states that have thrown in their lot with the neighboring "big dog", be it the Imperium, the Zhodani, or someone else. Very occasionally, a world within the border of a larger state will not yet have attained/accepted/etc full membership, and may be termed a Client State during the period of that relationship.

A Type 6 planetary government is an exception to the usual "self-governing" rule. It means the world is governed externally, effectively a colony or conquest. As part of your own sector generation, you will want to go back through a subsector (or more, in some cases) and determine who owns or controls any Govt 6 worlds you've rolled. This condition can be benign, violent, or anything in between, and is one of the easy ways to set the tone of that stellar neighborhood.

The Imperium is a Human Imperium with many aliens as citizens. Antares has a Vargr Duke, for example, and the Vargr are very widely spread throughout the Imperium, as are the Bwaps. Most other races tend to stick close to home, but wanderers of all sorts can be found in most large starports. Note that the Third Imperium also contains a couple dozen different varieties of Humaniti, some of whom are more alien than the aliens.

The Aslan males average (fully upright) nearly 7 feet tall, and are not derived from Terran Felines. The Dexterity penalty is as much a manual dexterity issue as anything else, since the Aslan have three stubby fingers with a centrally-placed thumb, and their palms have an embedded and retractable dewclaw.

Oh, and I've known some incredibly clumsy housecats.

 

[Maedhros]

The Aslan males average (fully upright) nearly 7 feet tall, and are not derived from Terran Felines. The Dexterity penalty is as much a manual dexterity issue as anything else, since the Aslan have three stubby fingers with a centrally-placed thumb, and their palms have an embedded and retractable dewclaw.

Oh, and I've known some incredibly clumsy housecats.

Would the Strength characteristic therefore be a better representation of reflexes, balance, etc.?

 

[GypsyComet]

The Aslan males average (fully upright) nearly 7 feet tall, and are not derived from Terran Felines. The Dexterity penalty is as much a manual dexterity issue as anything else, since the Aslan have three stubby fingers with a centrally-placed thumb, and their palms have an embedded and retractable dewclaw.

Oh, and I've known some incredibly clumsy housecats.

Would the Strength characteristic therefore be a better representation of reflexes, balance, etc.?

What stat is connected to leaping and striking in HTH?

 

[AKAramis]

Canonical imperium:

1. Emperor
2. Archdukes (each rules a domain of 4 sectors; may be weak and/or vacant, emperor is also Archduke Sylea)
3. Sector Dukes (runs a sector of 16 subsectors)
4. Subsector Dukes (runs a subsector as listed, sometimes with additions from other subsectors
5. Lesser "titled" nobles (reps to/for worlds or multi-world polities)

Canonically, most nobles are not titled; Marquis and Dukes are Reward nobles and Barons and counts are honor nobles. Knights technically are not nobles.

Each world has the right to build a system navy if it can, each raises units to serve the imperium as the Army.

Subsectors and Sectors may have their own standing army units, and do have standing naval forces billed as the Imperial Navy. Each answers both to HQ of the next higher level, and to their Duke.

Domains have HQ's, but not really standing forces.

Titled nobles are a liaison. They may or may not be part of local government, but they are the voice of the iperium to the world, and the voice of the world to the subsector, sector, domain and imperial moots. Moots are semi-democratic parliaments; the imperial moot officially has two jobs: confirming the new emperor, and dissolving the imperium.

The Imperium generally doesn't make laws, but proclamations; moots don't have a legislative role, but a juridical and executive role. The various bureaucracies have regulations, many centuries old, with force of law, but subject to administrator or noble intervention at any point.

The various titled noble families generally own much of the megacorporations, and thus the megacorps and the nobles are strongly intertwined. Likewise, the various titled nobles have house troops (the Duke of Regina has at least 2 regiments!), which may be seconds from the local world, the imperial services, or even raised internally.

The imperium bans little: Psionics, aiding the enemy, damaging trade within the imperium, use of weapons of mass destruction, major intentional depopulation events, overrapid import of technologial goods, chattle slavery, murder, treason.

Taxation is on the member worlds and by license fees, not by direct taxation.
There are indications that the imperium licenses mercenary units, ships, and battlefield heavy weapons.

As for internal warfare; my personal view of it is that, short of taking over too many neighbors, or damaging the means of production in the process, or genocide following, if one can produce a fait accompli, and talk the local noble into signing on, it is permitted but discouraged. Others, like Hans, feel the imperium doesn't allow out-system fighting, but may not be able to enforce the rules against brushfire wars. Take your pick... or fall somewhere in between.

If you're building your own sectors, you can either choose to be in an "alternate astrography imperium" or you can choose to be an entirely different universe. Have fun, make it your own.

 

[qstor]

See:

http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Charted_Space

For a two dimensional map of the OTU various polities. Some of the sectors might have mutiple polities like Reaver's Deep or the Spinward Marches.

The Wiki is a good source for information, I feel

As to non-humans in the Imperial armed forces, yes there are alien members of various races in the Imperial forces. Vargr IIRC are probably the most common. Some like the K'Kree or Zhodani probably wouldn't want to join.

Mike

 

[GypsyComet]

As to non-humans in the Imperial armed forces, yes there are alien members of various races in the Imperial forces. Vargr IIRC are probably the most common. Some like the K'Kree or Zhodani probably wouldn't want to join.

Though there are probably more than a few ethnic Zhodani in the now-Imperial populations of the Spinward Marches. Prior to the 1st Frontier War the Zhodani controlled a lot of the coreward half of that sector.

This is, however, the sort of minutia that only the armchair historians and Referees in the Marches really need to know.

I doubt that there are any significant populations of naturalized K'kree within the Imperium. Aberrants exist, of course, but the K'kree tend to hunt those down, and in any case the K'kree would have a very hard time finding the necessary meat-byproduct-free environment they need. Humaniti is just too ubiquitous.

 

[zanwot]

Technically Aslan are nothing to do with cats. Unlike Vargr, who really are akin to wolf/dogs, Aslan are supposed to be true aliens. That is unfortunate and cheesy, but that's how it is.

Of course they are inspired by felines, more specifically by lions (loosely: females do the day to day business of life, males *parade*), but I feel the less one makes them like felines, the better, as they are really a bad leftover of cheesy rubber suit aliens, no need to reinforce that feeling.

 

[d.b.gamedesign]

you guys have all forgotten the most important of all links.

http://www.travellermap.com/

So he/she can have a look at the know universe.

 

[Jame Rowe]

The Aslan males average (fully upright) nearly 7 feet tall, and are not derived from Terran Felines. The Dexterity penalty is as much a manual dexterity issue as anything else, since the Aslan have three stubby fingers with a centrally-placed thumb, and their palms have an embedded and retractable dewclaw.

Oh, and I've known some incredibly clumsy housecats.

Would the Strength characteristic therefore be a better representation of reflexes, balance, etc.?

No, that's the very definition of Dexterity. Aslan are more lionlike, which is why they're stronger more than dextrous - they are excellent runners (Endurance) and great brawlers (Strength), but not quite as good as humans with reflexes, balance and manual dexterity.