Psi-Wars Gun-Fu: Imperial Marksman Academy Training

Alright, let's draw this out a little longer.  This is another style that came late, mostly as I was working on Undercity Noir and I realized two things: first,  Ultimate Shootist was cool, and second, I needed a contrast between what a rogue Imperial Security Agent who comes from the Undercity might use, and what his "by the book" partner might use.

You can find the style here.

I know that "Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy" is a joke (thus, I had to use a variation of it as a name), but if there was any faction in Psi-Wars that would use highly professional, tacticool style that is becoming increasingly frequent among "agent" characters in our films and TV shows, with the crouching run, the two-handed grip, and "not a movement wasted," it would be the Empire.

What results will no doubt inspire quite some complaints about the GURPS prerequisite system.  There's no practical way to build up two different skills at the same time when they default to one another.  Beam Weapons are both a little more reasonable in this regard (as the -4 is a pretty big gulf), but at the same time, I suspect that several people will complain that -4 is "too much" and that we should use the -2 from Guns.  I look forward to that debate.  I often find that Psi-Wars inspires a lot of debate around GURPS, I think because it confronts the reader with the reality of certain GURPS rules.  It's a debate I definitely want to have, because it's completely reasonable to want to have characters who are well-trained in a variety of weapons, even if those weapons default to one another.  That's what Imperial Marksmanship does, because its agents, fighter aces and commandos are equally at home with any Imperial weapon (and, frankly, any weapon they can get their hands on). It'll also come up with other styles, especially Combat Geometrics, so it's best to get the discussion out of the way now, with a style that people care less about.

In contrast to other styles, there's very little cinematic here.  I do argue in favor of Infinite Ammunition, but more because at some point, the character is "fast-enough" with reloads that it becomes irrelevant to track their loading, and unlike Undercity Noir, imperial marksmen don't use reloading as a moment to impress a girl.  Beyond that, though, this is not a Gunslinger style, but a hard-headed style about the "realities" of blaster combat.  This, paired with its breadth, makes it an expensive style, which ironically makes you, point for point, a worse marksman than other styles have (perhaps better said, it's a more realistic level of marksmanship).

I still feel it's justified as a style, though, because the students all train under a similar regimen and you can readily recognize the "signature" of such combatants, and how they contrast with other gunslingers in the setting.

Notes on Revisiting Templates: the Diplomat

In an effort to revise and distill my rules on the Wiki, I asked my patreons which template they'd like me to revisit and you'll never guess what they chose... or you wouldn't if you hadn't just read the title, but I sure was surprised to see the Diplomat top the chart!

I see the average player of Psi-Wars as seeking an action-oriented character: a space knight, a bounty hunter, a smuggler, a commando.  Yet they chose for the most political, least action-oriented character they could. Why?  A few patrons chimed in on why, and it seems to boil down to:

• It's the closest we'll get to a "princess" class and some people really like princesses
• It's the most culturally bound template, which means working on it will necessarily require me digging into the culture of Psi-Wars.

This last is key.  I don't really have a problem with the Templates as they stand, for the most part.  I'm sure I could nitpick at them.  However, the old, Iteration 5 templates were generic. They were "a" space knight and "a" diplomat, and you can still play that way.  But Iteration 6 and 7 seek to build up a detailed, specific setting.  We've gone from the generic templates of GURPS Action and Monster Hunters to the more specific templates of GURPS Cabal, Transhuman Space and Banestorm.  I want to maintain the idea of fairly generic templates (a diplomat is a diplomat), but I'd like to be able to ground them in a specific culture of concept native to Psi-Wars.

To do this, I needed to dive into the cultures of Psi-Wars, at least a bit.  I'd like, at some point, to write down these cultures in more detail, more akin to the level of detail I've posted about Aristocratic Culture and Imperial Culture, as well as the Patreon Special on the Traders.  These are, of course, subject to change, and will likely be revisited once I do settle down and dig into the cultures of these various groups.  Of course, the Diplomat would only tackle a specific subset of those cultures: the things he needs to know to survive those cultures (language, how to avoid dangers) and ways of collecting reaction modifiers with the right sorts of people (the right social skills, connoisseur, current affairs, etc).

I also needed to double check the template itself, to see if any of the various changes I've made impact the Template itself.  Of course, I find I lose track of some of the more specific changes, so this might require another revisit once all the rules get collated, but I doubt it'll be much.

You can find the current state of the Diplomat Template here on the wiki.

A Psi-Wars Historical Timeline II: The Galactic Federation and the Rise of the Empire

Normally, a timeline begins sequentially, starting at "the beginning of history," and mine certainly does, but I'm going to break it up a little differently because I want to emphasize something to you, dear reader: put the most vital information in front of your players first, and bonus or reward information later, especially after some hunting.  I also want to emphasize that "starting at the beginning of time" is generally overkill, and you always have to start somewhere.  You'll be missing a little context, but that's okay, we'll pick up a little earlier back tomorrow.

If you're a little lost on the calendar notation, check out yesterday's post on calendars.

The Modern Era

 1359 AE to 1747 AE Interregnum: The War of the Houses
(2432 to 2832 DC Lithian; 206 to 218 gc U Eldoth)

The death of Lucian Alexus did not result in the immediate dissolution of the Dynasty. Instead, a long war broke out that turned into a detente as the various houses all angled, first, for their preferred successor (similar to the succession crisis a millennia earlier), then for their own ascendancy on the throne, then for their own local concerns.

• The Reign of Shio Daijin: Lord Shio Daijin reached Sovereign first after the death of Lucian Alexus and seized it, proclaiming himself regent until a proper successor could be found, or so he claimed. The other houses and remnants of the Alexian Dynasty saw him as a usurper, and he was slain by Alexian remnant forces as a Traitor Lord and his house shamed.
   
• The Hunting of the Traitor Lords: the last remnants of Lucian Alexus’s Immortals, his body guard, and aristocrats loyal to the Dynasty, such as Kusari Kain, sought out those they felt responsible for the death of Lucian Alexus or what they saw as attempts to seize control of the Dynasty, including the last of the Templars, the House Daijin, and others, until their efforts finally collapsed.
  
  
• The War of the Houses: The last remnant of Maradon powers, absent the Alexian Dynasty, were the aristocratic houses of Maradon themselves. Powerful houses like Daijin, Tan-Shai, Sabine and Mistral vied for control, first of the Empire itself and then, eventually, over the sovereignty of their own domains. The majority of this war would turn to detente, with shifting alliances preventing any one house from dominating. As a result, regions of control slowly calcified into stable states, and the war became a formal, ritual affair focused more on negotiation, show of force and dueling rather than open warfare.

1693 AE to Present The Slaver Empire (The Umbral Rim)
(2776 DC to Present Lithian; 217gc U to Present Eldoth)

The Umbral Rim lay largely unprepared for the latest Mug incursion. Scattered warlords and pirate kings cast about for allies as the Mug War-Arks devastated their defenses and scattered their forces. The Slavers, who had long supported the remaining, skeletal framework of Tyrannic economic and political power as “servants” to various warlords that seized thrones on worlds like Sarai or Rath, offered their slave armies and their starships to defend against the Mug raids. They quietly gathered up all their various favors and used the war to position themselves well, until they had sufficient wealth and power that they pushed out the Mug, seized Rath and installed their own master there, and began to dictate the course of events in the Umbral Rim. With a combination of addiction, corruption and strategic brilliance, Slaver power waxed until it had united nearly all of the Umbral Rim and managed to steal worlds from the Hydrus cluster itself, eventually threatening even the Federation.  

This resulted in the Slaver War (see below) at 2211 AE (3310 DC) when House Elegans fought back and pushed them out of the Hydrus Cluster, though suffered greatly for their victory. This pushed the Slaver Empire back to the Corvus Constellation and the Sanguine Stars.  The rise of the Valorian Empire pushed them back even further, carving away most of the Corvus Constellation and liberating Sarai from their clutches.  Never has the Slaver Empire been weaker. However, a new leader has arisen, forging ties with the Sathran race, and corrupt elements within the Valorian Empire in a bid to spread Slaver influence once again.

1747 to 2276 AE The Galactic Federation
(2832 to 3377 DC Lithian; 218 to 235 gc U Eldoth)

The effect of the detente of the War of the Houses was such that diplomacy became a dominating feature of aristocratic life. Under the vision of Valria Sabine, a great Galactic Senate was called, first as a means to hammer out a specific concord across the divided houses and then, again at her patient and insistent urging, it slowly turned into a yearly forum for treaties and discussing the direction of the Houses. Then, finally, after the tragic death of her brother, Vance Sabine, and her inspiring rhetoric, the Houses agreed to form a federation: no house would rule over another and each would be autonomous, but they would all sacrifice some of their sovereignty to the Galactic Senate, agreeing to be bound by common economic, domestic and foreign policies. 

 

This era became an era of peace and prosperity not seen for millennia. The aristocratic penchant for diplomacy spread to all aspects of their reign, and they expanded the Galactic Federation through negotiation rather than conquest. This required them to actually have something to offer, and most independent worlds that joined of their own volition found themselves improved by commerce, tourism and technological exchange, and granted religious freedoms and freedom of travel and commerce that allowed them to live with a level of freedom and autonomy they had not enjoyed under millennia of empire after empire. 

Slowly but surely, it heralded a golden age… but not a perfect one. The aristocracy held special, unique rights over the rest, and they guarded their autonomy carefully, often refusing to cooperate with one another. Critically, the Federation had no centralized military power, for each house feared whomever controlled the levers of military power would use it to enforce their vision, turning the Federation into an Empire.

• Expansion and Stability: The Galactic Federation expanded through negotiation. After the fall of the Alexian Dynasty, only parts of the Glorian Rim, the Core and parts of the Arkhaian Spiral remained under House control. As the Federation expanded, alien races such as the Sparrial, the Asrathi, Keleni enclave worlds like Covenant and even remote worlds, like the Rogue Stars and the Spindel Web, agreed to join the Galactic Federation. 
   
• The Rise of Corporations: The Galactic Federation needed to remain an economic powerhouse to maintain its appeal to its member worlds, and to do that, it needed to grant more and more sovereignty to corporate entities. At Tan-Shai bidding, the Senate recognized the Hyperium Guild, the entire corporation, as an autonomous member. This opened the gate to other powerful corporations, and given standing in the senate, they could directly vote their interests. This often resulted in greater economic prosperity, but that prosperity was often unevenly divided, especially if the majority of the Galaxy would side with a corporation against the interests of a minority of worlds...
  
  
• 2211 to 2219 AE The Slave-War and the Plague: Not every encounter with aliens went well. The Slaver clans of the Umbral Rim grew in strength over this era, and their raids resulted in the enslavement of members of the Federation. The Galactic Senate voted to allow House Elegans to go to war, and it brought numerous allies with it, and managed to push back the more primitive Slavers from their protectorate in the Hydrus Constellation, but the deep press into the Umbral Rim exposed many members of the Galactic Federation to new plagues that had long stewed in the confines of the Umbral Rim, and a plague ripped across the Federation, killing many and crippling more. While not a catastrophic loss of life, it was nonetheless influential to the era.
  
  
• The Rise of Robots: With the death of many sapients, paired with rising corporate profits, more corporations began to turn to the talents of the Neo-Rationalists in the Arkhaian Spiral, including the Council of Terminus and its intelligences, and the innovative designs of the Primus system. Robots had already been a feature of the human-dominated galaxy, but after the Slaver-Plague, their presence became more pronounced and created economic disruptions, leaving discontented populations who felt their needs were left unmet by the increasingly isolated aristocracy and profit-driven corporations.

2237 to 2256 AE The Anacridian Scourge
(3337 to 3357 DC Lithian; 234 gc U Eldoth)

Into a galaxy struggling with internal tensions, a calamatous invasion crashed in the Arkhaian Spiral. Originating in the Anacridian System (or, at least, first encountered there), the Scourge tore through the Arkhaian Spiral, devastating entire planets with its nightmarish techno-organic warmachines. All life fed its engines and it devoured entire populations to sate its hunger; those who did not die found themselves infected and changed by a techno-organic plague. The entire Arkhaian Spiral begged for help, but paralyzed by internal struggles, each House refused to move, remembering the price House Elegans had paid for its war.

Finally, an honored naval officer of House Daijin, Leto Daijin, proposed a unified military force that served no House, but the Senate itself. Houses would contribute some amount to its fleets, but the corporations would provide industrial support too, creating ships designed specifically to handle the scourge. The gambit worked: the corporations build the new fleet while Leto led a delaying action with donated vessels, stopping the Scourge in the Kybernian Cluster and then, with the new fleet, pushing the Anacridian Scourge back out of the galaxy after 20 years of grueling war that redefined the Arkahaian Spiral.

2256 to 2269 AE The Hero of the Federation and the Reform movement
(3357 to 3370 DC Lithian; 234 to 235 gc U Eldoth)

With the war won in the Arkhaian Spiral, Grand Admiral Leto Daijin returned a hero. He magnanimously stepped down from his position, to the collective relief of the Galactic Senate, however, at the urging of his soldiers, the people of the Arkhaian Spiral and the people of the Galaxy, he turned to politics and was elected to the Senate as a powerful new Senator. There, he urged military reforms and, based on the treatment of his soldiers after the war, and his experiences during his travels across the galaxy, he proposed several additional policies, like an oversight ministry over corporations, making the Federated military a permanent fixture and creating a substantial welfare program for citizenry displaced by robotic labor. His proposed policies, his stoic charisma, and his deeds all made him an extremely potent political force to content with, and a polarizing figure in the Senate with his threats to the status quo.

2261 AE The Cybernetic Union and Unrest
(3362 DC Lithian; 234 gc U Eldoth)

With such a great loss of human life, and the corruption of robotics by the techno-organic plagues of the Scourge, the robots of the more remote parts of the Arkhaian Spiral began to ran amok until the Council of Terminus, absent human leadership, stepped in to control the situation and created the Cybernetic Union, an empire governed by a totalitarian version of cyber-rationalism that argued for the supremacy of the robotic mind. It forced cybernetic implants on its human subjects and began an aggressive expansion campaign while the rest of the Galactic Federation looked on with horror.

2269 AE The Martyrdom of Leto Daijin and the Galactic Civil War
(3370 DC Lithian; 235 gc U Eldoth)

Once again, a great horror arose in the galaxy and the Senate did nothing. Some senators even sided with the Cybernetic Union on their arguments about the place of robots and suggested coming to some sort of compromise with the Union. Leto lambasted the senate for its inaction and then, finally, resigned his position and took up command of his old fleets, and without waiting for orders, used them in the defense of worlds in the Kybernian Cluster, holding the Cybernetic Union back while the Senate decided what to do, an act widely hailed by the populace of the Federation. Fearing a popular man with a grand fleet as his back, the Senate recalled the Grand Admiral, arrested him for treason and executed him.

The Galaxy convulsed over the rash decisions, and his lieutenants in the navy reacted with rage. His protege and “adopted son” Ren Valorian gathered their fury and directed it back at the Galactic Senate. The “Senate Fleets” charted a course for Sovereign, to march on the very Senate it was meant to answer to. The Houses gathered their own personal defenses to hold off the advance, except for House Tan-Shai which saw which way the wind was blowing and threw its support in with Valorian. The protege defeated the aristocrats and seized the remnants of the Senate, executing for treason those who had bowed to the Union, dithered before the Scourge, and seen to the execution of Leto Daijin.

Then, sitting himself on the ancient, long-absent Alexian throne of Sovereign, Ren Valorian “accepted the call” to name himself Emperor, and declared a state of emergency against the traitor lords holed up in the Glorian Rim behind Caliban and the Maelstrom, and the genocidal Cybernetic Union, and the monstrous Slavers and other alien threats.

Thus began the Valorian Empire.

2276 AE to Present (2297 AE) The Valorian Empire
(3377 to 3399 DC Lithian; 235 gc U Eldoth)

The Valorian Empire has endured for an entire generation. The Emperor begins to grey, and his children, a princess and a prince born to him by the Lady Zandra Tan-Shai, have grown into adulthood. Those who reach adulthood in the Galaxy have known only the Valorian Empire their entire life. The days of the Galactic Federation seem like a dream clung to by the old and bitter, a fading reality that will never be again.

The Wars initiated by Ren Valorian simmer to a stalemate as he solidifies his power in the Galactic Core and sends his Imperial Knights and other agents to execute his machinations. Now, with his technological superiority nearly complete and his psychic mastery of the Galaxy nearing totality, he readies to break the stalemates between himself and the Alliance and the Cybernetic Union. The detente with the Alliance and the meat-grinder between the Empire and the Union cannot last forever...

Patreon Post: House Tan-Shai, the Fifth House

Patrons of the Companion ($5+) and higher tier sometimes get to vote on some critical aspect of the Psi-Wars setting.  Nearly two years ago, they had the chance to vote on the "Fifth house." The results were... unusual to say the least: a degenerate house elevated by the Mad Emperor, who opposed the Akashic Order, had anti-psionic powers, and followed a Broken Communion cult and sided with the Emperor; they were clearly the anti-Maradonian house!

Well, it's taken me a lot of time, but House Tan-Shai, lords of the Arkhaian Spiral, are finally here.  Fellow Travellers ($3+ patrons) now have access to a preview of the house.  Enjoy!  As always, thank you to all of my patrons, and if you're not a patron, you can always become one by hitting that button in the sidebar!

Imperial Starships: Legion-Class Super-Carrier

ST/HP: 8,0000

Hand/SR: -5/6

HT: 10

Move: 1/50 (+8)

LWt.: 1,200,000

Load: 620,000

SM: +14

Occ.: 75,000 ASV

DR: 3000*

Range: NA (5 jumps)

Cost: $350B

Loc.: Gg16t

Stall: 0

*the Legion-Class super-carrier has a force screen with 10,000 DR (ablative).

Imperial Starships: Executioner-class Artillery Cruiser

ST/HP: 7,000

Hand/SR: -5/6

HT: 12

Move: 1/50 (+8)

LWt.: 370,000

Load: 20,000

SM: +13

Occ.: 75,000 ASV

DR: 4000/2500*

Range: NA (3 jumps)

Cost: $280B

Loc.: Gg4t

Stall: 0

*the Executioner-Class artillery cruiser has 4000 DR on the front and 2500 on the rest of the vehicle; it also has a force screen with 7,500 DR (ablative); it generally deploys its force screen angled forward for a total of 15,000 frontal DR and 3750 DR elsewhere.

Imperial Starships: the Dominion-class Cruiser

ST/HP: 5,0000

Hand/SR: -2/6

HT: 12

Move: 5/100 (+10)

LWt.: 150,000

Load: 13,000

SM: +12

Occ.: 1200 ASV

DR: 3000*

Range: NA (5 jumps)

Cost: $120B

Loc.: gGs20t

*the Dominion-Class cruiser has a force screen with 5,000 DR (ablative).

Imperial Starships: Imperator-Class Dreadnought

ST/HP: 9,0000

Hand/SR: -4/6

HT: 12

Move: 1/75 (+9)

LWt.: 850,000

Load: 100,000

SM: +14

Occ.: 8500 ASV

DR: 5000/3000*

Range: NA (5 jumps)

Cost: $680B

Loc.: gGs40t

*the Empire-Class dreadnought has DR 5000 on the front, and 3000 everywhere else except for its turrets and sensors, which have a DR of 100. It has a force screen with 15,000 DR (ablative).

Imperial Vehicles: Sentinel-Class Utility Gunship

ST/HP: 90

Hand/SR: +3/4

HT: 10f

Move: 6/250 (+11)

LWt.: 6.9

Load: 1.8

SM: +4

Occ.: 13SV

DR: 250*

Range: 360,000

Cost: $30M

Loc.: G3rRt

Stall: 0

 *The Sentinel has carbide composite armor; double DR vs shaped charges and plasma weapons.

Imperial Vehicles: Peltast-Class Light Strike Fighter

ST/HP: 85

Hand/SR: +4/3

HT: 10f

Move: 10/450* (+13)

LWt.: 7.2

Load: 3

SM: +4

Occ.: 1S

DR: 15

Range: 22,000

Cost: $15M

Loc.: g3rR2Wi

Stall: 50†

*The Peltast is equipped with an Afterburner which improves the Move to 15/550 (+14) and consumes four times as much fuel (reducing range to 5,500 miles, if used continuously).

†The wings of the Peltast include a combination of maneuver thrusters and contragravity that, when activated, reduces the stall to 20.

Imperial Vehicle: Tempest-Class Orbital Superiority Fighter

ST/HP: 80

Hand/SR: +5/3*

HT: 10f

Move: 30/750* (+15)

LWt.: 4.2

Load: 0.42

SM: +4

Occ.: 1S

DR: 10†

Range: 11,000

Cost: $12M

Loc.: g3rR2Wi

Stall: 30

*The Tempest is equipped with an Afterburner which improves handling to +6/3 the Move to 45/1000 (+16) and consumes four times as much fuel (reducing range to 2,750 miles, if used continuously). Using the afterburner counts as a high-G maneuver.

†Double DR vs plasma and shaped charges.

Imperial Vehicles: Javelin-Class Interceptor

ST/HP: 80

Hand/SR: +5/3

HT: 9f

Move: 20/600* (+14)

LWt.: 4.6

Load: 0.4

SM: +4

Occ.: 1S

DR: 15

Range: 15,000

Cost: $8M

Loc.: Tt

Stall: 35

*The Javelin is equipped with an Afterburner which improves the Move to 30/750 (+15) and consumes four times as much fuel (reducing range to 3,750 miles, if used continuously).

Imperial Vehicles: Hunter-Class Recon Hover-Cycle

ST/HP: 35

Hand/SR: +4/3

HT: 12

Move: 6/120 (+10)

LWt.: 14

Load:

SM: +0

Occ.: 1

DR: 60*

Range: 750

Cost: $475,000

Loc.: ErR

*The Hunter combat hover-cycle has composite carbide armor. Double DR vs plasma weapons and shaped charge attacks.

Imperial Vehicles: Eradicator-class Mobile Howitzer

ST/HP: 125

Hand/SR: +1/4

HT: 11x

Move: 3/60 (+8)

LWt.: 18

Load: 4

SM: +4

Occ.: 2S

DR: 500/200*

Range: 90,000*

Cost: $18M

Loc.: Tt

*The Eradicator Mobile Artillery has a DR 500 frontal armor; the rest of the armor is DR 200. All armor is composite and EMA (triple DR vs plasma weapons and shaped charge attacks)

Imperial Vehicles: Vanguard-Class Infantry Fighting Vehicle

ST/HP: 80

Hand/SR: +2/4

HT: 11f

Move: 4/70 (+9)

LWt.: 5

Load: 1.2

SM: +4

Occ.: 12S

DR: 500/200*

Range: 100,000

Cost: $4.25M

Loc.: Xt

*The Vanguard IFV has a DR 500 frontal armor; the rest of the armor is DR 200; the open mount on top includes a forward gun shield with DR 200. All armor is composite and EMA (triple DR vs plasma weapons and shaped charge attacks)

Imperial Vehicles: Vanquisher-Class Hover-Tank

ST/HP: 135

Hand/SR: +2/4

HT: 12x

Move: 4/70 (+9)

LWt.: 14

Load: 0.3

SM: +4

Occ.: 3S

DR: 1400/500*

Range: 100,000

Cost: $20M

Loc.: Tt

*The Vanquisher tank has a DR 1300 frontal armor and turret; the rest of the armor is DR 500, except for the underside and the sub-turret and sensor turret, which are DR 100. All armor is composite and EMA (triple DR vs plasma weapons and shaped charge attacks)

Imperial Ground Vehicles, an Introduction

I'm still hard at work on technology, and we're up to vehicles (I debated tackling robots first, and decided on vehicles as they would get us to a playtest faster, and a detailed look at robots might require more than just some stats).  I weighed where to start with vehicles and finally settled on "a little bit of everything," but with a focus on the Valorian Empire.

The Empire of Psi-Wars is heavily modeled on the Empire of Star Wars because it's readily identifiable and also because the Galactic Empire of Star Wars makes quite a bit of sense (in some ways, anyway).  For these reasons, and that it's so central to the setting, it's seen the most work on its vehicles and technology, so for some of you who've been following Psi-Wars intently, this is more of a review than anything new.

I'm still up in the air as to whether I'll do all the Imperial vehicles in one go, or hit every faction's vehicle sets, but I lean towards each faction at a time. In either case, this week will be dedicated to the ground vehicles of the Empire, of which I currently have four.  Some may look at that number and find it low, but these take time, and I don't want to spend a year designing a hundred vehicles that most players won't use anyway.  We should focus on enough vehicles to get a broader idea of how the faction might work, and we can do some bespoke work for specific campaigns if necessary.

I'll start each section with a quick overview of the logic behind the vehicles and how I see each faction using them, and a quick recap of the sort of soldiers I see each faction fielding in a quick loadout.

Psi-Wars Blasters III: The Imperial Combine

The Imperial Combine is the result of the Imperial Directive to create a cooperative board of major Imperial corporations, including Wald & Tac, Intersol, Lazcorp, Caster System Shipyards and the remnants of the now defunct Wyrmwerks, so that Imperial military needs could be coordinated across the galaxy

This replaces the name "Directive," as that turned out to be a poor name.  I'm still not sure if I like it, so it might change.  If you prefer a different name, leave a comment.

Imperial Weaponry tends to be innovative, with high rate of fire and lots of modular accessory rails, allowing an imperial team to adapt on demand. The price of their superior weaponry is an arbitrary mark-up, representing corruption in the process.  I based a lot of the guns off of highly modern guns, as they're meant to evoke top-of-the-line modern firepower.

The naming conventions are a simple numeric code (meant to evoke the weapon it's based on), and a single letter code which represents the mark of the design.  "A" (or "Alpha" or "Antique") denotes weapons from the original Leto Daijin crusade against the Scourge (and have a reputation for being superior to modern imperial weaponry).  "C" ("Gamma" or "Civil War Era") denotes weapons from the initial years of the Galactic civil war. "D" ("Delta" or "Modern") denotes weapons in current circulation. "E" ("Epsilon" or "Experimental") denote cutting edge weapons, the next generation of weaponry. "X" ("Omega" or "Special") denote secretive prototypes not yet assigned another designation.

New Beam Weapon Types

EM Disruptors: EM disruptors use a variation on EMP technology to disrupt electrical systems (anything with the Electrical disadvantage), including most vehicles and robots. They are area attacks, and attack everything that fall into their area; this is an affliction: the target must roll HT at the listed penalty of fall unconscious for a number of minutes equal to the margin of failure (one minute minimum). They always have an (5) armor divisor.

Flamers: These replace the rules found on page UT 127. Flamers are burning rather than tight beam burning. Note that 10 points of damage is enough to set even flame-resistant materials on fire (and all of a target’s clothes on fire), and 30 points of burning damage is enough to set anything remotely flammable on fire (see B433). Anything set on fire continues to burn for 1d-1 per second and applies a-3 penalty to everything but putting out the flame. Treat flamer attacks as large-area injury (See B400); unsealed DR protects at 1/5 value; sealed DR protects at full value. A flamer jet may make an “All-Out Attack (Jet)” which allows the attack to become an area attack with a width of 3, but inflicts 1/3 damage (see HT 178).

Stunners: These replace the rules for partical beam stunners (UT 124). These affect both robots and living beings. If any Electrical or biological (that is, vulnerable to metabolic hazards) character is struck with a stunner, they must roll HT at the listed penalty of fall unconscious for a number of minutes equal to the margin of failure (one minute minimum). Some weapons are just stunners (they have no particle beam setting). They always have an (5) armor divisor.

Elite Armor II: Imperial Knight Armor

Over on my Patreon, I did a poll some time ago about the elements of the Emperor’s mystical conspiracy, those aspects of the Empire that are beyond the control of generals and bureaucrats, that answer directly to him and know of his command over Dark Communion. One such element is the Imperial Knight, a small cadre of elite psychics who have studied at the feet of the Emperor himself and deploy their psychic might in a dark mirror of the Maradon Space Knight or, more accurately, as a dark mirror to the Templars of Communion.

In Tinker Titan Rebel Spy, we had a player who wanted to be an imperial knight (even before Imperial Knights were a thing), and wanted to know what sort of armor they would have. I gave him some hacked together version of what I had designed for Maradon Space Knights, but it required a few different features, such as a unique material (diamondoid laminate, in this case). When I rebuilt the materials, he expressed sadness that I had removed their unique material (replacing it with Carbide Laminate, which is “common” now for the soldiers of the Empire). What this says to me is that his armor mattered to him. And why shouldn’t it? An Imperial Knight is as defined by his armor as a Maradon space knight is.

So, if I’m going to give Maradon space knights cool armor options, should I not give the same to Imperial Knights? More, this is an opportunity to show off some of the other options made available to the Cult of the Emperor, what secret technologies he uses to empower his most prized minions.

Imperial Knights are an order of magnitude rarer than Maradon Space Knights, but where most space knights play at war with their dueling while warrior over-priced fashion-original armor, the Imperial Knights are titans of psychic power with access to Dark Communion and thus make up for quantity with quality. So while this armor is unlikely to see much use throughout the Empire, those who wear it are such key NPCs, or the armor is sufficiently interesting to PCs, that its definitely worth diving into at great length.

Imperial Knight armor is elite armor. It may not be purchased with money, only as signature gear.

Empire-Class Dreadnought 2.0 - Inspirations

So, for my playtest, I've completed a new version of the Starhawk and the Typhoon, two vehicles already available in GURPS Spaceships 4.  For the third "iconic" Psi-Wars vehicle, I have chosen the Empire-Class Dreadnought from GURPS Spaceships 3.  The Empire-Class has served as our primary "imperial" warship, the dread conqueror and the powerhouse to beat.  It has showed up in playtests and in Tinker Titan Rebel Spy, my short-lived Psi-Wars campaign.

The Empire-Class Dreadnought isn't too bad as far as GURPS Spaceships creations go.  It lacks major issues and, in fact, taught me a lot about spaceship design.  It has perhaps an unrealistically large hangar, and it lacks missiles and armor, which tend to be the mainstays for more realistic ships, but it makes up for it with superb firepower, including an astonishing spinal cannon and very powerful force screen.  This makes it both a terrifying threat, a planet-conquering troop-transport, and a cinematically satisfying opponent to take on, as once you defeat or bypass its screens, even a relatively small fighter can take it out with a well-placed torpedo.

With the recreation of Vehicles in 4e, the goal now is to rebuild it in Vehicles, but also to re-imagine it from the ground up, rather than just "converting" the existing ship.  To do that, I want to dive into what it is, what inspired it, and what role it serves in its fleet.