The Imperial Ministry and Senate

Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo.While the congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict....  

-The Phantom Menace

"Control the coinage and the courts—let the rabble have the rest." Thus the Padishah Emperor advised you. 

-Dune

Dreary politics and statecraft is probably the furthest thing from the minds of the players of any action scenario, and yet politics feeds into every action scenario: The Expendables features a political coup against a South American dictator at its core, and James Bond stories revolve around Cold War politics.  The action hero might not be a politician, but politics often drives the context of his action.

Thus, I'd like to  get the "least exciting" of our Imperial triumvirate out of the way first, and take a look at imperial politics.  Of all the character types, I expect only the Diplomat will really invest deeply into the organ of state within the Empire, but any character with an aristocratic background might find himself or herself tied into it.

But everyone and anyone might find themselves at the beck and call of a powerful imperial official or a wealthy imperial senator.  They'll call upon Assassins to destroy their rivals, or find themselves the marks of the Con Artist, or they'll confer quietly with their personal Spies.  The point of this organization, more than anything, is to provide context for the actions of our characters.

Patreon Post - The Results of the Emperor polls

Last week, we had a poll for the Emperor.  Today, I have the results of that poll, compiled into a single document.  I don't have the final version of the Emperor yet, because we still need a few pieces before that can be finished (the voting definitely demanded a psionic conspiracy, and I haven't begun working on those yet), but in the meantime, we know what the emperor looks like and what sort of person he is.

For all $5+ patrons, check it out here.  If you're not a patron, don't worry, I've got more material for you Thursday and, as usual, if you'd like to become a patron, I'd love to have you.

Patreon Posts: The Empire and the Emperor

Today begins the reign of the Empire!  Over the next month, I'll release all the details of the Empire, from its organizations to its unique technology and its dangerous personnel.  For my $3+ "Fellow Traveler" Patrons, I have a complete preview (though currently lacking technology and personnel!)

For my $5+ Companions and Disciples, you get to decide on the Emperor himself.  Heir to the great war hero's legacy, he might be a sinister psion or a misunderstood genius.  What is his true agenda, and who will reign when he passes away?  The introduction post is here.

As usual, I want to thank my patrons: you guys make this possible.  If you're not a patron, don't worry, all of this stuff will eventually be available to you too, but if you'd like to join, I'd love to have you.

Designing Organizations: Overview and Empire

New Empire by Adam Burn

Organizations represent the heart of every Action game.  Organizations (the police, the CIA, a spooky cabal) hire heroes to fight other organizations (the Mob, terrorists, a spooky cabal).  While organizations aren't central in the sense that they're not the mechanics that drive the action, they encompass, surround and provide the context for the action.

So, more important for Psi-Wars than planets, or alien races, or cool technology are organizations. Of course, some organizations will be unique to planets or regions of space, but a few major organizations so thoroughly saturate the setting that they must be defined before the rest of the setting can be: the Empire, the Rebellion and the Space Knight Order.

All of them need the same sort of questions asked and answered to work in a proper Action context, so in this introduction, I'm going to start with the Empire itself as an example of Organization design.

Patreon Post: Trader Tech

Today, I finish up my documents on Traders.  Tomorrow, we'll resume our normal posting schedule with the Empire.

The polls for the Traders resulted in an increased focus on interesting technologies, including Trader Arks, Symbolic Superlogic neural architecture, extensive cybernetics and skin-suits.  I've gathered all of these, and more, into a single Trader Tech document.

The post is a preview and thus available to all $3+ "Fellow Travelers".  If you're a patron, check it out here. If you're not, I'd love to have you!

Patreon Post: The Final Traders Document

Another day, another Patreon post.  Yesterday, I announced the results of the Trader poll.  Today, I have the Trader documents. The results took a lot more work than I expected, and came to 9000 words.  I'm interested in your thoughts!

The post is a preview and thus available to all $3+ "Fellow Travelers".  If you're a patron, check it out here. If you're not, I'd love to have you!

Patreon Post: The Traders Poll Results

This week is going to be something of a Patreon Week, rather by accident.  I offered some polls on the Traders, and the results have come in.  The results took more time and energy than I expected, so the material is rather extensive and is going to take some time to release.  Don't worry, my non-Patrons, I do dearly love you too, and this week will see the release of the first of a very long, multi-series post on the Empire!

So, today, I have my Poll Results, which are available only to my Companions ($5+) because those are the people who voted for them.  If you're not a Patron, I'd love to have you, but note that you won't have much context, at least, for this post.  The results of the Traders will be visible later this week as a "preview," and thus available to all $3+.  Eventually, of course, all of this ends up in the final documents.

Check it out here.