Editing FederalSpace:Peoples (section)

== The Great Galactic Empire ==

* Great Houses (derived from former military corps of the empire). Each house has its own traditions and holdings; technologically-assisted feudalism. 
* A Senate, with elected Emperor. 
* Lots of military tradition, but not necessarily militarized or autocratic—too much competition between houses for that. 
* Great emphasis upon honor, duty, and glory—always strive to do better, to qualify for a greater oath to a greater patron, and to attract greater clients. Violent. Lead from the front.
* Glorious colorful banners, capes, swords; black helmets and gas masks in battle. 

'''Random Action Table (1d6):'''
# Challenge them to a duel.
# Praise their abilities.
# Follow orders to the letter.
# Gengineer a solution.
# Ask your brothers and sisters for help.
# Attack!

=== Commentary ===

'''Lonewolf23:''' My favorite differences [from the Star Fleet Universe / Prime Directive setting] involve the Klingons, actually. Instead of Space Vikings, they're more like Space Soviets: a strong, militaristic empire with a lot of client races, a centralized economy, and a social emphasis on service to the Empire. Prime Directive Klingons don't charge at you screaming like banshees with their Bath'leths held high; they charge at you with Disruptor rifles blazing, with their Hilidarians (large lizard-folk) and Slidarian (bear-ape like humanoids) subject races charging in front of them.

Oh, and all of it uses Old Trek style, so expect gold-clad Officers, Green Orion Space Babes and Smooth foreheaded Klingons.

'''Shadowjack:''' SFB was an inspiration. And yes, these are the smooth-headed Klingons, with that sardonic look Kirk came to hate so well. 

Slidarians: there's a use for the uplifted bears from Transhuman Space! :D


'''Shadowjack:''' My "Great Galactic Empire" is arguably a liveable place—the Great Houses care for their vassals, and it is possible for any man to carve out a piece of territory for himself if he has the wit and strength to try. Perhaps some people from the Federation immigrate there and swear their sword-oath to the Emperor, seeking adventure and glory that they can't find back at home. 

I wouldn't want to live there, though, even if I ''did'' get to wear a cape.


'''JohnBiles:''' The Great Galactic Empire could divinize its past emperors like the Romans did and worships them as the official religion which is the badge of loyalty, but you're free to follow whatever private faith you want. The official religion would also teach that dying in battle is the best way to get into a good afterlife.


'''JohnBiles:''' The Galactic Empire endorses the warrior virtues. It is a land of HEROES. When an Imperial sees a giant space amoeba eating people, he charges in to help. When he sees someone being raped, he cuts the offender's head off without a second thought. When the Empire needs someone to hold the gates until the giant space squid killing machine can be assembled, they practically have to hold a fighting tournament to determine who gets the honor of it. 

The Empire protects its own. Join the Empire and you know you will be safe. You'll be expected to help fight for the Empire and pay taxes, but you know that you are protected. And any subject of the Empire who shows the Imperial virtues can rise to the top. 

Honor doesn't just mean being touchy, it means the word of an Imperial is his bond. He needs no contract law because he will punish himself if he breaks a promise. It means if you give him a job, he will do it or he will die.

Of course, this is all the ideal and no one ever perfectly lives up to ideals. But at heart, there is a lot of nobility in the ideals of the Empire.

'''LordDraqo:''' Honor = the courage to fulfill freely accepted obligations
Courage = the willingness to endure discomfort (pain/death?) to achieve a goal.

These seem like very worthwhile cultural motifs for the Galactic Empire. Honorable does not mean stupid, though it does mean persistant.

'''Susanoo Orbatos:''' Hmm here's the key point though though, the basic premise of the Empire vs the Federation and the League is its explicit rejection of Democracy. The Emperor and the Great Houses rule because they do it better than you. The inherent flaw of Monarchy in modern day is that the Monarchs aren't superbeings who are smarter more divinly inspired and so on.. but in a world where there are multiple clades of human life it seems like moding for "super rulers" would have a certain amount of logic.

Though perhaps the "Super governor" build might work better for the Romulan analogue... ['''Shadowjack:''' Yes, it does.]

'''Scarik:''' I think in this case the Empire is a pure meritocracy.

In the Alliance you run for high office and use your skills and contacts and cash to put you at the top.

The Feds use comprehensive tests and then elect their leaders to limited terms.

The Empire forces heroes into leadership positions. You have no choice, if you are a hero you must serve at the helm. Once chosen you can not be unchosen and any failure could result in death or worse dishonor.



'''Shadowjack:''' Genetic engineering: I imagine that the Empire cheerfully gens up new models when needed, and discards the old ones. Brrr. 

'''Myth:''' Darwinism and genetics seems an interesting combination, too. The Mirror Universe (at least in TOS) seemed quite concerned with personal success. If they are consciously working to find the most successful genes for rulership, then that's a slightly different spin on the "personal success at all costs" thing. Perhaps there is no Emperor, and the whole Empire is in a 300-year competition to see who's the best sentient for the job. 

Individuals with poor gene combinations would be killed off (or, more correctly, individuals who have been killed off are judged to have had poor gene combinations). Perhaps successful individuals would be cloned. Perhaps succesful individuals from outside the Empire would be gene-knapped, either for cloning or for combining with other favorite genes.

To avoid the Khan/Aryan thing, have it understood that these are individual gene combinations they're looking at, none of that master race stuff. Perhaps they're recovering from some early-Empire "cheaters" who used gene-modding and/or tailored cloning, rather than true "survival of the fittest" natural gene combinations/evolution. (You can have both the "Eugenics Wars" and the "Clone Wars" in their past, for instance.)




'''Shadowjack:''' 
I think of the old houses of the Empire actually having their origins in old armies/navies. If you think of how many services an established military provides to its personnel, particularly the old systems that do their own recruiting—and if you think of how the role of the Army has evolved places like the Russia and China today—you can see where I'm going with this. I almost think of the Armies in ''Ender's Game'', each with colors and mascot. Salamander Army, Dragon Army, Tiger Army, Horse Army… all under the Emperor. (Who's probably elected by the houses…) Shimmering banners ripple in the wind of the Great Square and the Triumph Dome. 

Court intrigue. Capes. Dagger fights in the grounds behind the barracks house. Angry torchlight mobs when the Generals go too far, and screaming, cheering crowds when they bring victory.

Lots of struggle and infighting to gain social position, but a successful man writes his own ticket. Respect given not just to warriors, of course—doctors and technologists are important, too, but the doctor should go personally into plague territory to perform his research, and the technologist should be willing to test his own equipment. 

One big problem with the Empire is that it spends almost as much time fighting itself as anyone else. Another big problem is that it can be ''rough'' on the peasants, especially if you're in the territory of a negligent House. AK-47 justice is only fun if you're the one with the AK-47.


'''Archer:''' Lets say the Imperials were genetically engineered to be the fist of the Terran Empire. The Empire raised them in an artificial warrior culture and encouraged them to think of themselves as seperate from normal humans, in an attempt to make them more willing to put down civillian uprisings. But as the Empire began to crumble and they spend more and more time running from hot spot to hot spot, out of touch with their superiors, their concept of honor began to evolve. Then came the day the commander of an expeditionary force decided the Empire's orders were no longer honorable. Within an hour, the Imperial commisars were out the airlocks and the force's ships had scattered, spreading a message of revolt. The surviving rebels fled into unexplored space, and their commanders became the founders of the great houses of a new empire. Between the fighting and the loss of the core of its military, the empire they had served did not long survive their departure.



'''mindstalk:''' Imperials as old warrior caste, and genetic engineering: without going too THS, there's still probably a lot of cultural room based on personality tweaking. More testosterone or something -> more aggression. More oxytocin -> more bonding, especially pair bonding (see prairie and meadow voles.) Manufacture of high-functioning autists and savants, or ability to get logical or artistic talent to order. No race of supergeniuses (yet?) but a bunch of effective caste ability for a society that chooses to go that route.