Pocket Empires

[JBRocky]

Just wanting to know if anyone has done much with all the Pocket Empires scattered about? Really interested in the ones Rimward of the Solmani Confederation but in reality any will do. I have always liked the smaller setting and like the published info on the Sectors between the Imperium and 2k Wolds and would love to broaden my knowldge.

[The Oz]

Originally Posted by JBRocky

Just wanting to know if anyone has done much with all the Pocket Empires scattered about? Really interested in the ones Rimward of the Solmani Confederation but in reality any will do. I have always liked the smaller setting and like the published info on the Sectors between the Imperium and 2k Wolds and would love to broaden my knowldge.

Well before Pocket Empires, in fact, back in the days before MT, I created a sector of my own rimward of the Solomani called the Rimward Rainbow. I had three human pocket empires (not that I thought of them that way, of course) and several Aslan clans.

[RandyB]

I have a minor fascination with the Malorn Union, though the published world stats belie any interstellar polity in that region of space (and I tend not to fall into the "creative interpretation" camp to that degree, especially given the known errors in the generation of much of the published data, all those years ago...)

[Enoki]

I've done alot with the Ral Rantha. I have them as a loose group of states that are a cross between the Mafia and Klingons to use two commonly known touchstones. Even did a language:

Beli! Men Ral Rantha ediream! Men Klan am Durne! Siz ki, bir seatinlik ver?

(Yes, I’m Ral Ranthan. I’m Clan from Durne. Do you have a problem with that?)

Indi de oelue vae YA! (NOW! or you are both dead!)

It was made to be gutteral and contain lots of threats as a normal part of talking.

Basically that explains the low law levels, lots of amber zones, and generally why the Ral Rantha are looked on in a combination of fear and suspicion wherever they go. Law enforcement figures a Ral Ranthan is up to no good of some sort just for being Ral Ranthan while those familiar with them know they'll beat or kill you for just looking wrong or saying something they don't like.
They also are involved in all sorts of politicial intrigues, black ops against anyone for a price, piracy, you name it and are made out to be good enough at it that they are left alone so long as they don't become a major issue aside from every political power knowing where to go to get their dirty laundry cleaned up.

[JBRocky]

Yup I remember the Ral Ranta and one of the sectors I was looking at was Malorn, Its one of the things that made me ask. I have to agree though way to may places that wouldn't really be much of a interstellar Goverment with some of the Starports and TL down that way. I also saw the Amsterdum Empire one Sector Coreward of Malorn and lookied interesting till I saw it had 3 TL-G worlds. I don't see that really plauseable that far out toward the Rim but that can be changed.

[pg67]

Hi Guys,

Anybody here?

The Pocket Empires book wrote that the robots are infrastructure, not part of the labor-score. In my opinion, the autonomous robots (eg robots with int 6 or more) are more worker than only infrastructure. Do you have any opinion about that?

[mike wightman]

There should probably be a way as having them count as both, the term robot should also include advanced computer controlled automated resource exploitation and manufacturing 'factories'.

There's also the issue at what point robots should also be considered population...

one of the classic explanations for low population, high TL, type A or B starport is the presence of robots.

[pg67]

Originally Posted by mike wightman

There should probably be a way as having them count as both, the term robot should also include advanced computer controlled automated resource exploitation and manufacturing 'factories'.

There's also the issue at what point robots should also be considered population...

one of the classic explanations for low population, high TL, type A or B starport is the presence of robots.

Hmm. It's a good idea, I think.
The price of the robots count as RU and the number of the robots is calculated in the workers/labor score.

Did you think about something similar or not?

[McPerth]

Originally Posted by pg67

Hi Guys,

Anybody here?

The Pocket Empires book wrote that the robots are infrastructure, not part of the labor-score. In my opinion, the autonomous robots (eg robots with int 6 or more) are more worker than only infrastructure. Do you have any opinion about that?

I don't know much about PE, but for what I've read here I see them more as infrastructure. Labour depends on Pop, and I guess Pop cannot be increased quickly by investing money, while I guess infrastructure can.

As you can build many robots just by investing money, you could increase your robotic workforce quite quickly, and if they are counted as population this will increase Pop digit just by investing money. Can you do this in PE?

Originally Posted by mike wightman

one of the classic explanations for low population, high TL, type A or B starport is the presence of robots.

Another example would be the Imperial Depots.

According MT:RS, most of them are non-industrial, only 3 have pop 7-8, while 11 have pop under 1 million people (pop 5-).

With those populations, the only way to keep with the funcitions the Depots are told to have is either to have lots (millions) of people not accounted on the Pop digit or losts of automated work (robots), or probably both.

[mike wightman]

The depot system world UPP is not the stats of the Imperial depot itself - with several fleets and their support personnel plus marines and army assets you could easily have a few million Imperial 'transients' that don't count towards the world UPP.

The planet in the depot system is where civilians are allowed to go...