• Welcome to the new COTI server. We've moved the Citizens to a new server. Please let us know in the COTI Website issue forum if you find any problems.
  • We, the systems administration staff, apologize for this unexpected outage of the boards. We have resolved the root cause of the problem and there should be no further disruptions.

Creating Pocket Empires

Jame

SOC-14 5K
How does one create a pocket empire, when one doesn't have (and doesn't plan to get at present) the book by that name?
 
Look at a sector map (or subsector map/domain map etc.) or generate said map.

Look for worlds that are close together and complement each other in some way - in your opinion.

Invent a reason for how said worlds came to be allied - is it by colonisation, conquest, mutual agreement/treaty, or a mixture of these reasons.

There you have a pocket empire.
 
Step One: Make or print a copy of the map.

Step Two: Highlight worlds with a minimum of a Class-C starport, TL 9+, and Pop 7+.

Step Three: Count out about two-four parsecs from the highlighted worlds and draw borders. If borders overlap, decide if these are all one Pocket Empire or separate ones fighting for worlds along their border.

And you're done!

Hope this helps,
Flynn
 
Well, I have a map, and these things make sense for that map (subsector-sized). At some point I'll ask for help with the setting...
 
To expand on Sigg's post ...

Please know that I don't have Pocket Empires either. (Someone once offered to sell me one, but I never heard back from them. :( Oh well.) However, this is how I do it myself.

First, realize that many canon pocket empires are idiotic. So be careful before looking at existing pocket empires for guidance. Two good examples that can be used are the Sword Worlds and the Florian League.

Second, remember that you will have to "massage" the numbers. Use the given rolls (whether yours or published ones) as a starting point, not the end point. Both of the examples above were obviously massaged at some point.

Third, consider your setting. In the TNE Wilds, your qualifications to make a pocket empire are pretty low, since any world with a sustainable government has the potential to start a pocket empire if they get back into space first. In a more traditional setting, with a normal range of tech levels, the standards go up.

At a basic level, just look for any hipop world with a starfaring TL and the ability to make jump-capable ships. Such a world is in an excellent position to create and lead a pocket empire.

While a world with a pop of 7+ (assuming tech level is a given) could start a pocket empire, it will be quickly eaten by any hipop competitors. So start with the hipop worlds, then work back if you are coming up empty. A world with a pop of 6- (i.e. a "non-industrial" world) probably doesn't have the industrial base to support an interstellar empire.

Once you have picked the core world, look at the nearby worlds for likely partners. If the main world is non-agricultural, you can be guaranteed at least one neighbor that is (or can be) agricultural will be a member, willing or not.

As you start adding worlds, keep in mind how big you want this pocket empire to be. Almost all will grow to at least a subsector size if they can, but growth past that depends on the empire's character and whatever other barriers to growth they run into (rifts, competing empires, "dead zones", etc.).

Again, to stress a point above, do not be afraid to change something if you need to. If something almost works except for one thing, go ahead and change that thing.

Good luck and have fun!
 
Sorry Daryen but since I respect your opinion so much what is so idiotic about the Sword Worlds or Florian League. I can understand that some may feel that due to Imperial & Zhodani domination, lack of industrial capability they shouldn't survive but stanger things have happened eg Terran Confederation defeating the Vilani Empire.
 
Sorry for not being clear. I was trying to say that the Sword Worlds and the Florian League are good examples of canon pocket empires.

The Darrian Confederation is a so-so example. (It works, but doesn't hang together well. Unlike the above two, I doubt they modified those UWPs much.)

The list of bad examples is much longer.
 
True there are loads of pocket empires and client states that don't ring true but IMO the most important characteristic of a pocket empire is that it brings colour to a campaign.

Late Rebellion Diaspora sector is unfortunately a bad example of Pocket Empires in action. They are all, save the Ecclesiasty of Narquel, the same boring Anglo-Imperial cultures merely separated by artificial boundaries dictated by god-knows-who.

The Unity of Promise & the Union of Suffren were good guys by reason that they closely matched contempary culture (read US/UK) and made judicious use of mercenaries (ooh adventures!!). They were boring.
 
I fixed my original message to be a little more clear.

And thank you very much for the wonderful compliment.

I do acknowledge that when you have multiple pocket empires to work with, it can be difficult to give them each their own character. Plus, it is always at least a little unfair to describe an empire as having a single character or culture or position or attitude. They will all be tapestries (or at least should be), but that is very, very hard to convey. I know I'm still working very hard on developing that skill
 
Very true Daryen. In my own TNE campaigns (a long long time ago) I usually found that realism was the first casualty in the search for playability. Rimward & Trailing of the Imperium was useful due to the number of Solomani states meant I could legitimately introduce various Terran ethnicities & cultures (at the time I was just out the army and used my own very biased (even bigoted) take on cultures I had encountered - every continent visited and a passport literally full of visa stamps, yes join the army & see the world...just remember to duck when the bullets are flying).

I'll stop rambling but I frequently used Grand Census/World builders Handbook as a jumping off point before adding from my own palatte.
 
Originally posted by daryen:
I do acknowledge that when you have multiple pocket empires to work with, it can be difficult to give them each their own character. Plus, it is always at least a little unfair to describe an empire as having a single character or culture or position or attitude. They will all be tapestries (or at least should be), but that is very, very hard to convey. I know I'm still working very hard on developing that skill
Probably the single most important starting point for a pocket empire lies not in game mechanics but in its reason for existence.

More often than not (going by past and present RW examples), this is a profound sense of difference from neighbouring cultures. Therefore, if a number of very similar pocket empires exist in close proximity, it's time to go back to the drawing board.

And c'mon, Daryen - you know you're good! :D
 
Now, I rolled up six worlds within the borders and as many without, but the highest population was 8, and the highest tl and port were B and A, in that order and on another planet. So I made the port-A, TL B planet the capital. Maybe the pop-8 world is where the highest percent of the military comes from?
As for physical setting, well, there's a client state two parsecs over the border to rimward and another one two parsecs over the border to trailing, as well as three planets in a main two parsecs to coreward. These have only recently - past few years - been rediscovered, as the P.E. is less than 100 years old; worlds beyond two parsecs are not public (i.e. PC) knowledge.

Pardon my not telling more, but (1.) I don't have the stats in front of me and (2.) we (yes, I said "we" and I am talking about other people here) are leaving soon.
 
Greetings and salutations,

Since people are speaking of RW examples used for Pocket Empires, I decided to list some of the ones I used in campaigns ages ago.

They include:
</font>
  1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)</font>
  2. Warsaw Pact</font>
  3. South East Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO)</font>
  4. OPEC (?)</font>
  5. Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR)</font>
  6. Nazi Government of WWII</font>
  7. The Roman Empire</font>
  8. The Ottoman Empire</font>
  9. The British Empire</font>
  10. the empire of Genghis Khan</font>
  11. the empire of Alexander the Great</font>
  12. Attila the Hun (people joined him because they believed they would be safer with him than against him. It was true.)</font>
  13. Civil War America</font>
  14. any organized religion (Catholics, Moslems, Islams, Pentacostal, Baptists, Methodists, Pagans, Wiccans, Amish, Quakers, etc.)</font>
These are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. I hope they help in forming your Pocket Empire.
 
The members of the Pocket Empire (what type I haven't decided yet):

0204 Anozang N,S B644685A
0205 Selena N A573784B Cp
0304 Rosemoor S C4467B88
0404 Victoria N B9A46459
0405 Albany S D8975568
0406 Simonson N,S B688896A

Selena and Anozang have always been close, great trading partners. This is what helped Selena retain starflight. Selena re-invented Jump-2 within the past fifty years and began consolidating its hold on the cluster; just now it's moved beyond its borders to the 7 worlds within Jump-2 of its borders.
One of these, Westkirk (0107 N B666586A Cs), agreed to use its naval base to promote trade and defense within its system.
Another, Kitten (0604 C7978859 Cs), which owns Easter (0603 EA861617), is mainly interested in learning how to build Jump-2 and keeping its hold on Easter, which it wants as an agricultural reserve.
There are three more worlds that are two parsecs to coreward with stats.

Edit: Worlds beyond two parsecs away are not known to most people (i.e. PCs).

And yes, there was some sort of disaster in the past. Maybe something like a World War 1 that went to far...
 
Jame,

Looks like a good start. All of those world, except for Victoria, look good. I especially like that all of the populations are very sustainable. You don't have any low-population anomolies.

For Victoria, you just need to make sure you have a reason for why 1+ million people are willing to live on such a crap planet when there are really nice worlds nearby. With only a million people, it would not be difficult for them to all just pick up and move to, say, Albany and just take over. (Peacefully. They don't even have to invade. Just move and they "outvote" the original inhabitants.)

Or are they aliens/altered humans adapted to that world?

I do have two recommendations (if you don't mind):
1) Make sure you have the next "ring" of worlds made up so that you can be ready when your players do something stupid and/or unexpected.

2) Make sure you don't make any world with a TL better than B. If you were to throw a TL C pop 8 world into this mix, it would take over. Increase either the TL or the pop above that, and there wouldn't even be a fight.
 
Greetings and salutations,

Victoria could have been one of a few things I can think of.
</font>
  • A corporation owns Victoria</font>
  • it is a prison facility</font>
  • could be preparing the planet for something or someone</font>
But that's just my opinion.
 
Yeah, part of Victoria's explanation is that they're doing prep work; the rest of it is that they're either support for the Naval base or working for the megacorps who built the port (it is a B-class, so it must be doing a good bit of what little to moderate trade this is).

Also: I'm thinking that most of the ships are either corp, scout or naval, although there are now starting to be private ships, mostly noble but a free trader or three. Suggestions?

Edit: And how's this for a title: The Duchy of Selena? It comes from the fact that the House of the Duke of Selena managed to hold on to the planet in the face of chaos; no nobles can have a title greater than Duke, and the Duke/Duchess of Selena is always the High Duke (or maybe Archduke, both modified as appropriate).

And so far, at least, there are no aliens...
 
Also: I'm thinking that most of the ships are either corp, scout or naval, although there are now starting to be private ships, mostly noble but a free trader or three. Suggestions?
If you are going to incorporate free traders, then have a couple owned by nobles who are looking for something to do in their free time. Also, have a couple of free traders sold off to whomever, but the ships are not upto the current technology.

Edit: And how's this for a title: The Duchy of Selena? It comes from the fact that the House of the Duke of Selena managed to hold on to the planet in the face of chaos; no nobles can have a title greater than Duke, and the Duke/Duchess of Selena is always the High Duke (or maybe Archduke, both modified as appropriate).
I have no problem with the title, but what about the other worlds that are going to be part of it? Will they protest the name? Could be a mission for your players to sell the name Duchy of Selena to the other worlds that will make up the Pocket Empire.
 
I'm kinda thinking that part of the reason that worlds beyond 2 parsecs are unknown is because the Duchy was selling the ones in the cluster (and it is a cluster; it makes an upside-down U with the trailing side one parsec longer than the other).

On the other hand, that could be a mission with the client states...
 
Back
Top