We need an Imperium scale!

[Kilgs]

I love how everyone interprets the Imperium in their TU. It makes for great conversations here and, personally, I like to tinker with ideas based on the different interpretations.

By interpretations, I am referencing the amount of control/intrusion/interference/involvement that the Imperium has in member worlds.

So we should come up with a scale 1-10 for reference. And to communicate the position that a particular idea is coming from.

And for fun!

 

[Spinward Scout]

How about a 0 through F scale like the UWP uses?

 

[inexorabletash]

Is this not already a field in the IMTU code?

http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/IMTU

 

[aramis]

I love how everyone interprets the Imperium in their TU. It makes for great conversations here and, personally, I like to tinker with ideas based on the different interpretations.

By interpretations, I am referencing the amount of control/intrusion/interference/involvement that the Imperium has in member worlds.

So we should come up with a scale 1-10 for reference. And to communicate the position that a particular idea is coming from.

And for fun!

A much more detailed scale already exists.
No point trying to collapse a multi-dimensional (22 dimensions with 5-7 positions each) scale into a one dimensional scale.

wiki.travellerrpg.com/IMTU

 

[Timerover51]

In My Traveller Universe, the Imperium is far, far way, like several sectors to the Coreward, as my universe is out on the Rim. It is not even thought about, and to some, it is a myth or bogeyman invented by the Solomani.

 

[Bravesteel]

I completely forgot about the IMTU Code. A great exercise in making you really think about how you perceive your little version of the Traveller universe.:coffeesip:

 

[Kilgs]

A much more detailed scale already exists.
No point trying to collapse a multi-dimensional (22 dimensions with 5-7 positions each) scale into a one dimensional scale.

Oh my, I see it as essential to condense such. What a nightmarish equation... it doesn't have to be exact just provide framework.

 

[Kilgs]

Here we go... the best of both worlds in describing the Imperium not the YTU.

A-
The 3I is a massive juggernaut, with an amazing tax base and thousands of SDBs in even minor systems. Interplanetary trade is robust. Many starports are huge city-sized affairs.

-B-
The 3I is a powerful force to reckon with, with good control over most of its member worlds and the power to back its authority. Interplanetary trade is good on many worlds. Starports are planetary trade centers.

-C-
The 3I is a stable confederation, held together by the nobility of its population, but not all-powerful and overall not wealthy. Interplanetary trade is regular. Starports are common.

-D-
The 3I is a loose, vulnerable sprawl of worlds, which by the way is no worse off than the other interstellar states. Interplanetary trade exists on major worlds. Starports are significant on major worlds but not so massive.

-F-
The 3I is a picture of gross mismanagement over impossible distances. It's a wonder it held together so long. Interplanetary trade exists on only the best worlds. Starports are, on the whole, rather weak things.

-X-
IMTU, the 3I doesn't exist or is irrelevant.

 

[mike wightman]

There is a very important description of the Imperium missing - and it is the one I use the most:

The lmperium is a strong interstellar government encompassing 281 subsectors and approximately 11,000 worlds. Approximately 1100 years old, it is the third human empire to control this area, the oldest, and the strongest. Nevertheless, it is under strong pressure from its neighboring interstellar governments, and does not have the strength nor the power which it once had.

S:3 SM
To which I add:

the Imperium), possessed of great industrial and technological might, but unable, due to the sheer distances and travel times involved, to exert total control at all levels everywhere within its star-spanning realm. On the frontiers, extensive home rule provisions allow planetary populations to choose their own forms of government, raise and maintain armed forces for local security, pass and enforce laws governing local conduct, and regulate (within limits) commerce. Defense of the frontier is mostly provided by local indigenous forces, stiffened by scattered lmperial naval bases manned by small but extremely sophisticated forces. Conflicting local interests often settle their differences by force of arms, with lmperial forces looking quietly the other way, unable to effectively intervene as a police force in any but the most wide-spread of conflicts without jeopardizing their primary mission of the defense of the realm. Only when local conflicts threaten either the security or the economy of the area do lmperial forces take an active hand, and then it is with speed and overwhelming force.

LBB4