From: Tim Schmidt <tims@t...>
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 1998 20:41:00 -0700
Subject: Comunication & travel
As the person who first posted the question, I am grateful for the many responses. I am also grateful to Nyrath the Nearly Wise. Visit his website and you will find a wealth of info on star maps and the like. A great site! Anyway, this is how i intend to run things (subject to the approval of the other campaign paricipants). 1. The is no FTL communications. The fastest way to communicate is by courier ship. Regular transportation routes will between star will go from system to another system with 2 parsecs (this is a little over 6 light years). It represents 1 weeks travel (not counting getting into or out of the solar systems) for warships. Twice that long for merchant ships. Special courier ships can jump every 6 hours (they have specially trained crews and special (expensive) drugs), so they can make the trip in under 2 days. When a player dispatches a ship or fleet, he must write a description of the entire mission which can't be changed unless he gets a courier out there to stop it. The core will be dominated by the UN (IE the security council consisting of the great powers) and no fighting is permitted there. The UN fleet stays in this zone and sees to that. The great powers control outlying sectors under rules set down by the UN, but it has little actual authority out there. These sectors are governed by administrators (the players) who are appointed by the great power cental government. They have almost complete control as long as they don't screw up badly. But the trip wires are many. Worlds are colonized from 4 major sources: 1. A great power. The powers (NAC,NSL, etc.) have a lot of resources but do not have enough to colonize very many worlds at one time. They pick and choose. These worlds will directly controlled by the colonial government and will have regular troops as a garrison and star bases with permanent squadrons of starships. 2. Corporate Worlds. These are worlds that are licensed to major interstellar corporations. They provide admisnistration, courts, police (usually mercenaries). The colonial administration is responsible for space protection. (The corporations are prohibited by the UN from having their own warships, but..). Woe to any governor who fails to protect one of these words as the corporations have a lot of clout back home (and the king is a major stockholder). Private worlds. These are worlds in which a private group has for their own reasons gotten a UN license. Although technically under the control of the sector goernor, they will be all kinds or worlds. Some will provide their own defense, some will invite (or will have despite their desires) a regular military garrison and some will hire mercenaries. 4. Independant ventures. These are worlds which are mostly on or beyond the fringe the human space. They were formed by groups fleeing the central govenments (or who got lost). The only control ther governor will have over these worlds is the force his will or his military. Ships will be built in the core. Governors will have to buy ships from his superiors with his tax revinue (kind of like the British East India company). Taxes come from controled worlds (you get the picture) I envision that no one out there will have the resources to field large armies. Even the militias will be pretty small. Most worlds will be pretty thinly populated. The loyalties of various worlds will vary (ie. a lot of them can be bought) again like the Mogul Princes in India.