Starting off with one of the major Second Tier powers: The Unity.
The Unity controls several worlds, and is large and powerful for a Second Tier
nation. The society is divided into two main classes, which could be called
Priests and Peasants. The Priests are committed to human evolution and work
towards that end by genetic manipulation
and eugenics; they think of living things as tools and/or art, and
have no hesitation about modifying what's useful, and terminating what's not.
"Priests" may not be the best possible term, since there's nothing of
organized religion in it, but they do regard "the Blind, Impersonal Force
which is Guiding our Ultimate Evolution" as something of a god and I didn't
want to use "Party Member". May come up with a better nomenclature later.
The Peasants are there to serve the Unity--definitely not the other
way round.
They export art works, pharmaceuticals, foods, and gene-tailored
organisms, including humans. They import weapons and a variety of
products which require high-tech.
The Unity Bureau of Special Services is considered one of the best
intelligence agencies around. The Unity Navy (using NAC minis) and Planetary
Forces both suffer from internal rivalries, but are large, skilled, and well
equipped for their tech level.
Sources of inspiration: Victorian-era China, Cetaganda (Lois Bujold),
That Hideous Strength (CS Lewis), Courtship Rite (Kingsbury), the USSR, and
others.
One reason for the Unity which I neglected to mention yesterday is that the
devotion to Human Evolution means that they are willing to have
gladiatorial and/or "war world" contests, so you can always justify a
battle:
"In tonight's match, a Unity Volunteer platoon squares off against a captured
Draugir wargang in the Ruined City arena. Betting action is heavy, with 7:6
odds favoring the Draugiri."
Here is my own entry to the VVerse: The Karidean Alliance
Finished date: 2-9-2005 12M
Nation: Karidian Alliance
Author: Donald Hosford
Home: Karidia Station The Karidia system was choosen because it was centrally
located. But there were no usable planets in the system. So they built a vast
space station, that orbits the star in a position that a habitable world would
orbit. A perminant Alliance Fleet force guards the station.
History: Main points
Early days: The marauding activities of the "Iron League" (a local warlord)
caused a few independant worlds to join in a military alliance. After the Iron
League's defeat, the alliance added many new worlds. Some were newly
liberated, and others were new converts. A Large Starliner is purchased and
converted to be the new seat of government for the Alliance. It is stationed
in the Karidia System.
Middle days: New worlds are constantly joining the Alliance. Karidia Station
begins construction. After bearly winning a few battles, the Alliance Council
approves the creation of a small perminent force to rally the member fleets
around.
Now: With the successes of the Alliance Fleet, the weaker member worlds are
starting to drop their own forces, and just pay a fee to the Alliance Patrol
to come in and do their policing.
Government: Basic town council, just very big... Originally just a defense
agreement, when the members realized that they had something, they turned it
into a simple council. As new challenges and members came along, the council
gew into a large legistlature. Everything is still desided by a simple
majority vote. Every world gets one seat.
Military: The military forces can be divided into two broad types: Alliance,
and
Member forces.
Alliance Fleet: The perminent professional defense forces. Primarily heavy
ships and small perminent ground forces. They also back up the Alliance Patrol
on the heavy tasks.
Member Fleets: Their fleets are made up of a bewildering array of types and
classes. All light stuff. For most members the occasional cruiser is about the
heavyist units fielded. Every world is expected to
maintain it's own defense forces. Every year some of each member's forces are
rotated into the Alliance Fleet.
Law: Alliance Patrol: These hard working men and women constantly patrol the
member worlds. Whenever things get rough, Alliance Fleet forces are
brought in. Member worlds: Each world is expected to do it's own policing.
They must all agree to certain laws before joining.
Trade: Internal trade is controlled by the Alliance Trade Council. This body
ensures fair trade practices, sets tarrifs, etc.
Interstellar Relations: These peaple are a little paranoid. They will attack
any oviously threatining nations, or apparently threatining nations
(preemptive strikes). (If you know an enemy is building up to attack you, why
wait? Blast 'em before they are ready...Karidean Alliance General Moyna)
Reality Notes: These peaple are definatly not marching in a lock step. They do
have many internal problems. Squables seem to be a dayly occourance. The
Alliance Patrol usually keeps the noise down. The only thing they all agree on
is DEFENSE. This can be likened to an orcestra. Each member is playing it's
own
tune. During peace-time it sounds like noise. (how do they get anything
done?) But during a war, it is a tune of almost perfect harmony...
Gaming Notes: Fleet minis: To be desided. New Equipment: None.
Rule Mods: Just one -- Fleet setup. (minor adjustment I think...)
Karidian Alliance Fleet Setup: This has to be worked out in detail. General
idea: Because of all of the member fleets involved in the Alliance Fleet,
there is a blizzard of ship types. Instead of designing
all of those ships and fleets, I will generallize it. I will design just two
or three ships for each class. The costs of each class will be
averaged togather. So when buying a destroyer, you would pay the average
destroyer cost. But you would not know what specific type of destoyer you
would get until setup on the game table. You would then roll on the destroyer
table for each destroyer, etc.
Sources: The content is history, and my own ideas. Most of it is from some
early game notes for other games I have created, etc. The layout format from
Gurps Space, and Starfire The Stars At War. The rest I made
up on the spot.
Designer's Notes: I have tried to make these guys as original as I could
muster. I know they sound alot like the EU...No resemblence is intended. If
this is too similar I am willing to change it.
They sound fair...some designs will be cheap and some expensive. Some good
designs, and some bad...With these guys your fleet will be a
crapshoot. :-)
New version. Minor adjustments.
Finished date: 2-13-2005 4pm
Nation: Karidian Alliance
Author: Donald Hosford
Gaming Notes: Classification: Tier 2? Fleet minis: To be desided. New
Equipment: None.
Rule Mods: Just one -- Fleet setup. (minor adjustment I think...)
Home: Karidia Station The Karidia system was choosen because it was centrally
located. But there were no usable planets in the system. So they built a vast
space station, that orbits the star in a position that a habitable world would
orbit. A perminant Alliance Fleet force guards the station.
History: Main points
Early days: The marauding activities of the "Iron League" (a local warlord)
caused a few independant worlds to join in a military alliance. After the Iron
League's defeat, the alliance added many new worlds. Some were newly
liberated, and others were new converts. A Large Starliner is purchased and
converted to be the new seat of government for the Alliance. It is stationed
in the Karidia System.
Middle days: New worlds are constantly joining the Alliance. Karidia Station
begins construction. After bearly winning a few battles, the Alliance Council
approves the creation of a small perminent force to rally the member fleets
around.
Now: With the successes of the Alliance Fleet, the weaker member worlds are
starting to drop their own forces, and just pay a fee to the Alliance Patrol
to come in and do their policing.
Society: Most society types are represented on the various member worlds. With
so many societies, a profesional class of "Social Advisors" appeared. They
advise the rich, political leaders, etc. on matters of society, and
customs.
Government: Basic town council, just very big... Originally just a defense
agreement, when the members realized that they had something, they turned it
into a simple council. As new challenges and members came along, the council
gew into a large legistlature. Everything is still desided by a simple
majority vote. Every world gets one seat.
Military: The military forces can be divided into two broad types: Alliance,
and
Member forces.
Alliance Fleet: The perminent professional defense forces. Primarily heavy
ships and small perminent ground forces. They also back up the Alliance Patrol
on the heavy tasks.
Member Fleets: Their fleets are made up of a bewildering array of types and
classes. All light stuff. For most members the occasional cruiser is about the
heavyist units fielded. Every world is expected to
maintain it's own defense forces. Every year some of each member's forces are
rotated into the Alliance Fleet.
Law: Alliance Patrol: These hard working men and women constantly patrol the
member worlds. Whenever things get rough, Alliance Fleet forces are
brought in. Member worlds: Each world is expected to do it's own policing.
They must all agree to certain laws before joining.
Trade: Internal trade is controlled by the Alliance Trade Council. This body
ensures fair trade practices, sets tarrifs, etc.
Interstellar Relations: These peaple are a little paranoid. They will attack
any oviously threatining nations, or apparently threatining nations
(preemptive strikes). (If you know an enemy is building up to attack you, why
wait? Blast 'em before they are ready...Karidean Alliance General Moyna)
Reality Notes: These peaple are definatly not marching in a lock step. They do
have many internal problems. Squables seem to be a dayly occourance. The
Alliance Patrol usually keeps the noise down. The only thing they all agree on
is DEFENSE. This can be likened to an orcestra. Each member is playing it's
own
tune. During peace-time it sounds like noise. (how do they get anything
done?) But during a war, it is a tune of almost perfect harmony...
Rule Modifications: Karidian Alliance Fleet Setup: This has to be worked out
in detail. General idea: Because of all of the member fleets involved in the
Alliance Fleet, there is a blizzard of ship types. Instead of designing
all of those ships and fleets, I will generallize it. I will design just two
or three ships for each class. The costs of each class will be
averaged togather. So when buying a destroyer, you would pay the average
destroyer cost. But you would not know what specific type of destoyer you
would get until setup on the game table. You would then roll on the destroyer
table for each destroyer, etc.
Sources: The content is history, ideas from Gurps Space, and lots of my own
ideas. Most of it is from some early game notes for other games I have
created, etc. The layout format from Gurps Space, and Starfire The Stars At
War. The rest I made up on the spot.
Designer's Notes: I have tried to make these guys as original as I could
muster. I know
they sound alot like the EU...No resemblence is intended. If this is too
similar I am willing to change it.
Final Blurb: They sound fair...some designs will be cheap and some expensive.
Some
good designs, and some bad...With these guys your fleet will be a
crapshoot. :-)