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Subject: XTML biweekly: Msgs 74-77 V1#11
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XTML biweekly   Wed Jun 22 21:00:03 EDT 1994    Volume 1 : Issue 11
 
Today's topics:
 
BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
   4    74 21-Jun-1994 alvin plummer    Clueless Newbie << Hi, I'm a very recen
   4    75 21-Jun-1994 Stefan Matthias  Re: Imperium, the Game << Matt "Dying t
   4    77 22-Jun-1994 Goldman of Chao  Radio inside of ships...  << CHiggin@ao
   4    76 22-Jun-1994 Steven M Bonnev  Re: Questions << Lot's of good question
 
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Bundle: 4
Archive-Message-Number: 74
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 1994 08:36:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: alvin plummer <plummer@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>
Subject: Clueless Newbie
 
Hi, I'm a very recent subscriber to this mailing list.  I've had some
exposure th the CT and MT enviroment, but I have very little source
material (basically the CT books 0 to 4, Atlas of the Imp., and Hard Times).
 
Which archives would have the best 'general & cultural background'
information on the Third Imperium?
 
Just in case any of you can answer my questions off-hand...
   1) What was the 'popular culture' of the Imperium?  I understand the
difference between Vilani conservativism and  Solomani exuberance: but how
would this make a Average/High Stellar Imperial Citizen different from,
say, a 1990's Canadian like me?
   2) Apparently, the Imperium was becoming 'regional' before the Final
War.  What were the major regions, their central worlds, and their
differences? (I know about the 'conservative' Vilani, 'rebellious'Illeish,
'Sylean' Core, and 'frontier' Marches.  And that's about _ALL_ I know
about them)
   3) TRIVIA QUESTION: I may run a campagin on the Pacification Wars
(about 600's ?).  What were the borders of the Imperium at that time, who
were the major enemies, and who was Emperor?  And the Imperial Tech
Level at the time?
   4) MORE TRIVIA: I'd also like a quicke list of the seven greatest
emperors, their reign, and their accomplishments.  (I lnow that Cleon
founded the Imperium, and Arabella reunited it after the (First) Civil
War.
   5) What were the major bureaucracies of the Imperium, and what did they
do?  I've heard of the Imperial Army, Navy, Marines; The Moot; IRIS,
Ministry of Justice, and IISS.  I know what the Navy and Marines do, and
IISS and the Moot.  But why divide the Army from the Marines?  (wouldn't
there just be local, system-bound, non-Imperial armies?)  And who is IRIS
and the Ministry of Justice?
 
O.K., end of the newbie questions.  Avoid flames please, I ADMIT my ignorance!
 
Alvin Plummer
 
 
 
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Bundle: 4
Archive-Message-Number: 75
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 1994 15:56:41 +0200
From: Stefan Matthias Aust <sma@informatik.uni-kiel.d400.de>
Subject: Re: Imperium, the Game
 
Matt "Dying to Know" Goodman asks:
 
>But how?  How?  The Imperial player controls the tempo of the game
>with his appeals to the emperor.  How do you make it inviting enough
>for him to win?
 
I as an Imperial player always have bad luck with my appeals to the
emperor. The Terran player is always expanding, what keeps my (how is
it called?) honor score low. If now a strong fleet of Terran ships
tries to attack one of my home worlds, I have to react. Invading Terra
helps, but the Terran player knows that and if I don't want to attack
his attacking fleet, my only chance is to get Terra but thats saves
the attacking fleet for the next game. This may be one possible
scenario. But I'm afraid, I don't know a always-and-ever working
solution either.
 
bye.
- --
Stefan Matthias Aust // ...and they told us, what they wanted
                    //  was a sound that could kill someone...
 
------------------------------
 
Bundle: 4
Archive-Message-Number: 77
Subject: Radio inside of ships...
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 94 9:00:12 CDT
From: goldman@orac.cray.com (Goldman of Chaos -- postmaster CRI-US)
Reply-To: goldman@orac.cray.com
 
CHiggin@aol.com said the following:
> From jamesp@engrg.uwo.ca Fri Jun 17 19:45:03 CDT 1994
> Bundle: 4
> Archive-Message-Number: 73
> From: CHiggin@aol.com
> Date: Thu, 16 Jun 94 10:19:25 EDT
> Subject: IMP,FFS] FF&S in the 3rd Imp.
>
>     Radio doesn't penetrate bulkheads; hence Imp. standard ships have
> a system of "repeaters" that pick up transmissions on standard freqs.
> and relay them thru the ship's internal communications net to local
> transmitters in the destination compartment.  This way communications
> capability is retained during vacuum operations.  To cripple
> communications by enemy forces (e.g., a boarding party), the repeater
> system can be set to acknowledge only authorized users, or transmit a
> scrambled signal, much like the regular (voice/data) network
> communications.
 
I carry a cellular phone with me everywhere.  Communications inside of
large buildings is usually very poor.  The best signal strenght in the
Twin Cities is *inside* of the Radison South hotel.  They have just
such a set of repeaters set up for cellular traffic.  It was lots of
fun at Minicon this year having people call me from payphones,
 
        "Where are you?!"
        "I'm passing the 10th floor going down in the elevator."
        "Hurry!, I'm by the phone bank at the bottom of the
         elevator and your wife just got into the up elevator."
 
One of these days I'm going to have to get around to writing up notes
about how to use/get connected to a global phone network, along with
some ideas about how to have stuff automatically set up for the
players.  The phone number could be keyed off of the character's
Imperial ID number.  Your phone could automatically talk to the phone
network on a planet to tie you in automatically if you want to and
have the credits to pay.  Much too incoherent; however, I just turned
30 and the party was much too weird, Aikido people + Carleton College
alumni + Star Trek fen.
 
Matt
 
 
tthew Goldman  E-mail: goldman@orac.cray.com Work: (612) 683-3061
 
 day today? Nothing major, just Xenon base gone, Scorpio gone,
rrant dead, Tarrant alive and then I found out Blake sold us out.
 
------------------------------
 
Bundle: 4
Archive-Message-Number: 76
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 1994 01:45:05 -0500
From: bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu (Steven M Bonneville)
Subject: Re: Questions
 
 
Lot's of good questions tonight -- let the games begin!
 
alvin plummer <plummer@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca> writes:
 
>Which archives would have the best 'general & cultural background'
>information on the Third Imperium?
 
If you mean ftp sites, check the bundled digest indices.  The lists
of old articles is fairly long, but a lot of topics related to this
have been discussed in the past.  This has never been handled very
well in print, IMHO -- your best bets are probably to find a copy of
the MT _Imperial Encyclopedia_ or if possible a copy of the Concise
History of the Third Imperium in a back issue of DGP's Traveller's
Digest #18.  These aren't really fully sufficient either.  Maybe
someday GDW will consolidate things in one place, instead of scattering
hints everywhere.  Don't hold your breath.  It's possible that parts
of the pre-TNE Imperium were never "filled in" very far officially,
so you might have to wing it and fill in the gaps for your campaign
yourself.  Don't sweat it, it's fun!
 
>   3) TRIVIA QUESTION: I may run a campagin on the Pacification Wars
>(about 600's ?).  What were the borders of the Imperium at that time, who
>were the major enemies, and who was Emperor?  And the Imperial Tech
>Level at the time?
 
Era is 75 to 120.  Emperor is Artemsus, formerly Artemsus Lentuli,
chancellor to Cleon II "The Weak", who abdicated after a year in office.
Cleon ended up on the frontier personally dealing with local crises;
your adventurers might get tangled up in something involving him.
Tech level is 12.  Borders are unclear, and probably include pockets
of internal resistance.  Mora/Spinward Marches was settled in 60, but
that area is quiet.  Focus is heavy in Gushemege, Dagudashaag, the
Darmine region of Zarushagar, Lishun, Fornast, and Delphi.  The
archducal domains were established at the end of the period -- the
consolidation continued.  Corridor is not secure.  The Imperial border
probably isn't further rimward than the far edge of Massilia.  Heavy
fighting along Vilani edge of Gushemege.
 
>   4) MORE TRIVIA: I'd also like a quicke list of the seven greatest
>emperors, their reign, and their accomplishments.  (I lnow that Cleon
>founded the Imperium, and Arabella reunited it after the (First) Civil
>War.
 
Gee, a tough one.  I'll give you my top five (your milage may vary):
 
Cleon I Zhunastu (0 to 53).  The real power in the Sylean Federation
  at age 28, he used his family's industrial fortunes to facilitate
  his rise to the presidency, and founded the Third Imperium at age
  57.  Sketched out the basic framework which was to endure for a
  millenium.  The Zhodani and Sword Worlds were contacted during his
  reign.  Cleon talked the Vilani into joining the Federation when
  he was 28; they helped fuel his rise to power.
 
Artemsus Lentuli (54 to 166).  Chancellor to Cleon II before the
  abdication.  Founded the original six domains.  Began the Pacification
  Campaigns (76 to 120), to consolidate regions held primarily by
  the First Imperium.  Terra was made a lower priority for political
  reasons.  Spinward Marches settlement begins at Mora.  Darrians
  contacted.
 
Martin III Lentuli (365 to 456).  Negotiated the Peace of Ftahalr
  between four Aslan clans, the Old Earth Union (then an Imperial
  client), the Third Imperium, and various regional human states.
  (Actually, his very competent staff did.  I get the impression
  Martin was a bit cantankerous.)  Dispatched the IISS Aslan Mission
  to Kusyu.  Published the First Grand Survey and established the
  bases at Reference.  Crushed the Ilelish Revolt (418 to 435) and
  scourged the planet Ilelish, without large-scale warfare!  Annexed
  the Easter Concord in the Solomani Rim.  It took an air/raft
  accident to kill him; candidate for most competent emperor.  Prince
  Lucan carried his name as his middle name, ironically.
 
Arbellatra Alkhalikoi (629 to 666).  Last Grand Admiral of the Marches.
  Ended the Civil War, brought legitamacy back to the throne by
  becoming Regent and making a search for a sucessor; when none was
  found, confirmed as empress.  Founder of the great Alkhalikoi
  dynasty, which served the empire competently and well until Lucan
  the Black.  Founded the xboat system.  Stabilized the Imperium's
  growth and turned attention to internal development.  Made Admiral
  Soegz, a Vargr, Archduke Antares, replacing a racist and treasonous
  family line.  All good ideas for the era, some became seeds for
  rebellion a half-millenia in the future.
 
Zhakirov Alkhalikoi (666 to 688).  Broke Solomani power at Court,
  and increased Vilani importance.  While this sowed the seeds
  for the Solomani Rim War, it was necessary for the peace of the
  realm.  The blame for the War can be easily laid elsewhere.
  This move helped increase business confidence in the Core.
 
Other choices are possible.  Olav hault-Plankwell is regarded pretty
well in some quarters "behind the claw"; his actions had some
justification.  If by "greatest" you mean most competent, then
Paula II Alkhalikoi is up there, even if she may have trampled on
what we might consider civil liberties.  Strephon was looking
fairly good until everything flew apart.  Gavin did a good job trying
to fix the mess Styryx made in the Solomani Rim.  We don't know
quite enough to make good judgements on some of them.
 
>  5) What were the major bureaucracies of the Imperium, and what did they
>do?  I've heard of the Imperial Army, Navy, Marines; The Moot; IRIS,
>Ministry of Justice, and IISS.  I know what the Navy and Marines do, and
>IISS and the Moot.  But why divide the Army from the Marines?  (wouldn't
>there just be local, system-bound, non-Imperial armies?)  And who is IRIS
>and the Ministry of Justice?
 
We just don't know.  The Army is the main ground force instrument, and
there is an Imperial Army, Reserves, and Colonials (i.e. planetary forces).
The Marines are best equipped, have high morale, but are regiment-sized
reaction forces attached to the Navy.  Discussion of the military is
fairly ongoing in the TML.  IRIS was supposedly the "Imperial Regency
of Intelligence and Surveillance", a small elite organization which
was supposed to protect the emperor and find a sucessor in time of
trial.  Recent evidence indicates they may be a Rebellion-era fraud.
The MoJ seems to oversee the administration of Imperial justice, the
penal system, and criminal investigations.  There's a Ministry of
Colonization, among others, and an Office of the Mint, and an Imperial
Diplomatic Corps.  (to answer your army question, I suppose the hi-pop,
hi-tech worlds support the IA so large mobile forces are availabe for
regional defense to meet long-term threats).
 
Hope this helps --
 
  Steve Bonneville
  <bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu>
 
------------------------------
 
End of XTML Biweekly
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