Imperial Galaxy

[Petkwa Uzhyce]

I had some thoughts on the way to work about possible benefits that noble position holders could give to the Empire, but at the same time not giving a rort for the players...

If a noble is officially in charge of an area of the Empire, then they are governing it. If they are governing it well, then the risk of alien, rebel or insurgent groups gaining a foothold should be decreased. Hence, if they are governing it well, the risk of contagion should be decreased.

The Government Liaison spec seems to relate to this. The higher the GL spec that a noble has would seem logically to decrease the chance of contagion taking place. (The noble is governing well and people are more likely to not take to the ideas of the alien/rebel/criminal groups.)

I would suggest that a side affect of having nobles would be that there is a decrease in the chance of contagion taking affect in the areas that they control based on their GL spec.

My suggested decrease in contagion risk would be:

X * (GL squared) / number of systems controlled

The "X" factor would be Phil's thoughts as to how effective GL is to reduce contagion.

Only the highest noble rank of a character would affect the game.

If a character has equal noble ranks for more than one area, then the ability is spread thinly since the number of systems governed is increased, and the effectiveness per system is decreased.

For any given sector, the GL of the Ban, the Duke and the Arch-Duke would affect it.

I would base the "X" factor as being what a noble with 5 levels of GL would need to stop contagion in a sector. 5 levels of GL seems to be a specialist governor. They have made it to GAIF, and then spent time learning how to "win friends and influence people". (Although for some it might be "how to kill enemies of the State and influence people".)

A noble with 5 levels of GL would not be as effective at governing an entire Quadrant. They would give a decrease in contagion, but not as much as if they were governing only a Sector. To be effective, they would need Bans governing the individual Sectors to make it worthwhile.

A noble with 5 levels of GL wouldn't be very effective at governing a Reach. Their ability to influence the population of a given System would be limited. Good governance of a Reach would decrease the chance of contagion for a given system, but having a Duke and a Ban helping would be better.

From a player perspective, it would help to spread the noble positions to a greater player base. Having a greater player base being able to affect the game would increase the chances of players wanting to play.

**From here it get purely speculative.**

Odds are this would cause Fleets to stake out territories that it controlled. With lines of supply coming into play, decreasing contagion for an area that a Fleet is campaigning in gives a benefit to that Fleet. That is, there is less chances of loosing the line of supply for the Fleet. (This might also increase competition for the border areas between the territories that Fleets control. This would either increase fun for players, or decrease it. At the very least it would decrease a whole of Navy view point. However, the back story involves Princes continually maneuvering for the best chance of becoming Emperor if the present Emperor dies. It might be good for the story, but bad for the fun.)

If the large Fleets are competing for territory, there are likely to be smaller territories that are not worth their while to try to gain. Smaller Fleets can then take these territories, and thereby taking their stake in the Imperial government. If in the future there is a House of Nobles that has some say in distributing the spoils of governance, then the smaller Fleets will likely gain a balance of power position. It may be that the top 4 Fleets have a 40% majority in votes if they vote together, but that the next 6 Fleets also have 40% of the votes. The rest of the Fleets would have the balance of power. If any of the major Fleets changed their voting stance, then things would get interesting.
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Petkwa Uzhyce
Watcher of the Kemhaz Reach
"Old man" of the Emperor's II Colonial Fleet

Kemhaz Reach contagion warnings: http://imperialgalaxy.com/igforum/viewtopic.php?t=3447