gov't overview (filling in kamin's form)

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Destructionator
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gov't overview (filling in kamin's form)

Post by Destructionator »

This is the list of stuff Kamin put in his RPG thread. I think it is pretty useless for an RPG, since most of it is irrelevant and the rest should be flexible to adapt to a dynamic game, but I'm filling it out here anyway just for fun.


Name: The A'millian Star Empire (ASE)

Alternative names: The Kingdom of A'millia (KA), though this is generally used when referring to only the old civilization on the planet

Government Type: Absolute monarchy

Head of State: HM The King

Head of Government: HM The King

Legislature: Things get a bit messier here, since authority is devolved. It is similar in ways to both a federation and a commonwealth, depending on where you look, but with the important difference that the King (or Queen) is always the absolute authority, no matter where you are.

In the old kingdom (that is, on the planet), the nation is split into four dukedoms and one "empire", which, in turn, has three dukedoms inside. The seven dukes can draft whatever legislation they want, so long as they don't violate any royal laws (nor imperial for the three in the old empire).

The seven Dukes and the Emperor also have the King's ear and play a role in shaping royal law. So in a sense, they form the legislature.


In the star empire (the space territories), it looks more like a democracy, but is still part of the monarchy, so the ultimate authority is still the King. The King appoints a Lord of the Territories (may be anyone, noble or commoner, the King's word is Law, after all) to act as chief administrator, and under him is a National Assembly, which is appointed by local leaders or popularly elected, depending on the jurisdiction. (Most are popularly elected, but this isn't a national requirement.)

Unlike a proper Duke, this Lord cannot draft legislation on his own; he doesn't have that kind of rank (unless he happens to be a Duke). That's up to the Assembly. The Lord's job is to approve and adapt: approve laws from the National Assembly (granting or withholding Royal Assent in the King's name) and adapt new royal laws to best fit the different culture of the territories.

The method of adaptation is broken up into two parts: before the law is passed, and after it is passed. Before it is passed, the LT has the King's ear and tries to negotiate changes or exceptions for the territories. After it is passed, he must adhere to the letter of the law, but is granted some leeway on implementation. His job now is to determine the best implementation and make it happen.


The National Assembly's job is to sell new laws to their people and to represent their people's wants and needs to the government, both by talking to the Lord (who may pass them on to the King) and by drafting and passing their own legislation. It is like a house of representatives. There's about 300 assemblypersons.

Judicial: Other nobles! Judges are either noblepeople or can trace their appointment back to one. There is no real separation of powers there. A trial is done in front of a panel of three judges: one is from where the crime took place. He drives the investigation. The second is chosen by the accused, as long as his choice is reasonable. This might be a judge/nobleman, might be a forensics expert, or might be a random jury. The third is chosen at random from anyone qualified and available. This judge is meant to keep the other two in check. A conviction requires all three to agree. Evidence may be deemed inadmissable by any one.

Appeals are handled by going up the chain. Disagree with the baron's decision? Go to the count. He's wrong? Try for an audience with the duke. He's wrong too? Better hope the king has time to see you.

If you think you were the victim of obscene corruption, you might be able to the local deputy royal inspector and see if he's willing to look into it.

Stellar systems owned: Zero, men do not own star systems.

Population: ~ 7 million on the planet, ~200 million in space

Upper Class: There's about one thousand people total who hold higher titles (the nobility, the royal family, etc.) as well as over a million others who are quite rich (note that a tiny minority of the filthy rich live on the planet). Some of the super rich in the territories have personal net worths higher than all seven Dukes combined. (And depending on how you do the accounting, much higher than the Royal Family as well.) Of course, money isn't everything.

Middle Class: I'd break this into three groups, all of employed people: 1) the Knights, 2) other government employees, and 3) private workers, either small business owners or general employees.

1) The Knights do a variety of services for the government that require a slice of a noble person's power, but that the noble can't do alone. They are appointed (from a pool of volunteer commoners) by a Duke, the Emperor, the King, or the Lord of the Territories (although his power is limited) and carry out tasks ranging from patrolling the streets as police officers to forming the core of the military. They go whereever manpower or arms are needed; they may be called upon to help local fire departments or to be bodyguards for a VIP. Just a lot of varied tasks. Their pay generally isn't great, but it does come with some social privileges.

2) The government also employs people outside of knighthood, for everyday upkeep and running government services (which includes agriculture, health care and some manufacturing, among other things. If it is considered essential, you can bet there's a government program providing it. Dirty commies.) The pay here ranges from decent to quite generous, depending on the job and economic environment.

3) Private workers consist of employees just like you see in the real world and people who took a hobby to a higher level and make some decent change off it - thus turning them into small business owners. None of this is particularly regulated, so long as you follow safety procedures and pay your income tax, so there's a lot of variation to be had in pay and conditions.

Lower Class: The lower classes were eliminated by Queen Anna's Guaranteed Income program. (Technically, you could call those who live off the GI the lower class - see the next section, but it is nothing like what the term brings to my mind.)

Unemployed: > 60% on average (closer to 80% on the planet alone); there's barely a need for anyone to work, and while there's quite a few who do anyway, the majority don't do anything resembling traditional employment. Especially when living in groups, people can live quite comfortably off the guaranteed income alone.

Intelligence Service: Internal spying is done by the Royal Inspector. This isn't spying in the James Bond sense; it is more like a police investigation service that proactively looks for bad things inside large organizations (including the government). The Inspector's deputies and agents may use things like undercover operations, bribes and bugs to get tips, but must operate within the law, meaning those bugs probably need a warrant.

While this sounds mundane, it was a pretty big deal in the olden days, when there were random plots among the nobility to off the king, but it still serves plenty of other purposes like watching for corrupt officials.

(The Royal Inspector's Office (ORI) also employs the characters of SPACE MURDER. Why are they looking into a more regular crime? Because it doesn't fall into any other jurisdiction, with the body being found in space. The Inspector takes over regular cases when no other service is able (out of their jurisdiction) or willing (conflict of interest, cross jurisdiction hassles, etc) to investigate it fairly.)


External spying is split up. Sometimes, ORI takes it up. Sometimes, it is handled by the military. Same for counterintelligence: it depends on the specific job. There is no direct analog to the CIA.


Police: We've mentioned two sources already: the Knights, both local and royal, and the Office of the Royal Inspector, both of which have pretty broad authority, inside the confines of law. There's also a third: sheriff's departments, more prevalent in the territories than in the old kingdom, simply because there's fewer knights per capita out there. They derive their authority either by noble appointment or from the masses and act much like real world American police.


Capital World: There's no capital world, but there are two capital cities: there's the royal capital at Corneila (named for the starting city in Final Fantasy 1 btw), and there also the Capital of the Territories (referred to as the inner capital to some, and the outer capital to others... depends on where you are)

The inner capital is a somewhat small Bernal Sphere dominated by government facilities. The LT lives there and the Assembly assembles there. Its small size makes it a bit of a bitch to access; it requires a small engine burn to match tangential velocity from almost any other place in the cluster. It is the capital because of history more so than technical merit.

Major Planets: The closest you get is amillia itself.

National Language: On the planet, they generally just speak amillian (which is a synthesis of two older major languages which have fallen into disuse).

In space, there's two official languages: English and French. omfg canada in space. (The reason for this used to be that the territories were on Earth in the mid future, primarily anglophones, but the amillians worked with the French for a long time, picking up that language and spreading it around. This justification doesn't work as well in universe without the FTL though. I'm figuring I'll keep it anyway, since it doesn't not work.)

People who travel between both locations tend to speak all three languages.

Religion: There's nothing official, and no real tradition of religion on the planet; their creation theory is justified! (btw "Jesus" and "hell", etc. are the magic dub replacing local cultural references with our own) There's a variety in the space territories, ranging from fairly mainstream stuff, like the Goddess Althena worshippers (ever play Lunar: Silver Star Story? :) ) or some imported Abrahamic sects, to the fringe nonsense like believing visiting Earth men built the Mother Brain that watches over us all. Dude, if that were true, where's the control towers?!?! (ever played Phantasy Star 2?)


Currency: Dollars. (perhaps the magic dub at work again, but whatever you call it, it is the same abstract idea)

Major Industries: Agriculture, real estate, magnets and solar panels

National Resources: solar panels, carbon, uranium

Internal Problems: Things are too adequate; there's little advancement. The political system heavily favors nepotism (hereditary aristrocracy!) and people who know important people. A lot of it is built on personal trust. Some argue the law is too restrictive, and some argue it is too liberal. Turns out there's just no pleasing some people! But most don't do anything about it beyond bitching on the internet.
His Certifiable Geniusness, Adam D. Ruppe (My 'verse)
Marle: Lucca! You're amazing!
Lucca: Ain't it the truth! ... Oh, um...I mean...
Marle: Enough with the false modesty! You have a real gift! I would trade my royal ancestry for your genius in a heartbeat!

"I still really hate those pompous assholes who quote themselves in their sigs." -- Me
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Re: gov't overview (filling in kamin's form)

Post by Magister Militum »

Wait, how does a king outrank an emperor?
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Re: gov't overview (filling in kamin's form)

Post by Destructionator »

An accident of history. In the olden days, there were several kingdoms (in the west) and a fairly large empire (in the east).

Some war ugliness led to the kingdoms in the west uniting, with one king rising about the others to unite the kingdoms to challenge the eastern empire. Things went pretty well for the westerners, and the east went to the table to negotiate an end to the bullshit.

The king wanted control, and had enough power to force it. Wanting to avoid excessive bloodshed, the emperor surrendered, on the condition that he gets to keep his traditional titles - he wanted to feel like they unified rather than were conquered to keep his public image.

The west accepted this (with the further condition however of carving out two semi-independent dukedoms in the east, in the main occupied areas, to keep the emperor from being too solidified in defeat). The eastern empire was permitted to remain mostly intact and carry on like before in ceremony and any practice that wasn't objectionable to the new king.



As time went on, the king concentrated more power, taking away from the emperor's quasi-independence, but they never forced him to give up the old image or title.

It might sound weird, but the name was important to the leader at the time, and if letting him keep a name puts an end to the hostilities, that's a good deal.
His Certifiable Geniusness, Adam D. Ruppe (My 'verse)
Marle: Lucca! You're amazing!
Lucca: Ain't it the truth! ... Oh, um...I mean...
Marle: Enough with the false modesty! You have a real gift! I would trade my royal ancestry for your genius in a heartbeat!

"I still really hate those pompous assholes who quote themselves in their sigs." -- Me
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