artwork by David Dorman

(ed note: HARD TIMES is what they call a "sourcebook" for the role playing game Megatraveller. What this means is not only does it have game-specific "scenarios" that we don't care about, but also includes details about the background and worldbuilding which are definitely relevant to our interests. In particular it shows the step-by-step process of the galactic empire decay, due to how many organizations depend upon each other for survival. For the want of a nail and all that. If your business is built on just-in-time manufacturing, this is a death warrant. Hard Times author Dr. Gannon has been a subject matter expert for the Pentagon, Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy (CNO/SSG and ONR), NATO, DARPA, NRO, DHS, NASA, and several other organizations with which he signed many a NDAs. In Hard Times, the cause of the Traveller Third Imperium's decline and fall is a civil war, instigated with the assasination of Emperor Strephon and his immediate heir. The current self-crowned emperor, Strephon's mentally unstable nephew Lucan, made things much worse by being a psychotic bastard. As the war drags on Lucan becomes more and more hysterical, and resorts to even more horrific war crimes.) I don't remember when it all started to change, when each starport looked a little more rundown than the last, when starships became fewer and farther between. It was sometime after 1120. What I do remember is we finally turned our backs on the Core and charted a course for the Frontier by late 1124.

But there was no Frontier remote enough to remain unaffected by the tides of war or its destructive eddies. Instead of the increasing paranoia, insularity and authoritarian mindset of the Core, we found the Outlands full of dying backwater planets.

From The Memoirs of Trevor Scotius (a pseudonym), starmerc/merchant captain

BACKGROUND The Rebellion has wrecked the Imperium as a unified political entity. However, as is often the case with wreckage, some of the remaining pieces are larger than others. Hard Times portrays this 'new" incarnation of the Imperium-a collection of separate interstellar states surrounded by blasted, abandoned battlefields.

The interstellar states are centered on the areas still controlled by each of the respective factions of the Rebellion. For the most part, these power centers were untouched by the depredations of war. With their industrial and population centers intact, these safe areas carry on in an essentially pre-Rebellion fashion.

The regions beyond these cores of safety have a different story to tell. The Frontier around the Safes were aided and supplied by their allied factions. Thus they managed to retain much of their technology and industry despite being repeatedly visited by combat.

Beyond the Frontiers are the starkest tragedies of the Rebellion. These no man's lands, trapped between gigantic warring factions, bore the brunt of the savage war that raged across the former heart of Imperial civilization and culture. The ruin visited on them was not relieved by outside aid. Industries, technologies and societies staggered, stumbled and fell.

Tragically, these regions can be further divided into areas of real suffering, the Outlands, and areas of abject misery, the Wilds. While the Outlands were simply abandoned by retreating factions, the Wilds were additionally brutalized by repeated, agonizing combat.

These four environments—Safe, Frontier, Outland and Wild—now constitute the terrain of the new Imperium. The first type does not differ radically from pre-Rebellion Imperial society and is not dealt with here. However, the last three are new environments within the MegaTraveller universe. They offer fresh possibilities for adventure and for a flavor unique to the period presented in Hard Times.

Part I, year 1122 to 1125 (Background) I guess it was around 1125 when it really started sinking in that the Imperium was gone. You notice things like that because people start using new labels for things, like "Third Imperium." Yeah, I know it was supposedly already called the Third Imperium, but not by regular people. While we were living in it, it was always the Imperium, you know? Who cared about any others.

So when people started talking about the Third Imperium, you knew all of a sudden it was over. It had been consigned to history, along with all of those other things and people with numbers stuck to them. And then you think, well what do we call ourselves now? Everybody'd been talking about how hard times were, how it takes hard times to find out what you're made of, and how you should be thankful for what you've got in such hard times. Eventually someone just started using a capital "H"and a capital "T." Who knows what they'll call it 100 years from now, but right now, "Hard Times"seems pretty accurate.

From the unfinished manuscript Oral History of the Interregnum, edited by Dr. Terkel Hadushiggar, ca. 1129.

The carnage wrought by several years of warfare has only set in motion forces that will continue to tear down worlds that never heard a shot fired in anger.

The unified Imperial economy has been dealt a mortal wound. And while it is true that a rising tide raises all boats, it is time to learn the reverse is also true: An ebbing tide lowers all boats and leaves a great many of them stranded on the rocks.

Worlds are dying, but different worlds die at different rates. Some die quickly and painfully, while others die slowly in absolute agony. Either way, the human cost is staggering. But extraordinary people—otherwise referred to as player characters (the people who are playing the Traveller RPG game) — can sometimes mitigate these effects. Sometimes they can slow them down enough to allow some of the innocents to escape. And sometimes by weighing in with their talents and determination, they can tip the scales from death to life, if that is their intent.

Make no mistake, in the post-Rebellion environment there are forces of darkness and of light, and the PCs can be agents of either. Which they will be, and how much impact their acts will have, are the questions treated in Hard Times

Road to Hard Times The Third Imperium is predominantly noted for being the first empire in which two branches of humanity held the reigns of power conjointly (it is a long story but the Vilani are descendants of Terran human primitives transplanted to other worlds 300,000 years ago by an ancient alien race) . It is also noteworthy for the unique blend of conservatism and vitality which this sharing of power produced.

The Solomani ("Sol men", i.e., people from Terra) tendency toward innovation and conquest was tempered by the traditional Vilani values of restraint and caution.

As a result, the Third Imperium achieved an impressive balance between expansion and consolidation, international vigor and domestic security. However, despite the longevity of the Third Imperium and its many noteworthy achievements, it is perhaps best remembered for its fragile governmental structure and its final, tragic disintegration.

From Imperial Stars: A History of Three Imperiums by hu-Tugul Ackerson

PASSING OF AN AGE Aftermaths are inevitably longer than the wars that cause them. And the aftermath of the War of the Rebellion is no exception.

Hard Times begins in 1125 (about 5,643 CE) . The fighting is effectively over: The combatants are too drained to mount the massive campaigns that characterized the first five years of the Rebellion. The factions are now facing the reality of long-term independence and a new political order—but the actual condition of most of the former Imperium continues to worsen.

Even after the last great fleet actions of 1121, the factions continued to hammer away at each other with what force they had left. However, limited resources dictated warfare to devolve into banditry, surgical strikes and terrorism. Resources, which could not be secured for future use were destroyed in order to deny them to the enemy. The space lanes became too dangerous to travel. Trade continued to shrivel up. Contact and communication died away to an intermittent trickle. Most planetary economies retracted; others imploded. Populations decreased; governments grew oppressive; and pirates thrived.

This outcome was not what most military or economic experts forecast. Each faction’s chief analysts had predicted that the Rebellion would be resolved in five years, six at the most. They predicted minimal civilian casualties, with acceptable levels of damage to industry and commerce. Encouraged by the comparatively positive tone of these predictions, many faction leaders imagined that a sharp military victory would crush the will and organization of the adversary, and the Rebellion would be over.

But as 001-1125 (day one of year 1125) dawned on Capitol—eight and a half years after the hostilities began—it was quite clear the experts were wrong. Only a very few intelligence agencies and megacorporations had accurately foreseen the outcome of the conflict, an outcome they referred to hopefully as the Short Dusk (insted of the dreaded "Long Night") . But to the sophont in the street, it was simply the beginning of Hard Times.

ANALYTICAL ERRORS OF 1116 By the end of 1116, the majority of experts had already made the crucial mistake that ruined their projections regarding the outcome of the Rebellion. This tragic flaw was inherent in their very first theoretical assumption—that the

Since no admiral had a clear political or ancestral claim to any given region, all were outsiders to every planet and system they visited. Those few admirals who attempted to impose themselves as local rulers quickly became quagmired in the difficulties posed by regional resistance. They found that battlewagons were easier to smash than labor strikes and planetary assaults were simpler to defeat than protest marches. Inevitably, the admirals always gave up empire-building in favor of empire-stealing. After all, if they won, they wouldn’t need to build an empire—they could simply claim the extant one as the spoils of war.

The worlds of the Imperium encouraged the admirals to keep their war between themselves. When visited by the fleets of the Imperial contenders, the planets paid tithes, provided the logistical support required of them and did not complain too much. They knew that eventually the admirals would leave, and life would return to normal. Unfortunately, the tendency in this’civil war“ to restrict violence to certain select political strata was not a hallmark of the Rebellion.

The Rebellion was—and is—a true civil war. From the very outset, political rivals with competing claims rallied civilian populations to their cause. Fleets went forth not as the embodiment of one admiral’s desire to rule, but as an extension of publicly supported policy. This was not just a conflict between soldiers—this was a war between common people, between competing regions, cultures and political ideas.

Consequently, just as the enabling foundation of the war was civil, so were its casualties. Industry, commerce, transportation, even agriculture and population centers became targets. Damage suffered by a faction’s populace vindicated counterstrikes. The upward spiral of violence took an increasingly heavy toll on the structure of the Imperium itself.

A NEW KIND OF WAR It took the experts several years to accept that the Rebellion was different from any previous type of conflict within the Imperium. The military was not used to managing a conflict whose battleground was also its logistical base. Wars with the Zhodani and Solomani, plus various pacification campaigns, gave the Imperial military establishment an institutional predisposition toward conquest at any cost: Damage done today could be rebuilt tomorrow or left for the enemy to handle.

But the Rebellion was a more complex conflict. Every faction’s logistical base overlapped onto its area of military operations. Therefore, it was crucial for objectives to be taken and defended intact—there was no time for rebuilding if war production was to retain the momentum required for victory. Strategic success required a deft military hand and an understanding of the subtle interactions of warfare, commerce and politics. An inappropriately timed tactical victory could in fact be a strategic defeat.

Few leaders of the Imperium appreciated this. Those few who did had little opportunity to benefit from it: Lucan’s headlong offensives demanded stiff, absolute responses. His irresponsibility as a ruler and unsuitability as a military planner not only squandered his own sizeable resources, but ultimately invalidated any measured responses undertaken by his rivals. Consequently, no single individual contributed more to the downfall of the Imperium than the man who—rightly or wrongly—sat upon its throne.

HIGH-POPULATION WORLDS ARE BROUGHT LOW: 1118-1120 The Rebellion’s most combat-intensive period extended from late 1118 to mid-1120. It was then that the factions strove to attain the key objective in the conflict—control of the high-population worlds. Predictably, but tragically, the battle to control these worlds led unerringly to their ultimate ruination. The intense conflict that surrounded them shattered markets and port facilities, and drove off all commercial shipping. Thus, the huge, import-driven economies of these multibillion-person leviathans retracted—or collapsed.

Few of these worlds were ever self-sufficient. As foodstuff imports dwindled, rationing was introduced, followed immediately by panic. The law levels of these worlds—typically high to begin with—grew more oppressive as governments were forced to adopt draconian measures to maintain control. All too often, the result was revolt, anarchy and ruin.

This result was inevitable, though no less tragic, on high-population worlds with inhospitable environments. With their needs for food, water and air always close to the edge, their slide into chaos was swifter and more absolute—and involved millions of civilian casualties.

Consequently, most high-population worlds quickly lost their value as strategic objectives. Instead, they devolved into chaotic cesspools of misery and desperation. Although few were targets of major attacks, these prizes of the Rebellion became the war’s most tragic casualties.

WINDING DOWN: 1120-1121 The Imperium started the war with 320 numbered fleets and an equal number of reserve fleets. By 1121, fewer than 95 numbered and 130 reserve fleets remained. Most had been reduced to 60% strength or less, with the heaviest losses in the BatRons battleship squadrons) cruiser squadrons)

Lucan, having held a disproportionately large share of the military resources to begin with, was the only faction leader who could still mount one last major offensive in 1121. So he did. Lucan’s final offensive against Gushemege Sector was a Pyrrhic victory: His forces were too weakened to hold the territory they had purchased at so high a price in trained personnel and high-tech equipment.

The other faction leaders had already realized what Lucan refused to accept: The war might not be over, but it was collapsing under its own weight. Neither the personnel nor the equipment was left for further offensives. What front-line quality units remained were now barely able to defend each faction’s core. And control over peripheral areas continued to recede.

But even more telling than the lack of personnel and equipment was the lack of logistical support. Commerce and industry were devastated. Manufacturing centers watched their shipments of raw materials being reduced to a trickle. The remaining bulk carriers were needed to ensure the immediate defensive and minimal industrial needs of the faction core areas. Even had the combat forces existed, there was no way to reprise the massive offensives of 1118-1120. The supply resources to empower them were gone. Like exhausted prize-fighters, the contenders for the Iridium Throne staggered away from each other and collapsed in their respective corners.

SHADOWS LENGTHEN: 1122-1124 The Rebellion has wrecked the Imperium as a unified political entity. However, as is often the case with wreckage, some of the remaining pieces are larger than others. Hard Times portrays this 'new" incarnation of the Imperium-a collection of separate interstellar states surrounded by blasted, abandoned battlefields.The interstellar states are centered on the areas still controlled by each of the respective factions of the Rebellion. For the most part, these power centers were untouched by the depredations of war. With their industrial and population centers intact, these safe areas carry on in an essentially pre-Rebellion fashion.The regions beyond these cores of safety have a different story to tell. Thearound thewere aided and supplied by their allied factions. Thus they managed to retain much of their technology and industry despite being repeatedly visited by combat.Beyond the Frontiers are the starkest tragedies of the Rebellion. These no man's lands, trapped between gigantic warring factions, bore the brunt of the savage war that raged across the former heart of Imperial civilization and culture. The ruin visited on them was not relieved by outside aid. Industries, technologies and societies staggered, stumbled and fell.Tragically, these regions can be further divided into areas of real suffering, the, and areas of abject misery, the. While the Outlands were simply abandoned by retreating factions, the Wilds were additionally brutalized by repeated, agonizing combat.These four environments—and—now constitute the terrain of the new Imperium. The first type does not differ radically from pre-Rebellion Imperial society and is not dealt with here. However, the last three are new environments within the MegaTraveller universe. They offer fresh possibilities for adventure and for a flavor unique to the period presented in Hard Times.The carnage wrought by several years of warfare has only set in motion forces that will continue to tear down worlds that never heard a shot fired in anger.The unified Imperial economy has been dealt a mortal wound. And while it is true that a rising tide raises all boats, it is time to learn the reverse is also true: An ebbing tide lowers all boats and leaves a great many of them stranded on the rocks.Worlds are dying, but different worlds die at different rates. Some die quickly and painfully, while others die slowly in absolute agony. Either way, the human cost is staggering. But extraordinary people—otherwise referred to as player characters— can sometimes mitigate these effects. Sometimes they can slow them down enough to allow some of the innocents to escape. And sometimes by weighing in with their talents and determination, they can tip the scales from death to life, if that is their intent.Make no mistake, in the post-Rebellion environment there are forces of darkness and of light, and the PCs can be agents of either. Which they will be, and how much impact their acts will have, are the questions treated in Hard TimesAftermaths are inevitably longer than the wars that cause them. And the aftermath of the War of the Rebellion is no exception.Hard Times begins in 1125. The fighting is effectively over: The combatants are too drained to mount the massive campaigns that characterized the first five years of the Rebellion. The factions are now facing the reality of long-term independence and a new political order—but the actual condition of most of the former Imperium continues to worsen.Even after the last great fleet actions of 1121, the factions continued to hammer away at each other with what force they had left. However, limited resources dictated warfare to devolve into banditry, surgical strikes and terrorism. Resources, which could not be secured for future use were destroyed in order to deny them to the enemy. The space lanes became too dangerous to travel. Trade continued to shrivel up. Contact and communication died away to an intermittent trickle. Most planetary economies retracted; others imploded. Populations decreased; governments grew oppressive; and pirates thrived.This outcome was not what most military or economic experts forecast. Each faction’s chief analysts had predicted that the Rebellion would be resolved in five years, six at the most. They predicted minimal civilian casualties, with acceptable levels of damage to industry and commerce. Encouraged by the comparatively positive tone of these predictions, many faction leaders imagined that a sharp military victory would crush the will and organization of the adversary, and the Rebellion would be over.But as 001-1125dawned on Capitol—eight and a half years after the hostilities began—it was quite clear the experts were wrong. Only a very few intelligence agencies and megacorporations had accurately foreseen the outcome of the conflict, an outcome they referred to hopefully as the. But to the sophont in the street, it was simply the beginning of Hard Times.By the end of 1116, the majority of experts had already made the crucial mistake that ruined their projections regarding the outcome of the Rebellion. This tragic flaw was inherent in their very first theoretical assumption—that the Civil War of 604-622 was an appropriate historical model for the upcoming events of the Rebellion. Although such a mistake is understandable—the Civil War of 604-622 being the Third Imperium’s only prior experience with internal strife—the experts couldn’t have been more in error when they selected it as an example. The Civil War of 604-622 was not a civil war at all. It was a series of military coups, with minimal civilian involvement. During that conflict, the political infrastructure of the Imperium attempted to detach itself from the fierce struggles between the military kingpins who collected around Core in pursuit of the Iridium Throne. The admirals held no public loyalty, held no right to specific territories and held no claim to the Iridium Throne other than their willingness to kill to obtain it. In contrast, the legitimate organs of state continued to operate without interruption: The Imperial bureaucracy continued with business as usual, administering the affairs of the Third Imperium while the admirals fought over who would ultimately rule.Since no admiral had a clear political or ancestral claim to any given region, all were outsiders to every planet and system they visited. Those few admirals who attempted to impose themselves as local rulers quickly became quagmired in the difficulties posed by regional resistance. They found that battlewagons were easier to smash than labor strikes and planetary assaults were simpler to defeat than protest marches. Inevitably, the admirals always gave up empire-building in favor of empire-stealing. After all, if they won, they wouldn’t need to build an empire—they could simply claim the extant one as the spoils of war.The worlds of the Imperium encouraged the admirals to keep their war between themselves. When visited by the fleets of the Imperial contenders, the planets paid tithes, provided the logistical support required of them and did not complain too much. They knew that eventually the admirals would leave, and life would return to normal. Unfortunately, the tendency in this’civil war“ to restrict violence to certain select political strata was not a hallmark of the Rebellion.The Rebellion was—and is—a true civil war. From the very outset, political rivals with competing claims rallied civilian populations to their cause. Fleets went forth not as the embodiment of one admiral’s desire to rule, but as an extension of publicly supported policy. This was not just a conflict between soldiers—this was a war between common people, between competing regions, cultures and political ideas.Consequently, just as the enabling foundation of the war was civil, so were its casualties. Industry, commerce, transportation, even agriculture and population centers became targets. Damage suffered by a faction’s populace vindicated counterstrikes. The upward spiral of violence took an increasingly heavy toll on the structure of the Imperium itself.It took the experts several years to accept that the Rebellion was different from any previous type of conflict within the Imperium. The military was not used to managing a conflict whose battleground was also its logistical base. Wars with the Zhodani and Solomani, plus various pacification campaigns, gave the Imperial military establishment an institutional predisposition toward conquest at any cost: Damage done today could be rebuilt tomorrow or left for the enemy to handle.But the Rebellion was a more complex conflict. Every faction’s logistical base overlapped onto its area of military operations. Therefore, it was crucial for objectives to be taken and defended intact—there was no time for rebuilding if war production was to retain the momentum required for victory. Strategic success required a deft military hand and an understanding of the subtle interactions of warfare, commerce and politics. An inappropriately timed tactical victory could in fact be a strategic defeat.Few leaders of the Imperium appreciated this. Those few who did had little opportunity to benefit from it: Lucan’s headlong offensives demanded stiff, absolute responses. His irresponsibility as a ruler and unsuitability as a military planner not only squandered his own sizeable resources, but ultimately invalidated any measured responses undertaken by his rivals. Consequently, no single individual contributed more to the downfall of the Imperium than the man who—rightly or wrongly—sat upon its throne.The Rebellion’s most combat-intensive period extended from late 1118 to mid-1120. It was then that the factions strove to attain the key objective in the conflict—control of the high-population worlds.This result was inevitable, though no less tragic,The Imperium started the war with 320 numbered fleets and an equal number of reserve fleets. By 1121, fewer than 95 numbered and 130 reserve fleets remained. Most had been reduced to 60% strength or less, with the heaviest losses in the BatRonsand CruRons. Losses were also severe in the ground forces. As the front moved back and forth, countless divisions were stranded due to insufficient resources for evacuation. Without orbital support , few units survived more than 48 hours past the arrival of an enemy fleet.Lucan, having held a disproportionately large share of the military resources to begin with, was the only faction leader who could still mount one last major offensive in 1121. So he did. Lucan’s final offensive against Gushemege Sector was a Pyrrhic victory: His forces were too weakened to hold the territory they had purchased at so high a price in trained personnel and high-tech equipment.The other faction leaders had already realized what Lucan refused to accept:But even more telling than the lack of personnel and equipment was theEven had the combat forces existed, there was no way to reprise the massive offensives of 1118-1120. The supply resources to empower them were gone. Like exhausted prize-fighters, the contenders for the Iridium Throne staggered away from each other and collapsed in their respective corners.



Each faction began attempting to rebuild its economy and commercial sectors.Among the more successful were the Ziru Sirkaa, Margaret's Domain (whose strong suits were in trade, not war) and—oddly enough—Lucan. The reason for Lucan's success was indeed ironic: The would-be emperor was simply not interested in economics. Consequently, his experts had a relatively free hand. Only his military leaders had to endure his "expert guidance." That guidance mandated a relentless campaign of lightning strikes into the core areas of the rival factions. Convinced that the other factions were on the verge of uniting against him, Lucan decided it was necessary to disrupt their largely illusory offensive capabilities.

As a result, the battles of the Rebellion ceased to resemble arena contests fought with battle-axes and began to be reminiscent of knife fights in darkened alleys. Commerce raiding took the place of squadron actions. Deep-penetration raids by destroyers and escorts replaced fleet-sized thrusts. Hit-and-run strikes by companies or battalions were used instead of full-scale planetary assaults. As the forces shrank in size, so did the objectives: Instead of whole planets, single cities or starports were targeted.

However, despite its seemingly "limited" nature, this new phase heralded a terrible change in military objectives: The desire to conquer had been replaced by the decision to destroy. The targets were not attacked in order to be added to the assets of the attacker; they were being eliminated so the defender no longer gained any benefit from them. The purposeful destruction of resources had begun years earlier, when retreating naval commanders were forced to destroy key starship construction and repair facilities to hinder pursuit by the enemy. But now this tactic was no longer the exception to the rule—it became Lucan's standard operating procedure.

The other factions had no choice but to respond in kind.This at least forced Lucan to devote more of his assets to defense, which limited the number of offensive strikes he could make. But Lucan still maintained a high level of activity against Dulinor, Vland and the Solomani Confederation.

Just as this period of conflict (referred to by many as the

On the other hand, it encouraged the emergence of raiders and "black" units—so named because of suspicions that they were moonlighting as pirates when not on a mission.

By now, the factions were passing out

As a result of these years of Black War, the factions' efforts to jumpstart their respective economies died. Civilian losses in the peripheral areas caused many heretofore loyal outlying worlds to rethink their allegiances and move toward neutrality. Thus, in a remarkably evolutionary fashion, the areas controlled by each faction continued to shrink to a size which could be defended by what few military assets remained, a task simplified by the deeper no man's land—a byproduct of the receding Frontiers.

By the end of 1124, some measure of stability had finally arrived for the central regions of each faction. However, each of these regions—known as Safe areas—were not much bigger than one or two subsectors (the Third Imperium was 281 subsectors in size) . Beyond each of them was a Frontier area, a region where the faction still held a fair amount of sway, but which was more unpredictable and risky for travellers. Beyond the Frontiers were the Outlands, areas that had originally been under marginal control by the faction. After suffering the depredations of full-sized fleets and armies, the Outlands were too battered to endure the insult added to their injury by the Black War. Most of the Outland worlds fell by the wayside, seldom visited.

And further outward still were the Wilds—the areas forsaken by the factions since the war began. Innumerable fleets had raged back and forth across these systems, and then the Black War had ravaged them. Maintaining contact with these worlds was not only pointless—it was folly.

Only the adventurous and foolhardy, or those with intense personal ties, would attempt to cross the gulf to visit those abandoned worlds. And no others were interested in helping them try. For as 1124 drew to an end, it was obvious that the attempts at economic reinvigoration were failing. Merchants were getting nervous about being able to make payments on their increasingly rare jump-capable ships. Every day, another broker closed up shop for good—or opened a window 30 stories up and took a short walk into forever. People stopped spending; stores began closing. You could feel it everywhere: Hard Times were a'coming.

Eve of Hard Times Area Distinctions By the beginning of 1125, the factional core areas have achieved basic stability. Military forces have withdrawn to lines that can be reliably defended, allowing the worlds within these boundaries to retain pre-Rebellion economic levels. However, their outlying regions—and the interstellar reaches beyond—are still adjusting to the tremendous changes caused by the Rebellion.

There are four categories of areas in Hard Times: Safe, Frontier, Outlands and Wilds.

Safe Areas: Safe areas are the most secure areas in the Rebellion imperium. They represent the cores of the respective factions and are carefully guarded by the remaining military forces. These function as isolated pockets of pre-Rebellion times, where commerce, industry and civil government continue as before.The only thing that breaks the illusion of travelling back in time to 1115 is the attitude of the inhabitants. They are wary and vigilant, for only vigilance can keep these areas secure. In addition, they know what is going on outside the Safes, and this has made them cautious spenders. They have something of a lifeboat mentality, hardening their hearts to the tragedy outside the Safes, knowing there are only enough resources to retain selected parts of their civilization.

Frontier Areas: These lie just outside the boundaries of the Safes. They encompass areas whose security cannot be guaranteed by the reduced militaries of 1125. Consequently, their factional loyalty is lower. The level of factional control and defense runs about 50%, although most of the Frontier worlds must trade with the Safes, the only real economy around. Although lower than in the Safes, the level of naval patrolling is sufficient to encourage moderate interstellar trade and transport. But the danger to shipping is sufficient to reduce its volume to well below pre-Rebellion levels. The increased risk shows in the attitudes of the people. They have become careful and shrewd, sometimes gruff. However, unlike the more desperate people farther from the Safes, Frontier-folk are still usually generous to travellers in need of help. After all, a favor done is a favor owed, and everyone needs favors and friends when there is no shortage of enemies. These enemies—pirates and raider—are drawn to the Frontier because shipping is still sufficiently plentiful, and defenses sufficiently light, to make such raids a reasonable proposition. Also, technology needed to keep ships and weapons functional is becoming increasingly rare farther out, where the bones of civilization are rapidly picked clean.

Outland Areas: These are the areas that have been forsaken by all the factions, so there is no law or protection beyond what each world can muster for itself. Therefore, space travel is very hazardous. Pirates operate virtually at will, and rescue is unlikely. The Outlands are difficult to characterize—as worlds become isolated, they can evolve drastically different responses to the same circumstances. Some still hunger for their lost trade and the benefits of Imperial society. Others shun trade because it attracts piracy: If you have nothing, no one can take anything from you. Outlanders live by their wits—there are only the quick and the dead.

Wild Areas: Anything awful that can be said about the Outlands is even worse in the Wilds. The Wilds were not just abandoned because they were strategically untenable—they were blasted to smithereens first. Many of these worlds have not had outside contact since 1121—and for good reason. While pirates may run rampant in the Outlands, it is the Wilds they call ”home, sweet home.“ This is not to say that some Wild worlds haven’t retained some tatters of civilization. But those which have are typically xenophobic—again, with good reason. Many feel that the Imperium has forsaken them, and they are not friendly to any visitors, even if the strangers aren’t pirates. While some Wild worlds may desire access to rare and desperately needed technology, their people will be very slow to give their trust.

War Zone Subsectors Subsectors are also labelled according to the degree of conflict they saw over the first five years of the Rebellion.

War Zones: These subsectors endured at least one major campaign. They contain a high percentage of worlds that have had their starports destroyed, populations attacked and industry wrecked. War Zones are susceptible to the UWP changes brought about by Hard Times.

Intense War Zones: These subsectors endured two or more years of high-intensity combat. They are even more vulnerable to the forces of decline than are War Zones.

Black War Zones: These are Intense War Zones where Lucan was a combatant and pursued his objectives at all costs, resorting to his Black War tactics when necessary. Such regions likely hold several annihilated worlds. Almost all these zones are also Wild regions since traders have little reason to expect any benefits from visiting them. They are thus doubly benighted and tend to hold a large number of doomed or failing worlds.

Part II, year 1125 to 1128 (Hard Times Era) STAGE 1: DESTRUCTION OF INSTERSTELLAR TRANSPORT (date 300-1124) The inevitability of the Third Imperium’ economic collapse is fully evident by the end of 1124. The single greatest sign of this impending disaster is the decrease of interstellar trade and transport. And the single greatest cause of this decrease is the loss of high quality starports in all but the Safe areas of the Imperium.

Standing head-and-shoulders above the other reasons for the decline of starports is Lucan’s scorched earth policy regarding his rivals’ interstellar resources. His military logic was cold and uncompromising: If he could not retain an important resource, then it must be destroyed to deny it to the enemy. This erosion of interstellar capabilities further deprived opponents of the ability to seize the initiative and carry out reprisals. In addition to being effective, this strategy also appealed to Lucan’s vengeful nature.

But Lucan overestimated his chances of a quick victory, and enemy factions discovered the most effective countermeasure was a response in kind to the scorched earth tactics. This contagious whirlwind of destruction—the Black War—escalated from 1120 to 1124, by which point the factions were too exhausted to mount many attacks of any type.

However, by this time, uncounted shipyards lay in ruins, and billions of Imperial citizens turned their backs on the interstellar community, rejecting the Rebellion and all the madness associated with it.

Without port facilities, worlds could not attract merchants. Commerce and transport dried up. And since the selective focus of raids was on class-A and class-B starports, new ships could not be built to replace the tens of thousands destroyed by years of warfare.

As of 300-1124, the Imperium’s shipping industry is in full retreat. And with decreased shipping, only a fraction of the once vast Imperial markets are still available to the producers and traders of goods—too small a fraction to stave off the economic recession that begins the tumble into Hard Times.

Safe Areas and Starports Within the safe areas, the drop in interstellar traffic is not perceptible. In fact, many safe areas actually experience a minor increase in interstellar transport. This seemingly paradoxical situation is due to the influx of merchants who have decided that the Frontier and Outlands are too risky for further operations. Consequently, the functional starships tend to congregate in the areas known to be Safes. Also, no starports within the Safes have been damaged or degraded, making trade and maintenance much easier to conduct.

Due to this, Hard Times do not really hit the Safes too hard. Markets may be smaller, but they are still vigorous and self sustaining. Thus, worlds in the Safes are not subject to the effects presented in Chapter 3 unless the safe area is also a War Zone.

The Frontier areas still enjoy a fair amount of transport, but the need for protection dictates that about half of all interstellar runs are now conducted in convoys. Starports in the Frontier are more likely to be damaged or gone to seed, although most have not slipped too far.

However, in the Outlands, starport quality has slipped dramatically. After the fleet actions of the Rebellion and the vicious strikes of the Black War, there is little reason for planets in the Outlands to rebuild their facilities—it only invites another attack. Furthermore, the need for starports has diminished since traders are now fearful of venturing into the Outlands.As a result, many facilities that survived the war have been allowed to decay as traffic dropped off and the benefits derived from operating them diminished.

The Wilds face the same problems as the Outlands, but to a greater degree. since fewer worlds escaped military strikes, more starports were damaged or annihilated. While traders avoid the Outlands, only the most brave or foolhardy would even consider venturing into the wilds. Pirates am common in this interstellar wasteland,and many planetary populalions are no longer friendly; to them, an outsider is simply a harbinger of more trouble.

Annihilated Worlds Another aspect of the scorched earth policy has contributed to the emergence of Hard Times by the end of 1124—the corruption or destruction of entire planetary biospheres by nudear,biological and chemical attacks. Such terrible attacks were fairly rare,but in some subsectors—notably those where Lucian's Black War tactics were practiced—such events did occur once or twice.

The main targets for weapons of mass destruction were high population and class-A starport worlds. Since these were perceived to be the strategic keys of the Rebellion, worlds with such attributes were more likely to invite escalation—defensive commanders felt it was more imperative to hang on to hem. Paradoxically, this forced them to desperate measures when fighting grew heavy and, in turn, invited escalation by the attacker-ith predictable results.

Lucan's demands for results at any cost made his forces the worst offenders in this regard. As the war progressed, the tactics of his surviving commanders reflected the attitudes of their ruthless leader more and more.

The physical results of scorched earth attacks varied. But the psychological response was invariable-any survivors acquired a deep and lasting hatred for Lucan and his forces. They also grew more suspicious of offworlders in general and recanted whatever love they had for the Imperium.

THE IMPERIUM AS OF 300-1124: DETERMINING THE EFFECTS OF STAGE 1 Starport Facilities in Hard Times All interstellar travellers need access to certain facilities that can only be found at starports. And since those facilities are becoming increasingly rare, they are increasingly important.

By 1124, class-A starports are becoming new meccas and growing into centers of civilization, education, exchange and—of course—larceny. Since they can repair and build starships, these installations represent priceless assets.Those few that are not found in Safe or Frontier areas are shining beacons in the darkness of the Outlands or Wilds, and they attract all manners of clientele. Although there are sure to be a half dozen plots afoot to seize each one, only insane raiders or Lucan's strike teams would consider actually damaging a class-A starport.

Class-A ports are sure to be running at peak capacity on a steady basis. The waiting list for repair and maintenance work is long and prices are higher than usual. New ships are rarely available for purchase since almost all are specially commissioned well in advance. It is not unlikely for contractors to be murdered in order to free up their nearly completed ships for purchase. In the Outlands and the Wilds, ships are only available for 100% cash up front.

Class-B facilities are also busy,but waiting times and costs are comparable to those of the pre-rebellion era Such ports handle a fair amount of customization and ordnance sales.

Class-C facilities, once considered substandard, have emerged as the workhorses of the interstellar transport industry (such as it is in 1125). Capable of repairing heavy damage, these facilities are used by many ship owners to keep their rustbuckets jump-capable until they can afford enough for an annual maintenance. These ports are also capable of building slower-than-light (STL) spaceships of

Class-D (and class-F) facilities are still substandard, but the lack of alternatives has increased their importance. However, due to the general dropoff in interstellar travel, they receive barely half the traffic they did in the years before the Rebellion.

All other classes (E, X, G, H and Y) are considered to be lesser facilities and are as unimpressive as ever. They attract almost no interstellar traffic now, unless they are located on a world that is an unusual source of trade or resources.

The lack of adequate facilities and decreased potential for trade makes starship maintenance harder to find and afford.



As the faction leaders learned, the costs of war continued to accrue long after the bullets and BatRons stopped flying. Economies did not spring back in response to the deescalation. War-related industries dominated the commercial sectors of the factions. As contracts for new war materiel began to shrink, ripples of unemployment coursed through the economy. Commerce retracted even further: The last viable market—war—evaporated. Now there was nothing left to sell—which was appropriate since no one had any money to spend anyway.Each faction began attempting to rebuild its economy and commercial sectors.Among the more successful were the Ziru Sirkaa, Margaret's Domain (whose strong suits were in trade, not war) and—oddly enough—Lucan. The reason for Lucan's success was indeed ironic: The would-be emperor was simply not interested in economics. Consequently, his experts had a relatively free hand. Only his military leaders had to endure his "expert guidance." That guidance mandated a relentless campaign of lightning strikes into the core areas of the rival factions. Convinced that the other factions were on the verge of uniting against him, Lucan decided it was necessary to disrupt their largely illusory offensive capabilities.As a result, the battles of the Rebellion ceased to resemble arena contests fought with battle-axes and began to be reminiscent of knife fights in darkened alleys. Commerce raiding took the place of squadron actions. Deep-penetration raids by destroyers and escorts replaced fleet-sized thrusts. Hit-and-run strikes by companies or battalions were used instead of full-scale planetary assaults. As the forces shrank in size, so did the objectives: Instead of whole planets, single cities or starports were targeted.However, despite its seemingly "limited" nature, this new phase heralded a terrible change in military objectives: The desire to conquer had been replaced by the decision to destroy. The targets were not attacked in order to be added to the assets of the attacker; they were being eliminated so the defender no longer gained any benefit from them. The purposeful destruction of resources had begun years earlier, when retreating naval commanders were forced to destroy key starship construction and repair facilities to hinder pursuit by the enemy. But now this tactic was no longer the exception to the rule—it became Lucan's standard operating procedure.The other factions had no choice but to respond in kind.This at least forced Lucan to devote more of his assets to defense, which limited the number of offensive strikes he could make. But Lucan still maintained a high level of activity against Dulinor, Vland and the Solomani Confederation.Just as this period of conflict (referred to by many as the Black War years) evolved new kinds of tactics and objectives, it also produced a new breed of soldier. It placed emphasis on the trained, resourceful professional who could conduct and complete complex missions with minimal support and guidance.On the other hand, it encouraged the emergence of raiders and "black" units—so named because of suspicions that they were moonlighting as pirates when not on a mission.By now, the factions were passing out letters of marque as freely as party favors. And the lines separating war, terrorism and piracy—always thin to begin with—began to vanish amid the new brutality of "legitimate" warfare.As a result of these years of Black War, the factions' efforts to jumpstart their respective economies died. Civilian losses in the peripheral areas caused many heretofore loyal outlying worlds to rethink their allegiances and move toward neutrality. Thus, in a remarkably evolutionary fashion, the areas controlled by each faction continued to shrink to a size which could be defended by what few military assets remained, a task simplified by the deeper no man's land—a byproduct of the receding Frontiers.By the end of 1124, some measure of stability had finally arrived for the central regions of each faction. However, each of these regions—known as Safe areas—were not much bigger than one or two subsectors. Beyond each of them was a Frontier area, a region where the faction still held a fair amount of sway, but which was more unpredictable and risky for travellers. Beyond the Frontiers were the Outlands, areas that had originally been under marginal control by the faction. After suffering the depredations of full-sized fleets and armies, the Outlands were too battered to endure the insult added to their injury by the Black War. Most of the Outland worlds fell by the wayside, seldom visited.And further outward still were the Wilds—the areas forsaken by the factions since the war began. Innumerable fleets had raged back and forth across these systems, and then the Black War had ravaged them. Maintaining contact with these worlds was not only pointless—it was folly.Only the adventurous and foolhardy, or those with intense personal ties, would attempt to cross the gulf to visit those abandoned worlds. And no others were interested in helping them try. For as 1124 drew to an end, it was obvious that the attempts at economic reinvigoration were failing. Merchants were getting nervous about being able to make payments on their increasingly rare jump-capable ships. Every day, another broker closed up shop for good—or opened a window 30 stories up and took a short walk into forever. People stopped spending; stores began closing. You could feel it everywhere: Hard Times were a'coming.By the beginning of 1125, the factional core areas have achieved basic stability. Military forces have withdrawn to lines that can be reliably defended, allowing the worlds within these boundaries to retain pre-Rebellion economic levels. However, their outlying regions—and the interstellar reaches beyond—are still adjusting to the tremendous changes caused by the Rebellion.There are four categories of areas in Hard Times:andSafe areas are the most secure areas in the Rebellion imperium. They represent the cores of the respective factions and are carefully guarded by the remaining military forces. These function as isolated pockets of pre-Rebellion times, where commerce, industry and civil government continue as before.The only thing that breaks the illusion of travelling back in time to 1115 is the attitude of the inhabitants. They are wary and vigilant, for only vigilance can keep these areas secure. In addition, they know what is going on outside the Safes, and this has made them cautious spenders. They have something of a lifeboat mentality, hardening their hearts to the tragedy outside the Safes, knowing there are only enough resources to retain selected parts of their civilization.These lie just outside the boundaries of the Safes. They encompass areas whose security cannot be guaranteed by the reduced militaries of 1125. Consequently, their factional loyalty is lower. The level of factional control and defense runs about 50%, although most of the Frontier worlds must trade with the Safes, the only real economy around. Although lower than in the Safes, the level of naval patrolling is sufficient to encourage moderate interstellar trade and transport. But the danger to shipping is sufficient to reduce its volume to well below pre-Rebellion levels. The increased risk shows in the attitudes of the people. They have become careful and shrewd, sometimes gruff. However, unlike the more desperate people farther from the Safes, Frontier-folk are still usually generous to travellers in need of help. After all, a favor done is a favor owed, and everyone needs favors and friends when there is no shortage of enemies. These enemies—pirates and raider—are drawn to the Frontier because shipping is still sufficiently plentiful, and defenses sufficiently light, to make such raids a reasonable proposition. Also, technology needed to keep ships and weapons functional is becoming increasingly rare farther out, where the bones of civilization are rapidly picked clean.These are the areas that have been forsaken by all the factions, so there is no law or protection beyond what each world can muster for itself. Therefore, space travel is very hazardous. Pirates operate virtually at will, and rescue is unlikely. The Outlands are difficult to characterize—as worlds become isolated, they can evolve drastically different responses to the same circumstances. Some still hunger for their lost trade and the benefits of Imperial society. Others shun trade because it attracts piracy: If you have nothing, no one can take anything from you. Outlanders live by their wits—there are only the quick and the dead.Anything awful that can be said about the Outlands is even worse in the Wilds. The Wilds were not just abandoned because they were strategically untenable—they were blasted to smithereens first. Many of these worlds have not had outside contact since 1121—and for good reason. While pirates may run rampant in the Outlands, it is the Wilds they call ”home, sweet home.“ This is not to say that some Wild worlds haven’t retained some tatters of civilization. But those which have are typically xenophobic—again, with good reason. Many feel that the Imperium has forsaken them, and they are not friendly to any visitors, even if the strangers aren’t pirates. While some Wild worlds may desire access to rare and desperately needed technology, their people will be very slow to give their trust.Subsectors are also labelled according to the degree of conflict they saw over the first five years of the Rebellion.These subsectors endured at least one major campaign. They contain a high percentage of worlds that have had their starports destroyed, populations attacked and industry wrecked. War Zones are susceptible to the UWP changes brought about by Hard Times.These subsectors endured two or more years of high-intensity combat. They are even more vulnerable to the forces of decline than are War Zones.These are Intense War Zones where Lucan was a combatant and pursued his objectives at all costs, resorting to his Black War tactics when necessary. Such regions likely hold several annihilated worlds. Almost all these zones are also Wild regions since traders have little reason to expect any benefits from visiting them. They are thus doubly benighted and tend to hold a large number of doomed or failing worlds.The inevitability of the Third Imperium’ economic collapse is fully evident by the end of 1124. The single greatest sign of this impending disaster is the decrease of interstellar trade and transport. And the single greatest cause of this decrease is the loss of high quality starports in all but the Safe areas of the Imperium.Standing head-and-shoulders above the other reasons for the decline of starports is Lucan’s scorched earth policy regarding his rivals’ interstellar resources. His military logic was cold and uncompromising: If he could not retain an important resource, then it must be destroyed to deny it to the enemy. This erosion of interstellar capabilities further deprived opponents of the ability to seize the initiative and carry out reprisals. In addition to being effective, this strategy also appealed to Lucan’s vengeful nature.But Lucan overestimated his chances of a quick victory, and enemy factions discovered the most effective countermeasure was a response in kind to the scorched earth tactics. This contagious whirlwind of destruction—the Black War—escalated from 1120 to 1124, by which point the factions were too exhausted to mount many attacks of any type.However, by this time, uncounted shipyards lay in ruins, and billions of Imperial citizens turned their backs on the interstellar community, rejecting the Rebellion and all the madness associated with it.Without port facilities, worlds could not attract merchants. Commerce and transport dried up. And since the selective focus of raids was on class-A and class-B starports, new ships could not be built to replace the tens of thousands destroyed by years of warfare.As of 300-1124, the Imperium’s shipping industry is in full retreat. And with decreased shipping, only a fraction of the once vast Imperial markets are still available to the producers and traders of goods—too small a fraction to stave off the economic recession that begins the tumble into Hard Times.Within the safe areas, the drop in interstellar traffic is not perceptible. In fact, many safe areas actually experience a minor increase in interstellar transport. This seemingly paradoxical situation is due to the influx of merchants who have decided that the Frontier and Outlands are too risky for further operations. Consequently, the functional starships tend to congregate in the areas known to be Safes. Also, no starports within the Safes have been damaged or degraded, making trade and maintenance much easier to conduct.Due to this, Hard Times do not really hit the Safes too hard. Markets may be smaller, but they are still vigorous and self sustaining. Thus, worlds in the Safes are not subject to the effects presented in Chapter 3 unless the safe area is also a War Zone.The Frontier areas still enjoy a fair amount of transport, but the need for protection dictates that about half of all interstellar runs are now conducted in convoys. Starports in the Frontier are more likely to be damaged or gone to seed, although most have not slipped too far.However, in the Outlands, starport quality has slipped dramatically. After the fleet actions of the Rebellion and the vicious strikes of the Black War, there is little reason for planets in the Outlands to rebuild their facilities—it only invites another attack. Furthermore, the need for starports has diminished since traders are now fearful of venturing into the Outlands.As a result, many facilities that survived the war have been allowed to decay as traffic dropped off and the benefits derived from operating them diminished.The Wilds face the same problems as the Outlands, but to a greater degree. since fewer worlds escaped military strikes, more starports were damaged or annihilated. While traders avoid the Outlands, only the most brave or foolhardy would even consider venturing into the wilds. Pirates am common in this interstellar wasteland,and many planetary populalions are no longer friendly; to them, an outsider is simply a harbinger of more trouble.Another aspect of the scorched earth policy has contributed to the emergence of Hard Times by the end of 1124—the corruption or destruction of entire planetary biospheres by nudear,biological and chemical attacks. Such terrible attacks were fairly rare,but in some subsectors—notably those where Lucian's Black War tactics were practiced—such events did occur once or twice.The main targets for weapons of mass destruction were high population and class-A starport worlds. Since these were perceived to be the strategic keys of the Rebellion, worlds with such attributes were more likely to invite escalation—defensive commanders felt it was more imperative to hang on to hem. Paradoxically, this forced them to desperate measures when fighting grew heavy and, in turn, invited escalation by the attacker-ith predictable results.Lucan's demands for results at any cost made his forces the worst offenders in this regard. As the war progressed, the tactics of his surviving commanders reflected the attitudes of their ruthless leader more and more.The physical results of scorched earth attacks varied. But the psychological response was invariable-any survivors acquired a deep and lasting hatred for Lucan and his forces. They also grew more suspicious of offworlders in general and recanted whatever love they had for the Imperium.All interstellar travellers need access to certain facilities that can only be found at starports. And since those facilities are becoming increasingly rare, they are increasingly important.By 1124, class-A starports are becoming new meccas and growing into centers of civilization, education, exchange and—of course—larceny. Since they can repair and build starships, these installations represent priceless assets.Those few that are not found in Safe or Frontier areas are shining beacons in the darkness of the Outlands or Wilds, and they attract all manners of clientele. Although there are sure to be a half dozen plots afoot to seize each one, only insane raiders or Lucan's strike teams would consider actually damaging a class-A starport.Class-A ports are sure to be running at peak capacity on a steady basis. The waiting list for repair and maintenance work is long and prices are higher than usual. New ships are rarely available for purchase since almost all are specially commissioned well in advance. It is not unlikely for contractors to be murdered in order to free up their nearly completed ships for purchase. In the Outlands and the Wilds, ships are only available for 100% cash up front.Class-B facilities are also busy,but waiting times and costs are comparable to those of the pre-rebellion era Such ports handle a fair amount of customization and ordnance sales.Class-C facilities, once considered substandard, have emerged as the workhorses of the interstellar transport industry (such as it is in 1125). Capable of repairing heavy damage, these facilities are used by many ship owners to keep their rustbuckets jump-capable until they can afford enough for an annual maintenance. These ports are also capable of building slower-than-light (STL) spaceships of Tech Level 8 or less that have a total cost of no more than MCr10. Such construction requires twice the usual time and may not incorporate any elements of more than Tech Level as part of the standard equipment (although such craft can be retrofitted later).Class-D (and class-F) facilities are still substandard, but the lack of alternatives has increased their importance. However, due to the general dropoff in interstellar travel, they receive barely half the traffic they did in the years before the Rebellion.All other classes (E, X, G, H and Y) are considered to be lesser facilities and are as unimpressive as ever. They attract almost no interstellar traffic now, unless they are located on a world that is an unusual source of trade or resources.The lack of adequate facilities and decreased potential for trade makes starship maintenance harder to find and afford.

Starport Procedures People wandering through the starports of Hard Times will notice a few changes.

Security: Security is tighter and more businesslike in better ports (A and B) but has decreased in lesser facilities (E, X, G, H, Y). In better facilities, patrols have expanded far beyond their traditional role of customs and immgration/emgration. In fact, the major duty of most armed security personnel is to protect the facility itself, particularly repair and construction yards. These guards have the right-and are encouraged to shoot first and ask questions later. They are armed and armored to the maximum standards permitted by local (or imported) technology. Many starports have also emplaced missile batteries to repel unwanted visitors.

Flight Control: Flight control is a lot pickier about approach and departure vectors and is likely to deny landing rights to an uncooperative craft. The word at high quality installations is 'safety first"—and those who don't agree are tersely invited to take their ship someplace else.

Extrality Zone: With the death of the Imperium as a centrally organized, law enforcing entity, the concept of the

Personnel: The personnel in class-A and class-B facilities are the best available—as befits the staff of the few remaining top-of-the-line facilities. In low quality facilities, however, the ports are often run by local crackpots who are sure that The old days are gonna be back soon" or who refuse to leave the job. Out of touch and out of the trafficked lanes, many are going a bit daft.

Cargo: Cargo is now watched over very carefully by merchants. Although the trading process remains the same, the remittance of the goods and its landing are now given considerable security.This is not paranoia: Desperate ship's masters have Men to stealing cargos from each other during on- and off-loading.

STAGE 2: COLLAPSE OF THE FINANCIAL MARKETS (date 001-1125) Even in the fragmenting Imperium, ‘money makes the world go round.” Unfortunately, there’s a great deal less money to go around as of001-1125,which is why that date is considered the starting point of the Hard Times era.

Hard Times are not hard due to the damage done to the Imperium’s ability to manufacture goods or acquire raw material—although severe, this kind of damage is physically repairable. Rather, the crucial damage done by the war was the shattering of the economy.

In 1115, the Imperium represented a single, highly integrated market of exceptional fluidity. The economic environment allowed megacorporate planners to project production requirements and anticipated revenues decades into the future.

Commercial vessels of every size wandered the star lanes freely, carrying all types of cargos to all types of worlds. Corporate planning authorities were able to work within an economy that was broad and diverse enough to offer virtually infinite markets, yet the economy was also large enough, unified enough and standardized enough to allow security, predictability and huge economies of scale (this was the miracle of the Imperium).

Dulinor’s first shot killed this market as surely as it killed Strephon. Suddenly, the Imperial economy was plunged into confusion and chaos.There were no more centralized authorities to detect problems and massage them away with 10-year economic plans and strategically designed subsidies. Markets became divided and trade routes interdicted by factional battle lines.

The spacelanes became battlegrounds, and merchants lived under the eternal threat of mobilization. Century-old trade relationships were severed; shortages became endemic: and industry shifted to war material or logistically necessary products. The once safe and reliable Imperial economy became a maelstrom of uncertainty and extreme risk.

By 1125, the Imperium ceased to exist as a single economy. Now, only the Safes function as they did before—all other markets are unknown quantities. Merchants have no way of determining the odds of success—or the likelihood of suffering a commercial loss—so fewer of them bother to venture into those areas which most need economic stimulation.

As Traders Pull Back, So Do Insurers and Banks At the very basis of any speculation-based economy is the consideration of losses. Insurance rates are proportional to perceived risk. Consequently, as trade retracted and the areas outside Safes grew more hazardous, insurance companies and other financial speculators began withdrawing their services from these areas—particularly where piracy, theft or political instability were likely. Even in the Frontier, lending and insurance rates are now astronomical or simply unattainable.

Three major factors influence a financial company's willingness to serve a potential client. These are perceived protective measures taken by the insuree, size of the contract and reliability of risk ascertainment

For instance, it is now almost unheard of for someone from a small planet in the Diaspora Sector to be able to get life insurance—at any price. The size of the contract is too small to make any potential insurer willing to overlook the fact that the risk probabilities are virtually unassessable.

Most commonly now, insurance beyond the Safes is only of interest to Frontier worlds. And in these cases, policies are taken out only for those facilities essential to commerce (starports, spaceports, industrial or resource extraction facilities) or for convoyed cargos of highly valuable items. The more protection the facility/convoy has, the lower rate it is able to get (and the easier it is to find an insurer). Single ships are generally unable to get insurance. Even in a convoy situation, the policy does not cover anything that occurs from the time the jump drives are engaged through the ship's reemergence into space normal. This last provision prevents attempts to make false claims of misjump, which can be faked by a last second jump coordinate alteration.

As a result, most smaller planets in the Frontier (and all the planets in the Outlands and Wilds) spend money on local defense rather than insurance. Even if they could find a company which would agree to cover them, collection would be a lengthy process, and lives cannot be replaced. Such worlds hope that as they grow, their heightened defenses will prove a better protection against catastrophic losses than insurance would be.

No Way to Finance Rebuilding or New Projects The death of underwriting signals the end of loans, mortgages and liens. Small planets which are prime targets for raiders can no longer recoup their losses by borrowing credits to rebuild. As loan and mortgage collectors become more worried and less patient, barratry (starship crews "skipping out" on their starship loan payments) become epidemic. Merchant captains— already suffering from higher risks and outrageous maintenance, repair and protection fees—default on their ship payments and disappear along with them.

Those merchants who can still function at a profit are forced to adopt a new form of commerce insurance—starmercs (mercenaries) . But as centralized databases break down and resumes become increasingly uncheckable, convoy masters increasingly wonder whether the starmercs they are hiring are guard dogs or ravening wolves waiting to pounce upon their flock of ready-to-shear mercantile sheep.

In short, the majority of the banking, credit and development industries are beginning to topple. In the final analysis, markets will retract into local, barter-oriented economies.

As people see this handwriting on the wall, they leave the more benighted areas (creating a rush of immigrants bound for the Safes), start stockpiling technology they will not be able to produce in the future (driving up prices of key goods), or turn inward and shun the rest of the interstellar community.

The first two courses of action are becoming common in 1125 and have caused the creation of a new shuttle economy between the various regions of Hard Times. Merchants now leave the edge of the Safes bearing high technology, high-need goods. The farther outward they go, the more they can charge for these rare wonders. On their return trip, they load up with passengers fleeing these areas, as well as with raw materials and mail. This is a new method of trading—one fraught with danger. But hundreds of merchants are trying their hand at it as the year 1125 begins.

Return of a Barter Economy One of the most unusual results of Hard Times is the return of a barter economy. With regular trade routes and production schedules a thing of the past, the buying or selling of large, standardized lots of material is just a memory in the outer regions.

The growing barter economy is also being fueled by the tremendous amount of salvaged goods that are in the marketplace— vehicles rescued from buried garages, weaponry taken from slain pirates, clothes found in a ruined department store. War's dubious bounty comprises almost 50%of all trading, and the proportion is growing. Anything not bolted down is likely to be sold as a trade item, and anything that is bolted down is likely to be sold as real estate.

Instead of being bought and sold by generalized lots, items are being marketed individually or in small numbers, based on their retail price. And an increasing number of trades involve exchanges of equipment or trade goods rather than credits.

STAGE 3: RECESSION OF THE PLANETARY ECONOMIES (date 180-1125) I don‘t think I realized how bad things were until that time we were laying over at Beso. The locals decided to take the fusion reactor off line to work on it. Seeing friendly types, me and my crew went down to take a look at the job and see if we could lend a hand. Maybe earn some good will and a few free meals in the bargain.

As the locals ushered us into the toroidal containment core, I saw a flickering blue light up ahead. I froze—what the heck was that? The machine was cold, so how could there be a short?

I turned to the local with us, who must have read my mind by the look on my face. He just smile—bit sadly—and shook his head. He waved us on.

That’s when I turned the bend and almost lost my vision. I suddenly found myself staring into an intensely bright point of blue-white light. I threw up a hand, closed my eyelids and watched the green-blue affer-image chase around against the darkness.

I could hear the smile in the local’s voice as he said, 'Never seen one before, huh?’

"Nope. Used X-ray lasers where I’m from.”

He sighed. “So did we—before the war. But tools wear out—or are appropriated by the military. Now, this is all we have to work with."

I nodded and opened my eyes again, cautious of the intermittent, violent glare outlining the welding team before me.

I had never seen an electric arc-welder before.

People wandering through the starports of Hard Times will notice a few changes.Security is tighter and more businesslike in better ports (A and B) but has decreased in lesser facilities (E, X, G, H, Y). In better facilities, patrols have expanded far beyond their traditional role of customs and immgration/emgration. In fact, the major duty of most armed security personnel is to protect the facility itself, particularly repair and construction yards. These guards have the right-and are encouraged to shoot first and ask questions later. They are armed and armored to the maximum standards permitted by local (or imported) technology. Many starports have also emplaced missile batteries to repel unwanted visitors.Flight control is a lot pickier about approach and departure vectors and is likely to deny landing rights to an uncooperative craft. The word at high quality installations is 'safety first"—and those who don't agree are tersely invited to take their ship someplace else.With the death of the Imperium as a centrally organized, law enforcing entity, the concept of the extrality zone being an area beyond local jurisdiction has disappeared in all starports except for those within the Safes. From the moment a craft enters the planet's declared airspace (many planets now define that as being 'anywhere in-system"), the craft and crew are under the jurisdiction of the main world. Extrality zones are still maintained as areas where individuals without visa may walk about freely and conduct business.The personnel in class-A and class-B facilities are the best available—as befits the staff of the few remaining top-of-the-line facilities. In low quality facilities, however, the ports are often run by local crackpots who are sure that The old days are gonna be back soon" or who refuse to leave the job. Out of touch and out of the trafficked lanes, many are going a bit daft.Cargo is now watched over very carefully by merchants. Although the trading process remains the same, the remittance of the goods and its landing are now given considerable security.This is not paranoia: Desperate ship's masters have Men to stealing cargos from each other during on- and off-loading.Even in the fragmenting Imperium, ‘money makes the world go round.” Unfortunately, there’s a great deal less money to go around as of001-1125,which is why that date is considered the starting point of the Hard Times era.Hard Times are not hard due to the damage done to the Imperium’s ability to manufacture goods or acquire raw material—although severe, this kind of damage is physically repairable. Rather, the crucial damage done by the war was the shattering of the economy.In 1115, the Imperium represented a single, highly integrated market of exceptional fluidity. The economic environment allowed megacorporate planners to project production requirements and anticipated revenues decades into the future.Commercial vessels of every size wandered the star lanes freely, carrying all types of cargos to all types of worlds. Corporate planning authorities were able to work within an economy that was broad and diverse enough to offer virtually infinite markets, yet the economy was also large enough, unified enough and standardized enough to allow security, predictability and huge economies of scale (this was the miracle of the Imperium).Dulinor’s first shot killed this market as surely as it killed Strephon. Suddenly, the Imperial economy was plunged into confusion and chaos.There were no more centralized authorities to detect problems and massage them away with 10-year economic plans and strategically designed subsidies. Markets became divided and trade routes interdicted by factional battle lines.The spacelanes became battlegrounds, and merchants lived under the eternal threat of mobilization. Century-old trade relationships were severed; shortages became endemic: and industry shifted to war material or logistically necessary products. The once safe and reliable Imperial economy became a maelstrom of uncertainty and extreme risk.By 1125, the Imperium ceased to exist as a single economy. Now, only the Safes function as they did before—all other markets are unknown quantities. Merchants have no way of determining the odds of success—or the likelihood of suffering a commercial loss—so fewer of them bother to venture into those areas which most need economic stimulation.At the very basis of any speculation-based economy is the consideration of losses. Insurance rates are proportional to perceived risk. Consequently, as trade retracted and the areas outside Safes grew more hazardous, insurance companies and other financial speculators began withdrawing their services from these areas—particularly where piracy, theft or political instability were likely. Even in the Frontier, lending and insurance rates are now astronomical or simply unattainable.Three major factors influence a financial company's willingness to serve a potential client. These are perceived protective measures taken by the insuree, size of the contract and reliability of risk ascertainmentFor instance, it is now almost unheard of for someone from a small planet in the Diaspora Sector to be able to get life insurance—at any price. The size of the contract is too small to make any potential insurer willing to overlook the fact that the risk probabilities are virtually unassessable.Most commonly now, insurance beyond the Safes is only of interest to Frontier worlds. And in these cases, policies are taken out only for those facilities essential to commerce (starports, spaceports, industrial or resource extraction facilities) or for convoyed cargos of highly valuable items. The more protection the facility/convoy has, the lower rate it is able to get (and the easier it is to find an insurer). Single ships are generally unable to get insurance. Even in a convoy situation, the policy does not cover anything that occurs from the time the jump drives are engaged through the ship's reemergence into space normal. This last provision prevents attempts to make false claims of misjump, which can be faked by a last second jump coordinate alteration.As a result, most smaller planets in the Frontier (and all the planets in the Outlands and Wilds) spend money on local defense rather than insurance. Even if they could find a company which would agree to cover them, collection would be a lengthy process, and lives cannot be replaced. Such worlds hope that as they grow, their heightened defenses will prove a better protection against catastrophic losses than insurance would be.The death of underwriting signals the end of loans, mortgages and liens. Small planets which are prime targets for raiders can no longer recoup their losses by borrowing credits to rebuild. As loan and mortgage collectors become more worried and less patient, barratry (starship crews "skipping out" on their starship loan payments) become epidemic. Merchant captains— already suffering from higher risks and outrageous maintenance, repair and protection fees—default on their ship payments and disappear along with them.Those merchants who can still function at a profit are forced to adopt a new form of commerce insurance—starmercs. But as centralized databases break down and resumes become increasingly uncheckable, convoy masters increasingly wonder whether the starmercs they are hiring are guard dogs or ravening wolves waiting to pounce upon their flock of ready-to-shear mercantile sheep.In short, the majority of the banking, credit and development industries are beginning to topple. In the final analysis, markets will retract into local, barter-oriented economies.As people see this handwriting on the wall, they leave the more benighted areas (creating a rush of immigrants bound for the Safes), start stockpiling technology they will not be able to produce in the future (driving up prices of key goods), or turn inward and shun the rest of the interstellar community.The first two courses of action are becoming common in 1125 and have caused the creation of a new shuttle economy between the various regions of Hard Times. Merchants now leave the edge of the Safes bearing high technology, high-need goods. The farther outward they go, the more they can charge for these rare wonders. On their return trip, they load up with passengers fleeing these areas, as well as with raw materials and mail. This is a new method of trading—one fraught with danger. But hundreds of merchants are trying their hand at it as the year 1125 begins.One of the most unusual results of Hard Times is the return of a barter economy. With regular trade routes and production schedules a thing of the past, the buying or selling of large, standardized lots of material is just a memory in the outer regions.The growing barter economy is also being fueled by the tremendous amount of salvaged goods that are in the marketplace— vehicles rescued from buried garages, weaponry taken from slain pirates, clothes found in a ruined department store. War's dubious bounty comprises almost 50%of all trading, and the proportion is growing. Anything not bolted down is likely to be sold as a trade item, and anything that is bolted down is likely to be sold as real estate.Instead of being bought and sold by generalized lots, items are being marketed individually or in small numbers, based on their retail price. And an increasing number of trades involve exchanges of equipment or trade goods rather than credits.

artwork by Thomas Darrell Midgette



The nature of the pre-Rebellion Imperial economy was a highly integrated and interdependent marketplace. Policies stressing self-sufficiency were generally unpopular because they were seen (often rightly) as representing isolationist attitudes. Such policies were also costly in terms of damaged commerce (due to offworld merchants avoiding what they considered to be a xenophobic market), and in terms of decreased production efficiency.

Technological self-sufficiency means building everything yourself. While it may be a good survival tactic, it is a disastrous economic plan if a world is part of an integrated market. Instead, specialization in a few key products allows the world and its population to generate a great volume of carefully refined goods and thereby sell premium items at lower costs (which attracts a tremendous volume of business). The higher the tech level a world has, the more extreme the trend toward specialization becomes and the more vulnerable to the economic disruption that lies at the foundation of Hard Times.

Worlds are now scrambling to become self-sufficient in every way they can. Unfortunately, self-sufficiency requires a world to create supplies of systems covering the entire spectrum of civilized needs, which means they have to accept a lower common denominator. A world that once grew rich supplying a subsector with TL15 hair-driers and holorecorders must now develop innumerable other industries. Since it can no longer devote the effort to the high-tech specialty items, it can no longer purchase TL15 fusion plants and foot-warmers from its neighbors. Therefore, such a planet will cease to be TL15 in a few years. If economic collapse requires self sufficiency, then self-sufficiency clearly demands a considerable reduction in technology.

Worlds with inhospitable environments have to devote more time and resources

Safe Money and Frontier Finances As the economic recession sets in and tech levels roll backward; individuals, govemments and businesses begin to look at the

With the Imperium cut into many small pieces and with huge tracts of it effectively out of contact (or out of control), there is good cause to wonder exactly what a credit is worth during Hard Times. Almost every faction and major power center has dallied with the notion of

As the Imperium slides further toward permanent fragmentation, faction leaders begin to wonder whether the “greater value” offered by a unified scrip—the pre-Rebellion Imperial credit, also known as Lucan’s credit or the Core credit—is worth the unpredictability resulting from “sharing” a currency with other power centers. For instance, Lucan’s mercurial nature makes him likely to strike out on some rash new campaign of destruction—which will devalue the money and erode confidence in it. Some client states and large corporations have decided the higher value of the unified credit is not worth the instability, and they have begun to print their own scrip. However, they still use the Imperial credit as the basis of their currency—from subsector to subsector, there is no variance in its exchange rate or acceptability. Major scrip issuers are generally recognized without difficulty within their own Safe. They are rarely recognized beyond this area, except in some regions of the adjoining Frontier.

Cash and Carry In the Outlands and Wilds On planets where contact with stable markets is dwindling, the relevance of the Imperial credit is diminishing. Cut off from larger markets and reliable scrip issuers, such worlds are forced to start printing their own money.

Individual worlds are comparatively risky as issuers (and subsequent backers) of currency. More generally accountable are banking institutions that serve as investment/transaction centers for multiworid trade routes in the Outlands. These institutions issue scrip which is locally recognized and accepted. They usually maintain a close watch on the markets in the Safe areas and adjust the amount of currency in circulation so as to keep the independent scrip on an equal value with the Imperial credit.

Smaller worlds and those in the Wilds are likely to base their currency on

Players paid 10,000 local credits on Jedell, for instance, may find their money is no good on Aight. The merchants and government of Aight might not want to risk accepting credits from a world that may be overrun by wild-eyed anarchists within the week. In actuality, money brokers might buy the cash at a depreciated value.

An easy and interesting option is the introduction of specie currency, which does have fixed values since the value of the coin is in the metal it’s made of. Most areas turning to specie currency have adopted the following standard, which was common during the Long Night:



Coin

Specie Imperial

Credits Mass Copper Cr 0.20 50 grams Silver Cr 10.00 30 grams Gold Cr 300.00 30 grams

All these coins are available from Outlands customs currency counters and are supplied at a 2% exchange surcharge. They are recognized on all Frontier worlds and are available via exchange on half of them. These coins can be cashed in on Safe worlds, but am not usually recognized by merchants there.

Old and New Tech Levels The Imperium produced a lot of high-tech equipment in its centuries of industrial vigor. Not all of this equipment could possibly have disappeared by 1125, but what used to be common high technology is now very special and increasingly rare. For instance, military units can no longer acquire fusion or plasma weaponry except at exorbitant prices—and even then, most of it is used. More mundane items have ceased to function because the parts wore out—and no replacements were available. Each failed system becomes a source of spare parts for those devices which remain operable. Junkyards grow, and working items dwindle.

In addition to interrupting industrial output and the flow of replacement parts, the violence of the Rebellion also accounted for a tremendous level of technology being destroyed. Vehicles, weapons, power generation systems, starships, spaceships, environmental, medical and food production equipment—all of these were prime targets for attacks or seizures. And once a world's defenses were crippled, they fell prey to salvagers and scavengers.

As a result, much of the old technology is gone, and most of the remaining items are jealously hoarded by governments or other major power centers. Those last few

The new Hard Times

An exception to this would be an industrial world, whose trade status as a competitive net exporter of manufactured goods would require these goods to be at the current maximum tech level.

STAGE 4: CORPORATE RECONFIGURATION (date 001-1126) Megacorporations thrived in the fluid, interconnected economy of the pre-Rebellion Imperium. However, the extreme regionalism of Hard Times and the lack of a strong central government are anathema to the continued health of these financial giants.

Consequently, they begin to consolidate their positions by centralizing. This strategy stresses a compromise between establishing defensible positions, focusing on astrographic regions they’re already heavily invested in, and switching their emphasis to industrial production.

The effects of this strategy push along the decline of the Wilds and the Outlands while stabilizing the Frontiers and the Safes. Megacorporations move or abandon those assets which are not in secure areas, shifting whatever resources can be relocated to the heart of a nearby Safe or—if this is not possible—to Frontier planets with strong ties to the faction controlling that Safe.

This kind of corporate restructuring is neither an easy nor a rapid undertaking. In many cases, whole facilities are swapped between megacorporations. One of the first—and most famous—swaps occurred between Hortalez et cie and the four Vilani bureaux in 1121. A staggering amount of capital assets changed hands—starports, continent-sized industrial sectors, natural resource rights, thousands of smaller factories and businesses.

When it was all done, Hortalez had traded away almost 80% of its capital holdings in and around Vilani space. In return, the Bukaux—led by Zirunkariish—remitted an equal amount of assets to Hortalez, all located within Delphi Sector, the Coreward edge of the Old Expanses, Daibei and the Spinward Marches.

The purpose of this strategy was to centralize assets under the protective umbrellas of faction Safes. By 1126, other megacorporations (as well as smaller companies) are following what is now known as the Hortalez Strategy, relocating or abandoning those assets that cannot be protected. These moves cause widespread unemployment and economic disaster for the already damaged and shunned Outlands. For the Wilds, this is the final death knell; in losing contact with megacorporations, they lose their last solid tie to the rest of Imperial space.

THE IMPERIUM AS OF 001-1126: DETERMINING THE EFFECTS OF STAGE 4 An important change caused by the megacorporate reshuffling of Hard Times has already been felt by the people—the increased importance and price of certain goods. Military hardware, spacecraft, transport systems, food and energy production, environmental technologies, and medical equipment are all at a premium.

The severely reduced industrial capacity of the Imperium is naturally focusing on these products to the exclusion of less essential pursuits. Naturally, many leisure industries are suffering, not because people don’t need or want an escape from the frequently bleak reality of 1126, but because the distribution system is straining simply to provide essentials, it has little room to spare for luxuries. Not only are entertainment businesses like 2-D and 3-D video renters and vidcasting/ holocasting companies feeling the pinch, but art itself is a casualty of the Rebellion. These losses are obscured behind the sight of banking, insurance and brokerage firms collapsing, signalling more surely the ominous proximity of total economic failure. The trappings of the wealth and ease of an entire society are gone, and in their place is a harder, more practical lifestyle

STAGE 5: RAIDING AND RAIDERS (date 180-1126) One of the foremost changes in Hard Times is the decline of technology. Technology is a reliable indicator of per capita wealth and commercial health. It might seem that large, industrial worlds (particularly those which are self-sufficient in terms of food and water) should be able to retain their tech level in times of difficulty. Unfortunately, any given high population, high technology world in the Imperium did not develop its technology alone. Rather, it did so in the context of a vast interconnected economy, the various parts of which supported each other by providing markets for manufactured goods or by providing key goods for sale.The nature of the pre-Rebellion Imperial economy was a highly integrated and interdependent marketplace. Policies stressing self-sufficiency were generally unpopular because they were seen (often rightly) as representing isolationist attitudes. Such policies were also costly in terms of damaged commerce (due to offworld merchants avoiding what they considered to be a xenophobic market), and in terms of decreased production efficiency.Technological self-sufficiency means building everything yourself. While it may be a good survival tactic, it is a disastrous economic plan if a world is part of an integrated market. Instead, specialization in a few key products allows the world and its population to generate a great volume of carefully refined goods and thereby sell premium items at lower costs (which attracts a tremendous volume of business). The higher the tech level a world has, the more extreme the trend toward specialization becomes and the more vulnerable to the economic disruption that lies at the foundation of Hard Times.Worlds are now scrambling to become self-sufficient in every way they can. Unfortunately, self-sufficiency requires a world to create supplies of systems covering the entire spectrum of civilized needs, which means they have to accept a lower common denominator. A world that once grew rich supplying a subsector with TL15 hair-driers and holorecorders must now develop innumerable other industries. Since it can no longer devote the effort to the high-tech specialty items, it can no longer purchase TL15 fusion plants and foot-warmers from its neighbors. Therefore, such a planet will cease to be TL15 in a few years. If economic collapse requires self sufficiency, then self-sufficiency clearly demands a considerable reduction in technology.Worlds with inhospitable environments have to devote more time and resources to ensure long-term self-sufficiency in life support . Such worlds are forced to build their own food production facilities, environmental system modifications, replacement parts—all at the expense of maintaining their tech level.As the economic recession sets in and tech levels roll backward; individuals, govemments and businesses begin to look at the credits they hold in their hands. They not only count them, but they also consider the stability of whatever is backing their value. And many of the hands holding those credits begin to tremble.With the Imperium cut into many small pieces and with huge tracts of it effectively out of contact (or out of control), there is good cause to wonder exactly what a credit is worth during Hard Times. Almost every faction and major power center has dallied with the notion of issuing its own scrip (money), but each has thus far rejected the notion because the value of any legal tender is based on the net worth of the issuer . The Imperial credit was—and is—still based on the net value of the Imperium. No one faction can hope to equal that value.As the Imperium slides further toward permanent fragmentation, faction leaders begin to wonder whether the “greater value” offered by a unified scrip—the pre-Rebellion Imperial credit, also known as Lucan’s credit or the Core credit—is worth the unpredictability resulting from “sharing” a currency with other power centers. For instance, Lucan’s mercurial nature makes him likely to strike out on some rash new campaign of destruction—which will devalue the money and erode confidence in it. Some client states and large corporations have decided the higher value of the unified credit is not worth the instability, and they have begun to print their own scrip. However, they still use the Imperial credit as the basis of their currency—from subsector to subsector, there is no variance in its exchange rate or acceptability. Major scrip issuers are generally recognized without difficulty within their own Safe. They are rarely recognized beyond this area, except in some regions of the adjoining Frontier.On planets where contact with stable markets is dwindling, the relevance of the Imperial credit is diminishing. Cut off from larger markets and reliable scrip issuers, such worlds are forced to start printing their own money.Individual worlds are comparatively risky as issuers (and subsequent backers) of currency. More generally accountable are banking institutions that serve as investment/transaction centers for multiworid trade routes in the Outlands. These institutions issue scrip which is locally recognized and accepted. They usually maintain a close watch on the markets in the Safe areas and adjust the amount of currency in circulation so as to keep the independent scrip on an equal value with the Imperial credit.Smaller worlds and those in the Wilds are likely to base their currency on bullion reserves , having an insufficient trade flow to generate confidence in capital-backed currency. Worlds too small to even have bullion reserves of any appreciable size do not have a separate currency but operate via recognized scrip or specie (coins made from precious metals).Players paid 10,000 local credits on Jedell, for instance, may find their money is no good on Aight. The merchants and government of Aight might not want to risk accepting credits from a world that may be overrun by wild-eyed anarchists within the week. In actuality, money brokers might buy the cash at a depreciated value.An easy and interesting option is the introduction of specie curre