Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - What do you think the Long Night was like?

DAT · 04-19-2019, 08:03 AM

Late to the party as normal, but …

I start with what the situation was during the ZS. Vast webs of 30-40 planets in subsectors dependent on one another for their advance technology, and a couple planets with key items feeding 400+ worlds in a sector. The stability experts in the ZS worked so all the planets were dependent, and probably had a level of mistrust/tribalism between them so that they wouldn't band together to take on the ZS authorities (similar to the tactics used by the British Empire during its height).

Now add the RoM impacts. No more ZS manipulators keeping things balanced, some of the key worlds taken out during the war or as rebellion suppression, populations of many worlds taken out by plaques, etc. so the trade web lines start breaking down. Costs for some goods increase greatly because the materials need to be shipped from farther, or the labor pool demands larger wages, etc; which helps feed the tribalism/resentment between systems. This starts an instability wobble that the RoM can no longer control, and the trade routes start breaking down.

As the trade routes start failing, worlds start looking for ways to either soft land to a lower tech that they can support on world, or acquire the tech they need from other worlds. Since there is animosity between the worlds, the acquisition takes the form of espionage and/or war/piracy.

04-19-2019, 08:03 AM	#22
DAT Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho	Re: What do you think the Long Night was like? Late to the party as normal, but … I start with what the situation was during the ZS. Vast webs of 30-40 planets in subsectors dependent on one another for their advance technology, and a couple planets with key items feeding 400+ worlds in a sector. The stability experts in the ZS worked so all the planets were dependent, and probably had a level of mistrust/tribalism between them so that they wouldn't band together to take on the ZS authorities (similar to the tactics used by the British Empire during its height). Now add the RoM impacts. No more ZS manipulators keeping things balanced, some of the key worlds taken out during the war or as rebellion suppression, populations of many worlds taken out by plaques, etc. so the trade web lines start breaking down. Costs for some goods increase greatly because the materials need to be shipped from farther, or the labor pool demands larger wages, etc; which helps feed the tribalism/resentment between systems. This starts an instability wobble that the RoM can no longer control, and the trade routes start breaking down. As the trade routes start failing, worlds start looking for ways to either soft land to a lower tech that they can support on world, or acquire the tech they need from other worlds. Since there is animosity between the worlds, the acquisition takes the form of espionage and/or war/piracy.