This section has Package Deals appropriate to a Terran Empire campaign during the reign of Marissa III. It divides them into two sections — Imperial and Government Packages, and Civilian Packages — and each of those groups in turn subdivides into categories.

Most of these Packages work perfectly well for games set in other periods of the Imperial era. You can also adapt them for use by characters from various alien civilizations. For example, a Perseid diplomat could easily take the Diplomat Package Deal.

Imperial And Government Packages

These Packages represent jobs or social positions related to the Imperial government in some way, such as courtiers or military personnel. You can adapt many of them to represent the officials, agents, and soldiers of other Galactic governments.

Imperial Court And Bureaucratic Package Deals

At the top of the Imperial political food chain is the court — the nobles, ministers, courtiers, diplomats, and other hangers-on who have somehow obtained a position at court or the favor of someone in power. Below them in the hierarchy, but often wielding more practical power, are the countless millions of imperial bureaucrats, officials, and regulators.

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Bureaucrat

This Package Deal represents the low- and mid-level officials who do the actual work of running the Empire. Marissa can issue edicts and the Senate can vote, but these people turn formal pronouncements into day-to-day policy. The Empire has thousands of bureaux, from the Abandoned Property Office to the Zurite Trade Commission. Most bureaucrats have routine and boring jobs, but from time to time Imperial officials have to leave their desks and go into the field. Bureaucrats make natural investigators (or conspirators for shady dealings) because they know the rules and the loopholes. Officials investigating potential wrongdoing, or just on fact-finding missions, may uncover anti-Imperial plots, sinister alien operations, or the work of Galactic crooks.

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Courtier

Though they have little power of their own, courtiers have access to powerful and influential people, whom they serve in various unofficial ways — running confidential errands, intriguing against rivals, and passing on information. Courtiers can trade on their access, accepting fees from corporations, major Imperial officials, or even alien embassies to drop the occasional good word in a well-placed ear. Courtiers naturally spend most of their time at court (access and influence disappear if not cultivated), but from time to time a high noble (or even the Empress) may send a courtier on a mission — typically a delicate matter he can't handle through normal channels. Success means big rewards, but failure ends a courtier's career.

The Perseid, Ackalian, and Varanyi Empires have their own courts and courtiers, and some monarchical member states of the Velarian and Mondabi federations do, too. The Thorgons and Seecra consider them useless relics. For a higher-power courtier, add the Well-Connected Skill Enhancer, more Contacts, and more Interaction Skills.

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Diplomat

When the Empress wants to send a message to an alien empire, an Imperial diplomat delivers it. Diplomats represent the Empire on alien worlds, make first contact with newly-discovered alien species, handle minor negotiations, cope with minor crises before they turn into major ones, report on local conditions, and get involved in plots and intrigues wherever they are posted.

In theory diplomats work closely with the Exploration Service, but the two have a long tradition of hostility toward each other that sometimes hinders the smooth implementation of Her Majesty's wishes. Diplomats must also cooperate with the intelligence agencies, and if they want to stay healthy, they do so.

Diplomats make obvious targets for rebels and terrorists. Alien security services often watch them closely (the Package doesn't include this as a Disad vantage since a diplomat PC might not have any such problem; characters should take it if appropriate). Higher-level diplomats have a better Security Clearance, and may have the Linguist, Traveler, or Well-Connected Skill Enhancers. In either case, you can also use this Package Deal for various types of politicians.

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Noble

Titled aristocrats who have power and influence of their own, nobles (unlike courtiers) don't have to suck up to the Empress or anyone else — though most do, if only because they hope to gain even more wealth and power. Nobles' wealth and prominent social position give them freedom; they seldom have to do anything unless they want to. One significant exception to this: when the Empress has a really important job, she usually gives it to a noble. A noble who succeeds advances himself, one who fails often finds himself consigned to social obscurity.

This Package Deal represents a young noble from a wealthy family. For an older or more powerful character, add more Money, the Well-Connected Skill Enhancer, and/or some Followers.

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Senator

The members of the Terran Senate are some of the shrewdest politicians in the Galaxy. Just getting elected or appointed requires a lifetime of maneu vering and preparation, and once in power a Senator must carefully leverage the small authority of his position, building temporary alliances and longterm coalitions to accomplish his personal goals. Senators have several unique abilities — including access to the Empress, the right to use the Senate's database (which connects to most Imperial databases), and the ability to travel freely within the Empire. They can poke their noses into just about anything that interests them.

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Senatorial Guard

Technically part of Earth'ss planetary militia, the Senatorial Guards are recruited from across the Empire. They protect the Senate and Senators both on Earth and wherever a Senator may happen to travel. Trained for courtesy, discretion, and bravery, Guards often conduct delicate semi-covert factfinding missions for Senators, which sometimes bring them into conflict with the Terran Security Service. The Senatorial Guards have a good-natured rivalry with the soldiers of the Imperial Guard division, and a hostile relationship with the TSS.

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Law Enforcement And Intelligence Package Deals

Player characters frequently come from the ranks of, or run afoul of, law enforcement officers. Others once worked as spies, or somehow attract the attention of the TIC.

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Imperial Security Police Officer

The hard-working and overburdened enforcement arm of the Ministry of Justice, the Imperial Security Police investigates crimes against Imperial law. In recent years the ISP has lost bureaucratic ground to its rivals, the Terran Security Service and the Mind Police, but it still does its best to uphold the rule of law in Terran space. Other empires have their own police agencies, but without the Rivalry.

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Mind Police Officer

Officers of the Mind Police find themselves in a strange position. They work for a powerful Imperial agency, have paranormal abilities, and get to wear cool black berets. But they also belong to a minority hated and feared by many Imperial citizens. For some, the fear of bigotry means they must strictly abide by the law and work for the public good; for others, the memory of discrimination makes the exercise of both official and psionic power a chance to get revenge.

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Planetary Law Enforcement Officer

The ISP has only limited jurisdiction on most worlds. When planetside, it usually ends up working with the local cops, who know the territory, the people, and the local laws much better than it does. Planetary law enforcement officers run the gamut from naive rookies, to dedicated renegades, to cynical, corrupt veterans, and everything in between. Many eventually get out of police work and go into private investigation, security, or adventuring.

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Terran Intelligence Command (Field Agent)

Not strictly a spy, a field agent usually spends his time recruiting and getting information from undercover agents and informers. Typically attached to an embassy or military mission, he has to satisfy not only his TIC bosses, but whoever he "works for" locally. However, a few (such as the ones represented by this Package Deal) receive more training and participate in a wide variety of covert operations with much greater freedom of operation.

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Terran Intelligence Command (Undercover Agent)

Undercover agents have the most dangerous jobs in espionage. They live on a neutral world or in an alien civilization, often with a job that gives them access to secret information. They pass secrets to their TIC field agent contacts, risking arrest and death to enhance the security of the Empire. Their motives vary: many serve Imperial interests out of loyalty, others want the pay, the TIC blackmails a few into working for it, and some just like the excitement of being a spy.

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Terran Security Service Officer

The agents of the Terran Security Service protect the Empress and the Empire. They think of themselves the ultimate guardians of order and stability in Terran space.

TSS officers investigate crimes against the Empire, which includes anything the Empress or the Minister consider worth investigating. Their missions don't usually take them out of Terran space, but they do sometimes have to work semicovertly to avoid scandal. A TSS agent's biggest asset is the dread his position evokes, and he uses that advantage as much as possible.

This Package Deal represents a corporal of the TSS. Higher-ranking officers have higher Membership and Security Clearance Fringe Benefits.

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Military Package Deals

Military careers can lead characters into adventure. Ex-military personnel sometimes wind up leading active and exciting lives after their tour(s) of duty end.

Unless otherwise noted, each of the Military Package Deals assumes a character with a Membership: Military Rank Fringe Benefit worth 3 points (a Corporal or Petty Officer, depending on the service). Characters may increase or decrease this if appropriate by adjusting a Package's cost.

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Imperial Army (Air Forces)

The Air Forces conduct military operations in the zone between a planet's surface and orbital space. They operate a mix of supersonic fighters, vertical-takeoff hoppers, and gunships. Their biggest rivals are not any other Army branch but the fighter pilots of the Imperial Navy. Air troops wear a gold beret.

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Imperial Army (Armour)

Armour divisions drive the hovertanks, juggernauts, self-propelled artillery, and other heavy vehicles that are the backbone of the Army's fight ing strength. Armour troops have no doubt about their importance, and tend to have excellent morale. They wear a red beret, and typically carry only a sidearm.

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Imperial Army (Artillery)

The Artillery gets to shoot the really big guns — intercontinental missiles, surface-to-space lasers, and so on. Other Army branches mock the Artillery for never even seeing the enemy in combat, but Artillery boasts, "If we see you, you're already dead." They wear a chocolate brown beret and carry sidearms.

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Imperial Army (Imperial Guard)

Chosen from the best of the best among the other branches of the Army, the Imperial Guard serves as the elite ceremonial guard force for the Empress. The only Imperial troops allowed on Earth itself, they wear purple berets.

Characters who serve in the Imperial Guard take this Package in addition to the Package for their standard branch of service.

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Imperial Army (Infantry)

The largest branch of the Imperial Army, the poor, bloody infantry fights on planets throughout Imperial space, and beyond. The light infantry formations of the Army see more action in peacetime than heavy units like Armour or Artillery, and often participate in counter-insurgency operations or search and rescue missions. They wear a green beret and arm themselves with energy rifles (and sometimes more).

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Imperial Army (Medical)

Underfunded and underappreciated in peacetime (except when they help local authorities cope with natural disasters and epidemics), the Army's Medical section fills a vital need in wartime. Medical personnel serve as field medics, staff Army hospitals, and are the Army's biowarfare defense experts. A few receive commando cross-training and join the elite Special Rescue Teams. All hold the minimum rank of Lieutenant, though few of them are stupid enough to try to command troops.

Medics wear white berets. By the interstellar conventions of war, they cannot transport military supplies (they don't even wear or use weapons), but enemy soldiers must not fire on them. Unfortunately, governments observe both these rules as much in the breach as in obedience... though few soldiers who fire on Medics ever get taken prisoner.

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Imperial Army (Officer)

Army officers take one of the branch Packages, then add the abilities listed in the accompanying Package. You may increase the cost of the Member ship Fringe Benefit to create higher-ranking officers, if necessary.

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Imperial Army (Sea Forces)

The Sea Forces control the oceans and waters of Earthlike planets and patrol the ammonia and methane seas of icy worlds. They typically use either hover watercraft or submarines. On poorlyexplored worlds, the Sea Forces does many of the same things the Imperial Navy does in space, and sometimes refer to itself as the original Navy. Sea Forces personnel wear blue berets and carry sidearms.

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Imperial Army (Special Forces)

The elite of the elite, Special Forces tackles the missions other troops can't handle. They operate behind enemy lines, conduct rapid assaults or daring infiltration missions, perform psychological and political warfare, and conduct various other unconventional operations (sometimes in conjunction with the TIC or TSS). The Special Forces and Imperial Marines have a longstanding rivalry for the title of "the ultimate tough guys;" the IASF claims it wins because its men are so tough they don't need battlesuits. Special Forces wear black berets.

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Imperial Marine (Enlisted)

As the Empire's rapid-deployment offensive force, the Imperial Marines get sent into danger more often and with less preparation than any other service. Trained to adapt to and overcome any situation, with an ethos of "get the job done, then ask permission; they often come into conflict with high-ranking officers and the more rulebound services... but no one can argue with results.

Marines fight as battlesuited infantry, specializing in orbital drops and space boarding actions. Out of their armour they wear gray berets and carry energy rifles.

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Imperial Marine (Officer)

Marine officers take the Enlisted Package, then add the abilities listed in the accompanying Package. You may increase the cost of the Membership Fringe Benefit to create higher-ranking officers, if necessary.

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Imperial Navy (Command)

Command crewmembers lead the Navy's ships and units — other branches keep the ships running, Command decides what to do with them. They administrate, determine strategy, and perform other leadership tasks.

Most people consider Command the most aristocratic branch of all the Imperial military services, since high Navy rank usually leads to politi cal power. Command personnel wear a blue shirt (usually very neatly pressed). The lowest officer rank is Ensign; higher-ranking officers have a better Membership Fringe Benefit (and usually some Skill Levels and additional abilities as well).

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Imperial Navy (Flight)

Flight personnel pilot and navigate Imperial ships. The helmsman aboard a capital ship, the pilot of a shuttle or fighter, and the chartmakers of the Navigation Office all belong to the Flight branch. Flight personnel wear black shirts, which gives them a strangely sinister appearance at odds with their devil-may-care thrillseeker reputation.

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Imperial Navy (Lifesystems)

The Lifesystems branch maintains life support aboard Navy ships and stations. It also includes the Medical section (see below), the personnel responsible for crew entertainment and morale, and crewmembers who handle waste-reclamation and food services duties. Lifesystems tends the hydroponic farms aboard large ships, maintains the air tanks on smaller craft, and staffs the sickbays. For some reason, Lifesystems crewmembers tend to be clannish and don't associate much with other crewmembers. They wear green shirts.

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Imperial Navy Medical Officer

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Imperial Navy (Propulsion)

The Propulsion branch, also known as Engineering or Maintenance, builds, repairs, and maintains powerplants, engines, stardrives, and any other ship systems some other branch doesn't take care o� In peacetime, Propulsion crewmembers suffer more casualties than any other branch of the Navy. They wear red shirts.

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Imperial Navy (Science And Sensors)

Science and Sensors ("S&S" in naval parlance) operates the ship's sensors (a vital role in many combat situations), studies scientific phenomena, conducts research, performs experiments, and as necessary assists the Propulsion branch. They also handle the ship's communication requirements. Its members wear bronze-colored shirts.

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Imperial Navy (Security)

The Imperial Navy's Security branch handles ship and station security, including repelling actions against boarders. The Navy established the branch to replace the Imperial Marines, since experience proved that training Marines for offensive operations in battlesuits did not necessarily make them good at security. To this day, Security personnel and Imperial Marines don't mix.

Security troops essentially serve as Navy police, and many of them wind up going into law enforcement or bounty hunting upon retirement. They wear grey shirts.

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Imperial Navy (Tactical)

If Science & Sensors serves as a starship's eyes and ears, Tactical branch is a ship's fist. Its members operate a ship's weapons (but not ECM/ECCM, which Science & Sensors handles), shields, and stealth equipment. During quiet times they participate in practice drills, maintain weapons, and develop new tactics and strategies for dealing with the enemy. They wear burnt orange shirts.

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Terran Exploration Service (Crewmember)

Crewmembers in the TES pilot starships and spacecraft. They handle exploration in space and transport mission specialists and scientists to study new worlds and phenomena.

This Package Deal represents a young TES officer who trained at the Academy. However, many Exploration Service crewmembers come to the TES after a career as a merchant or the like, in which case they may have better Skill Rolls, more Skills, or Skill Enhancers such as Jack Of All Trades or Traveler.

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Terran Exploration Service (Mission Specialist)

Mission specialists are the Exploration Service's experts on planetary exploration, alien contact, and science. They lack the high levels of specialized knowledge civilian scientists have, but they can do a little of everything. More skilled Mission Specialists have the Scientist Skill Enhancer.

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Civilian Packages

Only a few hundred billion citizens of the Empire join the armed forces or work for the government. The rest are civilians... but they can get into just as much trouble as any Imperial functionary.

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Criminal Careers

Crime may not always pay, but it does sometimes lead characters into interesting adventures. Even non-criminals may come into contact with crooks as adversaries.

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Assassin

In the Byzantine world of Imperial politics, some people use assassins to dispose of their adversaries. In some circles, a well-planned, well-executed assassination leads to feelings of admiration... and fear... among those who learn of it.

The most successful assassins tend to work for interstellar crime cartels. They get sent in, kill their target, and then leave; they're usually light years away when the planetary police start trying to figure out who did it. Some have murky underground connections to the TSS and TIC, trading occasional "wet work" for a little covert help suppressing evidence and interfering with interstellar law enforcement.

A very few assassins work as freelancers. Incredibly lucky or incredibly skilled (or both), they have to rely on their wits and abilities to not only get the job done, but stay clear of the ISP, enemy assassins, and the countless other threats they encounter every week.

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Jacker

People refer to criminals who work by remote control over computer networks jackers. The term comes from "Data Hijacker," but also refers to the way many jackers use neural interfeace jacks to "jack in" to computer systems to speed up their access and response time.

Most jackers are thieves. They either steal money by arranging false electronic transfers, or they steal valuable information or software they can sell through a fence. Given the ever-increasing quality of computer security software, jacking is a dangerous, merciless occupation — a jacker either stays on the "bleeding edge" of computer tech, or he's likely to find himself bleeding in a much less pleasant way. And of course, anyone peddling black-market information can run into some blackmarket goons hired to get it back....

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Pirate

Genuine scourges of the spaceways, pirates take advantage of the huge scale and political fragmentation of the Galaxy to rob starships and sell the cargoes elsewhere. See page 102 for more information about them. This Package Deal works best for the less violent, more "rogue with a heart of gold" type of pirate.

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Rebel

While revolts don't occur as frequently during Marissa III's reign as they do over the fifty years after it, rebels do exist. Most operate in small groups on single worlds; the vast networks of rebel activity that come to so bedevil Sandor and Sigismund have not yet arisen.

At this point in history, people become rebels after engaging in some ordinary career, so characters should take this Package Deal in addition to one representing some other occupation. For later-period rebels, who may have been nothing but rebels all their lives, use either the Pirate or Rogue Package Deals for the "starting occupation:'

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Rogue

"Rogue" is a catch-all term for planet- or station-bound criminals and neer-do-wells: thieves, con men, gamblers, dealers in illegal goods, and so on. Unlike assassins or pirates, they don't often commit acts of violence, if only because Imperial law enforcement comes down hard on killers. They can usually defend themselves, but they mainly just want to separate people from their money by various illicit means.

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Smuggler

Smugglers exist in the grey area separating honest traders from thieves. They carry illegal cargoes and passengers, and sometimes deal in stolen goods, but they usually don't steal the cargo themselves. Smugglers typically have a cover operation as legitimate merchants, and conceal their illegal cargo with hidden compartments and faked records — after all, it gets difficult to do business when you have to hide what you do but still advertise that you have illegal goods for sale.

This Package Deal does not include a ship (since individual GMs may have different rules about how characters should buy Vehicles), but virtually every smuggler has his own small space vessel.

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Space Careers Characters

Career possibilities in space are nearly as infinite as space itself. In an environment where even small mistakes can lead to death or disaster, many occupations teach skills and abilities adventurers find useful.

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Explorer

Freelance explorers do the same things the Terran Exploration Service does, only for money. They want to locate worlds suitable for coloniza tion, or lifeless planets with abundant resources, so they can file a claim with the Ministry for Colonization and Development and then sell the rights to someone with the ability to exploit the planet. Since they can'tt afford starship sensors as elaborate as those of the TES, civilian explorers prefer to roam a planet's surface rather than probe it from orbit.

Like the Smuggler, this character typically needs his own small starship. Experienced explorers often have the Jack Of All Trades or Traveler Skill Enhancers.

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Pilot

Pilots fly spacecraft ranging from orbital shuttles to interstellar merchant ships. They tend to have fast reflexes, good vision, and an intuitive grasp of Newtonian physics. They often have a welldeserved reputation as daredevils, renegades, risktakers, and thrillseekers. Civilian pilots often bring Navy experience to the job; veterans should use the Imperial Navy (Flight) Package, adjusted for being off active duty.

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Prospector/Salvager

Some people make a good living poking around in space looking for valuable stuff. Those who specialize in searching out mineral deposits on planets or asteroids are prospectors, while those who collect and sell space junk are salvagers, but the basic skills involved in each job are the same. Since they spend long periods of time traveling in obscure regions and sometimes come back with valuable items, salvagers naturally make good cover identities for pirates and smugglers.

This Package Deal does not include a ship (since individual GMs may have different rules about how characters should buy Vehicles), but virtually every prospector or salvager has his own small space vessel.

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Trader

While large corporations handle most commerce in Imperial space, it takes daring entrepreneurs — independent traders — to find new markets, open up new trade routes, and exploit the opportunities the major commercial firms overlook. Most go bankrupt, but a few become immensely rich.

This Package Deal represents a trader who keeps moving rather than running a trading post — either a spacefaring trader in a beat-up starship or an itinerant merchant on a planet with an equally beat-up truck or small ship. In either case, the character should also buy an appropriate Vehicle. For a stay-put merchant, substitute a Base (his shop or place of business) and remove the Fringe Benefit.

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Other Careers

Many civilian careers don't involve going into, or journeying through, outer space on a regular basis. Some folk prefer to ply their trades planetside or on a space station.

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Adept

Not everyone with psionic talent joins the Mind Police. Many go into private practice in various fields — psychotherapy, private investigation, security, and counterpsi work. Private psionics don't face as much fear and mistrust from the public as Mind Police officers, but they don't have a powerful Imperial bureau to protect them, either. The Imperial Psionic Foundation licenses all adepts and requires them to have their license documentation with them at all times. Most adepts prominently display the "IPF Licensed" logo on their clothing and working papers so no one can accuse them of concealing the fact that they have psi abilities.

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Artist/entertainer

The creative arts are big business in the Imperial era. Entertainers in old and new media have a potential audience of trillions of beings, so even relatively obscure artists can attract a large enough fan base to make respectable money. Besides the older forms like painting and writing, many new forms have come into existence: zero-gravity kinetic liquid sculpture, genetic art, interactive virtual game design, holofilm, cyberspace dance. Artists and entertainers usually work on a freelance basis, often making up for any lack of income with oversized egos.

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Bounty Hunter

Freelance law enforcement agents, bounty hunters specialize in bringing back fugitives who have fled across interstellar distances or political borders. Spaceship crews who have skipped out on their bank loans are among the most common quarry. Most bounty hunters abide by the law and the regulations governing their profession, but a highly visible minority of trigger-happy goons creates bad publicity for them, and may pose an even greater danger to the public than the fugitives they hunt.

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Mercenary

Mercenary soldiers occupy a curious position in Imperial society. The Empire doesn't like its citizens or corporations hiring private armies, but at the same time the Navy can't guard every planet against raiders, and sometimes the inhabitants of a corporate-ruled planet get rebellious. As a result, the Empire has a number of licensed "special security" companies, also known as "defense consultants" working legally within its territory. They have large staffs of well-equipped military veterans and the heaviest weapons the Empire allows private citizens to own. They typically fight as light infantry in standard Army armoured fatigues.

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Scientist

Although scientific research in the Empire has slowed compared to the pace of earlier, freer centuries, Imperial space contains millions of pro fessionals in the sciences. To some extent, Terran science is still coping with the staggering influx of data provided by interstellar travel — instead of studying a handful of planets and one world's life, Humans now have thousands of lifebearing worlds and an uncounted number of types of technology to learn about. Imperial-era researchers stay busy classifying and describing thousands of new life forms, planetary structures, stars, and technologies; only a few do theoretical research. Private-sector and government researchers study technologies with military or commercial applications.

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Technician

It's a high-tech world out there, and the Empire depends on billions of technicians, engineers, and tinkerers to keep things running. Many have corporate jobs or comfortable lives on colony worlds. A few live more independently as freelancers.

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Robot Player Characters

In the Terran Empire setting, players can have robot PCs, built using the rules on page 165-66 of Star Hero. However, robot characters in Imperial society are not people but things. They're valuable things — damaging someone's robot constitutes a serious vandalism offense incurring a heavy fine or jail time — but things nonetheless. No "free robots" exist, just as twenty-first century Earth has no "free automobiles." By law, a robot's owner is responsible for anything it does. Robot PCs must take a Social Limitation (page 129) to reflect their status. However, a small number of robots and AI computers, aided by Machine Rights activists, have found ways around some of these problems. Robots (just like cars or buildings) can belong to corporations — so a handful of dummy corporations registered on worlds like Rand IV or on neutral worlds beyond the border own sentient machines but have no Human owners themselves. This is blatantly illegal, so a robot PC owned by a dummy corporation should have the Social Limitation Harmful Secret (if the authorities find out about him, they must, by law, capture and demolish him). The fake corporation system works as long as no anti-robot activists know about it; if it ever comes to light, it would create a tremendous outcry at the sinister machine plot to conquer Humanity.