6F08.TXT

HD 6F08  Oruelaen, psionic forces of Thirz Empire

                          By

                     Roger Myhre
                     Ammerudgrenda 168
                     0960 Oslo 9
                     Norway


Introduction.
When Thirz empire was first founded in 1016 the Zhodani found it wise to
have good relations to the new founded empire. Not that it feared it, but
because the relationship would be of most importance when it came to the
control of space in non Zhodani territories.

Zhodani realized that they would have difficulties to control the corsair
threat without outside help. Thirz Empire was found to be the best candidate.
Thirz the First enjoyed high Charisma increases after he was proclaimed king.
With Zhodani help he could expand his borders both spinward and trailing.

Out of this cooperation there was trained a few selected sophonts to a new
special force. A psionic force group (PSG) called Oruelaen.

The close contact with Zhodani gave cheap and quite reliable
psionic training to those who could afford it. The royal family is
tested and trained for free.


Roles of the PSG.
The PSG is a small group of 250 sophonts. Officially they are
known as the Royal Guard. This guard or group has several roles, both
publicly and more secret roles. Only about 50 of the members are known
by the public. And about 12 of those are truly famous. The others have
not been recognised by name when they are doing jobs that demands
discretion.

The group is not a intelligence group, but have close contacts
with the Thirz Empire Intelligence network. The main roles for this
group is:

- Bodyguard for the King. 12 Sophonts are designated as permanent
bodyguard for the King, and at least four is present at all times when
the king meet strangers.

- Public relations. This is one of the smallest jobs the group
does. It handles the communication with news agencies when the group is
officially on a given mission. Giving relevant information of what is
happening or have happened.

- Investigation. If some problem arise that the king finds
particulary interesting he may dispatch a few PSG members to the site
to collect data. Sometimes this collides with the Intelligence network.
At moments as this there will be cooperation between these two groups.

- Undercover. Sending members on undercover missions is extremely
rare. When it is done, there is almost always with the Intelligence
Network.

- War missions. Also a rare occurrence. Usually they are only
sent out on observation missions, but certain special missions may be
undertaken. This is then done with special forces that are trained to
operate behind the enemy lines.

- Observers. When certain actions are taken. For instance when
diplomats are on a emissary mission agents may be present to observe
and protect the diplomats.


Organization.
Due to the prestige and the small size of the group, there is
difficult to enlist as a PSG member. Even more difficult is it to
increase in rank. PSG members are seldom on dangerous missions without
backup from skilled personnel (field agents, commandos).

The only way to increase in rank is when a higher ranked officer
is killed, retired or demoted and discharged. The king "owns" the group
and may issue any order to it as he sees fit. The king holds the rank
of General.

Due to the high responsibility each individual has, the lowest
rank is Sergeant. Thus making the lower rank members able to throw some
weight around if need be. However they are not to take command if there
is a lower ranked that are present that know the job in question in and
out.

Example: If a commando unit with one PSG officer present ends up
in a situation that calls for special measures. The PSG officer may not
take command even if the commando unit officer is of lower rank. If the
PSG officer can prove that the commando officer is unable to do his job
properly he may take command. In the latter case this will go to a
hearing to investigate if the PSG officer acted within his authority.


Other races within the force.
PSG accepts other races as members in their ranks if they have
high PSI rating. Currently (1120) there is one Droyne Sport and two
humans. There have been a few members from other minor races in the
force, but that was in the early days.


Generating a PSG member.
If you need a NPC or a PC wants to become a PSG member there is a
few criteria that have to be fulfilled.
- PSI rating of 8+.
- Citizen of Thirz Empire.
- Preferably one of these PSI abilities.
  * Telepathy.
  * Telekinesis.
  * Clairvoyancy.
  * Any useful special ability.

Droynes are a special case. When they start with 1D in PSI
rating. A new started Droyne can join if he has 5+ in PSI rating.

When a person decided to join he or she is checked for how strong
he or she is Psionically. If the strength is more than 8 he may then
take tests. If the person manages to enlist he is trained in the
abilities he got. The first year of the first term is used for
training. Each ability start at level 1. At the end of each term roll
on the table below to see how much the skill have increased the last
four years. The skill level may not become higher than the PSI rating.
Roll for each ability.

For those who manage to enlist in this branch, increase charisma
with one.

Roll  PSI Skill Increase  |     Skill received:
-------------------------------------------------
1        +2               |     Per term of service- 1
2        +4               |     For each Commission- 1
3        +4               |     For Promotion-       1
4        +5               |     For Special Duty-    1
5        +5               |     +1 if difficulty number is
6        +7               |     beaten by 4+ on Comm and Special Dty.

When the skill of a Droyne has reached upper limit of PSI skill, and the
PSI rating is increased further the skill is automatically increased too.

Enlist: 11+ on 2D. DM+1 if PSI rating 11. DM+1 if more than 1 ability.

                Roll      Notes
---------------------------------------------------------
Survival          5       DM+1 if Int 9+
Commission        7       DM+1 If Int 9+
Success       See below   DM+1 if Cha 7+, DM+1 if Edu 10+
Special Duty      9
Reenlist          6

Success Table (2D)                  Ranks
-------------------------------------------------------------
 2  Discharge with Cha-2        1 Sergeant
 3  Discharge with Cha-1        2 Lieutenant
 4  No effect                   3 Captain
 5  No effect                   4 Major
 6  No effect                   5 Lieutenant Colonel
 7  No effect                   6 Colonel
 8  No effect                   7 General++
 9  No effect                   ++) No character may get this
10  Promoted 1 rank                 rank.
11  Promoted 1 rank, Cha +1
12  Promoted 1 rank, Cha +2

Rank Skills:
Sergeant   Gun combat+1
Captain    Leader+1
Colonel    Liaison+1

Skills
Personal          Career      Education        Advanced
Development       Skills      Skill            Education.
------------------------------------------------------------
1 +1 Int           Admin       Vehicle          Space Comb
2 +1 Edu           Mx Comb     Spc Comb         Interperson
3 Physical         Mx Comb     Forensic         Legal
4 +1 Dex           Reco        Legal            Academic
5 Inborn           Strwise     Tech             Liaison
6 +1 Cha           Interview   Vice             Space
                                               -------------
                                               Min Cha of 8
                                               is required on
                                               this table.
Muster out
    Cash                  Benefit
------------------------------------
1   10,000                  PSI drug
2   30,000                  Weapon
3   50,000                  Cha+1
4   90,000                  Int+1
5  100,000                  HiPas
6  140,000                  Grant

Cascade skills:
Inborn: Artisan, Carousing, Instruction, JOT, Tactics, Leader
Interpersonal: Admin, Interview, Liaison, Linguistics, Steward
Mx Comb: Infighting, Blade CBT, Gun CBT, +1 Str, +1 End Physical: +1 Str,
         +1 Dex, +1 End
Spc Comb: Btl Drs, Cbt Eng, Cbt Rflmn, Demo, FA Gnry, Fwd Ob
          Grav belt, Hvy Wpns, Hi-eng Wpns, Hi-g Env, Stealth
          Survival, Zero-g Env
Space: Engineering, Navigation, Pilot, Sensor ops, Ship's boat,
       Vacc-suit, Zero-g Env Space Comb: Fleet tactics, Gunnery, Sensor ops,
       Ship tactics
Tech: Commo, Comp, Elec, Gravitics, Robot ops, Sensor ops
Vehicle: Aircraft, Grav belt, Grav Veh, Ships boat, Tracked Veh,
         Watercraft, Wheeled Vehicle
Vice: Bribery, Disguise, Forgery, Gambling, Intrusion, Scrounging
      Streetwise

Benefits:
PSI drug: The character get 2 doses of PSI drug of refs choise.
Weapons : The character may select any weapons except plasma or
          fusion weapons or heavy weapons.
Grant:    The character is given a grant worth up to
          (10,000*Cha)+(1000*rank). This may be whatever the
          refereee finds most appropriate for the character and
          the campaign the referee are going to run. Expensive
          equipment like vehicles may be a good choise. If grant
          is rolled more than once. Add 1000 to the maximum
          amount for each additional roll. Discharged characters
          may not get a grant.


Notes on Droynes.
To measure the level of Charisma of a Droyne: +1 Cha per term of service,
+1 per every second leader skill. Initial Cha level is half the total amount.

In this character generation procedure there is assumed that the Droyne is
used to interact with Vargr so he start at full level.

Differently from others the Droynes increase in PSI level as they grow older.
A Droyne character may change any of the rolls on the personal development
table for +1 in PSI level, once per term. The maximum PSI level possible is
15. Any increment in Cha from other rolls may be used to increase PSI rating
with one.