Re: Planet conquering

It is not impossible to take control of a large nation or planet with
Spelljammers.  The degree of success (or failure) would depend on several
factors.
1. Tech Level
2. Type of Government that the people are familiar with, such as Monarchy.
3. The degree of superstition (or gullibility) of the population.
4. Magic Level (if any)
5. The amount of resources that the Spelljamming nation is welling to use on
this operation.

Just to name a few.

In most cases if the Groundling empire is of a Medieval level or below and
is run my a dictatorship or monarchy (or similar forms of government) then
all the SJ nation has to do is to win key battles against the groundling
army. (Take the main castle that the King lives in, Capture a key trading
town, Decimate an army sent against the invading SJ nation etc.) Keep in
mind that any battles the SJ forces fights against a groundling army are
going to weigh heavy against the groundling nation due to the airpower being
used (unless the groundlings have some magic or tech that would be effective
against the ships) And one thing to keep in mind, we are talking about a
tech level that is not beyond Renaissance era.
Fear will also allow for the SJ to control the population. The population
may see them as flying gods.
Also as there is the method that Sandy described below. I noticed that a lot
of people that argue against a successful invasion of a planet by a SJ power
are against it because they don't want it to happen in their campaigns. Well
if you don't want it to happen in your campaign then it won't because you're
the DM.




-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Sandy [mailto:wuggadad@??????.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 10:03 PM
To: SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com
Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] Planet conquering


><<The variables in either issue are too numerous to name. Clearly,
>there are some worlds that are easier to conquer than others. If one
>intends to conquer a planet like Toril, Oerth, or Krynn, however, I
>personally would have to say its not possible. If it were possible for
>one league to gain control of any of these worlds, it would have
>already happened at least once in their histories and (according to TSR
>materials, at least) it hasn't. There is simply no way that an outside
>force, with supply lines that are at least several weeks to months long
>can conquer a native force defending native and well-known terrain.>>

"It is not possible because it didn't happen".

No, based on the game mechanics, some level of conquest is inevitable.

Consider how European powers conquered.  They didn't ship large armies and
invade, they secured ports and shipped goods.  They set up a system by which
favorable trade exchange substituted for taxes.  The really tricky part of
any conquest is making the conquered territories pay for themselves, and
therefore supporting more conquest.

So, a power sets up a few trading stations on a planet.  They bribe or
subsidize the local powers into being friendly with them, which involves not
molesting merchants or their enclaves and not taking what the spacefarers
consider to be an unreasonable cut of the profits.

So powers that are friendly to the spacefaring nation get subsidies from
trade, and can maintain a lower taxation rate.  Nations which are hostile
must maintain a high tax rate in order to maintain the same level of
military and status projects. Warfare is just one form of potlatch where the
leaders demonstrate their superiority by destroying or expending things of
value.

Over the course of decades, trading partners with the spacefaring nation
become more and more dependant on revenue from the trade, supplying military
service in exchange for revenue.  The spacefaring nation does very little
conquest with its own troops, it provides the economic muscle behind
groundling allies' conquests.

This is the sort of conquest that a few bold heroes can do very little
about, and wouldn't be praised for it if they did.  The 'invaders' offer
prosperity, lower taxes, and a general level of security.  Why resist?  Some
will, of course, because their rank and position is tied to the old system
of taxes and loyalties, but those aren't necessarily going to be the good
guys.

Michael Sandy

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