In an effort to make it easier to picture a ‘Typical Imperial World’ I’ll try to paint an OOC picture of one. You won’t find any worlds that are exactly like this, but you’ll find plenty of variations over this theme. So this is intended to provide a reference against which other worlds can be compared. Should be useful for all games – Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Deathwatch and Black Crusade.

The world has been settled for a relatively long period of time, usually in the 500-2000 year range. Shorter settlement times are possible if there are massive investments. Longer settlement times are also possible, but only in special cases – the Imperium isn’t balanced on a local level, but tends to lay waste to planetary ecospheres sooner or later. Population ranging from a few hundred million into the low billions. Resources of a variety of types are relatively abundant and industry well-developed, society is fairly homogenous and stable.

The Imperial Governor is the highest-ranking Imperial representative on any given world (‘world’ in this contexts usually includes the entire solar system in which the world is situated, but there are exceptions). The governor is effectively a feudal ruler: Upon him the High Lords of Terra has bestowed dominion over his world in return for his fealty, which includes a not inconsiderable tithe tax. The Governor is not a direct part of the Adeptus Terra chain of command, and does not formally have any power over the Adepts present on his world. In practice many Governors will have established working relationships with whatever parts of the Adeptus Terra are present (though there are plenty of examples of friction or outright conflict between Governors and parts of the Adeptus Terra). Meanwhile the Adepta watches the governor – and each other (and the Inquisition keeps an eye on all of them).

Many Governors rule as dictators, but it’s not universal. Some worlds have a more feudal arrangement (even if they are not ‘feudal’ in the techno-social sense) or are ruled by oligarchies and other elitist forms of governments. True representative democracies are very rare, but there are a number of semi-democratic worlds in the Imperium (worlds where only a small elite has a vote in political matters). The High Lords of Terra do not care how a world is rules as long as it meets its obligations – in practice it’s difficult to rule as anything but a tyrant when your masters are all a vile mix of ignoramuses, tyrants, religious zealots, bureaucrats and warmongers.

Governors are not without civil servants. For ever billion population there is likely to be approximately 50 million people somehow employed by government, ranking from high officials and officers, via soldiers and spies, to the lowliest clerks and manual labourers. The worlds of the Imperium are not just dictatorships; they are government-heavy dictatorships.

The Governor may be the most powerful ruler on a planet – his position may even effectively be hereditary – but he’s not the only power figure. There are always other factions vying for power and even a Governor isn’t immune to assassination, rebellion or outright civil war. As long as it doesn’t rock the boat too much the Imperium will not intervene – only if the sacrosanct Adepts of Terra are harmed or the tithe is threatened does the Imperium become concerned. So the successful Governor must devote some of his resources to keeping his enemies and rivals in check – another burden upon his income.

Every major part of the Priesthood of Terra will invariably have a presence on a typical Imperial world. The Arbites are present in some number to make sure the world does not fall victim to sedition or tithe evasion, the Astra Telepathica provides psyker services and readies psychic cargo for transport on the Black Ships, the Adminstratum is there to count coppers, collect tithe, make records, spy and generally make a lot of bureaucratic trouble for everyone. The Mechanicum provides important technical support, monitors the world for deviant technologies and keeps an eye on local tech-guilds. The Ministorum keeps an eye on local religious practices, tries to shape them into forms more in line with the Imperial Truth, and generally encourages the worship of the God-Emperor. The Army and Navy are not present in numbers unless the world is a fleet base or fortress world – but they may have some liaisons, recruitment officers, etc. in place.

The Inquisition has a presence on every Imperial World. How big a presence varies tremendously, but for a typical world there will be at least one planetary office that handles the processing of information from a number of planetary sources. Typical worlds will have at an Interrogator or other senior officer commanding. 

No two worlds are the same. They all have their unique identity. Yes, there is Imperial influence, but there is also strong local traditions. For simplicity’s sake it’s usually enough to have each world appear fairly homogenous, but in reality this is rarely the case – most worlds are likely to have a variety of sub-cultures, just like our own world does. There are some things that are fairly universal though:

As a rule of thumb the masses hate the Governor and his servants. Many also detest the Priesthood of Earth. If they are pious they worship the God-Emperor, but his servants may be another matter. A lot of the Governor’s energy goes into controlling the masses – keeping them sufficiently fed and entertained, downtrodden and brutalized. A rebellion involving one area or one group of dissidents can be handled – and entire world revolting is another matter. Upward social mobility is very limited.

Not all worlds have a feudal structure and a nobility. But almost every world has a hereditary upper class. They protect their own interests, their wealth and their power from generation to generation. This is usually best accomplished by siding with the Governor in keeping the planet productive and the masses under control, but sometimes they plot to become governors themselves (and they always plot against each other in petty games of prestige). So even if they aren’t nobles in name they are nobles in fact.

There is a middle class on the typical imperial world. It’s fairly small and does not have a lot of power. Generally a member of the middle class lives in great fear – fear of falling down the social ladder into the great abyss of the masses. They also dream of riches and try as best they can to ape after the nobility. The middle class is usually the most traditional of the bunch and support the Governor – anything the rocks the boat is a bad thing.

The Adeptus Terra uses High Gothic for internal communication. High-ranking local officials are also likely to use High Gothic both when interacting with Adepts and otherwise – the use of the master tongue gives an extra veneer of credibility. Local citizens do not speak High Gothic. Instead they speak Low Gothic. Low Gothic is an amalgamation of High Gothic and whatever local languages existed before the coming of the Imperium (if the world was colonized from another Imperial world it will simply inherit its dialects).  Some worlds can have multiple variants of Low Gothic, but with a little effort they can understand one another. That’s not necessarily the case with people from another world: The Low Gothic of Baraspine is nearly incomprehensible to a citizen of Tranch for example, whereas the Scintillan Low Gothic can be understood on many worlds in Calixis because Scintilla is the capital and has influenced other planets over the last two thousand years. People who travel should ideally learn High Gothic AND the local Low Gothic (or hire a translator). Remote regions and primitive worlds often cling to their non-Imperial tongues. These are separate languages entirely.

Every Imperial world subscribes to the Imperial creed. But the Imperial Creed can take many forms, some of them utterly contradictory. Those worlds that have been brought to compliance instead of being colonized are particularly likely to have divergent religious beliefs: But as long as they preach in favour of the Imperium and accept the God-Emperor as the head of their religion they are tolerated. Religious practices can vary greatly even on the same Imperial world.

The Adeptus Arbites does equal the sum of law enforcement in the Imperium.  The Abrites are only there to ensure the world does not fall into sedition or fail to meet the tithe: They are a bit like a mix of federal police, riot police, and intelligence agency. How deeply they are involved in planetary affairs varies according to traditions and the local situation. On a world like Malfi there are literally a million Arbitrators, who are actively patrolling the hives in an effort to keep the unemployed and dissatisfied masses under control. More typically the Arbites only patrol intermittently, come out to supress major revolts, and/or investigate special cases.

The Governor is responsible for his own law enforcement and judicial system. Typically this includes a professional police corps, a secret police, and an at least semi-functional judicial system. The average citizen can expect to see police fighting crime, which cases get to court and are resolved there. Corruption and injustice is probably common, but there is at least some reason and rhyme to the system.

If there is a large Adept presence the Department Magistratum might be present – this is the Administratum equivalent of a police force. It’s primarily intended to self-police the Administratum, but in certain Adept-heavy areas it has replaced local law enforcement entirely.

All imperial worlds produce something and a typical Imperial World will have a decent industrial base and a decent population. The economy is geared towards local consumption (the lower classes get but little, but the upper classes are typically very rich indeed), some exports to generate trade revenues (necessary to maintain needed imports and to pay the monetary part of the tithe), seeing to planetary defence needs, maintaining a largish public sector, and paying the tithe (the bulk of the tithe is paid in local produce and natural resources).

Typical Imperial worlds are largely self-sufficient, but not completely. Interstellar transportation is cheap and commonplace so there is a profit to be had in specialization and trade. It is also a design feature – the Imperium does want their worlds to be too self-sufficient. Might give them incentive for rebellion So a typical Imperial world will be tied to the greater Imperium through ties of trade – it will import and export both bulk goods and lesser volumes of luxury items.

Transportation is handled mostly by Chartered captains, some charters are hereditary, most are not (the former are often employed by corporation, the later may operate individually or in guilds). Free charters work the same as normal charters, only with fewer limitations. Fleet charters are tied strictly to work for the Navy. Rogue Trade charters are the most coveted – they give their holders the right to go outside the Imperium, to explore, to trade and to exploit. If there are multiple settlements with a system there will also be in-system charters, but these are handled by the local Governor and not the Adeptus Terra.

The ships involved in trade range in size from the biggest macrohaulers who can haul million upon millions of tons of cargo to light transports that can speed a few thousand valuable tonnes or a handful of passengers across the great voids of interstellar space. The biggest macro-haulers dwarf even the mightiest battleship, while the smallest ones fall in the lower end of the raider spectrum. The more common vessels are the destroyer-to-frigate-sized sprint freighters, the cruiser-sized medium freighters and the battleship-sized bulk transports. The typical Imperial world will have a number of vessels calling inn over the course of a year – it would be very rare for no traders to be in-system at any given time.

While some of the smallest interstellar freighters can land on planets such ships are the exception rather than the norm. Some large escorts are able to land, but rarely do – landing is very stressful for a big hull and ships are very vulnerable when landed. So ships, even those that could have landed, usually dock with orbital facilities and then rely on local transportation guilds to move cargo up/down. To/from orbital transportation can take many forms, but the most common method involves orbital barges. These craft combine anti-gravity systems with some form of multi-purpose propulsion for cheap and efficient transportation.

Imperial worlds are rated by their Gross Planetary Product (GPP). GPP and several other more esoteric factors determine a world’s Tithe Grade. GPP times Tithe Grade gives the annual tithe to the Imperium.  That’s the basics. It gets a little more complicated than that because worlds do not necessarily pay their tithes with money – they pay some or all of it in manpower, resources, industrial produce, food, water, starships, Ghostfire Pollen, etc.

Unless the tithe is set very low (which usually means a world has big economic problems or has little of importance to offer) it is a very real burden to the planetary economy. Not an insurmountable burden, but definitely a burden. Other worlds may have really high tithe grades, so high that they are effectively bled dry. The typical Imperial World, however, can manage its tithe with a little effort. Failing to meet the tithe is the dread of every Governor – failure equates Imperial attention and Imperial attention often means additional trouble.

A typical tithe will include manpower (for the Guard/Navy), monetary transfer, grants of natural resources and industrial produce, plus the transfer of any and all psykers to the Black Ships.

The Imperium is at a constant state of war. That doesn’t mean that every world is ravaged by war all the time, but it does mean that every world must be both ready if war comes and ready to support war. The former is the province of the Planetary Defence Force (FDF) and the second is handled by planetary tithes (including manpower tithes for the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy).

Tithes to the Imperium will indirectly work towards the protection of a typical world, although it might not be readily apparent to its Governor or its people. The burden of the tithe might even seem to weaken the system needlessly. This is of course only an illusion – without the tithe the Imperium cannot protect its member worlds and all would eventually come to ruin. Only if war actually comes knocking will a typical world see the Imperial Guard upon its soil and the Imperial Navy in the skies above. Some key worlds will have Guard armies as garrisons or a permanent Navy presence, but these are best classified as fortress worlds, not typical worlds.

Barring the aid of the Imperium it’s still the sacred duty of the Imperial Governor to keep his fief safe, including safe from external (raids and invasions) and internal military threats (civil wars and insurrections). To this end the Governor must maintain a large enough military to credibly deter any threat. Placed on top of the tithe and the Governor’s other obligations (maintaining law and order, bribing the Adeptus Terra, and maintaining an opulent palace and lifestyle) this usually places a great strain upon the world’s economy.

System defence

Unless a Governor for some reason has his fief restricted to a specific planet he’ll be responsible for the security of the entire system and its immediate surroundings. That means maintaining a fleet of system ships (ships without warp drives), monitoring stations, surveillance platforms, orbital and planetary defence batteries.

The outer system will be only lightly protected: A few surveillance platforms, maybe some minor monitoring stations above any outer system planets. If there are commercial interests in the deep beyond there may be patrols, fighter garrisons and orbital defences attached. Inside the warp threshold military presence increases: There is more surveillance and patrols will be more common.

Space is large, however, so it’s around key worlds that the real defences can be found. Typical Imperial worlds will have at least one battle station in orbit, backed up a number of weapon platforms. If the Governor can afford he’ll expand his orbital network to include more forts and more platforms. These systems carry a mix of lances, batteries, torpedoes and fighter/bomber squadrons. Since they don’t need warp drives or real space drives they can dedicate space to offense/defence. Their only weakness is a lack of mobility.

Additional weapon systems will also be deployed on the planetary surface. Surface to space missiles (equivalent of torpedoes) and heavy defence lances are the most common types. More fighter and/or bomber squadrons can be based on the surface. There are also anti-air defences of a variety of types. Key areas (major cities/hives and industrial areas) are likely to be protected by heavy void shields. Planetary weapons are easier to hide and protect and cheaper to maintain that space-based weapons. Their range is limited however.

If there are natural satellites around a planet they can be fortified and serve as bases for small craft. If the satellite is close enough it’s even possible for long-range weapon systems to be employed against ships attacking the mother world. Even if no natural satellites exist the Imperium has the ability to move large asteroids or other objects so ‘natural’ satellites can be created if need be (and the resources exist).

Backing up these relatively static defences are the systems fleet. It is probably not very large in the case of a typical world. A handful of heavy raiders and scores of lighter raiders. All probably relatively old, poorly maintained and manned by second-rate crew. They should not be underestimated, however, for backed up by orbital/planetary defences they can be a formidable obstacle. Wealthy systems can have many more ships – massive fleets of cruisers, battleships even. Some systems have managed to purchase decommissioned Navy vessels – even without their warp drives they can be formidable system defence ships.

In sum the average Imperial world can stand up to anything short of a major invasion. The occasional raid might cause trouble and pirates could prey upon intrasystem and interstellar shipping, but as long as defences are maintained the world will be safe. 

Planetary defence

Standing armies are deployed as to protect key assets – main cities, spaceports, production areas, and so on – both from outside attack and insurrection. They are equipped in the fashion of their homeworld. Typically this will be autoguns and flak armour. These PDF armies will a have whatever support weapons, vehicles, ships and aerospace craft the forges of their world can supply them with. As a rule of thumb there will be a million men under arms per billion of population. Quality varies. Most worlds will have at least some elite formations. Depending on the political situation the entire PDF may be under the command of the Governor, but more typically there are several factions controlling part of the world – and part of the military.

There will almost always be some form of armed insurrection on most Imperial worlds, but full-scale rebellions are rare. The Imperium is a violent and oppressive regime where many feel they have nothing to lose – keeping a lid on this seething anthill of human emotion is simply not possible. Rebellions are rare because Governors can usually suppress local insurrections.

Invasions are also rare, but not unheard of. Raids are somewhat more common, but there are not many potential attackers out there who are willing to risk a planetary assault just for the sake of a raid (Chaos reavers and Eldar corsairs are among those who does). Successful invasions almost invariably require the use of weapons of mass destruction and massive invading forces; you simply can’t take an entire world with a billion-strong population without massive collateral. Orks are good at this type of operation – they have the numbers, the weapons, and a complete disregard for real estate.

Guytoga is an Imperial World located deep in the Hazeroth subsector of the Claixis Sector – which means it’s just about as far away from anything as you can get and still be within the Imperium. It’s not a complete backwater – it’s a civilized world and part, however remote, of the greater Imperium of Man.

The world played no part in the Angevin Crusade. It was rediscovered early in M40 by Imperial Explorators during a centuries-long push to catalogue and ‘reclaim’ the Hazeroth sub. Despite its remote location it was deemed to have sufficient potential to warrant development. In addition to a near-Terran ecosphere and exploitable resources it had a native feral human population. Attempt were made integrate the natives into the Imperium, but despite the best efforts of the Ministorum they remained stubbornly opposed to the notion of a human God-Emperor.

A minor crusade was called in 213.M40, drawing manpower for Imperial Guard Regiments from all over the sub-sector. Fifty divisions and supporting assets were deemed sufficient to remove the natives. The initial projection called for a 5-year campaign. Fifteen years later there was still stiff resistance, but core areas had nevertheless been cleared for colonization. The Guard Regiments were disbanded and the survivors granted lands on Guytoga. Additional colonists were brought in and settlement began in earnest.

Despite some continued trouble with the natives the colony prospered. Former Guardsmen became the ruling caste of Guytoga and maintained a large and professional PDF force to deal with remaining savages. Guytoga still has a strong martial tradition and provides the Imperium with valuable Guard recruits when called upon to do so.

Guytoga trades with neighbouring systems, but lacks anything really valuable to export. Its remote location also works against it. The good news is that the planet is essentially self-sufficient. Imports are either hi-tech goods or luxury items. Exports include some rare minerals, luxury items, and carapace armour for the Calixis Abrites.

Given Guytoga’s remote location and proximity the Hazeroth Abyss the Governor maintains a strong PDF that includes substantial space assets. Imperial navy patrols make their way here at least twice per year, but rarely venture deeper into the Abyss – they are mostly there to wave the flag and collect manpower.

Most of the population lives in or around one of the many small hives scattered across the planet. Each hive and its surroundings are ruled by the descendants of the original Guardsmen that settled Guytoga. The hives offer a great deal of protection even for those that do not normally live inside them – much like the castles and fortified towns of an older age they are places of refuge should trouble come. Which is good, since those citizens that do not live in the hives must contend with the savages that still live in Guytoga’s hinterlands. Each hive maintains its own PDF forces, including an air wing and anti-orbital defences.

The Governor of Guytoga is a direct descendant of Lord General Chern, the overall Guard commander during the Guytoga Crusade. He’s more like a first among equals than a true sovereign. The Governor also claims to be the rightful Lord sub-sector: While it is true that Guytoga was at one time intended to be the capital of the ‘new’ Hazeroth sub this was abandoned a long time ago and the capital ended up at Gunpoint instead.

The general lack of trade revenues, high military expenditure and factitious nature of the world means that the Governor is hard pressed to meet his tithe quotas – even though they are relatively low for such a well-developed world. The nobles use this fact to pressure the Governor and retain their extensive freedoms and privileges.