A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement The Glorious Empire

The Glorious Empire by Christopher Griffen is a role playing game supplement published by Mongoose Publishing for use with Traveller.

The supplement is available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG for $29.99 but was purchased at a reduced price during a sale. The supplement is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed and has 162 pages, with two being the front and rear covers and one the Contents and front matter.

The Introduction starts by saying that the Glorious Empire, an Aslan polity, is falling, though what happens when it falls is not certain. Unlike most regions of Charted Space, this area isn’t stable.

Why the Glorious Empire? explains that the Trojan Reach is a sector partially occupied by two major powers, the Third Imperium and the Aslan Hierate. The Aslan are expansionistic, but peace has reigned for centuries. First, though, the Hierate needs to deal with the Glorious Empire, whose philosophy they regard as an existential threat. How to Use this Book explains this isn’t a static region of space and that there are sidebars covering Flashpoints, Key Figures and Game Changers that can have an effect on the area. Conventions explains that Aslan terminology is used where practical. The Slavery Issue acknowledges that incorporating slavery in a game is tricky and provides some advice. Finally, Recommended Materials says that, as well as the core book, the Pirates of Drinax campaign set, part of which covers the Trojan Reach and another part covering Hierate ships, is useful.

Chapter One: History of the Glorious Empire explains how the Tokouea’we clan of Aslan ended up travelling across the Great Rift due to the Cultural Purge in the Hierate defining them as, effectively, progressives. The route is covered along with how the Tokouea’we gained the necessary resources for the journey. The Glorious Empire was founded at the far side and grew in size in power, and a map shows its extent at its most powerful. Eventually, though, the Hierate started nibbling away at the Empire, and it started losing systems, warriors and ships, as well as its technological advantages, though it also ended up hiring out Aslan as mercenaries.

Chapter Two: Exploring the Glorious Empire covers the state of the Empire, its different approach to honour to that of the Hierate, its culture, marital prowess, lack of vassal clans, the current empire and the thriving black market.

Chapter Three: Slavery explains how vital human slaves are to the Empire, the positions they hold and their management, ownership and attempts to genetically create superior slaves. This also covers slavery in the Trojan Reach and Empire slavers, including stats for typical slavers and their equipment.

Chapter Four: Travelling in Glorious Empire Space is a single page of potential encounters; travelling in the region is risky.

Chapter Five: Military Forces covers the Glorious Empire’s Grand Fleet, in its current reduced state, the Imperial Guard and mercenary forces, as well as the dog soldiers, human slave soldiers.

Chapter Six: Glorious Empire Travellers has modified rules for creating characters from the Glorious Empire.

Chapter Seven: Worlds of the Glorious Empire gives descriptions of the various worlds. These are divided into three sections: remaining worlds, former worlds, broken into different categories and other key worlds in the area. There are standard world stats plus details on some ships and creatures.

Chapter Eight: Glorious Empire Campaigns has details for running potential campaigns set within the Empire itself along with campaign ideas and several patron encounters.

Chapter Nine: The Canonverse covers what happens after the collapse of the Third Imperium following the attempted assassination of the Emperor, and the conquest of the Glorious Empire, together with patron encounters.

Chapter Nine: The Hierate Campaign (yes, that’s an error) follows a similar style with campaign ideas and a patron encounter.

Chapter Ten: The Dustbelt Campaign again follows the same general plan.

Chapter Eleven: The Fall of Worlds gives an order in which the remaining worlds of the Empire will fall.

Chapter Twelve: Using Travellermap.com has tips for using that site for creating custom maps; given that the region is not stable, Travellers may see the boundaries change.

Chapter Thirteen: Central Supply Catalogue: Glorious Empire has equipment found in the Empire.

High Guard: Glorious Empire has modifications and ships used by the Empire together with deck plans.

Appendix: Glossary of Aslan Words and Terms translates these and has a pronunciation guide.

The Glorious Empire in Review

The PDF is bookmarked with chapters and some minor sections linked. The Contents only covers the chapters and is hyperlinked. Given the length of the supplement, navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column colour format and the most noticeable error was two Chapter Nines. There are a variety of colour illustrations, including deck plans, that look to be custom. Presentation is good.

This doesn’t expand the Traveller universe, like some other supplements do, as it doesn’t cover a new region of space. Instead, what it does is cover part of an existing region in more detail, by focussing in on a small polity in the area, covering to a greater level. As a result, all the worlds of importance are covered, and in some cases much more detail than normal. There are other polities around the Glorious Empire, but this doesn’t cover those in great detail. There are a lot of new ships, not just in the High Guard chapter, and a substantial number of adventure ideas. The supplement could be used for a campaign passing through the region, but it’s best use is going to be for a campaign set in the area. This is one place where characters could be actively involved in causing a major shift in interstellar politics. The Glorious Empire is an interesting expansion of the Trojan Reach and can be found by clicking here.