Caleuche wrote:> One of the things that is harder to explain, or begs explanation at least, is why
the Imperium
> has so many low population worlds. That implies that it's fairly easy to colonize a world, or
> fairly inexpensive, and there's some incentive for groups of people to pick up and settle on
> another world and I'm not quite clear what that would be.

Something I've put into MTU is that some of these underpopulated planets are, on occasion, used
as social safety valves. If some group doesn't like the social system on the planet they are
living on, and assuming they can come up with the money to do so, they are quite welcome to
go live somewhere else. So, for example, the Church of the Seven Stars might petition the
local Noble to let them pick up and set up a colony on one of the continents of Fubar V,
where they can go live in perfect contentment under the enlightened leadership of their
spiritual master, Bob the Greatly Esteemed.

The local Noble, noting that the said Church is becoming a social nuisance, happily grants them
a lease on the continent for 100 years, and may even throw in some sort of sweetener to encourage
their prompt departure (money, tools, transport, you name it), and off they go. Or they have to
pay through the nose for the privilege of emigrating.

 From this point, there are all sorts of possibilities.

- The members of the Church get dropped off in some propitious location, to find the wreckage and
debris of the last (or the last several) splinter colony to lease and occupy the continent. Possibly
there are feral survivors... Look up Roanoke or Jamestown for some possibilities.

- Some other group is already there, without permission of the relevant Noble.

- Some other group is already there, *with* the permission of the relevant Noble (e.g. a
socio-archaeological team working out why the previous colony failed. This group may be
helpful or snotty towards the new arrivals, or treat them like lab rats, or be sworn to
non-involvement, or ...

- The Free Trader which was supposed to come by every half-year fails to arrive.

- Other Free Traders find the planet and try to sell them shiny beads. Or heavy weapons.

- The Church finds that the neighbouring continent has been leased to the Church of the
Eight Stars, their mortal enemies (for obscure theological reasons - see e.g. Bujold's
Chalion series).

- Bob the Greatly Esteemed drops dead two days after the last transport ship leaves.
Hilarity ensues.

- The Church's new social order turns out to be a spectacular success. 100 years later,
the lease is up for renegotiation. Time for them to start paying taxes...

Further details left to the fertile imaginations of the GMs out there :-)

The chances are that the colony fails.
  Perhaps they started with 10K people. After 20
years they are down to 8K people, after 40 years it's 2K people, all of whom are
starving except for Bill the Even More Greatly Esteemed (son of Bob). Five years after
that cannibalism sets in, and five years later, they are all dead. (Banks' 'Consider
Phlebas' has some useful ideas here.)

Of course, such planets are rarely the cream of the crop, so factor that in. Crop failures,
mysterious diseases, solar flares, pirate raids (interstellar and from the Church of the
Eight Stars), insufficient genetic diversity, ferocious local wildlife, all these are possible.

Hope this triggers some ideas!

Jonathan