On Fri, Aug 29, 2014 at 3:23 PM, Timothy Collinson <timothy.collinson@port.ac.uk> wrote:

Yes, that would make a lot of sense that the Sector Duke (Duchess) would *also* be the relevant subsector one as well.  I think I'll change how I was writing the thing, but without specific guidance would reserve the right to say that there are variations because of history/culture or whatever if I saw fit!

 

 

It can get as complex as you want it to, particularly if you allow nobles to split their titles among their progeny (as many historical aristocracies could do).

 

IMTU, Imperial nobles can do this.

 

They can also hold many different titles, at different levels, including local titles and even foreign (non-Imperial) titles. A duke can also be a planetary baron (possibly several times over) and/or a marquess and/or knight (also possibly several times over each).

 

Depending on how medieval you wish to get, the fiefs held by each duke could be physically spread all over the campaign map, even (perhaps especially) outside the relevant subsector. A popular method by which historical monarchs increased their own effective strength was to divide the fiefs granted to their more powerful vassals into penny-packets, then scatter these packets across their realm. The resulting tangle of intermingled fiefs degraded each vassal's ability to bring unified power to bear, thus discouraging rebellion.

 

Of course, vassals fought back by arranging beneficial marraiges among their offspring. Judicious unions allowed the vassal's families to slowly trade fiefs among themselves, with each family having the goal of unifying their lands into solid blocks while delaying that same unification for other families. It was a generations-long dance of dueling power-trades, one which the jump lag of Traveller should draw out even further.

 

Medieval France represents a land where the major vassal families largely succeeded in The Unification Dance; medieval Germany represents a land where they failed miserably.