Imperial Recruitment Policy Question!

[Flux]

I've never had an Imperial in all my on-again, off-again career here at Fans. I would like one! So I have a question: What is the Empire's policy on the recruitment of non-humans to their military and government positions?

EDIT: This is my 666th post from this account. Make of that what you will.

[Captain Untouchable]

It would depend on what species it was, I think.

The more human you look, the better. Something like a Zabrak (a human with horns) would probably be more likely to get recruited than a Zeltron or a Mirialan (a wrong-coloured human), which in turn might be more likely to get recruited than a Rodian or a Trandoshan (most definately non-human). Andrew's almost-Vulcan species has a member or two in the Empire, because they look very near-human.

Some species are effectively vassal states within the Empire. Until a few years ago, the Bothans were; and while they had their own military, it's possible that a few officers made their way into the Imperial ranks. Similarly, I would expect that politically speaking, some people may have made their way into the Imperial government back when there was still a Senate.

I seem to remember there being a precedent for backwater sectors recruiting non-humans to be Stormtroopers as well, due to the fact that there weren't enough humans locally to replace the ones that died. I think that was in the EU? I don't quite remember.


I guess it depends if you want to go for an "alien but accepted" character, or if you want to be "the only Klingon in Starfleet". The species you pick would have a big impact on that, I'd think.

[Karl Valten]

Imperial Navy and Stormtrooper Corps are very, very difficult for non-humans to get into, there might be a few near-humans (Chiss, Zabrack, etc) serving as officers. Starfighter Corp are a bit easier, but are still very biased.

Imperial Army on is much easier and more tolerant for non-humans. It'd actually be kinda cool to see someone play an army character. The Stormtroopers are the elite, naval based, assault troops (think U.S. Marine Corp) despite how the books/movies portray them. Stormtroopers are good at what they do and are fucking scary.

The Imperial Army are the bulk of the Empire's ground troops. GIs and regulars. They do the heavy lifting and make up the bulk of an army. Less propoganda and 'prestige' associated with them and they're made up of regiments and battalions from hundreds of different worlds including many, many allied/imperial citizen non-humans.

Intelligence and/or Law Enforcement probably have the best opportunities for non-humans. Agents of all species and skill sets are needed for complex operations, especially anything requiring under-cover work or work on planets where humans are the minority.

In a similar vein is the Inquisitoriate. They'll take almost any species, gender, or ab-human variant provided they pass/survive the insane physical and mental training sessions (for the enlisted corp and Inquisitoriate proper, regular employees aren't subject to that stuff). And any Force Adept must go through the Inquisitoriate for sanctioning.

Surprisingly not all force users are hunted down or are members of the Inquisition. There are many others, but are subject to monitoring by the Inquisitoriate for potential corruption.



How many non-humans do we have around here as a curiosity? I think Jakys (a Devaronian Inquisitor) and Palara (Twilek Inquisitor) are the only ones around. There were a few Cizerack law enforcement officers and Zabrack around at one point as well.

[Zeke]

Right now I'm torn between an Ithorian (the hammerhead guys) or a Rattataki (like my main character in SWTOR). Ithorians are a peaceful lot by nature, so they might fit better for your Intelligence agencies. Rattatak, by contrast, are so overhyped on fighting and killing people that having one in the army wouldn't be a stretch. Maybe I'll do both? But before I decide, let me ask the question I hand my fellow DnD players: What do we lack most? I'm guessing the Army, but Intel may surprise me. :)

[Oolan Valx'ir]

Something to bear in mind is that the Ithorians are supposed to be one of the big Alliance races. You don't see them much because they're pacifists, but before the Imperials clamped down on their planet they evacuated a whole bunch of them to the Rebellion. Purely on suspicion alone, an Ithorian might be a tricky one to actually justify their progress.

A Rattataki could arguably do quite well though: they're alien enough to seem "exotic" without being too non-human looking, so they might be easier for Imperial bigotry to accept.

[Ben Merasska]

Right now I'm torn between an Ithorian (the hammerhead guys) or a Rattataki (like my main character in SWTOR). Ithorians are a peaceful lot by nature, so they might fit better for your Intelligence agencies. Rattatak, by contrast, are so overhyped on fighting and killing people that having one in the army wouldn't be a stretch. Maybe I'll do both? But before I decide, let me ask the question I hand my fellow DnD players: What do we lack most? I'm guessing the Army, but Intel may surprise me. :)

Well, it's not so much what the Empire lacks that I'd think about, but what you would love to play and write as. We can always NPC needed elements of the Army and even Intelligence, but if you choose one and find that there's nothing keeping you writing him, it's going to be insanely difficult to keep him there.

The thing with Ithorians is that they are a peaceful lot by nature, but they always struck me as being firmly with the Alliance as a species. It would be incredibly interesting to see how such a peaceful being can act in such an intensely unjust and violent system.

A rattataki would fit in much better, but would also fit in with a scenario on a farther planet.

EDIT: JAAAAAAAACE :shakefist

[Oolan Valx'ir]

Dude, I posted 40 minutes before you. :shakefist

[Flux]

:lol Well Ben gets points for trying. I know I've seen a post, quoted it to reply, only to miss the post below it that served the same function as my own. All of this is great feedback, and as soon as SWTOR finishes patching I'll screencap a mugshot and register my Rattataki soldier. :) Thanks everybody!

[Ben Merasska]

Dude, I posted 40 minutes before you. :shakefist

...My point remains! I was caught up with something and must have been too lazy to check before I posted it. Meh. Points for trying is better than no points at all.

[Zhe'chot]

And ta-da! A wild Rattataki Soldier appeared! In-character posting begins...this evening or tomorrow sometime!

[Amés Falcon Liszt]

Aren't you a little... grey for a Stormtrooper?




;)

[Zhe'chot]

Not a Stormtrooper. I'm like...a grade under that. I liked Karl's idea and I'm kinda running with it. To where, I don't know.

[Captain Untouchable]

Yeah, I know... but "Aren't you a little grey for an Imperial Footsoldier" isn't quite so pithy. ;)

[Zeke]

Right, so I've yet to post with Zhe'chot as I'm trying to come up with a good way to give the board a view of what his personality is like, and I think I hit on the answer last night discussing the character over dinner.

The Empire are distrustful of non-humans. It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that non-human members of certain Imperial agencies and groups would be subjected to periodic interviews to determine their loyalty and try to root out sedition (or at least pin it on someone). Is there someone who'd be willing to give Zhe'chot his monthly loyalty test? :)

[Karl Valten]

Would you prefer this test be done by a human or non-human (to add a bit of weirdness).

Granted most of my characters are Inquisitoriate, so I don't know if that would make sense for them to conduct an interview of military personnel.

[Zeke]

It probably should be a human, to prevent non-humans from colluding against the Empire from within. The Inquisitoriate were the only group I could think that would conduct such procedures, but if there's another group or character that would be qualified, I'd be happy to have them. Are the Inquisitoriate only after Force-users specifically? I was under the impression that they served a broader purpose of rooting out traitors and seditionists.

[Sollé Arrahk]

Pity I'm fresh out of humans...

>D

[Sarah Lymia]

I was under the impression that they served a broader purpose of rooting out traitors and seditionists.

Your impression is correct! :)

[Zeke]

Well then, I'd love to have a human Inquisitor be my partner for this thread. :)