We can refer to them as Human without explicitly identifying it as "our" galaxy (a la Star Wars, Foundation, etc.)

As far as a name goes, part of me wants to just call it "The Empire", as in, there really wouldn't be any OTHER Empires... at least none worth mentioning.

I'm not sure I want to get into tech-specifics -- relying instead on Clarke's Third Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Obviously, there is some variation in levels of technological development, but I'd rather focus on capabilities, rather than technologies -- i.e. this particular race is able to teleport from here to there, while that race isn't able to; but HOW they teleport can remain a mystery.

I think that also fits in with a heterogeneous Imperial setting, in which many races may obtain capabilities due to contact with other races but not really understand the tech behind those capabilities.

One thing that probably should be defined, however, is interstellar travel/communication. Different races are unlikely to have different methods of achieving that particular magic trick...

Works until someone comes up with something better....

I don't want detailed technological explanations, just -

- who has FTL? What's the basic technique? Jump? Warp? Gates?

- How pervasive are Robots? AI? Are they used as household servants, or limited to military applications?

- Nanotech? Trek-Style Fabricators?

- Transporters/Teleporters?

There's more, but these things WILL change the lifestyles of the general populace. If nanotech-using factories and medicine is available, then you're going to have something like "The Culture"....not a bad thing, but it's hard to write something until these (and other boudaries) are set...

Perhaps not, but perhaps the military has a faster (but not real efficient) way to punch through the void.

Perhaps Merchants use jump gates, and larger military ships are independently jump-capable (yeah, incidentally - like in Babylon 5).

Perhaps Military ships are able to execute jumps more rapidly, or able to jump farther.

Perhaps Merchants use gates, and the military uses something like Warp?

The citizens would be real GEMS then, no?   

It's our department's turn to take the mail this week, and I made the run tonite...as i went through the other departments on my way out I was asking...

"Anything needing to go postal tonite?"

(dead serious)

The most common response was;
"nothing but myself, but thanks for asking".

Speaks VOLUMES about what folks think of the work environment in city hall, no?!?    :twisted: 

Seems easy enough to say to me. I envision the 'c' as a hard sound, so it would be Ammerknal. But if it needs punctuation, heres where it could go...

Benevolent and Righteous Am'nal Imperial Dominion.

:?:

Thats all I have to say...

B_enevolent and
R_ighteous
A_m'nal
I_mperial
D_ominion

I saw it...I just refrained from commenting on it so as not to exceed my pun quota.

I was going to state that very thing.  I think it would be an interesting concept if the actual name of the Empire was just "The Empire" or "Unnamed Empire" since after its destruction, people didn't want to call it by its 'real' name (the populous is slowly erasing the actual name from the record books et al).

-Bren

Aaaaahhhhhhhh nooooooooo! Not time debt!!!!!!!!
Just kidding, I actually like it and think it makes things more "interesting" when campaigning (ships out of contact while in transit, etc). This is especially interesting if there is no FTL comm tech, and it makes interstellar empires more interesting in some ways (semi-autonomous regional Governors for example) by adding an "Age of Sail" kind of feel when doing anything over significant distances.
Cheers,
Erik

Admiral. If you do not cooperate with my instructions fully, assassins will exterminate your family on my signal.

Listen you alien idiot. It took us 4 centuries of real time to get here...my family has been dead for the last 350 years! Ensign...FIRE!

Tiny cockroach like creatures from a distant fringe world that just so happen to like the taste of the insulation surrounding  FTL drive assemblies. They eat slowly but reproduce rapidly, spreading from ship to ship, eating, breeding and spreading until drives begin to fail, seemingly at random. Then, thousands of ships are lost...interstellar commerce breaks down...anarchy reigns, all because nobody ever thought ot spray the Hyperdrive down with raid!!!!

Or I suppose you could do blindingly fast, super strong, chitinous, pointy, nasty bugs that kill Kill KILL!!!!!

How about nanotech listening devices that were designed to independently move around for better reception become mysteriously self aware, and once they link into a single consciousness galaxy wide they know damn near everything! Muahahahahahahaha  :twisted:

I'm sure whatever you have in mind will be fine too.

Cheers,
Erik