Worlds are the geography of Pocket Empires. They are fought over and owned by the fighting fleets. Ultimately, in most scenarios, ownership determines the winning side.
The Imperial Scouts use a standard one line planet/system description called the Universal Planetary Profile (UPP for short) to code the qualities and characteristics of worlds. The UPP consists of single letters or digits to indicate starport or spaceport, six basic characteristics (size, atmosphere, hydrographics, population, government, and law level), and a technological index.
Each world is either neutral, or belongs to a side. In some scenarios neutral worlds remain neutral. In others, they can be conquered. In all games worlds owned by one side can be conquered by another side. The owning side gains the benefits of being able to refuel there, build ships there, and gain the resources produced there.
In some scenarios worlds are considered to have in intrinsic defense over and above any defensive factors of guarding ships. This value is equals to the population. An occupying force needs to have at least that many defensive factors present in the system at the conclusion of battle to overcome the intrinsic defense and gain ownership of the world.
Starships burn hydrogen in their jump drive to travel between starsystems. They can refuel either by scooping fuel from gas giants in the system or by refining the water in oceans of the main world. If a system is adequately defended, ships that don't belong to the owner of the system cannot refuel at that point. The defense required is four defensive factors per fuel point in the system. This is over and above any intrinsic defense in the system.
Starports can repair ships as follows:
| Port | Can Repair |
|---|---|
| A | Two per turn |
| B | One per turn |
| C | Two per game |
| D | One per game |
Each world can generate resources that accumulate for the owning side. The amount of resources generated depends on the scenario. The default formula for resource generation is Pop*Port*2.
According to formulas set in the scenario worlds can be worth a number of Victory Points. These are used in the end of the game to determine the winner. A common formula used to determine victory points for a world is "Port*Pop". This means the value of a world is the value of its starport (where A = 5, B = 4, etc) times the Population digit of the world.
The starport value represents how good the facilities at this world are.
| A | Excellent Starport |
|---|---|
| B | Good Starport |
| C | Routine Starport |
| D | Poor Starport |
| E | Frontier Starport |
| F | Good Spaceport |
| G | Poor Spaceport |
| H | Primitive Spaceport |
| X | No Starport |
| Y | No Spaceport |
The size value represents how bit a planet is.
| 0 | Belt |
|---|---|
| 1 | Small (1600 km) |
| 2 | Small (Luna; 3200 km) |
| 3 | Small (Mercury; 4800 km) |
| 4 | Small (Mars; 6400 km) |
| 5 | Medium (8000 km) |
| 6 | Medium (9600 km) |
| 7 | Medium (11,200 km) |
| 8 | Large (Terra; 12,800 km) |
| 9 | Large (14,400 km) |
| A | Large (16,000 km) |
The atmosphere value represents the type of atmosphere the planet has.
| 0 | Vacuum |
|---|---|
| 1 | Vacuum (trace) |
| 2 | Vacuum (very thin tainted) |
| 3 | Vacuum (very thin) |
| 4 | Thin (tainted) |
| 5 | Thin |
| 6 | Standard |
| 7 | Standard (tainted) |
| 8 | Dense |
| 9 | Dense (tainted) |
| A | Exotic |
| B | Exotic (corrosive) |
| C | Exotic (insidious) |
| D | Exotic (dense, high) |
| E | Exotic (ellipsoid) |
| F | Exotic (thin, low) |
The hydrographics value represents what percentage of the planet is covered with water. Ships can refuel at any planet with a hydrographics of 1 or higher.
| 0 | Vacuum |
|---|---|
| 1 | Vacuum (trace) |
| 2 | Vacuum (very thin tainted) |
| 3 | Vacuum (very thin) |
| 4 | Thin (tainted) |
| 5 | Thin |
| 6 | Standard |
| 7 | Standard (tainted) |
| 8 | Dense |
| 9 | Dense (tainted) |
| A | Exotic |
| B | Exotic (corrosive) |
| C | Exotic (insidious) |
| D | Exotic (dense, high) |
| E | Exotic (ellipsoid) |
| F | Exotic (thin, low) |
The population value represents what what order of magnitude of population is present on the planet.
| 0 | Low (less than 10) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Low (tens) |
| 2 | Low (hundreds) |
| 3 | Low (thousands) |
| 4 | Mod (ten thousands) |
| 5 | Mod (hundred thousands) |
| 6 | Mod (millions) |
| 7 | Mod (tem millions) |
| 8 | Mod (hundred millions) |
| 9 | High (billions) |
| A | High (ten billions) |
The government type represents the general structure of the planetary government.
| 0 | No Government Structure. In many cases, family bonds predominate. |
|---|---|
| 1 | Company/Corporation. Government by a company managerial elite; citizens are company employees. |
| 2 | Participating Democracy. Government by advice and consent of the citizen. |
| 3 | Self-Perpetuating Oligarchy. Government by a restricted minority, with little or no input from the masses. |
| 4 | Representative Democracy. Government by elected representatives. |
| 5 | Feudal Technocracy. Government by specific individuals for those who agree to be ruled. Relationships are based on the performance of technical activities which are mutually beneficial. |
| 6 | Captive Government/Colony. Government by a leadership answerable to an outside group; a colony or conquered area. |
| 7 | Balkanization. No central ruling authority exists; rival governments compete for control. |
| 8 | Civil Service Bureaucracy. Government by agencies employing individuals selected for their expertise. |
| 9 | Impersonal Bureaucracy. Government by agencies which are insulated from the governed. |
| A | Charismatic Dictator. Government by a single leader enjoying the confidence of the citizens. |
| B | Non-Charismatic Dictator. A previous charismatic dictator has been replaced by a leader through normal channels. |
| C | Charismatic Oligarchy. Government by a select group, organisation, or class enhoying overwhelming confidence of the citizenry. |
| D | Religious Dictatorship. Government by a religious minority which has little regard for the needs of the citizenry. |
| E | Religious Autocracy. Government by a single religious leader having absolute power over the citizenry. |
| F | Toltalitarian Oligarchy. Government by an all-powerful minority which maintains absolute control through widespread coercion and oppression. |
The law level represents how strict the local regulations are.
| 0 | No law (no prohibitions) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Low law (body pistols, explosives, poison gas prohibited) |
| 2 | Low law (portable energy weapons prohibited) |
| 3 | Low law (machineguns, automatic rifles prohibited) |
| 4 | Moderate law (light assult weapons prohibited) |
| 5 | Moderate law (personal concealable weapons prohibited) |
| 6 | Moderate law (all firearms except shotguns prohibited) |
| 7 | Moderate law (shotguns prohibited) |
| 8 | High law (blade weapons controlled; no open display) |
| 9 | High law (weapon possession prohibited) |
| A | Extreme law (weapon possession prohibited) |
| B | Extreme law (rigid control of civilian movement) |
| C | Extreme law (unrestricted invasion of privacy) |
| D | Extreme law (paramilitary law enforcement) |
| E | Extreme law (full-fledged police state) |
| F | Extreme law (all facets of daily life regidly controlled) |
| G | Extreme law (severe punishment for petty infractions) |
| H | Extreme law (legalised oppressive practices) |
| I | Extreme law (routinely oppressive and restrictive) |
| J | Extreme law (excessively oppressive and restrictive) |
| K | Extreme law (totally oppressive and restrictive) |
| 0 | No law (no prohibitions) |
|---|---|
| 0 | Pre-Industrial (primitive) |
| 1 | Pre-Industrial (bronze, iron) |
| 2 | Pre-Industrial (printing press) |
| 3 | Pre-Industrial (basic science) |
| 4 | Industrial (internal combustion) |
| 5 | Industrial (mass production) |
| 6 | Pre-Stellar (nuclear power) |
| 7 | Pre-Stellar (mini. electronics) |
| 8 | Pre-Stellar (superconductors) |
| 9 | Early Stellar (fusion power) |
| A | Early Stellar (jump drive, jump-1) |
| B | Average Stellar (large starships, jump-2) |
| C | Average Stellar (sophisticated robots, jump-3) |
| D | Average Stellar (holo data storage, jump-4) |
| E | High Stellar (antigrav cities, jump-5) |
| F | High Stellar (anagathics, jump-6) |
| G | Extreme Stellar (global terraforming) |
| H | Extreme Stellar |
| I | Extreme Stellar |
| J | Extreme Stellar |
| K | Extreme Stellar |