Private-Public Sector in 40k?

[Shroom Man 777]

How does this work? The AdMech can't monopolize all industries, can it? Who makes hover or non-hover taxis? Who makes GMO hair plugs or breast implants for the nobles? Their anti-agathics? Etc. Surely it can't all be AdMech? And certainly some AdMech just leave and go private, right? Unless an AdMech who leaves and uses his knowhow to make a startup like Martian Motors or whatever is illegal and will result in Inquisitorial sanction or a Skiitari hitsquad?

[Lord Revan]

How does this work? The AdMech can't monopolize all industries, can it? Who makes hover or non-hover taxis? Who makes GMO hair plugs or breast implants for the nobles? Their anti-agathics? Etc. Surely it can't all be AdMech? And certainly some AdMech just leave and go private, right? Unless an AdMech who leaves and uses his knowhow to make a startup like Martian Motors or whatever is illegal and will result in Inquisitorial sanction or a Skiitari hitsquad?

Last I checked AdMech is unholy bastard child of a religious organization and govermental institution, what they're not is a for profit organization.

I suspect that everything in the imperium is run by adeptus mechanius in some form or another but I also suspect that as long as right of ommisiah are observed they really don't care what is made in those factories. Don't consider it as a single for profit company enforcing a monopoly but rather that a govermental organization is handling the running of the factories and private companies rent production lines for their own purposes.

Also remember that correct term for a senior enough Adeptus Mechanius member who would know enough to be able to "go private" is a tech priest and to reach that point they've had years if not decades of religious indoctrination.

[Elheru Aran]

Ahem. Here's a rough tier:

--Adepta of the Imperium, *not* including the Adeptus Mechanicus. These guys are about half the public sector. The Mechanicus is the other half. What these Adepta do is they run things like the Schola Progeniums, Imperial Guard requisitions, planetary tithes, etcetera. They can be heavily associated with the Mechanicus, for example the Adeptus Astartes have their own manufacturing facilities, using either Mechanicus trained employees or Mechanicus directly to make their vehicles, weapons and so forth.

--Adeptus Mechanicus: They make pretty much everything. If it doesn't have their stamp on it... odds are they won't be too thrilled. Can vary; a Space Marine Chapter could probably tell them to get bent if they have some archaeotech that they don't want to share... but then the Mechanicus can sit back and go 'fine, we aren't training any more Techmarines'. So, yeah. Their monopoly on technology is pretty darn near absolute.

Then on a more granular level:

--Rogue Traders. These guys can range from one guy in a broke-down scow tooling between systems like the Serenity, or they can be noble families in command of multiple ships capable of matching a small Imperial Navy battlefleet. As you can guess, at that kind of size, they're pretty capable of doing their own thing.

--Planetary governments are capable of doing their own thing to a greater or lesser degree. This is how we get the Armageddon Pattern whatever, for example. While there are commonalities among technology to a vast degree thanks to Mechanicus standardization and STC patterns, there will be regional variations based upon individual technological levels and capabilities.

Then at the very lowest tier, you have underhive artisans cobbling together whatever will work. Think Necromundan gangs and the like.

All this is heavily intertwined, of course, and none of it exists in isolation. Those Rogue Trader ships were probably built in an Mechanicus shipyard even if they're using non-sanctioned technology created by their own artisans. The Ecclesiarchy is requisitioning those cyber-cherubs from Mechanicus servitor-vats. And so forth.

[Bedlam]

There is mention of lay brethren of the Machanicus who seem to have been partially trained by the Mechanicus but aren't fully part of them.

I suspect as the lower level there are various technically non Mechanicus factories churning out stuff run by private individuals but the staff are certified by the Machanicus and should probably only carry out certain limited tasks. They're probably checked for 'doctrinal purity' every so often and if their innovating or havn't paid their bribe, um I mean 'tithe' to the local tech priests they probably get shut down so the Mechanicus can keep their overall monopoly.

[Elheru Aran]

Lay brethren are a good point, yes, these are probably the great majority of small-m mechanics and artisans. Even the Mechanicus only has so many tech-priests. And yes, they would largely be expected to operate under the supervision of the Mechanicus and be quality-controlled by same.

What strikes me is if they found a lost human world that had a high level of technology... like, competitive with the Mechanicus high level of technology... what would happen then? Would the Imperium pick up on them as an alternate source of technology? Would they purge it as techno-heresy? Probably the latter with a high amount of Mechanicus lobbying involved...

[Q99]

Lay brethren are a good point, yes, these are probably the great majority of small-m mechanics and artisans. Even the Mechanicus only has so many tech-priests. And yes, they would largely be expected to operate under the supervision of the Mechanicus and be quality-controlled by same.

What strikes me is if they found a lost human world that had a high level of technology... like, competitive with the Mechanicus high level of technology... what would happen then? Would the Imperium pick up on them as an alternate source of technology? Would they purge it as techno-heresy? Probably the latter with a high amount of Mechanicus lobbying involved...

The Mechanicus would swoop in and put them under their supervision, and probably purge some parts, keep others.

[Simon_Jester]

How does this work? The AdMech can't monopolize all industries, can it? Who makes hover or non-hover taxis? Who makes GMO hair plugs or breast implants for the nobles? Their anti-agathics? Etc. Surely it can't all be AdMech? And certainly some AdMech just leave and go private, right? Unless an AdMech who leaves and uses his knowhow to make a startup like Martian Motors or whatever is illegal and will result in Inquisitorial sanction or a Skiitari hitsquad?

I'm sure there are 'partnerships' where the Adeptus Mechanicus provides expertise, blueprints, and official sanction to an industrial concern, while wealthy partners provide the capital and access to labor to physically produce the goods. There's no strong incentive for the Mechanicus to leave, because:

1) Doing so can be heresy and get you targeted by hit squads.
2) The average techpriest is basically a monk; even if they COULD become rich with their technical knowledge, personal aggrandizement and greed are not their main motives.
3) Senior techpriests with the connections to somehow start their own major industries tend to be so heavily cyborgized and indoctrinated that they are arguably no longer even fully human and may have very alien desires and mindsets.

That said, there ARE some specific areas that involve technical knowledge but are not handled directly by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Doctors seem to be one of them- doctors may use medical instruments made by tech-priests, but are not themselves tech-priests.

[Lord Revan]

Lay brethren are a good point, yes, these are probably the great majority of small-m mechanics and artisans. Even the Mechanicus only has so many tech-priests. And yes, they would largely be expected to operate under the supervision of the Mechanicus and be quality-controlled by same.

What strikes me is if they found a lost human world that had a high level of technology... like, competitive with the Mechanicus high level of technology... what would happen then? Would the Imperium pick up on them as an alternate source of technology? Would they purge it as techno-heresy? Probably the latter with a high amount of Mechanicus lobbying involved...

The Mechanicus would swoop in and put them under their supervision, and probably purge some parts, keep others.

we should also remember that Adeptus Mechanicus is a massive military and economical power within the Imperium, IIRC the reason(or at least one of the reasons) Mars was allowed to keep their unique religion was that trying to fight them was not a viable option. So staying in their good graces is something the High Lords of Terra want to do as much as possible.

So getting an alternative source of technology (or even seen trying to do that) isn't really viable unless that source a) isn't Chaos corrupted b)is powerful enough that the Imperium can withstand the wrath of Mars with the aid of this new source.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I remember a mention is made of the Treaty of Mars, and that one provision is that anyone developing their own technology that isn't AdMech-approved is grounds for Mars, the AdMech and every Forge World seceeding from the Imperium. So that's probably a pretty good motivator to keep things to themselves.

Also, the point Elheru made about senior Magi having different desires is sound. Given that their usually very cyborgised by that point, they made not find a welcoming environment given the Ecclisiarchy's adherence to the "Holy Human Form" and dislike of worship of the Omnissiah.

[Elheru Aran]

Also, the point Elheru made about senior Magi having different desires is sound. Given that their usually very cyborgised by that point, they made not find a welcoming environment given the Ecclisiarchy's adherence to the "Holy Human Form" and dislike of worship of the Omnissiah.

Simon_Jester, actually.

But he's right. The higher levels of the Mechanicus, while in theory capable of doing their own thing if they really wanted to... probably don't even care enough to want to. A big part of their thing is increased augmentation and cyborgisation to the point that IIRC a Fabricator-General (lord of an entire Forge World) in one book is described as only having a few scraps of brain and skin matter suspended in a preserving solution as the required percentage of biological matter to not be considered fully mechanical! So a lot of their thinking processes and desires aren't very organic. They've eliminated hormonal impulses, they don't have enough flesh to feel most biological desires, and the heavily structured institution they work within doesn't really allow for much competition once you get to the top levels.

Doesn't mean crazy stuff doesn't happen sometimes, but usually it's for reasons that make sense to the Mechanicus if not the rest of the Imperium. A major B-plot in the book Titanicus involved a volume of what was considered tech-heresy from the distant past, that suggested that the Emperor wasn't actually the Omnissiah, and almost overthrew a Hive-World.

As for doctors, most civilian docs fall under the Adeptus Administratum, which covers... a LOT of stuff (including even the Assassins), but in this case, the Officio Medicae is under their remit. Presumably it's the main source of civilian physicians and other medical types. Military medics and such would probably either be drawn from the Officio Medicae or trained in the course of their military service. The Adepta Sororitas has a sub-division called the Orders Hospitaller as well, providing chirurgeons, physicians and medics to the Sororitas, Inquisition, Ecclesiarchy and nobility.

[Shroom Man 777]

Right, I can't believe I didn't think of partnerships. AND lay members! Great points everyone!

Last I checked AdMech is unholy bastard child of a religious organization and govermental institution, what they're not is a for profit organization.

I suspect that everything in the imperium is run by adeptus mechanius in some form or another but I also suspect that as long as right of ommisiah are observed they really don't care what is made in those factories. Don't consider it as a single for profit company enforcing a monopoly but rather that a govermental organization is handling the running of the factories and private companies rent production lines for their own purposes.

The OSHA! The Omnissiah Sanctified Hardware Administration!

Do private vessels and Rogue Traders have AdMech presence? Tech-priests and such? Rogue Traders are probably THE most private capitalistic enterprise that's legal in the Imperium, and we know that at least some of them un-mentionedly trade with alienoids and whatnot outside of Imperium territory and for purely practical purposes the Imperium doesn't badger them unless their activities compromise security (and that's where the Ordo Xenos comes in... though Ordo Xenos and other Inquisition branches use Rogue Traders as fronts too!).

Also remember that correct term for a senior enough Adeptus Mechanius member who would know enough to be able to "go private" is a tech priest and to reach that point they've had years if not decades of religious indoctrination.

Doesn't stop them from turning into heresy. Religious indoctrination might not be mutually exclusive with either enrichment (for further personal research projects aimed at acquiring more KNOWLEDGE and of course BLESSINGS OF THE OMNISSIAH that other fools can't appreciate - of course! ) and in some of Sandy Mitchell's works we know that some AdMech folks still have families that care for 'em - IIRC.

I'm sure there are 'partnerships' where the Adeptus Mechanicus provides expertise, blueprints, and official sanction to an industrial concern, while wealthy partners provide the capital and access to labor to physically produce the goods. There's no strong incentive for the Mechanicus to leave, because:

1) Doing so can be heresy and get you targeted by hit squads.

2) The average techpriest is basically a monk; even if they COULD become rich with their technical knowledge, personal aggrandizement and greed are not their main motives.

3) Senior techpriests with the connections to somehow start their own major industries tend to be so heavily cyborgized and indoctrinated that they are arguably no longer even fully human and may have very alien desires and mindsets.

Hmm... private accumulation of funds to further their own personal visions and projects could work, though they don't have to leave the order to do this, they can do this as side-projects and with partners and lay members as underlings! I'd love to see some Elon Musk type of techpriest, a MELON USK, who believes that accrued tech must be used to disrupt the status quo and enhance people's lives - in a way, this might border on heresy since unsafe radical alterations CAN be openings for Chaos... but then again if his vision involves just cyborging everyone into unfeeling drugged up cubicle workers... that might be Chaos-proof but that might piss off the Ecclesiarchy (and actually be unintentionally kind of Tau-like...).

That said, there ARE some specific areas that involve technical knowledge but are not handled directly by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Doctors seem to be one of them- doctors may use medical instruments made by tech-priests, but are not themselves tech-priests.

--Planetary governments are capable of doing their own thing to a greater or lesser degree. This is how we get the Armageddon Pattern whatever, for example. While there are commonalities among technology to a vast degree thanks to Mechanicus standardization and STC patterns, there will be regional variations based upon individual technological levels and capabilities.

Hurm... are those the secular planetary governments themselves, or that planet's private companies? Or that planet's branch of the AdMech + the planetary governments/companies?

Is it possible for say the AdMech/Tech-Priests of Armageddon to go "we'll show the others that WE are also hot shit and brilliant, buwahahaha look at this great pattern of BANEBLADES and METAL BOXES made locally, here! We are brilliant, screw you others from other planets! I showed you, Magus So-and-so who said I would never amount to anything back in the Techno-Collegio-Universitatificatum!"

There is mention of lay brethren of the Machanicus who seem to have been partially trained by the Mechanicus but aren't fully part of them.

I suspect as the lower level there are various technically non Mechanicus factories churning out stuff run by private individuals but the staff are certified by the Machanicus and should probably only carry out certain limited tasks. They're probably checked for 'doctrinal purity' every so often and if their innovating or havn't paid their bribe, um I mean 'tithe' to the local tech priests they probably get shut down so the Mechanicus can keep their overall monopoly.

Lay brethren are a good point, yes, these are probably the great majority of small-m mechanics and artisans. Even the Mechanicus only has so many tech-priests. And yes, they would largely be expected to operate under the supervision of the Mechanicus and be quality-controlled by same.

So lay-members who are qualified to operate and other mid-functions but who aren't dedicated tech-priests, so noble feudal families that have industries can have someone go and be AdMech-certified and return and help with the industries, + partnership with the AdMech and OSHA-type certification. Alright!

What strikes me is if they found a lost human world that had a high level of technology... like, competitive with the Mechanicus high level of technology... what would happen then? Would the Imperium pick up on them as an alternate source of technology? Would they purge it as techno-heresy? Probably the latter with a high amount of Mechanicus lobbying involved...

Some AdMech factions might want to absorb these guys if these guys are willing to cooperate. No different from how other parts of the nation surrender and be colonized.

I have a personal theoretical situation where the Inquisition's Ordo Xenos deliberately keeps some lost worlds under wraps because they want to just deal with these resources via Rogue Traders, so the locals' innovations won't be utterly monopolized by the AdMech and other Imperium factions the Ordo competes with...

[Elheru Aran]

--Planetary governments are capable of doing their own thing to a greater or lesser degree. This is how we get the Armageddon Pattern whatever, for example. While there are commonalities among technology to a vast degree thanks to Mechanicus standardization and STC patterns, there will be regional variations based upon individual technological levels and capabilities.

Hurm... are those the secular planetary governments themselves, or that planet's private companies? Or that planet's branch of the AdMech + the planetary governments/companies?

Is it possible for say the AdMech/Tech-Priests of Armageddon to go "we'll show the others that WE are also hot shit and brilliant, buwahahaha look at this great pattern of BANEBLADES and METAL BOXES made locally, here! We are brilliant, screw you others from other planets! I showed you, Magus So-and-so who said I would never amount to anything back in the Techno-Collegio-Universitatificatum!"

In 40K there's not really any kind of 'Secular Government'... the Ecclesiarchy has a seat among the High Lords of Terra, after all. The Adeptus Administratum is pretty much the 'government' across the Imperium as a whole, and then it granulates into local divisions of the Administratum.

'Private companies' are a bit of a misonomer. What you have are more like feudal noble houses, which contract directly with the government and occasionally with each other. They may own the manufacturing facility, but the Mechanicus does the day-to-day manufacturing and all the assorted stuff; the nobles just sign the requisition forms and arrange for shipments of supplies. These noble houses probably also own shipping fleets and the like, as well, for streamlining said manufacture. We're talking ungodly amounts of wealth here.

But yes, the priests of Armageddon could certainly extol the virtues of their manufacture; even the Mechanicus isn't immune to rivalry. How it tends to work out though is that usually the various forges and such tend to have their own unique touch and/or secrets; Ryza for example is a massive source of plasma weapons, so they are a major source for the Leman Russ Executioner (if I remember the pattern correctly), a tank with a plasma cannon rather than a normal battle-cannon. These secrets are definitely very jealously guarded, so a big part of the Mechanicus' mission is in hunting up new secrets wherever they can be found, on the wastes of forgeworlds, deep in the bowels of hives, on desolate former human colonies from the Dark Age, and so forth. If they find something that they can actually decode/figure out and start producing, it's quite the coup.

[Shroom Man 777]

In 40K there's not really any kind of 'Secular Government'... the Ecclesiarchy has a seat among the High Lords of Terra, after all. The Adeptus Administratum is pretty much the 'government' across the Imperium as a whole, and then it granulates into local divisions of the Administratum.

Uh huh, I meant to refer the Administratum or the local planetary governorships which is a branch of the government that's separate from the Ecclesiarchy - and we know, from the Cain and Gaunt and Eisenhorn novels, that local governance can be highly variable due to the Catholic-style assimilationist aspects of Imperium colonization/absorption of rediscovered worlds...

But yes, the priests of Armageddon could certainly extol the virtues of their manufacture; even the Mechanicus isn't immune to rivalry. How it tends to work out though is that usually the various forges and such tend to have their own unique touch and/or secrets;

These secrets are definitely very jealously guarded, so a big part of the Mechanicus' mission is in hunting up new secrets wherever they can be found, on the wastes of forgeworlds, deep in the bowels of hives, on desolate former human colonies from the Dark Age, and so forth. If they find something that they can actually decode/figure out and start producing, it's quite the coup.

Question then... what stops a Techpriest from Mars or wherever from asking the Techpriests of Armageddon or the Salamanders' worlds or whatever for copies of their unique patterns? Obviously, the local Techpriests keep things to themselves, but on paper or for example, how do they actually go about doing that?

Do they just go "no I don't wanna?"

[Elheru Aran]

But yes, the priests of Armageddon could certainly extol the virtues of their manufacture; even the Mechanicus isn't immune to rivalry. How it tends to work out though is that usually the various forges and such tend to have their own unique touch and/or secrets;

These secrets are definitely very jealously guarded, so a big part of the Mechanicus' mission is in hunting up new secrets wherever they can be found, on the wastes of forgeworlds, deep in the bowels of hives, on desolate former human colonies from the Dark Age, and so forth. If they find something that they can actually decode/figure out and start producing, it's quite the coup.

Question then... what stops a Techpriest from Mars or wherever from asking the Techpriests of Armageddon or the Salamanders' worlds or whatever for copies of their unique patterns? Obviously, the local Techpriests keep things to themselves, but on paper or for example, how do they actually go about doing that?

Do they just go "no I don't wanna?"

Officially: IIRC, all information is sent to Mars for archiving, something along those lines. So if one wanted to really dig... they might be able to get somewhere. But we're talking first arranging a trip to Mars, then finding a position there, then digging-- often enough *literally*-- through some ungodly deep, massive archives, for decades if not centuries. Grimdark, remember?

In practice... it depends. A very senior Fabricator-General of a prestigious Forgeworld is going to get a different answer than Enginseer Rho-34-Delta off the assembly line. I can't say I recall any specific examples of this, but I would be completely unsurprised to find out that there are tech-priests and Magi who spend their entire careers trying to root out a specific bit of knowledge.

Partly this is mitigated by the existence of common base vehicles. The Leman Russ, the Rhino, the Warhound Titan, and so forth-- they all have a base chassis that pretty much everybody knows how to make (well, everybody cleared for the knowledge, anyway). The various patterns can be a matter of local resources as much as anything; IIRC there's a pattern of Leman Russ turret where it's made of bolted together armour plating rather than cast/forged into shape, simply because the forgeworld it comes from had issues with making the normal turret pattern and just had to cobble it together. The Executioner from Ryza has a plasma cannon because Ryza makes tons of them, and it wasn't a problem to just up-size the design and slap it into a Leman Russ turret.

So someone from Lucius asking Mek-Rho how to make their pattern of Sentinel Walker is likely to get a funny look and a 'but why?' in return. Because if they really wanted to, odds are they could just duplicate it anyway and run the risk of Mek-Rho kicking up a hissy fit about unauthorized duplication of their pattern... but why would they when they already make a reasonably decent version?

[NecronLord]

In respect to how it works:

Far to the galactic east of Terra lies the forge world of Triplex Phall. Located in the furthest reaches of Ultima Segmentum, in the Eastern Fringes, this forge world has grown autonomous through long periods of isolation. TheTech-Priests of Triplex Phall have discovered many pockets of worlds on the outskirts of the galaxy settled during the Age of Technology. Many of these lost colonies were Knight worlds – such as Grymm and Roland – and no few of them yielded technological secrets such as caches of old STC designs, or unique archeotech created in Mankind’s golden age. A great many Triplex Phall designs appear throughout the weapons and equipment of the Astra Militarum, and their fabrication secrets have never been shared. Even delegations from Mars have been forced to return to the Red Planet empty-handed, or with blueprints that they soon discover are missing vital details. Although Triplex Phall pays homage to Mars like all other loyal forge worlds, this disobedience has prompted Mars to permanently deploy several Skitarii Legions to accompany Triplex Phall’s Explorator fleets and alert the Red Planet should further rich veins of technology be discovered. The tactic has proved fortuitous, as Triplex Phall has suffered a series of invasions, and the extra troops greatly assisted in the forge world’s defence. First, a splinter of Hive Fleet Kraken was eradicated, followed by a concerted attack by a Plague Fleet led by Typhus, and finally a Daemon incursion. All three attacks made planetfall, but were driven back before the foes could establish firmbeachheads. This success was in part thanks to Triplex Phall being home to the Titan Legion Legio Victorum and having the support of over a dozen knightly households.

[Q99]

It should be noted that Space Marines send their members to train as Tech Marines, making them sorta half-Marine half-Mechanicus, and thus unique patterns under their control are technically in possession of the Adeptus Mechanicus. 40k laws are full of such loopholes.

Do private vessels and Rogue Traders have AdMech presence? Tech-priests and such? Rogue Traders are probably THE most private capitalistic enterprise that's legal in the Imperium, and we know that at least some of them un-mentionedly trade with alienoids and whatnot outside of Imperium territory and for purely practical purposes the Imperium doesn't badger them unless their activities compromise security (and that's where the Ordo Xenos comes in... though Ordo Xenos and other Inquisition branches use Rogue Traders as fronts too!).

Yes, but how much varies. In some cases you'll have, say, the ship's clan of technicians that keep it running and that's it, and any technology they pick up they turn in when they get back to an admech facility. Officially at least- off a chartered trader, plenty will disappear into the black market, and on a Rogue Trader, they have a charter that says "I Can Do What I Want" outside the borders of the Imperium at least. I.e. a Rogue Trader is legally allowed to, say, sell one world's tech to another if they think it'll help gather resources for the Imperium and serve it's interests, even if the two are alien, but if they bring it back to the Imperium it's expected to go through proper channels. And if they stretch things too far they could get the eye of the Inquisition on them, but finding weird and cool stuff to strengthen the Imperium is part of their point.

A lot of Rogue Traders will have AdMechs of some rank with them on the grounds that they can help point the ship to the best loot, fix up loot, etc. etc..

[Lonestar]

Wasn't there something in one of the Ravenor books about assembly lines being updated and layoffs at a factory?

Of course, that was written in an era where air cars were commonly referenced in Human possession.

[Elheru Aran]

Wasn't there something in one of the Ravenor books about assembly lines being updated and layoffs at a factory?

Of course, that was written in an era where air cars were commonly referenced in Human possession.

Bear in mind that the 40K galaxy is so big that you can have massive variations in the state of Human existence right and left. Ravenor and Eisenhorn IIRC mostly operated in a fairly well off neck of the woods (lots of nobs, anyway). Privately owned aircars aren't odd if it's nobs who own them rather than Korben Dallas.

Just because somewhere has assembly lines and factory layoffs: who owns the factory? who buys the factory's product? who runs the factory? things like that are where the Administratum and Mechanium step in.

It's possible the factory isn't connected to either, but it would be highly unusual if it wasn't in some fashion.

[Connor MacLeod]

By licensing, but in the most absurdly restrictive and aggressive kind that would make the RIAA/MPAA and similar real life organizations look restrained and progressive. As Necron_Lord says the AdMech are very secretive/protective of their technology monopoly (so much they deceive, manipulate and kill to maintain it) and there is a reason why they embody 'knowledge is power' - knowledge of all kinds is their currency both with the Imperium and with themsleves, and the various forms it takes (the produced goods but also the trained expertise they provide) is what they leverage to get what they need.

From what I remember of most fluff in the past non-AdMech worlds can pay a fee or tithe (probably another way they get resources they need like food, raw materials, or manpower.) and in return they might grant you permission to 'borrow' one of their patterns (in the sense you can pay for a 'copy' of a song, video game, Movie or TV series you 'borrow' from the IP holder.) But since this is the AdMech they don't just give you access to the blueprints or whatever - that would be too trusting - they send along their own people (that 'expertise' currency again) to help the customer utilize those rights they bought, to train the people who produce it, and to make sure that their stranglehold on tech and knowledge is not abused (you can expect they enforce this with killbots and skitarii and suchlike.)

It also likely means the AdMech get an increased presence on that planet, and thus have more influence in the decision making of that planet as well (which increases the political power of the AdMech as WELL as netting them valuable material stuff they need) and likely more access to intel and other things (helping them expand and maintain that stranglehold on knowledge and tech even more, or exploit the people they sell to to further that advantage. See: Gunheads.)

Bear in mind, however, that the AdMech is no more a unified group than any faction in the Imperium and can often be at war with itself as it is with outside groups, so their actual approaches may vary (and some of them may do things Mars doesn't approve of, becuase Mars is as obsessed with hoarding all the tech and knowledge for itself and controlling not only the Imperium's access to it, but the other Forge worlds as well. Basically Mars wants to be at the top of one giant, technology and knowledge-based pyramid scheme I suppose we might say.) And the lesser Forge worlds may wnat to tell Mars to fuck off and go their own way, which is why counterfeit baneblades are a thing despite Mars' best efforts

[Q99]

On a planet per planet basis, governors can pretty much run things however. There's a fair amount of similarity because they all have the church, they all have tithes to pay, and they mostly were colonized by people from similar cultures, but, say, in the sector the Rogue Trader RPG takes place in, you have worlds where cutthroat capitalism is the rule of the day and everything has a price, and flipside you also have feudal worlds where it's required that serfs cut off a finger of a sign of their paying rent on the small spot of cliffs they're assigned to mine ore off of by hand.

[Elheru Aran]

Yeah, 40K just has such range that it's hard to say 'this is how it is' about any one thing. You can make broad-strokes statements about various things like the Administratum and the Mechanicus and whatnot, but when you start zooming in to the system level, variances start standing out pretty boldly. And you get a weird mix of high and low tech, too. As just one example, in Brothers of the Snake, Baal Solock was a feudal world transitioning to a more civilized state, but soldiers were equipped with las-locks and they had enshrined the capability to send an interstellar summons to the Iron Snakes. Said feudal world with serfs mining cliffs could have the medieval serfs using picks and wheelbarrows... or laser cutters and hover carts. So it all can be very situational.

Consistency is maintained by the Imperium's institutions, but the actual presence varies. The Adeptus Arbites, for example, frequently only have a few Arbitrators proper on a civilized planet, overseeing local police forces. If it's a backwater part of the galaxy, perhaps even just the one Arbitrator in charge of the entire system (or systems even). But if it's an important hive-world, you could expect a full Arbites precinct in each hive, sub-stations even.

[Q99]

Said feudal world with serfs mining cliffs could have the medieval serfs using picks and wheelbarrows... or laser cutters and hover carts. So it all can be very situational.

The particular world had them hanging from rope-seats off the edge of the cliff (like, horizontal. There are no mine tunnels!) and use hand chisels and buckets, while the nobles and their enforcers had pretty solid tech, shields and shock-battons, to put down uprisings, and iirc actively decided to not use more modern equipment for mining to make it easier to keep serfs under control. Usage rights to section of cliffside were hereditary, passed down parent to child, and the sole source of their livelyhood.

It was kinda the suckiest place in the sector ^^

[Sea Skimmer]

I always kinda figured 40K civilian industry would look something like oh say Egypt or Iran does where the military just outright owns large commercial enterprises which are run for profit but have a bunch of generals as the board of directors and pour as much money back into the military as possible, while also serving as job sinks for military families and general cronyism. With the near unlimited energy and basic raw materials of a huge interstellar Empire even a hyper inefficient system could still probably prevent mass starvation.

[Elheru Aran]

I always kinda figured 40K civilian industry would look something like oh say Egypt or Iran does where the military just outright owns large commercial enterprises which are run for profit but have a bunch of generals as the board of directors and pour as much money back into the military as possible, while also serving as job sinks for military families and general cronyism. With the near unlimited energy and basic raw materials of a huge interstellar Empire even a hyper inefficient system could still probably prevent mass starvation.

It's kinda like that, but there's more noble families involved, a massive religious organization with its fingers in the pie, ALL your machinery is run and maintained by priests who make no bones about the fact that if you don't pay your annual usage fees tithe they'll happily pack up and leave you to rot, and though you might never see them once in your life you KNOW there's gentlemen (and the occasional woman) who could make your life very, very unpleasant with a twitch of their rosette if you even *appear* to be guilty of heretical thought...

[Q99]

On your planet, merchants may have their own private military forces. Nobles often do. The planetary governor does, and separate from that, there's the Arbites (which are Imperial and do not hold direct loyalty to planetary authorities). The Church 'doesn't,' but can call up other stuff so it may as well. And by 'other stuff,' it can be asking for forces for others, but it can also be, and often is, angry mobs.

Pretty much any of 'em could murder a random civilian and have little consequences.