The Universal Identification System

The Universal Identification System is a system of organization used by the Galactic Archive to categorize many common pieces of data. It has, over time become a a galactic standard for organization and categorization of various thing such as starships, star systems, even people of note. The Universal Identification System uses a simple code that can communicate a fair amount of data. Typically the UIS identifies the type of data being used with a three, or sometimes four letter code for example Universal World Profile (UWP) for stellar bodies, or Universal Ship Profile (USP) for spaceships, small craft, and starships.

Stellar Bodies

Universal World Profile (UWP)

The Universal World Profile (UWP) is a means of categorizing almost every rocky stellar body of note. The Universal Stellar Profile uses the following format:
Mars A442999-G
The first part is the name.
The first digit in the code describes the overall quality of the body's starport (if any).
The second digit is a code describing the rough size of the planet.
The third digit describes the general condition of the atmosphere on the stellar body.
The fourth digit quantifies the rough percentage of the stellar body is covered by surface water.
The fifth digit gives a rough estimate of the population to the nearest order of magnitude.
The sixth digit gives a limited description of the overall governance of the planet.
The seventh digit is an estimate of the overall law level.
The eighth and final digit assigns a tech-level to the planet.

Starport Quality

Class	Quality	General Berthing Cost	Fuel	Facilities
A	Excellent	GCr1-6,000	Refined	Repair and Construction (All)
B/F	Good	GCr500-3,000	Refined	Repair and Shipyard (Spacecraft)
C	Routine	GCr1-600	Unrefined	Repair and Shipyard (Small Craft)
D/G	Poor	GCr10-60	Unrefined	Repair
F/H	Frontier	GCr0	None	None
X/Y	None	GCr0	None	None

Body Size

Size	Diameter (Upper Limit)	Gravity (Assuming Earthlike Composition)
R	Planetary Ring System	Negligable
0/S	Less than 1000 km	Negligable
1	1,600 km	.05g
2	3,200 km	.15g
3	4,800 km	.25g
4	6,400 km	.35g
5	8,000 km	.45g
6	9,600 km	.7g
7	11,200 km	.9g
8	12,800 km	1g
9	14,400 km	1.25g
A	16,000 km	1.8g
B	20,000 km	2.5g
C	25,000 km	4g

Atmosphere

Atmosphere	Composition	Pressure	Survival Gear Required
0	None	0.00	Vacc Suit
1	Trace	0.01 to 0.09	Vacc Suit
2	Very Thin, Tained	.1 to .42	Respirator, Filter
3	Very Thin	.1 to .42	Respirator
4	Thin, Tained	.43 to .7	Filter
5	Thin	.43 to .7
6	Standard	.7 to 1.49
7	Standard, Tainted	.7 to 1.49	Filter
8	Dense	1.5 to 2.49
9	Dense, Tainted	1.5 to 2.49	Filter
A	Exotic	Varies	Air Supply, Possibly Respirator
B	Corrosive	Varies	Vacc Suit
C	Insidious	Varies	Vacc Suit (will degrade in 2D hours)
D	Dense, High	More than 2.5	Varies (None to Specialized Habitat)
E	Thin, Low	Less than .5	Varies (None to Vacc Suit)
F	Unusual	Varies	Varies (Often used for Jred Infestations, need Vacc Suit)

Hydrography

Hydrography is relatively simple. The number corresponds to the percentage of the planet covered in water with the number being the minimal percentage it could be within the tenth. For example 0 corresponds to 0-9%, 1 represents 11-19%, and so on. The only exception is code A which represents an oceanic world with the surface covered completely in water.

Population

The population identifier represents the overall population. Code 0 represents an unpopulated world (any services that might exist at such a world are automated), Code 1 represents a permanent population of less than 100 individuals. Codes two or higher represent an order of magnitude within which the population rests, for example code 3 represents 100-999, 4 1,000-9,999, and so on. Though no human world has reached a population in the hundreds of billions since the development of the UWP, the Guild maintains codes B and C for populations in the hundreds of millions and over a trillion respectively; largely for speculative purposes including speculative population projections for certain ecumenopolises encountered in Pardi space.

Government

Code	Government Type	Description	Examples	Frequently Restricted Items
0	None	No government exists	Clans, Families, Local Governance, Anarchy	None
1	Corporate	The planetary government is a corporation.	Corporate Colonies, Privately owned orbital facilities	Weapons, Drugs, Travelers
2	Participatory Democracy	The planetary government is a direct democracy with most functions of state decided by referendum.	Cooperative Councils, Independent Soviets, and Small E-Democracies	Drugs
3	Self-Perpetuating Oligarchy	The planetary government is an oligarchy that is chiefly concerned with perpetuating itself.	Plutocracy, Military Junta, most Neo-Feudal Monarchies, Corporate Boards	Information, Computers, Weapons, Travelers
4	Representative Democracy	The planetary government is some sort of representative democracy with laws decided by elected represntatives.	Democratic Republics	Drugs, Weapons
5	Technocracy	The government is ruled by a technocratic oligarchy, generally concerned with the welfare of the populace.	Scientific Directory, Some Stelsoc societies	Weapons, Armor
6	Captive Government	The government is ruled by an outside body.	Colonies, Occupied Territories, Secondary planetary governments	Weapons, Armor, Computers, Information, Travelers
7	Balkanization	The rulership of the planet is an open question. Law level is determined by controller of the spaceport.	Multiple Nation-States, Planetary Civil War	Varies
8	Popular Bureaucracy	The functions of state are carried out by a bureaucratic apparatus with the broad support of the people. Actual decisionmaking varies.	Large E-Democracies, Enlightened Bureaucracies, Some Centralized Stelsoc Sates.	Drugs, Weapons
9	Impersonal Bureaucracy	The functions of state are carried out by a bureaucratic apparatus insulated from the general populace. Often bureaucrats are policymakers.	Entrenched bureaucracies, decaying Stelsoc States	Everything
A	Charismatic Dicatorship	The planet is ruled by a charismatic dictator who rules with overwhelming popular support.	Revolutionary leadership, Popular monarchy, Reformist dictator	Varies
B	Non-Charismatic Dictatorship	The is ruled by a dictator lacking the level of popular support of a type A dictatorship. Governance is frequently bureaucratic.	Solist government, Hereditary Monarchy	Weapons, Computers, Information, Armor
C	Totalitarian Oligarchy	The planet is ruled by a totalitarian oligarchy seeking total control over the populace. Sometimes a figurehead dictator is appointed by the oligarchy.	Military Junta, Solist Oligarchy, Authoritarian Frentierist State	Everything
D	Theocratic Oligarchy	The planet is ruled by an elite priesthood seeking to enforce religious doctrine on a planetary scale.	Opus Dei controlled planet. Calliphate	Varies
E	Theocratic Dictatorship	The planet is ruled by a religious cult with a charismatic messianic figure serving as planetary governor.	Religious Cult	Varies

Law Level

Law level code represents an averaging of civil rights and typical contraband restrictions. Exact restrictions vary by planet.

Law Level	Banned Weapons	Banned Armor	Banned Drugs	Banned Computers
0	None	None	None	None
1	Poison gas, explosives, undetctable weapons, WMDs	Battledress (without license)	None	None
2	Heavy energy weapons	Combat Armor (without license)	Psi Drugs	None
3	Anti-Materiel rifles, rocket launchers	Cloth Armor (TL-7) (without license)	Combat Drugs	None
4	Machine guns	Flak Armor (without license)	Combat Drugs	None
5	Automatic rifles, submachine guns	Battledress	Combat Drugs	Conscious Intelligence
6	Concealed weapons	Combat Armor	Addictive Narcotics	TL 15+ Computers
7	Semiautomatic firearms	Cloth Armor (TL-7)	Addictive Narcotics	TL 13+ Computers
8	All firearms except shotguns and stunners	Battledress	All Narcotics	TL 11+ Computers
9	No Public Carriage	Mesh Armor	All Narcotics	TL 9+ Computers
A	All firearms, bladed weapons	All visible armor	Anagathics	All Computers
B	All weapons	All Armor	Stims and Slow	All Computers
C	All Weapons	All Armor	All Drugs	All Computers

Law Level	Banned Travelers	Banned Information	Banned Technology
0	None	None	None
1	None	None	Dangerous technologies
2	None	None	Dangerous technologies
3	Psionics must register	None	Dangerous technologies
4	Psionics must register	Violent polemics	Dangerous technologies
5	Psionics must be approved	Oppositional polemics	Dangerous technologies
6	No oppositional political extremists	Oppositional polemics	Dangerous technologies
7	No Psionics	Uncensored outside news	Alien technologies
8	No opposition figures	Outside news, uncensored outside information	Alien technologies
9	No citizens may leave, No outsiders may leave starport	Noncritical outside information	TL 15+ items
A	No citizens may leave, No outsiders may leave starport	All outside information	TL 13+ items
B	Planetfall forbidden	All outside information	TL 11+ items
C	Planetfall forbidden	All outside information	TL 9+ items

Technology Level

The technology level represents indigenous levels of technical development, and what a planet can reasonably be expected to maintain and produce within its own means. For more information see Technology Levels.

Universal World Profile Gas Giants and Stars

The UIS uses a handful of simple profiles for gas giants, ice giants and stars. These use the UWP-2, and UWP-S profiles. The UWP-2 simply marks a gas giant as Large GG for a large, jovian gas giant, Small GG for a smaller Gas Giant, or Ice GG for an Ice Giant. The UWP-S is believed to directly replicate the Old Earth methodology for classifying stars.

Universal Star System Profile (USSP)

Star Systems generally use two profiles for Star Systems. In most cases, star systems simply utilize a modified Universal World Profile of the main world (a UWP-1), or if none exists the Star Classification (UWP-S) for the star; for most common travelers and traders, this is enough. For serious scholars, diplomats and others who need to know more information, the Universal Star System Profile (USSP) is utilized which has its own code, and a detailed listing of the World Profiles for every noteworthy stellar body in the system.
The UWP-1 uses the following format:
Sol 0207 A442999-G
It is noteworthily similar to the base UWP with an additional four digit code indicating the position of the system on the star map.
The USSP uses the following format:
Sol 0207 A G2V 9 G
The first part is the name.
The second section is a four digit sequence indicating the position of the system on a star map.
The third part is describes the overall quality of the system's starport (if any).
The fourth part is the UWP-S for the system's primary star.
The fifth part is the furthest orbit for major celestial bodies in the system.
The sixth part indicates the tech level of the primary world in the system.
Underneath the USSP is usually a listing of all noteworthy celestial bodies that can be found in the system. Noteworthy celestial bodies typically lie well within the circumstellar disc, and often the Guild disregards stellar bodies that are far enough from the local star that no colonization effort could be made successful within current technical understanding.

Interstellar Organizations

Universal Government Profile (UGP)

The Universal Government Profile (UGP) is a means for categorizing governments of interstellar states. The Universal government profile uses the following format:
Union of Sol 21432-9
The first part is the name. This is followed by a 6 digit numeric code.
The first digit is the overall shape of power in the government.
The second digit represents centralization of power.
The third digit represents the identity of the executive branch.
The fifth digit represents the identity of the legislature
The fifth digit represents the identity and powers of the judiciary, if any.
The last digit is the overall law level supported by the government.

Shape of Power

Code	Shape of Power	Examples
1	Autocratic	Absolute monarchy, Religious dictatorship, Revolutionary dictatorship
2	Oligarchic	Semi-Constitutional monarchy, Religious oligarchy, Military junta, Technocratic state
3	Representative	Constitutional monarchy, Liberal democracy, Vanguardist Stelsoc state
4	Democratic	E-Democracy, Electocracy, Democratic Stelsoc state
5	Anarchic	Anarchy

Centralization

Code	Level of Centralization	Explanation
1	Unitary State	A strong centralized government that tries to maintain control over interstellar space.
2	Pragmatist Unitary State	A centralized government that recognizes the realities of interstellar communication, and delegates some responsibility.
3	Federal State	A relatively strong central government, that still delegates significant power to subnational bodies.
4	Confederate State	A weak central government, most power in the hands of subnational bodies, subnational entities are voluntarily part of the national body.
5	Plural State	Ceremonial governing body, functionally an alliance of sovereign states.

Executive Branch

Code	Type of Executive	Explanation
1	Dictatorship	A single person, elevated to the position without any extant democratic process. May have strictly advisory council.
2	Oligarchy	An small council of persons, elevated without democratic processes, rule as a group.
3	Presidential	A democratically appointed executive, independent of the legislature. Ministers appointed by executive.
4	Presidential Council	A democratically appointed executive council, independent of the legislature. Rule as a council.
5	Semi-Presidential	Plural executive, partially subordinated to the legislature. There is often a division of responsibility.
6	Empowered Parliamentary	An executive appointed by a democratic appointed parliament. Has power, but is subordinated to legislature.
7	Weak Parliamentary	A figurehead executive appointed by the legislature, subordinated to the legislature.
8	Parliamentary Council	A council of distinguished ministers appointed by the legislature. Rule as a council.
9	No Executive	No executive branch.

Legislature

Code	Type of Legislature	Explanation
1	Anarchy	There is a state of Anarchy
2	Subordinated Legislature	Legislature is subordinated to a powerful executive, or is synonymous with the executive.
3	Party State	Legislature is a body comprised of members from a single political organization.
4	Vanguard State	Legislature is a body comprised of members of a single political organization, or partner organizations.
5	Regional Representation	Legislature is a body composed of persons elected to represent certain districts or subnational bodies. Some level of multiparty activity is present.
6	Semi-proportional Representation	Legislature is a body comprised of persons elected by the national body, apportionment is somewhat representative of electoral results with a scheme filtering results to approtionment. Some level of multiparty activity is present.
7	Proportional Representation	Legislature is a body comprised of persons elected by the national body apportionment is generally representative of electoral results with percentage of votes equal to representation in the legislature. Some level of multiparty activity is present.
8	Advisory Legislature	The legislature serves primarily as a body to advise general electorate on possible legislation, and carry out the will of the electorate. Legislation is carried out by referendum.
9	Direct Democracy	There is no legislature, and no autocratic body taking over the functions of the legislature. A state of direct democracy has been entered.

Judiciary

Code	Type of Judiciary	Explanation
0	Anarchic No Judiciary	There is no strictly defined legal basis. No national judiciary.
1	Civil Law, No Judiciary	A basis in civil law with no national judiciary.
2	Civil Law, Review Judiciary	A basis in civil law. National judiciary reviews laws for constitutionality, but cannot intervene in most legal cases.
3	Civil Law, Appellate Judiciary	A basis in civil law. National judiciary can handle appeals of in legal matters, and may be able review for constitutionality.
4	Hybrid Law, Review Judiciary	A mixed legal basis. National judiciary reviews laws for constitutionality, but cannot intervene in most legal cases.
5	Hybrid Law, Appellate Judiciary	A mixed legal basis. National judiciary can handle appeals of in legal matters, and may be able review for constitutionality.
6	Hybrid Law, Active Judiciary	A mixed legal basis. National judiciary actively handles regular cases, and may be able to review for constitutionality.
7	Common Law, Appellate Judiciary	A basis in common law. National judiciary can handle appeals of in legal matters, and is able review for constitutionality.
8	Common Law, Active Judiciary	A basis in common law. National judiciary actively handles regular cases, and is able to review for constitutionality.
9	Judiciary State	The Judiciary serves as the sole branch of government.

Law Level

Similar to the UWP, the Law Level represents an average overview of what can be expected of laws within a state. Actual enforcement of law generally varies significantly from world to world, though some states enforce nation-wide legal codes. Law level code represents an averaging of civil rights and typical contraband restrictions. Exact restrictions vary by planet.

Law Level	Banned Weapons	Banned Armor	Banned Drugs	Banned Computers
0	None	None	None	None
1	Poison gas, explosives, undetctable weapons, WMDs	Battledress (without license)	None	None
2	Heavy energy weapons	Combat Armor (without license)	Psi Drugs	None
3	Anti-Materiel rifles, rocket launchers	Cloth Armor (TL-7) (without license)	Combat Drugs	None
4	Machine guns	Flak Armor (without license)	Combat Drugs	None
5	Automatic rifles, submachine guns	Battledress	Combat Drugs	Conscious Intelligence
6	Concealed weapons	Combat Armor	Addictive Narcotics	TL 15+ Computers
7	Semiautomatic firearms	Cloth Armor (TL-7)	Addictive Narcotics	TL 13+ Computers
8	All firearms except shotguns and stunners	Mesh Armor	All Narcotics	TL 11+ Computers
9	No Public Carriage	All visible armor	All Narcotics	TL 9+ Computers
A	All firearms, bladed weapons	Cloth Armor (TL10+)	Anagathics	All Computers
B	All weapons	All armor	Stims and Slow	All Computers
C	All Weapons	All Armor	All Drugs	All Computers

Law Level	Banned Travelers	Banned Information	Banned Technology
0	None	None	None
1	None	None	Dangerous technologies
2	None	None	Dangerous technologies
3	Psionics must register	None	Dangerous technologies
4	Psionics must register	Violent polemics	Dangerous technologies
5	Psionics must be approved	Oppositional polemics	Dangerous technologies
6	No oppositional political extremists	Oppositional polemics	Dangerous technologies
7	No Psionics	Uncensored outside news	Alien technologies
8	No opposition figures	Outside news, uncensored outside information	Alien technologies
9	No citizens may leave, No outsiders may leave starport	Noncritical outside information	TL 15+ items
A	No citizens may leave, No outsiders may leave starport	All outside information	TL 13+ items
B	Planetfall forbidden	All outside information	TL 11+ items
C	Planetfall forbidden	All outside information	TL 9+ items

Law Level	Expected Civil Liberrties
0	No restrictions
1	Right to Bear Arms, Free Practice of Psionics, Freedom to Strike, Free Press, Political Determination, Free Speech, Free Association, Free Conscience, Right to Privacy, Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
2	Free Practice of Psionics, Freedom to Strike, Free Press, Political Determination, Free Speech, Free Association, Free Conscience, Right to Privacy, Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
3	Freedom to Strike, Free Press, Political Determination, Free Speech, Free Association, Free Conscience, Right to Privacy, Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
4	Free Press, Political Determination, Free Speech, Free Association, Free Conscience, Right to Privacy, Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
5	Political Determination, Free Speech, Free Association, Free Conscience, Right to Privacy, Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
6	Free Speech, Free Association, Free Conscience, Right to Privacy, Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
7	Free Association, Free Conscience, Right to Privacy, Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
8	Free Conscience, Right to Privacy, Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
9	Right to Privacy, Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
A	Free Movement, Bodily Autonomy
B	Bodily Autonomy
C	Totalitarian Control

Universal Organizational Profile (UOP)

The Universal Organizational Profile (UOP) is a means for identifying and categorizing large, non-governmental entities such as corporations, organized religions, major universities or other similar entities. The UOP uses the following format:
Galactic Surveyor's Guild
First is the name of the organization. This is followed by a five digit code.
The first digit is corresponds to organization type. The second digit corresponds to the organization's primary concern (industrial, agricultural, etc.)
The third digit corresponds to the organization's reach.
The fourth digit corresponds to roughly how many members can be considered a part of the organization.
The fifth digit corresponds to overall "control level" the organization exerts over its members.

Organization Type

Code	Type	Examples
0	Religious	Organized Religions: Religious Sect, Technocult, Doomsday Cult, Major Religion
1	Martial	Non-Profit Military Organizations: Knightly Order, Martial Fraternity, Mercenary Guild
2	Academic	Non-Profit Academic Institutions: Major University, Research Institute, Academy
3	Corporate	Corporations: Industrial Cooperative, Mercenary Company, Manufacturer
4	Labor	Labor Organizations: Labor Union, Trade Guild, Professional Fraternity
5	Political	Political Organizations: Political Party, Revolutionary Movement

Organization Concerns

Code	Type	Explanation
0	Services	Provision of services such as medical, hospitality, or retail.
1	Primary Industries	Extraction of Resources, Agriculture, and other Primary Industries
2	Manufacturing	The design and production of manufactured goods.
3	Engineering	The design and production of buildings, infrastructure or other immovable goods.
4	Logistics	Ensuring the ease of movement of goods, people, and information across space.
5	Academic	Research and study various fields for academic purposes, for industrial applications.
6	Arts and Entertainment	The creation of art, journalism, and other cultural products.
7	Finances	The provision of financial services such as loans, stock trading, or banking.
8	Use of Force	Security, warfare, and the application of violence.
9	Outreach	Community outreach, usually for religious, political or charitable purposes

Organization Reach

Code	Type	Explanation
0	Limited	Smaller than planetary scale. Usually not recorded by GSG.
1	Planetary	Able to influence the majority of the population of a modest planet.
2	System	Able to exert influence throughout a star system.
3	Cluster	Holds influence over a cluster of star systems, generally less than 3 parsecs in radius.
4	Sector	Can influence and operate in a major way for an entire charted Sector.
5	Galactic	Influences and operates throughout multiple sectors, often the whole of civilized space, and even beyond.

Organization Numbers

The population identifier represents the overall membership in the organization. Code 1 represents a permanent population of less than 100 individuals (which are only rarely recorded by the UIS). Codes two or higher represent an order of magnitude within which the population rests, for example code 3 represents 100-999, 4 1,000-9,999, and so on. The highest designation, 9 represents membership in the billions.

Control Level

Code	Type	Explanation
0	No Control	Allows members to do what they will (very rare).
1	Very Low Control	Allows members to do anything that does not directly contravene its agenda.
2	Low Control	Allows members free action when not directly working for it, limited rules when actively serving the group.
3	Medium-Low Control	There is a general code of conduct for members even when not directly working for the group, this is loosely enforced, and the code rarely impacts daily life. May be more strict when a member is working for the group.
4	Medium Control	There is a general code of conduct for members. It is enforced routinely, but does not generally impact daily life. Usually more strict when a member is working for the group.
5	Medium-High Control	There is a general code of conduct for members. It is enforced strictly and procedurally, but does not impact daily life. Always be more strict when a member is working for the group.
6	High Control	There is a strict code of conduct for members. It is enforced strictly. Precepts will impose noticible restrictions on daily life.
7	Very High Control	There is a strict code of conduct for members. It is enforced strictly. Precepts of the code will cause significant complications for members seeking to remain in compliance.
8	Extremely High Control	There is a strict and exacting code of conduct for members that is enforced strictly. Precepts will limit and isolate members.
9	Cultish Control	There is a strict and exacting code of conduct for members that is enforced strictly and harshly. Members in compliance will live at the command of leadership.

An Article Under

by Brett Croft

The Galactic Surveyor's Guild

Contents

Articles under the GSG