IBIS: Profit & Peril - The Dragon Magazine Issue #35 & The Cepheus Engine rpg

 Tonight from the archives, I've grabbed my copy of The Dragon issue #35 tonight. And if your into old school Traveller or Cepheus Engine then this is one of the issues that you want. This issue has the excellent IBIS: Profit & Peril by Kenneth Burke. This article goes into an alternative PC creative path for the Interstellar Bureau of Internal Security, known as IBIS.

The IBIS is going to make an excellent NPC is going to make excellent antagonists for my players PC's. I'm not going to give them any backstory per say because they are agents acting for powers unknown. The article goes into the background systems to deal with their skill path;"In addition to the other branches of Traveller military service, characters may join the Interstellar Bureau of Internal Security, known as IBIS. This is the Imperium’s combination secret police force, intelligencegathering agency, and law-enforcement organization; it is answerable to no one but the Emperor himself. The missions IBIS sends its members on are dangerous, but the rewards for success are great While IBIS has a lot to offer potential members, it also has a serious drawback—an IBIS member cannot leave the service until (a) he is ordered to, (b) he serves for 20 years, or (c) he is dead." 
The IBIS is going to be acting against the PC's and their interests. Could they be more then they seem?! Easily if their looking after the interests of the Imperium. 
For the Clement sector, the IBIS article could be used as stand in's as agents of the Chinese Communist Party. They are often acting to sabotage the colony efforts of the PC's in the Earth  Sector & its sub sectors. 

The whole idea here is to use the unknown to shake things up coming up. There are of course other options but the idea of agents of an unknown power could provide some very interesting variations and NPC options.