@oddhack @nazokiyoubinbou @Daojoan It’s probably at least partially because that makes for a very easy setting for RPGs: a dying empire allows for a highly interconnected, yet diverse world that can have common languages, tools, and trade, yet the power vacuum means you can have enemy factions/big bads rampaging that the party can deal with, and it’s an easy tie-in to something deeper (“by the Gods! So this is who REALLY killed the Emperor!”, etc).