So one thing that has always confused me, and no amount of researching I have done has turned up an answer to this question...

What is the difference between the Imperial Security Bureau, and Imperial Intelligence?

They seem to exist to do the same thing however I like to be accurate in how I include such organizations in my game.

At a guess, it sounds like the ISB mainly deals in spying with political entities and enforcing local laws, such as catching smugglers and the likes, while Imperial Intelligence actually deals with Military related spying and operations.

At a guess, it sounds like the ISB mainly deals in spying with political entities and enforcing local laws, such as catching smugglers and the likes, while Imperial Intelligence actually deals with Military related spying and operations.

You've got it right there. An analogy would be the multiple intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the US government. There are separate organizations with distinct institutional cultures, goals, and resource requirements. They are cooperative and competitive at the same time. I would equate the ISB as a combination FBI/CIA whereas the II is like the DIA.

I would also say that the ISB goes beyond the local laws. They are a form of secret police in the employ of the Emperor.

Another important distinction would be primary leaders/intelligence consumers of the different groups.

The ISB enforced the Emperor's New Order.

The II reported to the Ubiqtorate, a secret council/board of directors.

Easiest comparison is the Imperial Security Bureau is to the United States' FBI as Imperial Intelligence is to the CIA.

ISB is more focused on domestic surveillance and investigation. They seek out and eliminate criminal and treasonous acts within the Empire, within its member worlds and civilian and military ranks.

Imperial Intelligence is focused more on gathering intelligence about forces outside the Empire, such as the Hutts, the Corporate Sector, the Rebel Alliance, and other large independent entities. Imperial Intelligence has less of a police presence; they present their information to the Imperial government or military, which then acts on that intel.

ISB is a police service that is part of COMPNOR and deals with the more generic threats to the New Order, sedition, vandals, smugglers, political agitators and other miscreant activities that pose a threat there. They've also got an Internal Affair dept which watches the rest of COMPNOR.

Imp Intelligence is sort of a relic of the old Republic and comes under the heading "Ubiqtorate" and is quite a huge, highly structured organisation which is essentially 'KGB/CIA'. They have the capactiy to deal with anything from assassinations, sleeper cells, intelligence gathering and destabilising planetary governments.

Yes, the two overlap and interfere with one another, much to each other's annoyance.

Thanks for the feedback. I know that both are quite competitive with each other and my plan was to shove my players between the two with both the ISB, and II, allowing the players to see that even within the Empire, egos can be exploited for possible temporary alliances to destabilize the Empire.

For my games I am cutting out the EU part and sticking to canon in this regard. For the very reason that the two get easily confused. At my table Imperial Intelligence is the ISB.

The ISB is the FBI+DEA+ATF+The Department of Homeland Security.

The II is the CIA+NSA with fewer resources and political leverage than the ISB.

ISB is part of the COMPNOR, a totalitarian organization that wishes to control everything in the Empire. The ultimate goal of the COMPNOR is to replace the Army and the Navy with the CompForce, the Imperial Intelligence with the ISB and eventually every other part of the imperial administration. Just as the schutzstaffel (SS) wants to replace the army with the waffen, the abwehr with the sicherheitsdienst (SD) and the Gestapo and every other aspects of the German state.

ISB agents are motivated by imperial propaganda and fanaticism. Imperial Intelligence Agents are more pragmatic. Both are dangerous in their specific ways.

I like to play COMPNOR agents (ISB, CompForce, etc.) as fanatical jerks and Imperial Intelligence agents as professionals (more or less skilled).

In a way, COMPNOR can be an asset for the rebellion. With their fanatical actions, they are able to scare both imperial civilians and militaries.

One diffculty in separating the two is that the Empire is Galactic, so there really isn't a very clear definiton of internal and external, as it stretches to the border with wild space.

I think the easiste definiton is ISB is a secret police, Imperial Intelligence deals with military threat, like the rebellion (and arguably Hutt's military forces).

As Ali said the ISB=SS+Gestapo and II= Abwher(german military secret service) is a good analogy

I was going to make a lengthy post here describing the differences, but then I realized that Ali Mesratep pretty much said it all. The short version is that the ISB is the politcal police, motivated more by zealotry than anything else and who sees the Rebellion (and other seditionous elements) like a personal insult. Imperial Intelligence are cold, pragmatic professionals who get the job done with no personal animosity. Both are dangerous, but in different ways.

It doesn't mean that ISB agents are idiots, if Kallus in rebels is any indication of their skills.

If I'm remembering correctly, the ISB reports directly up to The Emperor, where as Intelligence is it's own entity with a slightly more nebulous chain of command. The two have a rivalry and are often at odds with each other. IA considers itself the real spy's and Int people, and tends to theink of the ISB as a bunch of hacks.

Compnor, of which the ISB is part of, is the political arm. It puts the political officer on the Star Destroyers to keep an eye on the military officers and make sure they stay loyal.

Both Compnor and the ISB were pretty much made up wholesale by West End for their role playing game, but they've stuck around.

I understand and like the idea of the ISB, but don't like the Compnor, i wish they had got rid of it. I guess FFG recycles ilots of stuff from WEG* cause they have the right to it thanks to the licence.

*really some things are taken almost verbatim from old WEG supplements (like the Alliance Intelligence organization for example)

I understand and like the idea of the ISB, but don't like the Compnor, i wish they had got rid of it. I guess FFG recycles ilots of stuff from WEG* cause they have the right to it thanks to the licence.

*really some things are taken almost verbatim from old WEG supplements (like the Alliance Intelligence organization for example)

If it works, don't fix it.

I understand and like the idea of the ISB, but don't like the Compnor, i wish they had got rid of it. I guess FFG recycles ilots of stuff from WEG* cause they have the right to it thanks to the licence.

*really some things are taken almost verbatim from old WEG supplements (like the Alliance Intelligence organization for example)

If it helps, don't think of Compnor like a military organization. They aren't. They're really the Emperor's political party in everything but name. They're Space Nazis. CompForce is the Waffen SS, but not nearly as militarily competent as the Waffen SS were in history.