would it be amazingly difficult to have different lvl NPC's in different systems?
house capital systems having high level lawful NPC's and low level unlawfuls to make it easier for the new players.
Outerhouse systems would have about even level NPC's around bretonian or kusari strength which is pretty reasonable.
the indy systems on the edge of house space could be full of rhineland level pirate NPC's and some low level lawful NPC's to show the lack of law enforcement on those systems.
apply it across all the houses and they're all balanced NPC-wise.