Empty Hexes and Jump Drives

[Innskip]

IIRC the LBBs indicated that the empty hexes on subsector maps were not in fact empty, they just contained stars etc that were of no real importance.

Again IIRC, Jump Drives navigation requires a decent sized gravity well to make a jump possible.

Would it therefore be reasonable to allow players to jump to empty hexes, because I'm sure I've read somewhere that this is not possible as contrary to what the LBB originally stated - these empty hexes ARE empty and thus devoid of decent grav wells for navigation?

Your thoughts please.

 

[Roger Calver]

Well its OK to jump into an empty hex if you have fuel to jump out later but if you have no more jump fuel you would need a gas gaint or a water source to move on.

 

[Ranger]

Well, my take was always that the Traveller maps were stylized navigation charts that only showed inhabited systems for ease of use (that's why all the stars are in the center of each hex too). There are systems not shown that contain gas giants and iceballs that would allow for refueling. In fact, I would argue there would have to be a lot of them or else the IN would have shut down piracy pretty easily. But, with all those emty systems around, there are just too many places for pirates to hide for the IN to wipe the problem out. Of course, since these systems are generally uncharted for the public, anyone trying to find a navigation chart that would show them and want to go there might raise the interest of the IN anti-piracy intel people.

Just my thoughts

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Where's Bill Cameron when we need him? No one knows the history of jump precipitation better than he.

Canon classic Traveller says that deep space jumps are possible, provided there is enough fuel to make the second jump - this is why, at least in every game I've ever run or played, nearly every merchant carries a set of collapsible fuel bladders to extend the ship's range. No mass or gravity well is required to take the ship out of jump space in canon CT.

GURPS Interstellar Wars, in an attempt to reconcile some conflicting bits of canon regarding the Interstellar Wars, decided that for a time the Vilani lacked the ability to make deep-space jumps without a massive body to bring the ship out of jump space - something to do with the mathematical calculations required, if I understand what I read correctly. (Is that right, GT:IW fans?)

So, if you're game is set in the IW period, you could say that deep space jumps are not possible - however, by the Golden Age, deep space jumps are no problem. Also remember that you can always ignore canon when it suits the game you want to run - if you don't want deep space jumps without a massive body to act as a precip point, then do it, and don't let canon stand in your way.

 

[robject]

The Traveller Adventure uses jumps into deep-space as part of two plot devices: being able to cross an empty parsec with two consecutive Jump-1s, and as a megacorporate calibration point.

Mass precipitation simply regulates how close you can get to a gravity well before the jump drive forces you out of jumpspace. You can target and jump to any point. In fact, when you jump to a planet you target the planet. Precipitation shunts you back into normal space before you get there.

 

[mike wightman]

In CT empty hexes were just that, empty.

Jumps into empty hexes have been part of canon since CT A3 Twilight's Peak. The later Traveller Adventure campaign setting included two scenarios based on jumping to empty hexes, as Rob says.

Gravitic precipitation being required for a jump drive to function is not, and never has been, part of the OTU canon, it is just that if a ship tries to come out of a jump too close to a body, it will automatically be precipitated from jump space 100D from the object in question.

 

[Jamus]

Originally posted by RogerCalver: Well its OK to jump into an empty hex if you have fuel to jump out later but if you have no more jump fuel you would need a gas gaint or a water source to move on.

Dont know if this has been asked before but what is to stop a ships power plant from being nuclear fission instead of the hydrogen powered fusion drive? wouldnt a fission based drive provide enough power to jump multiple times and only require fueling every couple of years? Im thinking kinda like a nuclear submarine.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

First, fission plants are far less efficient, and second, a lot of the hydrogen is used as coolant and to form the jump bubble.

 

[mike wightman]

A slight aside I know, but here's a thought - couldn't nuclear damper technology be used to make fission reactors much more efficient? Not to mention more environmentally friendly (not that that matters much once in space - except to the crew ).

 

[mike wightman]

Originally posted by Jamus:
Dont know if this has been asked before but what is to stop a ships power plant from being nuclear fission instead of the hydrogen powered fusion drive? wouldnt a fission based drive provide enough power to jump multiple times and only require fueling every couple of years? Im thinking kinda like a nuclear submarine.

The original version of CT didn't even require the jump drive to have a separate power plant at all.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

And of course the Annic Nova had a solar-powered jump drive...

 

[mike wightman]

So perhaps a fission reactor powered jump drive could work, it would just require more time than a fusion powered jump drive to charge up.

Has anyone ever looked at charging times for jump drives as a limiting factor?

The solar charged system on the AN requires from 1-6 weeks to recharge

the fusion powered standard system takes minutes to charge the capacitors

maybe a fission powered system could take days?

 

[Andrew Boulton]

I think AN has been officially decanonised.

 

[mike wightman]

I'll bet it is still on the CT CD ROM...

besides, it still fits in a proto-Traveller setting, and a fission powered jump drive is a variant anyway.

I wonder how much damage would be done if solar and fission powered jump drives were included?

 

[robject]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
So perhaps a fission reactor powered jump drive could work, it would just require more time than a fusion powered jump drive to charge up.

Has anyone ever looked at charging times for jump drives as a limiting factor?

The solar charged system on the AN requires from 1-6 weeks to recharge

the fusion powered standard system takes minutes to charge the capacitors

maybe a fission powered system could take days?

That's an excellent suggestion.

I've done very little checking around for jump-drive charging time, but I do know that Imperial capacitors can hold a charge for about an hour, then they lose it. Sounds pretty leaky.

It seems to be likely, therefore, that the Annic Nova's equivalent for "jump capacitors" are higher TL than Imperial capabilities. And since it doesn't use hydrogen to aid its transition into jumpspace, the jump drive is post Imperial tech as well.

 

[Jamus]

Could a ships J-drive be powered up by cable or some such from a base station or larger ship at the jump point. Such a ship could be built with a very small fuel tankage allowing more space for cargo or weapons... probably cargo though. would have to operate on the same idea as a fleet tender but with the tender staying put and the smaller ships jumping back and forth between two bases or tenders.

 

[Jamus]

If that is possible it would allow for a type s to make a jump2 into uncharted space and still have the fuel tankage to be able to return to base

 

[mike wightman]

Originally posted by robject:
It seems to be likely, therefore, that the Annic Nova's equivalent for "jump capacitors" are higher TL than Imperial capabilities. And since it doesn't use hydrogen to aid its transition into jumpspace, the jump drive is post Imperial tech as well.

They needn't be higher TL, they just have to be different TL

The capacitors on the AN may be very fragile and require charging very slowly to avoid their disintegration (or explosion).
Imperial engineers prefer their more robust design, it will charge quicker but can't hold that charge for long.
Remember that at the time AN was written a ship burned all of its jump fuel in a very rapid space of time, and there was no mention of having to maintain a jump bubble.

That said, the original TAS articles and details in High Guard first edition had the high capacity accumulator that allows drop tanks to work appearing at TL12 (though the TAS article suggests an even higher tL may be necessary).

 

[mike wightman]

Originally posted by Jamus:
Could a ships J-drive be powered up by cable or some such from a base station or larger ship at the jump point. Such a ship could be built with a very small fuel tankage allowing more space for cargo or weapons... probably cargo though. would have to operate on the same idea as a fleet tender but with the tender staying put and the smaller ships jumping back and forth between two bases or tenders.

I like this idea

If a ship can use a drop tank to power a jump then using a hose from a station should be just as possible IMHO.

If going by the original jump drive paradigm then the hose could provide the energy required by the ship's high capacity accumulators directly.

If using the hydrogen as jump bubble paradigm then some internal capacity would be required but the majority of the initial jump bubble could be delivered from the jump station.

 

[mike wightman]

Originally posted by Jamus:
If that is possible it would allow for a type s to make a jump2 into uncharted space and still have the fuel tankage to be able to return to base

Jump stations on merchant routes could also make high jump number merchants more profitable by allowing them to carry less fuel and more cargo and passengers.