Jump Gates

[Elliot]

What is the objection to jump gates in Traveller?

If I remember the explanation of J drive in the DGP Pilot's Operator's Guide, J drive works by powering up a ship's J drive to create a jump field. Why can't an external mechanism such as the Babylon 5 style jump gate do this?????

Think of the implications for travel in the Traveller universe....

Answers on a postcard to this board please!

 

[DaveShayne]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Elliot:
What is the objection to jump gates in Traveller?

If I remember the explanation of J drive in the DGP Pilot's Operator's Guide, J drive works by powering up a ship's J drive to create a jump field. Why can't an external mechanism such as the Babylon 5 style jump gate do this?????

Think of the implications for travel in the Traveller universe....

Answers on a postcard to this board please!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The primary limit on jump range in Traveller is the fuel required. If you have jump gates then this limit is removed. If you want to do this IYTU then that's cool but it kinda messes with the OTU.

I've thought about adding a small number of naturally occuring wormholes and/or ancient tech stargates to my non official universe. The idea here being that most travel will be by regular jump but with a few places which though quite distant are easily gotten back and forth from. It changes the topology of space a little bit in an interesting way.



------------------
I am increasingly of the opinion that RPGs are by the nature of their creation subjective phenomenon. due to the interaction between game designers, game masters, and game players all definitions, rules, settings, and adventures are mutable in acordance with the uncertainty principle as expounded by Heisenburg. This is of course merely my point of view.

David Shayne

 

[Takei]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Elliot:
What is the objection to jump gates in Traveller?

Answers on a postcard to this board please!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A couple of T4 adventures (Long Way Home and Gateway) featured jump gates quite heavily. They were Ancients artifacts, so are probably not exactly what you had in mind. But IYTU thay could be just fine.

I know that as soon as I get my next campaign going there'll be FTL comms and Jump space time distortion included. Not in any major way but enough to add a bit more flavour.

------------------
Paul

 

[Elliot]

All is revealed, I think - Is it that the J field needs to be sustained by constant power during the week or so of jump and so J Gates cannot work because they can only open a field but not sustain it?

 

[aramis]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Elliot:
All is revealed, I think - Is it that the J field needs to be sustained by constant power during the week or so of jump and so J Gates cannot work because they can only open a field but not sustain it?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The jump gates which appear in CT (Adv 12 Secret of the anchients) do not use jumpspace at all. they are portals to a pocket dimension, whcih you fly through, and exit another gate back to N-Space.

------------------
-aramis
=============================================
Smith & Wesson: The Original Point and Click interface!

 

[tjoneslo]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Elliot:
What is the objection to jump gates in Traveller?

Answers on a postcard to this board please!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The answer comes back to the "What is the jump drive fuel used for?" flame war initiator.
If you belive (as I do), the Hydrogen fuel is used to maintain the jump bubble during the jump, The jump gates are useless since you still have to fuel the ships to create (and maintain) the jump bubble.

Jump Gates work if you assume the jump fuel is used only to create the jump bubble. This also allows drop tanks to work.

If you allow Jump Gates to work, many of the merchant ship designs radically change because they no longer need to carry jump fuel, and they can now carry cargo and/or passengers in the space. This either reduces the number of ships performing trade or increases the Imperal trade.
The Imperial Navy will probably still keep a number of ships with the jump drives, just in case the enemy takes the Jump Gates.

 

[Rerednaw]

Jump gate technology is something I always liked...but unfortunately it can unbalance the existing game system. It isn't just merchant vessels that suddenly have more room.

Warships do as well. More room for ordnance, maneuver drives, defenses.

To maintain mobility where gates are not present, I suppose non-jump capable ships could piggyback onto large jumpships (aka Battletech aka Traveller battleriders).

Of course it is your universe so do as you please

Cheers.