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< Spaceships | Piloting | Delta V >

Physics (Jump Theory)

Those well versed in Basic Jump Theory envision space as a great matrice of interconnected Jump Lanes that span the entire galaxy. These rivers through space/time are not static: they slowly shift and move over time, as they're pulled between the twin pistols of Matter and Dark Matter. The exact mechanisms that move Jump Lanes, and cause them to form between stars in the first place, are well understood. Large scale movement of Jump Lanes can be predicted well in advance, and after measuring the relative position of Jump Nodes in a given system it's possible to derive all necessary information to calculate a jump to a neighboring system. The longer the distances between two systems, the more involved the math, and the expert systems used fail entirely if trying to calculate more than one jump at a time. During the Old Empires era, neither of these issues was in force, and it was possible to enter a jump node and come out halfway across the galaxy. The complexity of the math involved staggers most familiar with the theories.

Wait, "Large Scale Movement
Yup, Jump Lanes are not stable. Just as the universe is both moving and expanding, the lanes between stars shift and stretch as well. Occasionally a lane will shift away from one system and toward another, while more rarely a Jump Lane will "snap" and disappear entirely. For every lane that snaps, though, more lanes are forming. The end effect is that if you look at a map of Star Lanes in the Pan-Orion Sector from the early 21st century it wouldn't be at all familiar. Even charts from a century ago look very different. Thankfully, Physicists understand jump lanes very well and a lane hasn't shifted, snapped or formed without being predicted in well over four hundred years. News that a new system is going to open up to the interstellar community is received very differently from knowledge that a star will go off into the long dark for who knows how long. But, in either case, there's often as much as a decade's advanced warning.

Where are the Jump Nodes?
If you jump into a developed system, there will probably be some sort of automated system that can inform you of the location of local Jump Nodes and of their recent drift. However, sometimes the system isn't developed or the people who developed it aren't in a mood to be friendly. In this case, you have to work the telescopes.

Your first task is to find the jump points. If you have recent jump-charts this is a simple Astronomy roll with a +6 modifier. If you have charts, but they're older, the modifier is +3 (if only one jump point, or a Jump Cluster), or unmodified (if many). Without any kind of charts, the roll is at -3. This takes four hours of star searching with the help of an AI, or a full day if you're doing it all manually. If you need to know where the Nodes you've found actually go, make an unmodified Astronomy roll per node.

If you have some kind of charts, you can begin plotting a jump now! The Electronics Operation (Jump Drive) roll is at -2 if your charts are really old, however. If you're completely blind, though, you'll have to spend some time collecting data. The GM should make an Astronomy roll for whomever is doing the calculations. If you get a critical success, you can immediately make the jump without more than a few hours of work. On a normal success you spend (4 - Margin of Success) weeks collecting data. Once you hit one week, start knocking off days instead, to a minimum of 24 hours to collect the data. If you fail the roll you'll be spending months equal to your margin of failure trying to get all the data you need to jump safely. On a critical failure, make an Electronics Operation (Jump Drive) roll in a few weeks and hope you get a critical success on that roll. Any other result gives a roll on the Jump Mishap table (not for the eyes of you; but it's bad!). If you get two critical failures go ahead and roll twice and the GM can pick which Mishap occurs.

Jump Terminology

• Jump Matrix: The theoretical pattern of Jump Lanes that runs through the Milky Way Galaxy. A star that's "Off the Matrix" can only be approached through STL methods, while a star that's "on the Matrix" can be accessed through a Jump Drive. Some systems are similarly described as on Matrix's Edge, if they only allow one to travel back the way you came, while others are designed as Matrix Junctures if they're filled with Jump Nodes leading to many different locations. The largest Junction, imaginatively called Junction is located in the Galactic Core. It contains 17 Jump Nodes.
• Jump Lane: A line connecting two jump points in different solar systems. Physicists suspect that Jump Lanes pass through the stars, but can only be accessed at a predictable distance away from the influence of the star. Usually a Lane's existence is inferred, rather than experienced: no time passes during the actual jump. However, some lanes are longer than others and at a certain point the mathematics gets more difficult. This is called a Long Jump.
• Jump Node: Sometimes referred to as a Jump Point instead. These are large spaces in space/time, many hundreds of thousands of miles in size, usually somewhat off the Plane of Ecliptic and somewhere near the star's Outer Limit. Except in the case of a Trinary Cluster, Jump Nodes are never close to one another, and in fact tend to manage to be as close to equidistant to one another as physically possible given all the influences at work on them.
• Blocked Lane: A blocked lane is not a natural phenomena. Though unable to produce the technology to reproduce the effect, the theory itself is generally understood. Using a heavily modified Jump Drive, its possible to "Block" a Jump Lane so that travel through it is restricted. In 7 out of 10 cases of trying to run a blockade, the ship making the attempt simply disappears and is never seen again. Most suspect they're thrown off the Jump Lane entirely (with effects no one can really predict). It was once possible to stop a blockade, allowing normal traffic to resume. The secret of doing this has, also, been lost.
• Torn Lane: If a blocked lane is not natural, a Torn Lane is actively unnatural. Prior to their departure of this Galaxy in an attempt to reach Andromeda and put war behind them, the scientists of the Consortium? unleashed the horrors of tearing apart Jump Lines - and Space/Time with them. Widely considered even more horrific than the Black Hole Farming first conducted by the Pantropic Collective, the damage done by tearing a line can never be undone. And the line so torn remains tethered to the system until it snaps, at which point it might be able to reform. Only a few Torn Lanes remain in the Galaxy since the war.
• Weak Lane: A line in the process of forming, or snapping apart, can be traversed though this is somewhat more dangerous than navigating a mature line. If in the process of tearing apart, it usually only takes two or three years for a Weak Lane to give way. A new Lane, however, can take about fifty years to fully mature.
• Transverse Lanes: Sometimes a Jump Lane intersects with another... but just barely. This is called a Transverse Lane, and they are sometimes compared to a Weak Lane, with the singular exception that the condition is effectively permanent. Most Spacers avoid Transverse Lanes, particularly ones that lead to isolated parts of the Jump Matrix, unless with dire need. This is because a Transverse Lane can disappear without warning (it's barely there to begin with). Usually they'll return within the year.
• Spirally-Transverse Lanes: Connecting two Spiral Arms of the Milky Way, are similar to Transverse Lanes in that they're somewhat hard to travel and tend to suddenly disappear. While still cause for caution, Spacers are less anxious about these lanes, because they always come back at some point. Maybe not to the same star as before, though. In addition, the stars that these lanes lead to are always well connected to the Jump Matrix.
• Jump Forks: Most of the time, there's a jump point any time two jump lanes meet. This is because it's rare for this to happen for any reason other than the interaction of a star with both jump lanes. Sometimes, particularly on a very long Jump Lane, a lane just "forks" and goes toward two different stars. This situation seldom lasts longer than a century, but while it exists, its something of a hassle for jump technicians -- who often end up in a totally unexpected system after a jump. It's possible to anticipate the fork and make sure you stay on your lane or take the exit, as you were, but it requires a bit of... finesse.
• Trinary Cluster: A Tinary Cluster is a strange mangling of multiple Jump Lanes, usually (but not always) caused by the interaction of a Trinary or a Quaternary Star System. These are noteworthy because they tend to collect all of the Jump Nodes (for all of the systems) into a single location. It's not uncommon for such clusters to have jump nodes to 9 or more star systems, including additional jump nodes closer stars making up the cluster itself. These "secondary jump nodes" are often unusually close to the main star itself, if not within the inner solar system! Needless to say, these systems are major nexii of interstellar trade and vital to hold in any war.

The Rules

Most times, there are no especial rules needed to make a Jump. If you can take about an hour or longer to make your jump safely, no roll at all is required. If you're in a hurry, though, you can make an unmodified Electronics Operation (Jump Drive) roll to make the jump in just 10 minutes. Even shorter durations are possible! For every minute you shave off that total, subtract -1, to a bare minimum of -9 for a 1 minute preparation jump. It's possible to make an instant jump with a -10 to the roll, but treat any Failure as a Critical Failure.

When unusual conditions interfere, though, you always have to make a roll to make a jump. No matter how long you take. Many times, in these situations, the Jump Technician will take a good deal of extra time to make sure the Jump Computer has extra time to work through the calculations and the hull has fully acclimated to the infusion of energy running through it. This uses the normal rules for Extra Effort on page 346 of the Basic Set. The individual penalties for individual situations are listed below:

A Blocked Lane caps effective Skill at 9, after all modifiers are applied. On any failure, everyone makes new characters. Don't run blockades!

What Happens Then?

A critical success on an Electronics Operations (Jump Drive) roll doesn't require a Body Sense roll for any passengers or crew. A success gets you unharmed to the destination system, a failure also gets you to your destination, but damages the ship in so doing. A critical failure requires a roll on the Jump Mishap's table. The most common result of such is ending up at the wrong destination, usually either going backwards along the lines or having skipped ahead two or three jumps. On any result except a critical success, everyone has to make a Body Sense roll to avoid succumbing to Jump Sickness. See below.

Aftereffects

After any jump, the electrical processes of both biological organisms and most electronics are disrupted. The effect is profoundly uncomfortable. In humans, and most uplifts, this produces a horrible splitting headaches. AI's and Computer Equipment arguably have it worse; most AI's and non-essential computer equipment is powered down immediately prior to a jump. Even the Jump Computer is designed to interface with the Jump Drive such that once the Engine is revved up the Computer can be shut down. Computer Equipment that is left on is usually unharmed, but Engineering always has a few things to do after a Jump before the Ship can attempt such again.

To calculate the effects of Jump Sickness on a biological entity (Humans <all subspecies> and most Uplifts), roll Body Sense or HT-6, whichever is higher. Take a -4 penalty if you successfully navigated a Blocked Lane, or on any attempt to navigate a Torn Lane. On a success, you're stunned until you can make a successful HT roll. On a failure, you suffer from the Pain condition (p. B428) for a number of minutes equal to (Margin of Failure + Any Penalties to the Jump Roll - Bonuses from taking Extra Time). 1 minute, minimum. A critical failure causes you to instead suffer a Seizure (p. B429), while a critical success means you're fine.

AI's and Machines: AI's (any Computer, really) suffer through Jump's much more severely than Humans do. Most human's didn't believe this, until one AI produced and released a Sensie of the experience, and since most cannot fathom why the Machines brave Space at all -- much less are as common as they are! If an AI or other Computer is powered down during a Jump, and is Hardened, there shouldn't be any effects beyond waiting for the reboot. Most Machines used in space have a special "Jump Reboot" setting. An unhardened computer is okay in the long term, but will need more maintenance than normal and need replacement earlier than normal.

An AI that foolishly stays active during a Jump suffers for the fact that they cannot learn the Body Sense skill. They roll their HT-6, +3 if they are Hardened. On a success, they suffer from the Agony condition (p. B429) for a number of seconds equal to (Penalties Taken on the Jump Roll - Bonuses from taking Extra Time). 1 second, minimum. A failure means that the Agony instead lasts for the same interval in minutes. Note, in both cases, this Agony doesn't require the Robot to scream or moan and does not require them to lose their footing. They simply can't do anything else for the duration, and find it intensely uncomfortable. On a critical success, you suffer a moment of intense pain and then shut down. On a critical failure, you suffer a moment of intense pain, some amount of data corruption takes place, and then you shut down. You then reboot.

Automatic No-Roll Jumps: Taking the 'full' hour to jump without a roll counts as a +3 bonus for the purposes of determining the duration of a failed Body Sense roll (or a success, for an active AI). This is the expected 'buffer'; people expect to spend about an hour getting ready to jump. You can take even longer, if you want, to further cushion passengers, crew and equipment from the effects of the jump. Three hours or so counts as a +4 bonus, while Five Hours gives the maximum +5 bonus.