Hyperspace Travel

Astrogation

To travel through hyperspace requires the astrogator to calculate a safe route through all of the swirling matter in the galaxy. It is virtually unheard of for a human mind to complete this process without assistance, so starships equipped with a hyperdrive include either an astromech droid or a navigation computer. Current data regarding the point of origin and the destination are then processed to generate a course of travel between the two

locations which circumnavigates all of the objects in realspace. Most of the time, the route is extremely convoluted, but due to the speed of traveling through hyperspace, it rarely causes what most spacers would consider a significant delay. On the other hand, a skilled astrogator using a state of the art navicomputer could shave anywhere from a few seconds to an hour or more off of a journey by using the smallest amount of overall distance traveled. Spacers often claim bragging rights amongst one another on this basis.

Despite the incredible amount of information referenced when attempting safe transit through hyperspace, no jump is certain to succeed. For that reason, every hyperdrive is designed with a safety system which scans ahead of the equipped vessel’s trajectory and immediately shuts off the hyperdrive if a significant gravity mass is detected. A hyperdrive that would otherwise be in working order will not function unless the safety unit is active and receiving data. It is possible to bypass the security protocols on the hyperdrive to allow it to function without the safety, but there is very little rational reason to consider such drastic action. Smugglers have been known to attempt to run their hyperdrives this way in order to pass through an interdiction field or when navigating a particularly dense route such as the Kessel Run. Very few of the individuals expressing this intent have been heard from since.

Acquiring the data

Throughout the history of the Galaxy, the advent of the hyperdrive has brought countless species together and was integral to the formation of the Old Republic. Throughout the life of that august body and its successor government now known as the Galactic Republic, the information necessary for space travel was readily accessible. Even at the height of the Clone Wars, civilians could easily acquire suitable bearings to make a journey to most popular locales. This all changed with the rise of the Empire.

With the fall of the Republic and ascent of the New Order, knowledge, particularly regarding space travel, became jealously guarded. During the height of the Empire, spatial information was heavily restricted and access required licensing, background checks and frequent vessel inspection, not to mention numerous fees and surcharges. Spacers frequently resorted to the black market or to bribery, rather than keep up to date on this bureaucratic minutia. Others invested in protocol droids to manage regulatory aspects of starship operation, but most crews have little tolerance for the stream of inanities a dedicated protocol unit is prone to issuing. Many of these units have been found floating in space and frozen beyond repair.

Spacers operating ethically during the Imperial era find that certain destinations are restricted or that they must wait in orbit or in dock for their vessel to receive approval for data transfer. The standard for most reputable sources is to provide spatial data between 6 and 8 hours old. By the time a particular destination is validated, the information the astrogator ultimately receives may have aged to the point that the calculation is more difficult, if not impossible. For this reason, many spacefarers reach a point where they must choose between making much more costly, difficult, and time consuming excursions, giving up their operations entirely, or resorting to illegitimate means. The Rebel Alliance used a secret HoloNet channel to gather data for hyperspace travel while pirates and smugglers often purchased stolen information or kept slicers on their payroll.

After the Battle of Endor, the New Republic restored the ‘free HoloNet’ to a semblance of its former scope allowing travelers access to data that averages 6 hours old at the time of transit. Still, some information is unavailable through standard channels, either due to security concerns or because the Empire totally purged some coordinates from the collective record. Presumably, this knowledge was stored in one or more data cubes, network nodules, or intellect processors and await rediscovery.

Calculating the Route

Plotting a simple route through hyperspace to any mapped location takes about 2 minutes (time rank 4) and requires a DC 10 Technology or suitable Expertise skill check. Since no route can be used in exactly the same way twice the astrogator must have accurate data to no more than 24 hours past.  The age of the data provides a circumstance modifier to the astrogation check as shown on the table below:

AGE OF ASTROGATION DATA
DATA TIME RANK	CIRCUMSTANCE MODIFIER
9 (1 hour) or less	-5
10-11 (2-4 hours)	-2
12 (8 hours)	+0
13 (16 hours)	+2
14 (24 hours)	+5

With useable input, a navicomputer or astromech can plot a routine jump to any mapped location that will last about 6 hours (time rank 11). By accepting a -5 penalty to their skill check, an astrogator can reduce the time rank required to calculate the jump or the duration of the voyage by 1 (using both options incurs a -10 penalty). Entering a jump before all calculations are complete invites disaster, regardless of the distance to be traveled. Objects in space are constantly in motion and calculating a course with a reasonable chance of avoiding even a miniscule fraction of all of that matter is no small undertaking, even in the most routine circumstances.

If the astrogator has insufficient data, plotting the journey requires 1 hour (time rank 9) and the base difficulty for calculating the route is DC 30. Most of these jumps will end when the hyperdrive safety protocol detects a gravity mass, at which point the vessel abruptly exits hyperspace and a new route will need to be calculated. Such journeys often require multiple jumps as well as additional sublight travel to find a safe path back into hyperspace. Such journeys can take days or even weeks unless the astrogator is able to acquire new interspatial data. The astrogator can choose to take a -10 penalty to their skill check to reduce the time rank required to calculate this type of jump by 1.

Making the Jump

When the astrogator employs useful data to make a single jump and succeeds their Technology or suitable Expertise skill check, the vessel safely enters hyperspace and usually arrives at its destination approximately 6 hours later without incident. If the check fails, the astrogator has erred in plotting the journey and the gamemaster should make a DC 10 Perception check on the astrogator’s behalf to determine if they recognize the problem. If the astrogation check was made as part of a Team Check, roll for each character involved. If the jump is still made, the vessel suffers a hyperspace mishap and the time rank of the jump increases by 1 (after applying any mishap results; see Hyperspace Mishaps below).

Progress through hyperspace becomes much less formulaic when the astrogator lacks sufficient information. The gamemaster should decide how many jumps will be required to reach the destination along the present course. Three to eight jumps is typical for well known planets in areas of moderate astral density. Fewer jumps may be appropriate for a regularly travelled location in the Outer Rim, but traveling to the Core or Deep Core ‘blind’ can take 10 jumps or more no matter how close the current location is in terms of light years. Each of these jumps should have a time rank between 10 and 16 (2 hours to 4 days) and may require interspersed sublight travel, as noted above. Once out of hyperspace, it is possible to calculate a new route to the destination from the current location. Unlike making a single jump, the entirety of the journey is usually too complex to be examined and recalculated en route unless it is exceedingly lengthy. Therefore, most spacers without up to date spatial intelligence simply accept the path fate lays out for them. If the vessel’s approach brings it within the range of a short sublight distance of a major hyperlane or planet (and the astrogator notices it by reviewing the course), it may be efficacious to cut out of hyperspace and lay in a course to that area in the hopes of being able to acquire new data.

Starhopping

One method some spacers use to in an attempt to reduce overall travel time, particularly during the height of Imperial power, is to plot small jumps in a more direct route towards the intended destination. This technique is known as starhopping.

Typically, the astrogator sets a course to a location within one day’s travel through realspace to an area along a hyperlane or in the vicinity of populated system. If the route created will take longer than a few minutes to clear, the astrogator scraps it and starts anew. The astrogator will usually ask the pilot to alter the craft’s present trajectory to give the navicomputer a new starting point.

Once a suitably brief route is plotted, the pilot engages the hyperdrive while the astrogator attempts to override the hyperdrive safety (unless the protocols have been permanently deactivated already) and feed new data into the navicomputer based on the intended end point of the first starhop. The goal is for the astrogator to have new coordinates for the next jump before the first one is finished, again close to ‘safe’ areas of space and (spatially) closer the actual destination. If the resulting jump is unacceptably protracted, the astrogator can feed the navicomputer a new trajectory and try again. Depending on how long it takes to plot the next jump, the vessel may reach the first jump destination before the new coordinates are set. This is acceptable in most circumstances and makes the astrogator’s job easier as a sensitive hyperdrive or navicomputer can be confused by the influx of data received from travel at lightspeed. Still, spacers who choose to utilize this method of travel are quite comfortable with taking risks and therefore may have chosen a destination for the first hop without regard for potential dangers thus making reentry into hyperspace of the utmost concern.

Starhopping successfully can make a trek that would have taken hours last only a few minutes or can make ‘blind’ jumps take no longer than standard jumps. Most operators are content with a simple jump powered by a class 1 or better hyperdrive, but the starhopping technique allows for small operations to compensate for their inability to outfit a vessel to be competitive. It also sees military use, particularly by spies and special operations units.

The drawbacks of this technique are several. The ship either needs to be illegally modified (by removing the hyperdrive safety) or illegally operated (by bypassing the safety). A starhopper’s hyperdrive is put under enormous stress as it must make multiple jumps when other units only complete one and with little to no idle time in between. The navicomputer takes in a tremendous amount of unnecessary data and becomes sluggish and temperamental, even with regular maintenance. Worse, if the vessel is subject to inspection, it is immediately apparent that starhopping is being used. Technically, making numerous short jump to nowhere in particular is perfectly legal, but to actually benefit from starhopping suggests criminal (or rebel) behavior and invites additional scrutiny. At the very least, a known starhopper can expect to be fined for any infraction the inspector can possibly find remotely applicable. Starhoppers using an astromech often find that the unit develops quirks which continue to assert themselves after mind wiping and most aftermarket buyers will pass on any astromech known to have been used this way. Finally, each jump carries a significantly greater risk of catastrophic failure than any standard jump. Starhopping vessels regularly suffer system strain, collision damage, power leaks and so on.

Like a standard jump, the initial astrogation check is DC 10, however the astrogator has no chance to notice a course error (unless in possession of a special ability that would grant one) and the DC for any characters assisting the astrogator to notice something amiss is 20. In addition, the astrogator takes a cumulative -1 penalty for each jump beyond the first until the ship comes to a full stop. The table below provides the base difficulty class of plotting subsequent jumps during a starhop.

STARHOP DIFFICULTY BY REGION
REGION	BASE DIFFICULTY
Core	35
Colonies	30
Deep Core	40
Expansion Region	15
Inner Rim	25
Mid Rim	15
Outer Rim	10
Western Regions	15
Wild Space	40
Unknown Regions	35

As with making a blind jump, starhopping requires multiple jumps. The gamemaster should secretly determine the number of jumps required keeping in mind that denser areas of space will usually require more hopping. If at any time, the astrogator abandons the original course (if the cumulative penalty becomes prohibitive or if the ship is placed in an unexpected situation requiring evasive maneuvering, for example), the astrogator begins again and the gamemaster chooses a new target number of jumps. This number can be less than or greater than the original course depending on whether the ship is moving towards or away from the galactic core (among countless other potential factors).

STARHOP JUMP DURATION
DEGREE	TIME RANK WITH DATA	TIME RANK WITHOUT DATA
Four (Success)	3 (1 minute)	8 (30 minutes)
Three (Success)	4	9
Two (Success)	5	10
One (Success)	6	11
One (Failure)	7	12
Two (Failure)	8	13
Three (Failure)	9	14
Four (Failure)	10 (2 hours)	15 (2 days)

  

Hyperspace Mishaps

All manner of hazards await the foolhardy spacer. Whenever a jump into hyperspace is made after an astrogation miscalculation, a mishap occurs. The gamemaster should feel free impose any sort of onerous scenario as a complication but if a random outcome is desired, consult the table below. Subtract 1 from the mishap roll for each additional degree of failure achieved on the astrogation check. For example, suppose an astrogator is starhopping from Klatooine in the Outer Rim to the Core on the way to Corellia. Because there are no hyperlanes connecting these planets, the ship is required to make over a dozen jumps. The eleventh jump will take the vessel from the Expansion Region to the Inner Rim, a base difficulty of 25. Since this is the tenth starhop after the vessel initially entered hyperspace, the astrogator takes a -10 penalty to the check and rolls a total of 12, resulting in two degrees of failure. The gamemaster will roll on the hyperspace mishap and subtract 2 from the result to determine the type of mishap that befalls the ship and her crew.

HYPERSPACE MISHAPS
ROLL	MISHAP RESULT
-2	Starship collision; destroyed
-1	Starship collision; wrecked; major hull breach
0	Starship collision; wracked; minor hull breach
1	Starship collision; Damaged; hull breach possible
2	Supernova radiation; all ship traits disabled
3	Hyperdrive destroyed
4	Black hole; Toughness disabled
5	Hyperdrive cut-out and damaged
6	Major power loss; all electronics disabled
7	Corrosive gas; hull Weakened
8	One non-critical system disabled
9-11	One critical system impaired
12-13	Minor power loss; all electronics impaired
14	One non-critical system impaired
15-16	Radiation fluctuations
17-18	Off course
19-20	Hyperdrive cut-out

Starship collision; destroyed 

The vessel collides with an astral body and is destroyed. Most vessels disintegrate on impact and all characters aboard will be killed instantly.

Starship collision; wrecked; major hull breach

The vessel collides with an astral body and is wrecked. Characters may be subject to Damage depending on the vehicle’s size and the character’s location in relation to the breach (characters at the site are likely to be killed instantly and nearby characters may enter the vacuum of space). Life support continues to function. Some vessels automatically seal the breach with localized shielding, while others only have blast doors which close in the event of a breach.

Starship collision; wracked; minor hull breach

The vessel collides with an astral body and is wracked. Characters may be subject to Damage depending on the vehicle’s size and the character’s location in relation to the breach; however the breach is too small for characters to be pulled into space. Characters at the location of the breach may still face the hazards of a vacuum, at least temporarily.

Starship collision; Damaged; hull breach possible

The vessel collides with an astral body and is Damaged. If the Damage result causes the ship to become wracked, it suffers a minor hull breach as above. Wrecked ships suffer a major hull breach.

Supernova radiation; all ship traits disabled

All of the vessel’s traits are reduced to -5 and all Technology checks made by characters using onboard systems suffer a -5 circumstance penalty until the damage is repaired.

Hyperdrive destroyed

The ship has passed through an area of high astral density. The hyperdrive is damaged beyond repair and must be replaced.

Black hole; Toughness disabled

The vessel passes too close to a black hole in transit and warps the hull. The vehicle’s Toughness is -5 until repaired.

 

Hyperdrive cut-out and damaged

The hyperdrive safety activates to avoid a collision. The starship exits hyperspace instantly and the hyperdrive is useless until repaired.

Major power loss; all electronics disabled

A major power loss has occurred. The ship may have an energy leak or mynocks may have damaged the power couplings. All features relying on electronics are reduced to -5 and Technology checks made by characters using electronic systems suffer a -5 circumstance penalty until the source is located and the damage repaired. The computer systems, hyperdrive, sensors, weapons systems and more rely on electronics on most starships. Shields usually don’t rely on electronics to function, however the controls which activate them do.

Corrosive gas; hull Weakened

The starship enters an area of corrosive particles which damage the hull. The vessel is subject to a Weaken Toughness effect.

One non-critical system disabled

The starship has a close call with astral matter and one non-critical ship function is disabled. Critical functions typically include hull, life-support, magnetic and radiation shielding and propulsion. Examples of non-critical systems include computer, hyperdrive, navicomputer, sensors, shields and weapons.

One critical system impaired

The starship has a close call with astral matter and one critical ship function is impaired. Any trait associated with that function is reduced to -2 and any Technology checks made by characters using that system suffer a -2 penalty. Critical functions typically include carrying capacity (Strength), hull (Toughness), life-support, magnetic and radiation shielding and propulsion (Speed).

Minor power loss; all electronics impaired

A minor power loss has occurred. All features relying on electronics are reduced to -2 and Technology checks made by characters using electronic systems suffer a -2 circumstance penalty until the source is located and the damage repaired.

One non-critical system impaired

The starship has a close call with astral matter and one non-critical ship function is impaired. Examples of non-critical systems include computer, hyperdrive, navicomputer, sensors, shields and weapons. Any trait associated with that function is reduced to -2 and any Technology checks made by characters using that system suffer a -2 circumstance penalty.

Radiation fluctuations; time of the journey changed (up or down)

The hyperdrive performance is unexpectedly altered. The time rank of the current jump is adjusted up or down by 1. If this jump was made as part of a series of jumps or while starhopping, a new route will need to be calculated on arrival.

Off course

The current jump ends at some place other than the intended destination.

Hyperdrive cut-out

The hyperdrive safety activates to avoid a collision and the vessel drops out of hyperspace. A new route must be calculated.

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