Forward

Lately, I have noted a small revival of Star Frontiers, with several articles and rules variants. Here is my contribution-- an article I wrote several years ago to flesh out interstellar travel via 'the Void'. I hope you enjoy it. Please write TimC27@aol.com if you have any comments. Please share and enjoy.... just don't take any money, give any money, give proper attribution, etc.

Shah KRaaakkk!!! Laser light raked out form the darkness, tracing a blackened scar across the wing. The retreating assault scout, smooth and clean an instant before, now had a jagged exclamation mark of fused metal next to the name-plate of the fleeing ship. The "Moondancer" was lucky. The blast was a solid hit, but a few feet to the left, and one atomic motor would be useless slag.

"That one came damn close to making us into cut bait, Tragg" Ktree cried. The 'monkey' as usual made no attempt to hide his anger, barely containing his characteristic war-whooping. His long, spidery fingers danced over the engineering console, which now lit up with several dozen red lights insisting on attention.

"Cool year jets, you ape," came the terse response, "I got my face full 'a bogies on radar, and I don't have time for it!" Almost casually, the glossy black face-plate slid up and away from the face of the visor, and covered the name stenciled onto the plastic crown "Cap. Traggert Moldo". He squinted his already pinched eyes as he bent over to look in the hooded display of the nav' computer. His face lit up with the reflected blasts of AR's, assault rockets exploding just out of range. For the moment the dancer was safe. The 'worms' never got the first few rockets on target. Lasers were one thing, AR's another. But a few more volleys,...

Tragg peered deeper into the green terminal, watching the numbers roll by. He was almost willing the right combination to lock the astrogation fix., but for the moment he had to wait. What good would it be to jump out of a system swarming with Sathar, only to wind up lost in deep space.

Another explosion. Waves of concussive force made the welds in the 'Dancer groan. The violence of the blast meant this time it was no 'AR'.

"Torpedo's, 'Mon Capitan'," The hollow. booming voice crackled over the intercom, "Don't worry, Fool gave it a good-bye kiss." The comment ended with the familiar smack of pseudopodal lips.

"Nice going, Fool," Tragg crackled back. He felt funny saying it that way, especially when the little blob, a crack shot with the laser battery, had just saved their lives, blasting the torp moments before it struck. But after all, it was the Dral's name.

"No Fool like an old fool", Fool Bol yelled up from the gunnery deck. Urgency checked his voice, and he immediately sobered up. "Looks like her sisters are looking for revenge!"

"How many?"

"Looks to be about twelve, ..., all torpedoes."

Tragg didn't have to wait to hear the last part. His visor slid back into place, and ignoring the numbers on the nav' computer, he punched the throttle.

"We're smoking this jump, boys and blobs."

From below, came the echo-laugh, "if we can't stand the heat, let's take our fishing pole and go home, eh?"

The Yazirian engineer looked up from his console snarling. Dralasite humor and not even enough time to take a sedative before crossing that mess called The Void.

To many an adventurer in Star Frontiers, there really is not much to worry about when crossing the mysterious region of non-space non-time called the Void. It is merely a way of making short hops across and otherwise vast Cosmos. What would take years, decades, or even centuries following the laws of the relativistic universe in Real Space, can be accomplished in weeks, days, hours, even minutes in the non-relativistic universe of the Void. But should this incredible phenomenon, the very thing that makes the Star Frontiers milieu possible, be treated in such a routine manner?

Granted, making too much of the generally mundane matter of interstellar travel mundane, (that is, by Star Frontiers standards) would threaten to bog down play. But ignoring The Void leaves unanswered some serious, nagging questions.

In the Star Frontiers expansion, Knight Hawks, The Void is described as a physical reality of space apparent when a space ship accelerates to a speed of about 12 million kilometers per hour, roughly one percent of the speed of light in a vacuum. When this speed is reached, "a ship will disappear from the space known as the Universe, and enter a region called 'The Void'." This discovery was 'accidental'.

No doubt is was an accident. Every scientist, every school child, indeed every thinking human being should have been shocked by such a discovery, since no evidence had ever been even slightly hinted at in all the countless hours of experiment and observation in all of known scientific endeavor throughout time! Were this phenomenon to actually exist solely in the manner described, all matter would have long ago slipped the 'bonds' of reality and entered The Void, since the Big Bang surely propelled all matter easily beyond that speed by several orders of magnitude. Discounting that event, even common occurrences such a super-novae, super gravity, and earth-bound particle accelerators propel quantities of mass at nearly the cosmic speed limit of 180,000+ miles per second. No, indeed, jumping across The Void is a bit trickier than that.

To understand how travel across (through, over,...?) The Void is accomplished, it is necessary to understand what this region/condition is, or is not, compared to the universe of Real Space. Frontier scientists generally accept the notion of the Meta-Cosmos, a kind of super-universal theory which includes Real Space as simply one aspect of it, while the Void is simply another. The best 'model' for the Meta-Cosmos is the so-called "Stellar Ocean" model first postulated by a renowned Dralasite philosopher. According to the model, Real Space is like a four dimensional ocean surface, rippled with slow-moving waves and inexorable currents: Matter provides the substance; energy, the motion. Significant concentrations of either can cause whirlpools, breakers, and storms on this Meta-Cosmic Sea. But for every wave of Real Space, there is a subsequent trough of Non Space. It is these troughs that Spacers now refer to as the Void. By skipping across the surface of Real Space through these valleys of emptiness, much like stone skipping across water, starships can by-pass vast tracts of Real Space. Thus, faster-than-light travel is possible. But herein lies the trick-- getting the stone to skip. Common sense says that some unusual outside force must act upon the stone to make the skip possible, to cause it to enter The Void.

One answer to the problem of including such a major new factor into a Star Frontiers campaign is to ignore the problem. Another might be a bit more elegant - to include another element in the equation of Void travel-- The Transit Field.

The Transit field is a variation on the field technology basic to the frontier races. Already, they are familiar with albedo screens, gauss screens, sonic screens, stasis fields, etc. All are envelopes of various forms of energy that wholly or partially nullify their complementary forms of energy (lasers, electromagnetism, sound, particle beams, etc.). The Transit Field is most closely related to the freeze field, the relatively common temporal stasis device used by field medics to preserve the near-dead until better treatment can be administered. The freeze field was first discovered by pre-starfaring Vrusks, and later by humans. The experiments with tachyon hyperwave energy were found to slow the metabolism by taking the life force to the fringe of the time stream. Later experiments created the sub-space radio, which eventually opened up communications between Humans and Vrusk. It was the latter race, experimenting with sub-light sleeper ships employing freeze fields destined for long term colonization, that first found the Void.

The event resulting in the discovery was completely serendipitous, but for the unlucky passengers of the first Void faring ship, it was a disaster. The fateful ship was outfitted with a new, large scale freeze field, one that enveloped the entire vessel in hyperwave. Moments before the ship reached the speed of 12 million km/hr, barely a tenth of the sleeper ships ultimate speed, the chief engineer reported via sub-space radio that a malfunction had altered the field pattern of the hyperwave envelope, nullifying its stasis effect. In a garbled, barely understandable, and subsequently historic message, the engineer stated that the ship was still accelerating to meet its schedule, with the altered field effect still wrapping around the ship. Fortunately for posterity, that engineer thought the unusual effects of the damaged field interesting enough to beam a continual stream of telemetry back to the launch control base. Abruptly, just after the ship passed the mark of .01 light speed, the message ceased.

No wreckage of the ship was ever found, and none probably ever will be, since this first ever journey across The Void by a frontier race was totally unexpected. The telemetry data, however, held infinite value. Within months, the unusual field malfunction was reliably duplicated, and hundreds of remote probes equipped with it, along with sensors and subspace radio were soon launched into the uncharted Void. Eventually, the Vruskan scientists had enough information to begin limited Void transits with the first generation of Vruskan spacers on board. Thus began the modern era of the Frontier.

IN 'TRANSIT'

"Eleven point Eight, ugh..., five kloms per, Tragg," Ktree shouted, "Another minute's acceleration and we're out'a here!"

"I only hope that screwball jump circuit you rigged works" Tragg said back. "it looks like spaghetti in a blender."

The Yazirian bared his fangs in an ugly gesture that would have meant Time for you and me to step outside' to another Ape. Instead, he only growled backs "Curse your ancestors, bare-skin. Maybe you'd like to try better. It is not a fault of mine you forgot to get that old piece of junk overhauled."

'True enough' thought Tragg. But to admit it to that bloody ape was against his philosophy- 'be honest with yourself, but that's all'. His reply was a feeble, "Hey, I ran a little short this month."

Tragg would have followed up with some well-honed insult, but the torpedo explosion cut him off. It was too, too close.

"Mon Capitan," The dral's bellows voice from below came in an urgent sing-song, "we only have about twenty seconds before the worms catch the fish this time"

"Roger. We're just waiting for the speed." Tragg answered the wheezing voice with his own up-and-down tremulous tone.

"Ten seconds!"

"Roger!"

"Five,. . four,. . THREE! "

Tragg nearly screamed with joy as the velocity indicator gave him the magic twelve million kloms per hour. He could just about feel the heat of the fission engines powering the torpedoes when he engaged the jump circuit. Instantly, the cobalt-blue blanket of energy called the 'Transit Field' wrapped around the hull. Suddenly, warning signals that blazed away a second before ceased. All of the hundreds of gauges flashed their last Real Space readings, unable to make sense of the non-sense wonder realm of the Void. Through the faint bluish shimmer of the Transit Field, Tragg saw the unsettling ephemeral gray infinity. Later, when the computer switched off the field, he was going to kiss that monkey on the lips. That can of metallic spaghetti held together! They were in the Void.

The current method for generating the Transit Field is reliable even in the face of the rigors of space travel and ship-to-ship combat. The field is distributed much like the various ship wide defensive screens in common use, and is treated exactly like them in regards to malfunctions, jerry-rigging and repairs. The Transit Field generator is called a jump circuit. While not very delicate, jump circuits are still expensive, costing usually 100,000 credits to replace. Pro-rated ones from salvaged vessels cost less based on the estimated number of remaining jumps at about 1,000cr per jump.

The circuit itself consists of a delicate balance of rare earth metals in an alloy created in huge, orbiting cyclotrons. These alloys are then tightly wrapped with metallic hydrogen in a precise configuration. Electrical current pumped through this device at specific polarization patterns produces the hyperwave field, which is then shunted along conductive matrices around the hull creating the field effect. Operating the field at less than .01 light speed has no other effect than to make the ship easier to detect on energy sensors (+20 % effective range for energy sensors actively probing the ship), since substantial velocity is needed to skip across the waves of Real Space. Each 'jump circuit', as the device is often called, is guaranteed by the manufacturer for 1000 jumps (the actual number of jumps should be rolled secretly by the game master[2D10+901]). Jumps made on a worn jump circuit will either fail completely (80% chance) or result in a misjump (20% chance) as per the Knight Hawks rules. If the unit burns out, and no replacement is available, a level 5 or higher technician has a chance to jury rig a temporary jump circuit using parts from five freeze fields (roll on repair machinery with a modifier of -40%, starship engineers add +5% per level of experience). Such a makeshift circuit will be good for only one jump before its unrefined components disintegrate.

A'VOID'ING MISTAKES

The enormous complexities with regards to astrogating a starship across The Void are the reasons for the length of time an astrogator must plot even a well known course between the stars. The field can be activated effectively at any time between the speeds of 12.00 and 12.03 million kph. Subtle variations can result in longer or shorter jumps. Direction in Real Space is even more exacting, with variance from the plotted course in thousandths of a degree resulting in mis-jumps light-years from the intended destination. As stated in Knight Hawks, theories of Void transit say that practically any distance can be traversed by a starship. However, the practical limits appear to be about 30 light-years. Any jump over that distance has never been successfully attempted. The difficulty lies in the vast number of computer calculations necessary to maneuver a vessel across the undulations of the Meta-Cosmos. Computers capable of handling the incredible task have not yet been developed in the era of Star Frontiers.

Countless are the stars in the heavens, and to the poor astrogator adventuring into the unknown, countless are the risks to a good Void transit. Unusual solar activities, intense gravitational field, or even simple cosmic dust can seriously affect the accuracy of calculations when plotting new courses or when taking the risk of 'smoking the jump'. Below is a list of some disruptive phenomena and the appropriate adjustment to astrogation.

      PHENOMENON                    MISCALCULATION 
Solar Flare, Destination                 -10 
Solar Flare, Departure                   -15 
Solar Flare, Intermediate                -20            
Super Nova, Destination                  -30            
Super Nova, Departure                    -45            
Super Nova, Intermediate                 -60            
Neutron Star, Intermediate               -15            
Oort Cloud, Intermediate                 -15            
Black Hole, Destination                  -30            
Black Hole, Departure                    -60            
Black Hole, Intermediate                 -50
           

(Departure refers to the area in Real Space the starship is exiting Destination refers to the area in Real Space to which the starship is heading. Intermediate refers to the points in Real Space between the Destination and Departure points.)

Other cosmic or interstellar phenomenon can have a similar effect on the plotting of new courses and in the attempt at risk jumps. The distortion effects, however, do not necessarily mean a vessel's course affected by them will always draw the vessel to that vicinity. Once a misjump occurs, determine the outcome according to Knight Hawks rules.

"VOID" AVERSION

'Like getting your bell rung in the fun house.' Before Traggert Molds had ever dreamed of being a 'spacer' himself, his uncle, Bodius told him the sensation of passing through The Void was something like that. 'it gets you dizzy like you never been before. Sort'a like looking down the whole time while bein' hung out a window by year ankle-bones on a foggy day.'

Tragg's uncle had been a hard-core merchant 'spacer' for years. But never as a pilot. Pilots, it seemed to Tragg --who had also been a 'hand'-- had to meet the Void face-to-face. A pilot somehow had to wrestle with the beast and come to some kind of terms with it, or else go mad.

Not that it was so hard to actually travel through The Void. In fact, this was usually the smoothest part of the trip. Everything on automatic. Just let the Field do the jump, and computer tells it how long. Simple enough. No, it was how The Void messed with your mend.

Tragg had seen men go right out of theirs just moments after transit, they would sometimes just lose it. Some get giggles, becoming "Space happy" the old timer's like his uncle used to call it before the "Psych's" came up with 'VTS'. But the Void Transit Syndrome could also make a man sick as a dog, or drunk as a dry-dock spacer. Tragg had seen men weep like the Universe itself was coming to an end. Or nearly rip a vessel apart with a high-g maneuver to avoid a swarm of comets they 'swear was headed at me!' The funny thing was that The Void seldom treated anyone equally.

Now, the little Dralasite, Fool Bol, didn't mind jumping one bit. That little blob seemed to love it, in fact. He'd stand there and gaze out the portholes into the 'Great Gray Yonder', smiling the whole time.

That Vrusk, down in the hold, was another story. Tragg had begged the bug for its freeze field to fix the failing jump circuit. The response was a firm 'no'. And not just a 'no', but "Hell No!" It was a damn good medic, but there was no way it would go through a Transit without a freeze field. Said the last time it did, it was in the 'rubber room' for three month, convinced the Universe was slowly unraveling into permanent chaos. Tragg guessed that meant something like the can of worms for a jump circuit Ktree had assembled from the rest of the ships freeze fields.

Ktree was the big variable. Tragg had hoped there would be time to stick him with a sedative before the jump. About every other transit, the bellicose monkey wound go berserk, attacking the security robot with any handy piece of equipment. Last time. it was the circuit board for the sub-space radio, and it cost a few thousand credit --all of Tragg's vacation money-- to replace. Tragg laughed to himself thinking of how hard he had knocked the whooping and screeching ape on the head with the butt of his laser pistol.

"This time will be fun, too." Tragg thought, smiling wickedly as he unhitched the holster at his waist. Just then Moondancer emerged from The Void.

Potentially more disturbing to adventurers than the remote chance of mis-jump are the numerous neuro-physiological problems that can result when crossing the Void: The so-called Void Transit Syndrome, or V.T.S. Physicians and psycho-pathologists are at the time of Star Frontiers only just beginning to understand the effects of traveling through the para-dimensional Void. They have compiled some reasonably accurate data on some of the known effects of V.T.S.

For one thing, the actual perception of The Void seems to be mostly subjective. Some who have traveled across the empty gaps in the Meta-Cosmos say The Void appears as a kind of limitless gray nothingness lacking any normal sensations of spatiality and a queer, disoriented sense of the passage of time. Others report a serene whiteness beyond the windows of the ship, all the while the ships sensors indicate the last readings they received from Real Space. Occasionally, some report hearing voices, or seeing strange beings, or even feeling the presence of some dead or missing friend, companion, or relative. Most psycho-sociologists dispute these last reports as merely one aspect of V.T.S.

After traveling through the Void, occupants of a starship will all experience a brief feeling of disorientation (-10 to both DX and RS. Effects last 2D10 minutes). For most, the 'star spinners', as the effect is referred to, is the only problem they will ever experience after a Void transit. Others can suffer from more severe V.T.S., with symptoms ranging from mild anxiety, to paranoid delusions; minor nausea. to debilitating illness.

Each of the four races dominating the frontier reacts differently to the transit. Dralasites seem best adapted to the jumps, their peculiar, non-objective physique apparently providing relative resistance to the spatial/temporal displacement. Vrusk, on the other hand, generally dislike the transit. Scientists studying the physical and emotional effects of the Void believe that the Vruskan mind, with its logical, pragmatic outlook, is distraught at the nonsensical method of interstellar travel (Ironic, considering the Vrusk first discovered the Void). Vrusk tend to get depressed following jumps, some even become suicidal. The average Vrusk will take a sedative, or better yet, strap on a freeze field (Yes the freeze field still works when crossing The Void!) before transit begins (Sedative will add +30 to saving rolls when crossing the Void properly activated freeze fields will negate any effects of VTS. Sedation and freeze fields work equally for all character races.). Humans and Yazirians have a much wider range of reactions, including those the Vrusk suffer, to queasiness, euphoria, even madness.

Characters passing through The Void must roll versus their combined Intuition and Stamina. For example, a Character with an Intuition of 40 and a Stamina of 37 adds the two scores for a total of 77. Roll percentage. Roll of 77 or less indicates a save; anything over that means the character suffers from V.T.S. Any roll of 95 or higher always indicates failure to save even if the combined scores total 100 or more. Failure to save means the character has been affected by some aspect of Void Transit Syndrome. To determine which, use the following chart:

      Reaction                Human     Yazirian    Vrusk     Dralasite  
Depression, Mild              01-03      01-05      01-40       01-20      
Depression, Normal            04-08      06-11      41-60       ------     
Depression, Severe            09-11      11-12      61-80       ------     
Catatonia                     12-13     -------     81-97       ------     
Nausea, Mild                  13-20      13-22      ------      ------     
Nausea, Severe                21-27      23-27      ------      ------     
Fever/Chills                  28-30      28-30      ------      ------     
Euphoria, Mild                31-50      31-44      ------      21-50      
Euphoria, Extreme             51-60      45-49      ------      51-75     
Intoxication                  61-80     -------     ------      76-87     
Hallucination                 81-86      50-64      ------      88-92     
Battle Rage                   87-89      65-94      ------      ------    
Dream Trance                  90-100     95-100     98-100      93-100
    

• DEPRESSION, MILD. Characters suffering from this symptom are only slightly down in the mouth. the feeling is similar to losing your favorite pair of sunglasses.
• DEPRESSION, NORMAL. A vague sense of purposelessness, Reaction times are slower
• (- 1D10 to RS score). Drugs, hypnotherapy, or a combination represent the common and usually effective treatment.
• DEPRESSION, SEVERE. Electroshock, heavy sedation, and/or extensive psychotherapy are typical treatments. Without treatment, severe and lasting trauma may result. The character will weep continuously in heavy sobs (Vrusk characters will secrete mucous from their breathing holes). Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, and Reaction Speed are all lowered 1D10. Furthermore, the character must make a save versus Intuition or become suicidal. The effect lasts up to one week.
• CATATONIA. Characters suffering from catatonia will be absolutely immobile. He or she will stare blankly into space, will not take food or water and must be force-fed, or fed intravenously. Electroshock treatments, if administered by a Psycho-sociologist, may bring a character up to a state of Severe Depression, which may then be treated accordingly.
• NAUSEA, MILD. This effect results in a sour, uncomfortable stomach. subtract 1D5 from Physical Strength and Reaction Speed. Usually, the effect last 1D5 hours. Standard motion sickness drugs available in most well-stocked sick bays will eliminate any discomfort.
• NAUSEA, SEVERE. Victims are subject to bouts of vomiting. Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, and Reaction Speed all drop 1D5+2 points. The effects last 1D5 hours, then 1D5 hours of mild nausea follow. A medical specialist must properly diagnose and administer drugs to lower the severity to mild nausea.
• FEVER/CHILLS. Flu-like symptoms, starting with mild faintness, which rapidly progresses within three hours to full effect. The character will break out in sweats, alternating with chills, slipping in and out of consciousness. Stamina points are reduced to 10, while all other ability scores are dropped to 2/3rds normal, making this the most devastating form of VTS. Reports have listed a few deaths from this ravaging symptom. There is a 10% chance characters will die from this, if no adequate medical facilities are on board ship. Stay dose or freeze fields, properly used by a medical specialist, can preserve the near-dead victim until the effects dissipate in 1D10 days.
• EUPHORIA, MILD. Character is overly happy, even jubilant regardless or the circumstances. The character's Intelligence drops by 1D10, while his or her bravado seems to rise proportionately. This is the mild manifestation of the syndrome referred to as going "Space Happy". A brief hypnotic session can correct this symptom, which will otherwise go away in 1 Do hours.
• EUPHORIA, EXTREME. The lucky(?) character who enters this jovial frame of mind is subject to rampant giggling, an overly bright outlook, and bouts of "Yippy-yi-yo-ing", all this in spite of the fact that all of his or her companions are wrenching, sobbing, or dying. He or she will get rid of anything that seems even mildly saddening (including the shackles on dangerous prisoners!). Generally, the Intelligence of a truly 'Space Happy' goon will be 1D10. This effect lasts 2D10 hours. Immediate sedation followed by hypnotherapy can bring the character to a state of mild euphoria within 2D20 turns.
• INTOXICATION. For some unexplained reason, some Humans and Dralasites will experience an effect almost identical to extreme drunkenness. They will become dizzy, lack sensory focus, talk loudly, even pass out at the controls of the ship. Subtract 1 D5+3 from Intelligence and Dexterity subtract 2D10 from Reaction Speed. The effects last 3D5 hours, with a doozy of a hangover to follow!
• HALLUCINATION. This is a purely psychological effect. The victim will have any number of strange and diverse perceptual illusion: Visual, audible, scent, touch, or taste. The actual hallucination will seem real, but can be doubted if the character makes an Intelligence check. Examples include such things as seeing a meteor swarm outside the ship, hearing some huge beast roaring below decks, or even watching a dozen cooked turkeys dance tango's on the bridge. These hallucinations will persist for 3D10 turns. After that, if other players have not yet convinced the character of his delusion, reality will become evident.
• BERSERK BATTLE RAGE. With a few exceptions, Yazirians are alone in being subject to this effect. The manifestation apparently focuses upon those neural centers associated with the Yazirian battle rage capability (and in rare cases with humans who seem to share the same fixated hatred upon a person or group). Afflicted characters perceive someone or something on-board ship as their life enemies or the object of fixated hate, and immediately attack with whatever means handy. The character will fight blindly, ignoring his own or others safety until he succeeds in slaying the foe, being himself slain, or being subdued. Yazirians gain a battle rage bonus of +25 for facing this 'final enemy'. Once subdued, attempts at reason will be successful, if reasonably approached (The game master should encourage a role played solution to this problem). Characters attempting to reason should make carefully stated, delicate overtures, and roll a Personality check at -10, because of the enraged state of the berserker. The effects can last up to 1D10 turns before wearing away.
• DREAM TRANCE. This is perhaps the most unusual and difficult to explain of any VTS symptom, perhaps because it is so rare, and its effects so unsettling. Characters experiencing this phenomenon often claim to have been visited by some dead or long-forgotten friend, companion, or family member. The reports often say the images are substantial, realistic, and present fully detailed impressions of past experiences and emotions. Occasionally, some who have experienced the 'dream' say the vision presented to them otherwise unknowable information, such as circumstances surrounding their death or disappearance, fore-warnings of unforeseen problems, etc. To date, no scientist has adequately explained these disturbing occurrences, since occasionally the vision appears to be eerily accurate. However, no lack of religious figures, legitimate and sham, point to the dream trance as proof of the existence of their beliefs. Some believe the occurrences are actually the souls of the departed or the out of body consciousness of unknown persons. These explanations gained credence as a result of the reports that Admiral Morgaine was twice visited by his dead brother's spirit during a void transit. Following both instances, Morgaine lead the UPF forces in stunning victories in the First Sathar War.

These are only the officially identified effects of VTS. Scientists studying the phenomena are only beginning to understand and prevent the disorders. However, these efforts remain experimental and not commonly available. But who is to say a few less-honorable types might not sell some latter day version of snake oil.

As a rule, machinery is unaffected by Void transit. However, there is a 5% chance that unusual conditions of a jump may cause a system failure if such a malfunction is indicated, roll percentage dice again, consulting the following chart:

 Malfunction                  Roll
Robot Malfunction              01-50
    
Computer Malfunction           51-95
    
Other Malfunction              95-100
  

 

• ROBOT MALFUNCTION: 1D5 robots are affected with a random software malfunction, consult the Star Frontiers rules to determine malfunction and remedy. No special plusses or minuses are encountered for transit-related malfunctions.
• COMPUTER MALFUNCTION: Result means 1D5 programs have been damaged. Damage can, of course, cause hardware destruction and threaten life and limb. Roll D10 to determine program damaged. Damaged programs can be replaced by a backup or must be repaired using a Computer Specialist Manipulate Program Skill.

  Program                        1D10
   Drive                          1-2
   Astrogation                      3
   Life support                   4-5
   Weapons                          6
   Damage Control                   7
   Security                         8
   Communications                   9
   Miscellaneous                   10
        

• MISCELLANEOUS MALFUNCTION: A spaceship has onboard literally thousands of items controlled to some degree by software. This can range from the robots and computers, to the indicator lights on a laser pistol or the refrigerator controls in the galley. The latter types of problems can occasionally occur following void transit, causing all manner of headaches to player-characters. The game master should determine what effects Void transit might have on ship-board equipment. In any case, these are minor, yet perplexing effects, easily fixed by appropriate skills.