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by [[Andrew Modro]]

Travel between star systems at speeds greater than light
is a staple of science fiction. Without the ability to transcend
the speed of light, travel between even the closest
stars takes years. In a place like the Frontier, FTL
(Faster-Than-Light travel) is absolutely essential.

The STAR FRONTIERS game treats FTL in a very abstract
manner, especially in the Alpha Dawn rules. Knight
Hawks attempts to add a bit of flavor, but also confuses
the issue when compared to Alpha Dawn. The purpose of
this article is to examine interstellar travel and to provide
flavor options for Alpha Dawn and Knight Hawks games
that can be used without altering the rules as presented.

==The Vast Deep==
Space is big -- ask any Douglas Adams fan how big it is
for an entertaining answer. Light, the fastest thing in the
cosmos, takes years to traverse the cold dark between the
stars. Galaxies are tens or hundreds of thousands of
light-years across, and lie millions of light-years apart.
The observable universe itself is many billions of light years
wide.

Science tells us that nothing can travel faster than light.
To travel from one star system to another would take
many years. Even with incredibly powerful futuristic rockets,
a slower-than-light ship would spend years
accelerating ever closer but never completely up to the
speed of light, then more years turning over and decelerating
after the halfway mark. The "Inhibitor Universe"
novels of Alastair Reynolds and Vernor Vinge's "A Deepness
in the Sky" present excellent views of space opera in
which light speed is never broken, and the consequences
of that limitation.

But many are willing to believe that a way can be found to
circumvent this cosmic "speed limit". Science fiction is full
of faster-than-light travel of many wondrous varieties,
from "warp speed" and "hyperspace" to "space folding",
"wormholes" and "slipstream drive". Eventually we may
discover a real-world method for getting around the limitation
of light speed. In the meantime, we can dream.

The STAR FRONTIERS game touches on FTL only in brief.
The Alpha Dawn rules only mention how fast FTL is, and
do not describe how it is achieved. The Knight Hawks set
does offer an explanation -- a unique method invoking the
Void -- but does not sit easily with the Alpha Dawn explanation.
This is more of an opportunity than a difficulty,
however. Each GM is free to explain, in as much detail as
she wishes, just how FTL is achieved in the Frontier.

==FTL in Alpha Dawn==
Alpha Dawn is quite specific about FTL. The rules state
that travel between star systems takes one day for every
light year of distance -- and that's all they say. What
method are the starships using? Is it classic hyperspace?
Space-time warping fields? Extra dimensional wormhole
tunneling? Quantum foam sliding? We are not told. This
leaves the door wide open for the GM's imagination and
personal tastes. A few options are examined here.

===Hyperspace===
[[File:VoidTravel.png|300px|right]]
The most classic FTL method in all of science fiction,
hyperspace invokes a set of dimensions lying "parallel" to
our physical universe. In this different space, distances
between locations are warped or condensed, allowing a
ship to traverse great distances in the real universe while
moving much less in hyperspace, much like a grand cosmic
"shortcut".

Hyperspace traditionally touches all points in our physical
universe, but access can be limited by such things as
gravity wells around large bodies like stars or giant planets,
or by the necessity for powerful "jump gates"
containing machinery much too large for starships to carry
in their hulls.

Many variants of the hyperspace concept exist. For example,
in some hyperspace concepts, ships can roam
freely within the extra dimensional space, while in others
they are restricted to prescribed routes due to navigational
hazards (gravity wells, fluctuating distortion rates,
strange alien inhabitants...) In some variants, "hyperspace"
is a kind of infinite void in which nothing exists
outside the ship.

Examples of science fiction using hyperspace are too numerous
to encompass. The most famous is, of course,
Star Wars, in which ships can cross an entire spiral galaxy
in mere days.

Using hyperspace with Alpha Dawn is simple. The "one
day per light-year" rule becomes an average cruising
speed for ships in hyperspace. Some ships could be much
faster, such as couriers and powerful small military warships.
Some could be slower, such as heavy freighters or
old junkers. Alpha Dawn games would likely use a version
of hyperspace in which ships generally ply well established
routes. Deviating from these explored courses
could be possible, but would require great computational
power and a lot of courage.

===Space Folding===
[[File:SmallStarship.png|300px|right]]
This concept turns hyperspace on its ear. Instead of traveling
through an extra dimensional space just as it would
through normal space, a ship using folding tech breeches
space-time to connect two distant points, making a temporary
bridge with no real distance at all!

This concept is related to the idea of wormholes. Wormholes
are a kind of "space subway tunnel", slipping
through dimensions outside our own normal
space to bridge two different points.
Space folding can be considered a kind
of controlled wormhole generation.

Examples of science fiction
using space folding are Frank
Herbert's "Dune" novels, in
which powerful psionics
bend space-time to jump
great heighliners across
interstellar distances, as well as
the classic Americanized Japanese animation series "Robotech".
The first series of "Robotech" even shows us
what can happen when space folding goes wrong.

Alpha Dawn can also make use of space folding quite easily.
The time of one day per light year becomes applied to
the incredibly complex computations required to plot the
"fold jump". No mere organic mind could possibly hope to
complete the computations for a single light-year jump in
less than a lifetime.

===Catapult===
A major twist on the hyperspace concept, a hypercatapult
literally flings a ship through extra dimensional space on a
carefully-plotted route. The ship cannot control its flight
until it reaches the end of its journey and re-emerges into
normal space.

The requirement for a stationary device to fling a ship
across the light-years poses interesting restrictions beyond
the normal hyperspace concept. What happens if a
ship arrives at a point where there are no catapults to
send it back? Can catapults be carried with ships and
constructed on-site? Can catapults be "aimed" or are they
linked in pairs? Can ships be "armed" with catapults that
they can use to fling other ships away?

The use of catapults in Alpha Dawn games introduces an
element of complex uncertainty that the core game does
not normally include. GMs wishing to keep the game light
and simple will probably not want to use this technology,
but those looking for deeper flavor may wish to investigate
all of the possibilities.

===Jump Gates===
Or JUMP POINTS or FIXED WORMHOLES: These variants
are notable more for the idea of a fixed and controllable
"entry point" than for the actual method of FTL. In each
variant, ships must journey to a set location to make use
of the FTL technology.

Jump gates, such as those seen in "Babylon 5", and jump
points, such as in the "Starfire" military space opera novels,
offer fixed points of entry into hyperspace. Entry into
hyperspace may (B5's more powerful ships) or may not
(ships in the Starfire universe) be possible outside of
these fixed points. Jump gates are actual constructions
which tear open a hole into hyperspace, while jump points
are natural rifts in space.

Fixed wormholes, such as those in David
Weber's "Honor Harrington" novels
(which also use "normal"
hyperspace), provide fixed
points of entry into instantaneous-
transit
wormhole "tubes". They
resemble jump points,
except transit through them
is usually instantaneous.

==FTL in Knight Hawks==
In contrast to Alpha Dawn, Knight Hawks presents a concrete
and rather unique method of FTL. The basic concept
revolves around the Void, an infinite gap of nothingness
through which ships may move at incredible speeds. The
difference in KH's FTL method lies in how the Void is accessed.

In KH, ships achieving one percent of light speed (0.01c,
or 299,792.458 meters per second) cross over from the
physical universe into the Void, where their effective
speeds are multiplied because the distances between
points are contracted. Slowing below this speed drops a
ship back into normal space.

We are not told how this happens, however. KH tells us
this is a "unique reality of space", and nothing more.
While this is perfectly acceptable for a light, simple space
opera, it won't take long before inquisitive characters --
and players -- begin poking their noses into the matter.
As well, GMs can always use more options, and an examination
of the situation provides many possibilities.

This section deals purely with Knight Hawks, the Void, and
the "slip" that occurs at 1% of light speed, giving possible
explanations for why the slip occurs and what can be done
with it.

<div style="border: thin solid black; background:#eeeeee; width: 50%; padding: 0 5px; float:right; margin:0 0 0 5px;">
Editor’s note: It always bothered me that in Alpha Dawn
rules, any ship traveling at .01C was instantly transported
to void-space. What about photons? They
travel much faster, yet remain in this reality. This article
is an excellent discussion on the topic, and I’m
curious how YOU handle FTL in your campaigns. Send
me an email and I’ll post your methods in the Questions
& Answers article in an upcoming issue.
</div>

===Strange Physics===
This basic method utilizes the assumptions presented by
KH and does not go beyond them. The "slip" is an unknown,
almost totally unknowable event that will continue
to baffle physicists forever. Ships reaching 1% of light
speed slip into the Void, and that's that.

While this method offers little in the way of even technobabble,
it is undoubtedly the easiest of all possible
methods, and is still perfectly valid depending on the tone
of your game.

===Void Engines===
This method comes close to altering the game, but also
provides a ready explanation for the effect as well as the
ubiquitous overhaul requirement for ships traveling between
star systems. Rather than a physical property of
the universe, this method implies the use of a special, expensive
and cantankerous piece of technology called a
Void engine.

A Void engine bends and then breaks space-time, violating
understood physics to shift a ship from "realspace"
into the Void. It requires phenomenal power, meaning it
can only be mounted on a starship of a certain size, and
demands exquisite care in the form of overhauls. The
strange realities of the Void require that a ship be traveling
at least 1% of light speed before the Void engine can
push the ship out of realspace and into the Void itself --
the exact reasoning can be left up to you as a GM, if you
have a mind for technobabble.

Void engines are expensive beyond the ability of any normal
PC to purchase. This enforces the STAR FRONTIERS
trope of characters requiring passage from system to system
instead of gallivanting about the Frontier on their
own.

===Void Rifts===
Combining the "strange physics" explanation with the concept
of "hyperspace lanes", this concept posits that certain
lanes of space-time between stars are weak. Ships traveling
along these lines can actually break through into the
void if they push hard enough, but they are restricted to
these paths. The physics of the Void still "kick out" any
ship traveling less than 0.01c. Perhaps the Void is misnamed
and isn't really empty at all.

GMs wishing to keep the simplicity of the basic KH explanation
while adding a bit of modern believability can easily
make use of this method.

==Combining Alpha Dawn and Knight Hawks==
The most common setup used in games that combine Alpha
Dawn and Knight Hawks rules utilizes the KH
explanation that almost all the time required for a voyage
is spent accelerating and decelerating. This directly contradicts
the AD explanation that voyage time is based on
distance, however, because KH states that only a few seconds
are spent in the Void and it would always take the
same amount of time to accelerate to 1% of light speed
for a given ship.

Reconciling these two contradictory setting elements requires
some creative tap-dancing, but is not impossible.

===Warped Time===
The simplest reconciliation between the two is that while a
Void jump takes only a few seconds for those aboard the
ship, in normal space the jump takes the stated Alpha
Dawn time of one day per light-year. This presents a
great advantage in shipping time-sensitive things like
wounded or perishable foodstuffs, but does nothing for
those waiting in realspace for the ship to arrive.

===Be Prepared===
In this variant the nightmarishly difficult calculations for a
Void jump take days, even for the most powerful computers.
Every light year adds many hours to the
necessary calculation time for a safe jump. These calculations
are begun well before the ship begins its acceleration
and are usually completed just as the ship reaches "slip"
velocity.

===Hop, Skip and Voidjump===
In addition to the torturous hyper mathematics necessary
to plot a Void jump route, it could be that a single Void
jump isn't nearly long enough to take a ship from system
to system. Each jump could cover as little as a light-year,
and calculations for each jump would have to be made "on
the fly". The ship would spend most of its time on the
route in normal space, hanging between the stars and
cruising, making calculations for its next hop through the
Void.

==Inspirational Materials==
The author recommends the following for those interested
in various presentations of FTL travel in science fiction:
* Babylon 5 (Jump gate hyperspace)
* Star Trek (Space-warping allowing FTL motion)
* Star Wars (Classic hyperspace, including laborious calculations)
* The "Honor Harrington" novels by David Weber (multilayer hyperspace and wormhole tech)
* The "Starfire" military space opera novels by David Weber and Steve White (jump point-reliant hyperspace)
* Robotech (my introduction to the "space fold" idea)
* Angelmass, by Timothy Zahn (my introduction to the hyperspace catapult)
* The "Inhibitor Universe" novels by Alastair Reynolds (no FTL; an attempt to achieve FTL goes horribly wrong; cryosleep and time dilation ahoy!)
* A Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge (more non-FTL space opera)
* A Fire Upon the Deep, also by Vernor Vinge (an odd universe where FTL is possible only if one travels far enough away from the galactic core; technically the same universe as Deepness)

Technical Journal: FTL Travel - Revision history

Terl obar: Created page with ' Top:Star Frontiersman main page | Up: Star Frontiersman Issue 4 main index | Up: [[Technical Jou…'

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