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Old 06-10-2021, 03:08 PM   #1
madhopper50
 
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Default WARP Drive

Trying to use WARP engines, but there really are not many rules on how to use them. Are there any house rules for their use?
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Old 06-10-2021, 03:17 PM   #2
DangerousThing
 
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Default Re: WARP Drive

How do you want your drive to work?

The jump drive is designed to get the players to interact with people at the systems where the ship goes. You have to refuel, perhaps find cargo or a job.

The standard warp drive can go to different systems without having to stop at these intermediate systems.

You will have to figure out how you want things to work. But Traveller economics is strongly based on the jump drive.
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Old 06-10-2021, 03:53 PM   #3
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: WARP Drive

The question might better be placed in the general GURPS forum. Traveller uses only jump drives. There might be a player that wanted to substitute a warp drive in Traveller, but there are certainly some people in the GURPS forum that have used one, and might have useful observations.

Speaking of which, you could perhaps use the warp drive rules in GURPS Starships. That might call for rebuilding all the classic Traveller ships in Starships terms (which has probably been done :)).

Out of sheer laziness, I'd be inclined not to change the stats for the drive module (price, volume, etc).

How fast did you want your warp ships to go? The Traveller setting is fairly dependent on slow communication speed (usually 1-2 parsecs per week; no more than 6, and no more than 4 commonly available). I'd be loathe to use a faster drive, as that travel delay is the excuse for lots of things (anything from the Imperial neo-feudal structure to PCs being able to actually flee when need be).

What is it about the usual jump drive that you're trying to avoid? (I started wondering because as soon as I wrote the comment about speed, I realized there's not a whole heck of a lot of difference between a "warp drive" that travels at 2 pc/week and a "jump drive" that travels at 2 pc/week, other than the ability to change your mind and turn around in mid-flight. The lines connecting systems on the maps in Traveller are busier trade routes, not a fixed network of all valid jump paths.)
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Old 06-10-2021, 03:57 PM   #4
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Default Re: WARP Drive

[QUOTE=DangerousThing;2383627]How do you want your drive to work?

The jump drive is designed to get the players to interact with people at the systems where the ship goes. You have to refuel, perhaps find cargo or a job.

The standard warp drive can go to different systems without having to stop at these intermediate systems.

You will have to figure out how you want things to work. But Traveller economics is strongly based on the jump drive.[/

A ship could still stop at the intermediate systems. Warp drives still need fuel per the small amount of rules in the Core Rules. I just want to do some Star Trek style scenarios.
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Old 06-11-2021, 01:15 AM   #5
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Default Re: WARP Drive

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Originally Posted by madhopper50 View Post
A ship could still stop at the intermediate systems. Warp drives still need fuel per the small amount of rules in the Core Rules. I just want to do some Star Trek style scenarios.
A ship with a warp drive *could* stop at the intermediate systems, but it doesn't have to.

This makes it almost impossible to blockade a border. It changes a lot of the politics and naval strategies.

What sort of scenarios require a warp drive?
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Old 06-11-2021, 01:36 AM   #6
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Default Re: WARP Drive

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
The question might better be placed in the general GURPS forum. Traveller uses only jump drives.
With the exception that with Mongoose Traveller 1e, there are rules for Warp and Hyper drives included, in addition to the standard Jump drives. Which is probably where this is coming from at a guess.
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Old 06-11-2021, 05:37 AM   #7
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Default Re: WARP Drive

From Mongoose Traveler: "Warp Drive: Warp Drive: The ship warps space around it, allowing it to move faster-than-light while staying in our universe. A warp drive does not have a maximum range – instead, the ship’s drive rating indicates the number of parsecs crossed per week of travel. Warp travel consumes fuel at twice the normal rate for the ship’s power plant rather than needing a single massive expenditure in the manner of a Jump drive."
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Old 06-11-2021, 07:39 AM   #8
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: WARP Drive

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Originally Posted by sjard View Post
With the exception that with Mongoose Traveller 1e, there are rules for Warp and Hyper drives included
Thanks! I never picked up Mongoose, and one of my friends that was interested in it never mentioned that it had alternate drive techs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DangerousThing View Post
A ship with a warp drive *could* stop at the intermediate systems, but it doesn't have to.

This makes it almost impossible to blockade a border. It changes a lot of the politics and naval strategies.
The same is true of the standard Traveller jump drive. You have to defend in depth six parsecs deep since the enemy fleet might appear anywhere. In fact, jump drive makes border defense harder, since there's no way (that I remember) to detect or intercept a ship in jumpspace. The warp drive ship might be, depending on how that's defined. (Star Trek warp drive, yes; Larry Niven hyperdrive, no.)

Last edited by Anaraxes; 06-11-2021 at 07:43 AM.
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Old 06-11-2021, 10:46 PM   #9
DangerousThing
 
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Default Re: WARP Drive

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Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
The same is true of the standard Traveller jump drive. You have to defend in depth six parsecs deep since the enemy fleet might appear anywhere. In fact, jump drive makes border defense harder, since there's no way (that I remember) to detect or intercept a ship in jumpspace. The warp drive ship might be, depending on how that's defined. (Star Trek warp drive, yes; Larry Niven hyperdrive, no.)
I use rules which make it difficult to jump into empty space. A gravity well is a lot easier to aim for. Trying to aim for an empty hex is a -6 modifier, and doubles the uncertainty time for a jump. Since militaries like to use formations, this makes it more difficult to keep a fleet together. Therefore, only the critical systems are strongly defended. Also, I only have drives up to J4 in use.

GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars uses something similar.

I also use jumpflash, which is em radiation emitted when a ship enters or exits jump space. Its louder when a ship exits. It is possible to jump such that the majority of this flash shines away from the system you are entering, but this is a -4 to the navigation roll. One can minimize the flash with -3 piloting roll.

The consequences of this is that fleets are loud and tend to move in fairly predictable patterns. If they are moving fast, they need to jump to systems with easy refueling. So, if the defense can protect any major refueling points, they can stop a fleet.
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Old 06-14-2021, 06:24 AM   #10
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Default Re: WARP Drive

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Originally Posted by madhopper50 View Post
Trying to use WARP engines, but there really are not many rules on how to use them. Are there any house rules for their use?
I've always used rating in parsecs/week, using the same fuel as a jump drive of same rating per week of operation. This sets w1 drive to Trek Warp Factor 6, w2 around TOS TWF 7.5, and w3 is well in excess of TOS TWF 11.

Unlike Jump, if you have J2 and are going 1Pc, you only take 3.5 days and use half your fuel load.

Computers including warp sensors increase costs by model number MCr. Detection of warp fields is 2d6+computer-range in Pc for USP Size.

This is what I used in running Trek with CT...
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