Hyper Drive question.

[Derfman]

Many MANY years ago, during the epic mythic hair band age of the 1980s, I played some Traveller and had some fun.
Picked up some books of the latest version and have a question.

On High Guard pages 79/80, it says "while in hyperspace, the spacecraft moves a number of parsecs equal to its Thrust per hour, up to a maximum of the hyperdrive’s rating."

This sentence mentions TWO very separate things and says that the drive number is the rating of ONE of them, but does not say which.

Is the Hyper Drive rating the number of HOURS a Hyper Drive can keep a ship in Hyper Space....
....or....
Is the Hyper Drive rating the maximum number of parsecs a ship can travel before re-entering normal space?

On a related question, is there any reason a ship cannot immediately re-enter Hyper Space after exiting it?
For example, assuming the rating is the max parsecs and not the number of hours in hyperspace, assuming a maneuver drive rating of 4 and a Hyper Drive rating of 1, 15 minutes in hyper space would travel 1 parsec. Any reason such a ship could not make dozens of 15 minute 1 parsecs trips in rapid succession?

 

[Vormaerin]

"Thrust" is what the Maneuver drive produces. So you move that the lower of your maneuver or hyperdrive rating.

 

[Derfman]

"Thrust" is what the Maneuver drive produces. So you move that the lower of your maneuver or hype

I did not see anything about astrogation and drive activation for hyperdrives, so assume (perhaps incorrectly) that it is the same a jump drives (a skill check plus 10 minutes to 60 minutes time for astrogation and a similar time expenditure for drive activation).

So assuming an average of 35 minutes for astrogation, and an average of 35 minutes for drive activation, and a maneuver drive 4 ship with a hyperdrive-1, so 15 minutes in hyperspace for 1 parsec travel, such a ship could, on average, travel about 16 to 17 parsecs in 24 hours (with a possible 41 parsecs with all checks being 10 minutes, or 10 parsecs if all checks take a full 60 min)?

 

[Vormaerin]

That's up to you, but there is nothing in the rules requiring an astrogation check for hyperdrives. Hyperdrive is just a way to magnify your thrust by moving through "hyperspace". You are not teleporting like with Jump Drives. You are flying the ship the whole way. It is just much, much faster.

You *can* put all that start stop stuff into your game if you want, but it doesn't really accord with any examples of hyperdrive (star wars being the most famous) and I don't see how it adds anything to gameplay.

My reading of that passage is that the hyperdrive engine is rather large and requires a fair bit of power, but otherwise you turn it on and go. You fly to your intended destination, taking an amount of time based on the lower of your M-Drive or Hyperdrive rating. The "up to your hyperdrive rating" caps your Thrust, not your distance travelled. Otherwise, the stuff doesn't make any real sense.

If you have an 1G ship with a Hyperdrive 9 vs a 1G ship with Hyperdrive 1, you are still going 1 parsec in one hour with the only difference being you have drop out of hyperspace and go back in a few times with the lower rated hyperdrive? And the same with M9 H9 vs M9 H1. You'd have to invent a rule that says you can't plot your next hyperspace move while in hyperspace or the astrogator would just be plotting them during the hour of the drive, on top of adding a cool down/warm up cycle that does not appear to be in the rules as written.

If you are modelling a hyperspace system from a particular source of fiction, go by the rules in that. But the HG version seems to be Star Wars derived and doesn't have any such restrictions that I can see.

Somewhat weirdly, in Star Trek (using warp drive) you have folks "laying in a course" (aka astrogating) despite moving in real space, while I don't recall anyone ever plotting a course before going into Hyperspace (which is not the real world) in Star Wars. *shrugs*

 

[CordwainerFish]

while I don't recall anyone ever plotting a course before going into Hyperspace (which is not the real world) in Star Wars.

"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"

 

[Derfman]

I also don't see anything in Hyperdrives about the 100 radius distance from planets and such, but I assume (again, perhaps incorrectly) that it applies.

So, if a hyperdrive needs no activation time or astrogation time, then.....
Without adding time for astrogation or drive activation, a hyperdrive ship could do 24 parsecs a day for every point of rating of the Maneuver drive (so maneuver drives 2 would do 48 parsecs, MD 3 would do 72, etc...). Hyperdrive rating would be irrelevant for daily distance traveled, and would only affect how many times you have to re enter normal space.

From a purely game play perspective astrogation time, and especially drive activation time add some peril to dangerous space. If reduced to zero, especially drive activation time, turning on the drive becomes a sort of 'get out of peril free card'.

I was hoping I had missed a paragraph somewhere on the use of such drives, but looks like I might not have.

 

[Vormaerin]

That's pretty much how it works. I've never seen or read any hyperspace themed media where the ship had to stop in the middle of nowhere repeatedly or where travel time is noticeably relevant. You may also notice that space folding drives specifically state that they are treated as jump drives, just with instantaneous transport.

That said, you certainly don't need to follow the rules as written. Exotic tech rules exist so you have a basis for developing your own system. That includes not being limited to the restrictions on Jump Drive. But if you like them, use them.

"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"

Okay? Not that anyone was ever shown doing those calculations. Maybe Chewie was doing them off screen while Han was flying.

 

[MasterGwydion]

"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova, and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"

You beat Me to it! lol Well done Sir!

 

[MasterGwydion]

I've never seen or read any hyperspace themed media where the ship had to stop in the middle of nowhere repeatedly or where travel time is noticeably relevant.

Stargate: Atlantis. The Wraith Hyperdrives required periodically stopping in the middle of nowhere, but that is a rare exception due to their hyperdrives being less efficient and them being "living ships"

 

[Alqualonde]

Okay? Not that anyone was ever shown doing those calculations. Maybe Chewie was doing them off screen while Han was flying.

As far as I know, it was the navigation computer. The movie 'Solo' explains how and why (not going to spoil it here). But it is not something all ships can do.
For the X-Wings, the calculations are premade & stored in the droid (like a Vilani Jump Tape).
But you are right, in Star Wars it is never done onscreen (unless as a plot element).