Wormhole Drive

[Tom Kalbfus]

This drive is an alternative to the Jump drive, but instead of spending 5 days in jump space, the ship spends 5 days forming a wormhole to a specific location, the players have to specify where they want to set the wormhole to, they start the wormhole drive into action growing the wormhole while the ship is in normal space. Both ends of the wormhole need to be beyond the standard 100 diameter limit for the wormhole to blossom to a usable size, but the ship can start forming the wormhole while within that distance, the wormhole just can't be expanded until the ship is beyond the 100 diameter limit. Once the wormhole has begun forming, it can only connect to that preset destination, if the PCs change their mind about where they want to go, the can destroy the current wormhole they are forming and start a new one to a different location, and the clock starts over again. Travel through the wormhole itself is instantaneous, it is just that instead of spending 5 days in Jump Space with nothing to do, you spend 5 days forming the wormhole you are about to use., but you must pick the destination at the start of the process. You can't form a wormhole without a destination and choose it later.

How do you like this idea?

 

[phavoc]

It seems to add nothing to the game setting. Spending five days in jumpspace vs. spending five days in normal space waiting for your wormhole to form. So I guess the main question would be... why?

If you use that sort of tech, then you are essentially creating jump gates. Babylon 5 used something that was a combination of the two - ships could form jump portals, or enter jump space via a gate, but the forming was near instantaneous. Though travel through jump space still took time, it just allowed for any ship to cross vast distances on it's own.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

It seems to add nothing to the game setting. Spending five days in jumpspace vs. spending five days in normal space waiting for your wormhole to form. So I guess the main question would be... why?

If you use that sort of tech, then you are essentially creating jump gates. Babylon 5 used something that was a combination of the two - ships could form jump portals, or enter jump space via a gate, but the forming was near instantaneous. Though travel through jump space still took time, it just allowed for any ship to cross vast distances on it's own.

Well that's an five extra days to have encounters, rather than spending it in jump space where you can't encounter anything. What the wormhole drive is it does two things, it creates a wormhole and stabilizes it. The wormhole is enlarged so that the ship that created it can go through, or it can hold it open so another ship can go through it, it can also use the wormhole for communication. Whatever can pass through normal space can also pass though a wormhole. The main thing is that a wormhole drive can only create and stabilize one wormhole at a time, that wormhole can only go to one place, if you want to go somewhere else other than where the wormhole leads, you have to collapse this one and create a new one. Wormholes can also be left open so you can have communication. Once you have a fully formed wormhole, you can open it and close it as many times as you want. If the ship travels within the 100 diameter limit, the wormhole is closed, but its still there, and if you go back out to the 100 diameter limit, you can open it again, and it leads to the same place it did before. This would tend to change the tactics and strategy you would use.

 

[Hopeless]

So a Jump Drive isn't a rudimentary wormhole drive?

I always saw that as opening a wormhole in space connecting the edge of space in front of their ship to the edge of another star system?

Anyone care to explain the difference?

 

[phavoc]

Well that's an five extra days to have encounters, rather than spending it in jump space where you can't encounter anything. What the wormhole drive is it does two things, it creates a wormhole and stabilizes it. The wormhole is enlarged so that the ship that created it can go through, or it can hold it open so another ship can go through it, it can also use the wormhole for communication. Whatever can pass through normal space can also pass though a wormhole. The main thing is that a wormhole drive can only create and stabilize one wormhole at a time, that wormhole can only go to one place, if you want to go somewhere else other than where the wormhole leads, you have to collapse this one and create a new one. Wormholes can also be left open so you can have communication. Once you have a fully formed wormhole, you can open it and close it as many times as you want. If the ship travels within the 100 diameter limit, the wormhole is closed, but its still there, and if you go back out to the 100 diameter limit, you can open it again, and it leads to the same place it did before. This would tend to change the tactics and strategy you would use.

So it's really more of a charging the wormhole drive, right? I guess I'm confused because I would expect whatever is creating the wormhole to have to remain stationary to create it. By your description it seems that the ship could move from the wormhole position, thus it has 5 additional days to have an encounter.

Could you provide more clarity in how it's supposed to work?

 

[PsiTraveller]

Both ends of the wormhole need to be beyond the standard 100 diameter limit for the wormhole to blossom to a usable size, but the ship can start forming the wormhole while within that distance, the wormhole just can't be expanded until the ship is beyond the 100 diameter limit. Once the wormhole has begun forming, it can only connect to that preset destination, if the PCs change their mind about where they want to go, the can destroy the current wormhole they are forming and start a new one to a different location, and the clock starts over again. Travel through the wormhole itself is instantaneous, it is just that instead of spending 5 days in Jump Space with nothing to do, you spend 5 days forming the wormhole you are about to use., but you must pick the destination at the start of the process. You can't form a wormhole without a destination and choose it later.

How do you like this idea?

Quick question: Can they pick the destination and start the drive while docked? Can they load cargo for 4 days while the Jump Drive is charging up, then move out for a day to reach the Jump point and then as soon as they are beyond the 100 Diameter limit they can jump?
This uses more power than regular Jump Drives which are only on for about an hour each Jump. This is not a huge issue since power plant energy is cheap, but it might allow adventures based on sabotaging the Wormhole drive on an enemy ship at any point in 5 days to delay the ship an extra 5 days. "Transition in 10 seconds!!" Breaker pops, the hum of the engines dopplers down as the lights flicker. "Damn, the attack fleet has to wait another 5 days. "
No hydrogen is used, so that changes a lot of logistical issues and military strategy.
Can the drive be used in empty space? If so crossing rifts is now a straight line proposition and changes the military structure completely. Sneaky rear guard Black Strikes are now guaranteed.

It is an interesting engine, and offers some good options, but I bet a lot of purists will hate it on principle.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Well that's an five extra days to have encounters, rather than spending it in jump space where you can't encounter anything. What the wormhole drive is it does two things, it creates a wormhole and stabilizes it. The wormhole is enlarged so that the ship that created it can go through, or it can hold it open so another ship can go through it, it can also use the wormhole for communication. Whatever can pass through normal space can also pass though a wormhole. The main thing is that a wormhole drive can only create and stabilize one wormhole at a time, that wormhole can only go to one place, if you want to go somewhere else other than where the wormhole leads, you have to collapse this one and create a new one. Wormholes can also be left open so you can have communication. Once you have a fully formed wormhole, you can open it and close it as many times as you want. If the ship travels within the 100 diameter limit, the wormhole is closed, but its still there, and if you go back out to the 100 diameter limit, you can open it again, and it leads to the same place it did before. This would tend to change the tactics and strategy you would use.

So it's really more of a charging the wormhole drive, right? I guess I'm confused because I would expect whatever is creating the wormhole to have to remain stationary to create it. By your description it seems that the ship could move from the wormhole position, thus it has 5 additional days to have an encounter.

Could you provide more clarity in how it's supposed to work?

The wormhole is carried around inside the wormhole drive until its ready to be used, then its projected outside and expanded or dilated so that the ship can go through it, or it can be used to send something else through, maybe a smaller ship or simply a signal. Basically what would be the Jump fuel is expended to create the wormhole, once the wormhole is created, it remains inside the wormhole drive until needed. The drive has a power consumption requirement to keep the wormhole stabilized, otherwise it has a tendency to collapse into nothing an its gone. Where ever the ship goes the wormhole goes with it, but the wormhole can only be opened to be used if it is beyond the 100 diameter limit. So in other words the ship has to be in space and far enough away from a planet to use its wormhole.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Both ends of the wormhole need to be beyond the standard 100 diameter limit for the wormhole to blossom to a usable size, but the ship can start forming the wormhole while within that distance, the wormhole just can't be expanded until the ship is beyond the 100 diameter limit. Once the wormhole has begun forming, it can only connect to that preset destination, if the PCs change their mind about where they want to go, the can destroy the current wormhole they are forming and start a new one to a different location, and the clock starts over again. Travel through the wormhole itself is instantaneous, it is just that instead of spending 5 days in Jump Space with nothing to do, you spend 5 days forming the wormhole you are about to use., but you must pick the destination at the start of the process. You can't form a wormhole without a destination and choose it later.

How do you like this idea?

Quick question: Can they pick the destination and start the drive while docked? Can they load cargo for 4 days while the Jump Drive is charging up, then move out for a day to reach the Jump point and then as soon as they are beyond the 100 Diameter limit they can jump?
This uses more power than regular Jump Drives which are only on for about an hour each Jump. This is not a huge issue since power plant energy is cheap, but it might allow adventures based on sabotaging the Wormhole drive on an enemy ship at any point in 5 days to delay the ship an extra 5 days. "Transition in 10 seconds!!" Breaker pops, the hum of the engines dopplers down as the lights flicker. "Damn, the attack fleet has to wait another 5 days. "
No hydrogen is used, so that changes a lot of logistical issues and military strategy.
Can the drive be used in empty space? If so crossing rifts is now a straight line proposition and changes the military structure completely. Sneaky rear guard Black Strikes are now guaranteed.

It is an interesting engine, and offers some good options, but I bet a lot of purists will hate it on principle.

Yep, a wormhole can be created while docked or on a planet's surface, it just can't be expanded while in a gravitational well. The ship has t take off and move beyond a certain distance from the nearest planet to expand the wormhole so it can be used.

The wormhole drive still has the range limitations of standard jump drives. The range is how far you can project the destination end of the wormhole from your current position. Another ship could perhaps capture the far end of the wormhole in its wormhole drive, but that means it can't create another wormhole with that same wormhole drive until it releases it. also passing one wormhole opening through another wormhole causes both to collapse. In order to open up the wormhole between two ships, both ships must be beyond the 100 diameter limit of their respective planets otherwise the wormhole won't open. Either ship can maneuver while carrying wormholes. So lets say one ship opens up a wormhole to another system, ad a ship there picks it up, it can travel to another part of they system with that wormhole end, it can even go slower that light to carry it to another star system, even if its beyond the limit range of the drive. The range limit is only the limit range at which the wormhole is initially created. once created, moving it further away makes no difference, so long a energy is expended to maintain the wormhole.

 

[phavoc]

The wormhole is carried around inside the wormhole drive until its ready to be used, then its projected outside and expanded or dilated so that the ship can go through it, or it can be used to send something else through, maybe a smaller ship or simply a signal. Basically what would be the Jump fuel is expended to create the wormhole, once the wormhole is created, it remains inside the wormhole drive until needed. The drive has a power consumption requirement to keep the wormhole stabilized, otherwise it has a tendency to collapse into nothing an its gone. Where ever the ship goes the wormhole goes with it, but the wormhole can only be opened to be used if it is beyond the 100 diameter limit. So in other words the ship has to be in space and far enough away from a planet to use its wormhole.

So essentially the ship can wormhole as soon as it is clear of the 100D limit, right? Using the normal Traveller process, once a ship arrives in a system it can start charging the drive. It just needs to refuel in order to create the full wormhole.

So the difference here is that there is a minimum time in-system of five days, which is currently not present. That would change things somewhat. Not a huge change, but a change nonetheless.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

It would completely wreck the 3I setting because it would cut communication speed to close to zero.

 

[PsiTraveller]

Same day delivery of news if you always had a ship warming up. 6 Courier ships per system all keep their next location ready to go. If something really important happens the information is loaded into the ship and it appears in the next system. A priority message could get across the Imperium in a few hours. There would be two week lag time for rescue, as long as there was a courier ready to go to get the word out.

 

[phavoc]

Excepting for the communication through the wormhole, it kind of sounds like a fold-space drive that (more or less) allows instantaneous travel from one point to another. Though I think the longer the distance the longer the trip in foldspace, depending on the background setting. If I recall the Robotech foldspace drives took you from point A to point B instantly.

I don't see anything wrong with it, but it would break the tenets of 3I for Traveller. It's fine for an alternate setting though.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Excepting for the communication through the wormhole, it kind of sounds like a fold-space drive that (more or less) allows instantaneous travel from one point to another. Though I think the longer the distance the longer the trip in foldspace, depending on the background setting. If I recall the Robotech foldspace drives took you from point A to point B instantly.

I don't see anything wrong with it, but it would break the tenets of 3I for Traveller. It's fine for an alternate setting though.

It would create chaos for the 3I setting, which is what would make it so much fun!
You can do some interesting stuff. the wormhole drive should have an airlock and a docking port built into it, basically if you expand the wormhole to a moderate size, such that it can still fit inside the wormhole drive, you then extend the docking port and airlock through the wormhole. At the other end of the wormhole, another ship swallows the wormhole opening into its wormhole drive, and fits its docking port to the one that extends through the wormhole, and now a person can walk into the docking port, step through a hatch, go down a corridor, and step through another hatch and not even know he walked through a wormhole.

In another scenario, imagine a fleet carrier equipped with a wormhole drive, it expands its wormhole and then moves through it, leaving a dangling wormhole in the space it previously occupied, Another fleet carrier grabs that wormhole and docks with the other fleet carrier that went through the wormhole. Now several squadrons off fighters, shuttles and mercenary cruisers take off from a nearby planet, and invasion force, they land in the first carriers docking bay, move their ships through the wormhole onto the second fleet carriers, and then launch their ships into space to invade another planet in the neighboring system, the Leader keeps tabs on the invasion by staying in contact with the fleet carrier as the ships pass into it and out the other carrier at the far end of the wormhole.

The adversary can't believe how many spaceships are coming out of that carrier, just wave after wave of fighters and landing craft are overwhelming their planetary defenses!

 

[simonh]

There's no real problem with this. Wormhole and stargate style systems are well established in SF, the only real wrinkle is the 5 day warmup time. In practice this means the optimum approach is for settled systems to have space stations maintaining wormholes continuously to common destinations. Thus travel between settled systems will be near instantaneous. Only travel to infrequently visited destinations would suffer from the 5 day delay.

So the net effect would be to have free and easy flow of people, goods and information along settled routes, but a much slower pace in unsettled territory. This extreme imbalance would lend settled worlds on a permanent wormhole network a massive advantage over systems that are not. In fact you don't even need to have a worhole drive on your ship at all to use a settled wormhole network. You could traverse it from system to system in a shuttle craft. In standard Traveller Regina has no intrinsic advantage over nearby less advanced worlds due to the travel system - a ship in jump range of either has just as much difficulty or ease getting to either. But if Regina is on the insta-wormhole network and the other planet isn't, now you can be at Regina in a few hours. In fact if there's a continuous wormhole network across a sector, you can get from one end of it to the other in a day. while a neighboring system to you off the wormhole grid is 5 days away.

Finally, away from the continuous wormhole network, you'll find ships convoying together a lot. If one ship started generating it's wormhole to your destination a few days ago, better to pay them a fee to use their wormhole once it's up than generate your own. You'll also find a lot of non-starships without wormhole drives also tagging along with starships with them. In fact even away from the permanent grids, most of the ships plying interstellar routes still might not actually be starships themselves, until you get far out into the hinterlands.

This is a really interesting dynamic, but the massive advantages of being on the wormhole grid will massively skew the economic and strategic situation compared to baseline Traveller and generally would make interstellar travel far cheaper and easier than Traveller assumes.

Simon Hibbs

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

There's no real problem with this. Wormhole and stargate style systems are well established in SF, the only real wrinkle is the 5 day warmup time. In practice this means the optimum approach is for settled systems to have space stations maintaining wormholes continuously to common destinations. Thus travel between settled systems will be near instantaneous. Only travel to infrequently visited destinations would suffer from the 5 day delay.

So the net effect would be to have free and easy flow of people, goods and information along settled routes, but a much slower pace in unsettled territory. This extreme imbalance would lend settled worlds on a permanent wormhole network a massive advantage over systems that are not. In fact you don't even need to have a worhole drive on your ship at all to use a settled wormhole network. You could traverse it from system to system in a shuttle craft. In standard Traveller Regina has no intrinsic advantage over nearby less advanced worlds due to the travel system - a ship in jump range of either has just as much difficulty or ease getting to either. But if Regina is on the insta-wormhole network and the other planet isn't, now you can be at Regina in a few hours. In fact if there's a continuous wormhole network across a sector, you can get from one end of it to the other in a day. while a neighboring system to you off the wormhole grid is 5 days away.

Finally, away from the continuous wormhole network, you'll find ships convoying together a lot. If one ship started generating it's wormhole to your destination a few days ago, better to pay them a fee to use their wormhole once it's up than generate your own. You'll also find a lot of non-starships without wormhole drives also tagging along with starships with them. In fact even away from the permanent grids, most of the ships plying interstellar routes still might not actually be starships themselves, until you get far out into the hinterlands.

This is a really interesting dynamic, but the massive advantages of being on the wormhole grid will massively skew the economic and strategic situation compared to baseline Traveller and generally would make interstellar travel far cheaper and easier than Traveller assumes.

Simon Hibbs

It also makes democracy possible, the Imperium isn't a democracy, it also allows stellar nations to get much larger since the communications time is less, however to travel large distances, you do have to pay a lot of tolls, because there would be many gates to pass through, the gate range limits are from 1 to 9 parsecs, more commonly from 1 to 6. Each gate uses up the equivalent of jump fuel for the size of the ship that is passing through it, to go 9 parsecs for instance would require an amount of fuel equivalent to 90% of he hull volume in liquid hydrogen, of the ship passing through the gate, such a wormhole drive would be part of a space station at the 100 diameter limit, Starships themselves would have wormhole drives rated from 1 to 6 parsecs, this sort of campaign lends itself well towards exploration. It is interesting to speculate what happen if this drive were invented in the OTU, perhaps by someone in the Solomani Confederation, just think of the temptations that would arise there.

 

[simonh]

What is the reason for the hydrogen cost to using the wormhole?

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

What is the reason for the hydrogen cost to using the wormhole?

Hydrogen is fuel for the fusion reactor which powers the creation of the wormhole. I'll assume the drive comes with a fusion reactor built in for simplicity, it is a special purpose fusion reactor designed to channel the energy created by the fusion of hydrogen into helium into the creation of the wormhole. The energy goes toward "splitting the vacuum" into positive and negative energy/mass, this process is energy intensive. The positive energy is used to curve space inward, the negative energy is used to prop open the throat of what otherwise would be a black hole. The energy input requirement is used to keep the positive and negative energy separate so they don't merge and cancel each other out, and this allows the wormhole to continue to exist. Without this energy input, the wormhole collapses back into the vacuum from which it came and is gone.