Transportation

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

This section is dedicated to the rules around travel and to help the GM plan games that involve trekking large distances. For the buying/selling/modding of different forms of transportation visit the Vehicles or the Space Ships page.

Planetary Transportation

Traveling planetside can involve all sorts of things in a Sci-Fi setting. From having a in-orbit ship transport Characters across the surface to hoover cars zipping across the barren landscape. It can also mean simply walking around an alien forest exploring its hidden secrets under the foliage.

Walking/Swimming/Climbing

Simply put the old fashion way. Manual propulsion through space/time. In combat a character is already in a state of an x2 run speed of 30ft per 3 seconds. There is also a sprint speed of x4 which takes a full-round action.

Table: Movement and Distance using Base Speed
Base Speed	15 Feet	20 Feet	25 Feet	30 Feet
One Round (Combat)
Walk	15ft	20ft	25ft	30ft
Run (x2)	30ft	40ft	50ft	60ft
Sprint(x4)	60ft	80ft	100ft	120ft
One Minute
Walk	150ft	200ft	250ft	300ft
Run (x2)	300ft	400ft	500ft	600ft
Sprint(x3)	450ft	600ft	750ft	900ft
Sprint(x4)	600ft	800ft	1000ft	1200ft
One Hour
Walk	~1.5 Miles	2 Miles	2.5 Miles	3 Miles
Hustle(~x1.5)	~2 Miles	3 Miles	~4 Miles	4.5 Miles
One Day
Walk	12 Miles	16 Miles	20 Miles	24 Miles

Climbing and Swimming are all 1/2 of a Characters walking speed unless specified otherwise.

In combat fighting on rough terrain causes the Character to have to roll Dexterity Checks or else they may trip. However, some environments may just have unfavorable conditions which may slow down a party's movement over time. For example, a Character stuck on an alien world that is abnormally hot for the species. This may not slow down a character immediately so it doesn't count against movement speed while in combat. However, the hot weather does account for the speed of a long trip. (Long being anything an hour or more).

In combat the terrain is made up of 5ft squares and not all squares may be considered unfavorable or rough. The GM has to announce if the players are going to cross terrain that is rough. Normally rough terrain blocks costs twice the movement the character has. A 5ft block now takes 10ft of movement for a character to transverse. If the character attempts to run across a rough terrain they have to take a Dexterity/Acrobatics skill check of DC12 (up to the GM on the level of difficulty) or else trip and fall. The DC is 15 if they are attempting to sprint through unfavorable terrain. The same goes for Climbing and Swimming in unfavorable conditions. However, the check becomes a Strength/Athletics check

To the right is a table to help show movement over time based on character speed.

Vehicles

To learn about different personal planetary Vehicles and their costs visit the Vehicles page.

Personal or Mass transportation can be used. The Characters will have to acquire the transportation or already have a reason for owning or having access to different mods of transportation.

On average a Vehicle is 20x faster then walking and a form of plan or super fast magnetic left train or other such system is 200x faster then walking.

Space Transportation

To learn about different space ships and FTL you can visit the Space Ships page.

Space is MASSIVE. So, in order to break down FTL speeds, it is easier to think in terms of fuel usage and break the distance into increments. Micro, Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Extreme, and Galactic. To learn what FTLs have what distances, you can learn about them here.

NOTE: A Light Year or LY is the distance light can travel in one year or 63,241.1 AU. AU stands for Astronomical Unit, and one AU is the average distance from the Sun to the Earth.
Micro: This distance can be traveled without Faster than Light engines within relatively acceptable time frames. Different species have different opinions on what is an 'acceptable time frame'. But it is usually considered to be no bigger than 250 AU. Earth is 1AU from the Sun.
Tiny: The distance that usually covers the interesting parts of the average solar system. Different species have different opinions about what 'interesting parts' of a solar system are. Usually, this is within 1 LY radius or no more than 2 LY distance.
Small: This distance is considered anything within a solar system and usually close enough to reach the nearest neighboring stars. Roughly ~5 Ly of distance.
Medium: This is anything within a few solar systems' reach. Anything within a Star Cluster. No more than 50ly.
Large: This is anything within a cluster of stars and its neighboring clusters. Anything within 250ly. This can cross some shorter distances in the voids between spiral arms.
Extreme: This is anything within 1,000ly. This allows for crossing the great void between the spiral arms of the galaxy with fuel to spare.
Galactic: This is anything within a 50,000ly distance. The Milky Way Galaxy is 100,000 light-years across.

Lore: The Jovian Star Gates that have been set up by the Jove automatons over the course of tens of thousands of years are Super-Extreme Jump Gates capable of hurdling tens of thousands of ships of any size daily up to 2,500ly. They are what link the Ring together. There are 90 operational ones; however, some are disabled or even abandoned in the deep, far reaches of the galaxy.

Ship Fuel

A ship will need fuel. Its fuel cost is based on the craft's size and FTL type. A ship normally has enough fuel capacity to go 1.5 times its distance. The 0.5 is a reserve emergency fuel.

Table: Fuel Prices based on Technology and Distance
Distance => v=Technology=v	Micro	Tiny	Small	Medium	Large	Galatic*
Jump Drive**	$100 / 1	$1,000 / 0	$5,000 / 0	$50,000 / 1	$200,000 / 2	N/A
Warp Drive	$100	$2,000	$10,000	$100,000	$500,000	$2,000,000
Slip Stream Drive	$150	$3,000	$15,000	$150,000	$750,000	$3,000,000
*No known ship design or jump gate design can move a craft at Galactic distances without refueling
**Assisted Jump drives do not use fuel located on the ship as they propel target ships across space. This would be the fuel costs of a signal jump. The procure difficulty is mentioned here to show how easy it would be to find a Jump Gate that goes that distance.

Fuel can also be obtained by a Gas Extractor communally known as a fuel scope. A Refinery Bay is also required to take the Gas and convert it to fuel. In order to find and refine fuel, Characters will have to go through several steps.

Attempt to find a good source of Gas for collection. It can be a gas cloud, gas planet, or even some other source such as asteroids. The average check is Survival check DC12 (Competent). A Character can gain aid from a Knowledge Science check.
Attempt to use a Gas Extractor/Fuel scope on the ship. This requires a Pilot check with an average DC is 12 (Intermediate) The Chief Engineer or Science Officer can do an assistance check to handle the Gas Extractor.
The Fuel has to be refined in a Refinery Bay or other such device. This process can go by faster and with higher results if aided by either a Science Officer or Chief Engineer. They simply need to spend the day working in the refining bay no roll is necessary.

Warp Factor / Travel Times

The ship's 'Warp Factor' is a way to measure speed beyond relative motion. Although it implies Warp Drive it can is used to measure the speed for all FTL technologies. Jump drives have a near-instant travel time. This is measured as Warp 10+. As for Warp Drive and Slip Stream, these use Warp Factor. Below is a table discussing Warp Factor speeds and how quickly they can travel different distances.

Table: Warp Factor Travel Times
Warp Factor (LY*X)	Micro	Tiny	Small	Medium	Large	Galatic
Warp 1 LY*1	1day	1year	5years	5 decades	1 millennium	50 millenniums
Warp 2 LY*2	1/2 day	1/2 year	2.5 years	2.5 decades	1/2 millennium	20 millenniums
Warp 3 LY*6	1/6th day	1/6th year	9months	9 years	1.5 centuries	8.3 millenniums
Warp 4 LY*24	1 hour	2 weeks	3.5 months	~2 years	~42 years	~2 millenniums
Warp 5 LY*120	12 minutes	~3 days	~2 weeks	~5 months	8.3 years	~4.1 centuries
Warp 6 LY*720	2 minutes	~12 hours	2.5 days	~25 days	1.3 years	69.4 years.
Warp 7 LY*5,040	17 seconds	1.7 hours	8.6 hours	7.2 days	2.3 months	~10 years
Warp 8 LY*40,320	~2 seconds	13 minutes	~1 hour	21 hours	~9 days	~1.2 years
Warp 9 LY*362,880	238 milli sec	~1.4 minutes	~7.2 minutes	2.4 hours	~1 day	~50 days
Warp 10 LY*3,628,800	23 milli sec	8.6 seconds	~43 seconds	~14 minutes	~2.4 hours	~5 days

Encounters / Hazards

Below are some basic rules for when traveling long distances either on the planet-side or through space. A GM may want to provide challenges and distractions for the Characters as they travel which can help provide a sense of size to the world and importance to each location if it took hardships to get there. The skill mostly used is the Survival check. To learn more go to the Survival page.

Traveling is all about getting from point a to point b. It can be as short as going across town or as big as crossing the galaxy. It is up to the GM to decide at what point does traveling require extra skills from the Characters. Here are the 3 most common scenarios.

LOST: Characters may be lost and those do not know where 'A' is. This is usually solved with a Survival check. In Urban areas, Survival checks can be aided with Knowledge Culture. While in an undeveloped planet Knowledge Science can aid in Survival checks. A Pilot can use their Pilot skill to aid in Survival checks when in space. The DC by default is usually a range determined by the GM between 10 and 25. The GM may also want to add a competency requirement.
SEARCHING: Characters are hunting a fugitive, some lost ancient civilization, a rogue planet or some other thing. This also usually requires a Survival check. However, certain circumstances may change this to a Knowledge check as the primary skill. For example, looking for a lost civilization may require Knowledge History check either as the primary skill aided by Survival or require both Knowledge and Survival in a Cooperative check. This is up to the GM and should be reasonable to the scenario. The default is a Survival check usually between 10-25 much like LOST.
AVOIDING DANGERS: This is less about the skill of sneaking by the enemy or spotting a trap and avoiding it and more about planning ahead to avoid known or understood dangers. For example, plotting a safe course from one star system to another or reading a map of a planet successfully to chart a course through mountains. This doesn't mean danger won't come but if it does it is more likely to either be a force of unpredictable nature or an intended encounter. This is a Survival check DC between 15 and 30.

NOTE: To learn more about Survival checks review the examples provided in the chart on the Survival page.

Traveling the Great Ring

In the Milky Way Galaxy, the Spiral Arms reach out from the Galactic Core and into the infinite void. Too close too the Galactic Core and the concentration of stars and matter create a turbulent radiation heavy zone that becomes increasingly hard to navigate and even deadly to most organic life. Too close too the edges of the Galaxy and the stars become so thin that resources are scarce and ancient ships drift long forgotten. Through the Spiral Arms, life has found its balance. This zone is called the Great Galatic Ring or The Ring of Life or just the Ring. Most civilizations use Jump Gates to navigate across their little corner of the Galaxy. But if one wishes to travel around The Ring they use the Jovian Super Gates. The most advanced Jump Gates ever made. Capable of jumping thousands of ships a day up to 10,000LY. 90 of them operate around the Ring although its said there some older gates floating derelict in the far reaches of the galaxy. Most other Jump Gates jump usually between roughly 5LY too 250LY. Only a few civilizations are even able to make Jump Gates that can go beyond 250LY.

Jump Gates are structures that target nearby ships and using its own energy propels the target ship nearly instantly to a connecting gate. Most gates can only connect to 1 or maybe 2 other gates. This creates a network, a Galatic highway across the civilized parts of space. If a Character wishes to travel across the galaxy this is the most economical, fastest, and usually safest way to travel. No need to plot a course or navigate through hazards as the course is pre-determined and there are safety measures that usually work to keep travelers safe on the Jump Gate highways. The only danger might be pirates on the less patrolled regions who, knowing the Jump Gates path, can interdict ships and demand booty.

However, if a Character wishes to reach the frontiers of space, some wild and uncharted location, or just the outer edges of a civilizations domain they cannot rely on these great highways. Instead a ship must be able to propel itself on its own power. Usually with the use of a Warp Drive or Slip Stream Drive.