CT Only: 1977 edition: Can Trade Routes bypass a hex?

[storuggla]

Question as title, to explain what I mean further an example:

System 1 as an A starport, one hex over is System 2 that has an E starport and one hex beyond that is System 3 with an A port.
I roll for Trade Routes and find that neither system 1 nor 3 gets one to system 2, tough luck living there, but then I roll for a connection between 1 and 3 and they are connected.
Does this mean 2 gets a J1 connection to both or that 1 and 3 is connected by a J2?

 

[mike wightman]

In your example system 1 and 3 would have a J2 space lane between them.

There would be no space lane to world 2 from either system - so no commercial vessels regularly travel to system 2 (you can not book a passage you would have to charter a ship) and no jump cassette exists so a ship would need the generate programme to get there.

 

[storuggla]

Thank you for the reply. Now I have to figure out a way to illustrate it on the map, if you have a medium-sized cluster it can get messy with all those routes.

 

[infojunky]

Thank you for the reply. Now I have to figure out a way to illustrate it on the map, if you have a medium-sized cluster it can get messy with all those routes.

Honestly I would include it on the route. especially if it has a Gas Giant, with the commentary in the library data for the subsector that most of the traffic on that route is J2 and skips the mainworld.

 

[Timerover51]

In your example system 1 and 3 would have a J2 space lane between them.

There would be no space lane to world 2 from either system - so no commercial vessels regularly travel to system 2 (you can not book a passage you would have to charter a ship) and no jump cassette exists so a ship would need the generate programme to get there.

Looking at my digital copy of the 1977 edition of the LBB for Book 3, Worlds and Adventure, page 2, the probability for a Jump Route between an "A" class star port and an "E" class star port is 2. The rules state as follows.

At the intersection of the distance column and the world pair row, a number is stated. If the one die throw is equal to, or greater than the number, a space lane exists.

So, for the "E" class star port not to have a Jump Route to either of the 2 "A" class star ports means that the initial poster threw two "1" with his die rolls. That is a 1 in 36 outcome. I would say that there would be no problem ignoring one of the die rolls and setting up a Jump route.

The other option is depending on the population size of that "E" star port, Free Traders may visit there on a periodic basis. After all, the purpose of a Free Trader is to visit those worlds not on regularly established Jump routes to supply needed items and make some money in speculative trading. I do not see a need to charter a ship to make the trip. Just check to see if and how many Free Traders are presently in port.

 

[mike wightman]

It is probably worth pointing out what trade lanes do to a homebrew subsector.

They define which worlds are connected and you can travel to relatively easily - just buy a ticket or a jump cassette if you are lucky enough to start with a ship but no generate programme.

Worlds not on trade lane are naturally the places there are lots of rumours about, and may be the places adventure awaits.

I agree with timerover51 that is you don't like the dice result just change it.

But consider - you have two worlds trading with each other, while between them lies a world that no one ever goes to? What's its story? Why is it shunned? What riches and adventures await a brave soul that gathers the resources to visit?

 

[ffilz]

I used to draw curved lines for space lanes that jump over a world. These days, if a J-2 space lane is rolled for and it logically passes through another world, I do it as two J-1 space lanes. For any J-x, the benefits of a space lane are available following any path of shorter space lanes (which means really even J-5 and J-6 space lanes are available, not that they matter much when using Book-2 stock ships). When rolling a sub-sector these days, I start with the J-4 possibilities to save rolling for all the shorter ones, of course if the J-4 roll fails, the route may still occur if the shorter routes come up. This results in a more connected sub-sector, but much easier to follow the map and it MOSTLY only matters for connectivity within dense clusters. The outliers are still quite possible to not be connected. Also, I might not necessarily roll for EVERY J-4 and J-3 connection...

 

[BRJN]

If A-B-C is a shallow V on the hex grid, rather than a straight line, your problem solves itself, as the trade route will be drawn along the side of B's hex.
Am I visualizing this correctly?

 

[storuggla]

It is probably worth pointing out what trade lanes do to a homebrew subsector.

They define which worlds are connected and you can travel to relatively easily - just buy a ticket or a jump cassette if you are lucky enough to start with a ship but no generate programme.

Worlds not on trade lane are naturally the places there are lots of rumours about, and may be the places adventure awaits.

I agree with timerover51 that is you don't like the dice result just change it.

But consider - you have two worlds trading with each other, while between them lies a world that no one ever goes to? What's its story? Why is it shunned? What riches and adventures await a brave soul that gathers the resources to visit?

I love the trade routes mostly because they kickstart the setting building. You roll up series of world and just looking at it from "above" it works seem obvious that day cluster A and B would be connected but nope, they aren't. Why? Is it a cold war kind of thing, is the world dangerous for some reason, what's going on? And that's all before you know the particulars of the world like atmosphere or government.

As for ignoring the dice, sure. I take the view that the charts and dice are there to supplement the imagination not dictate it, but sometimes I like to roll up subsectors just got fun and by the book.

As for now to represent a lane that bypasses a world, I am leaning toward a curved or a dashed line to signify that it's a "no stops" trip.

 

[Bartleby]

I love the trade routes mostly because they kickstart the setting building. You roll up series of world and just looking at it from "above" it works seem obvious that day cluster A and B would be connected but nope, they aren't. Why? Is it a cold war kind of thing, is the world dangerous for some reason, what's going on? And that's all before you know the particulars of the world like atmosphere or government.

As for ignoring the dice, sure. I take the view that the charts and dice are there to supplement the imagination not dictate it, but sometimes I like to roll up subsectors just got fun and by the book.

As for now to represent a lane that bypasses a world, I am leaning toward a curved or a dashed line to signify that it's a "no stops" trip.

I use the convention that if there is a stop, there is space between the route and the world on the map. A small white space. If you go through then the line goes right through the world.

I believe travellermap.com follows this convention and it seems to work well.