You send a warfleet through the gate and each individual ship appears in separate random locations in the targeted subsector. Most of the places these ships appear would be in interstellar space and they would need to make an additional jump from the place where they appeared to the nearest star system where it can refuel, it will expend the jump fuel to make jump-1 just to use the gate. Some ships will appear in places that are too far away to make a jump from to the nearest star system, and there is a 20% chance of a misjudged, some ships will appear in intergalactic space, missing the targeted galaxy entirely - those ships are never heard from again! Not exactly the best circumstances under which to launch an invasion.
intergalactic jumpgate
- Thread starter Werner
- Start date
You send a warfleet through the gate and each individual ship appears in separate random locations in the targeted subsector. Most of the places these ships appear would be in interstellar space and they would need to make an additional jump from the place where they appeared to the nearest star system where it can refuel, it will expend the jump fuel to make jump-1 just to use the gate. Some ships will appear in places that are too far away to make a jump from to the nearest star system, and there is a 20% chance of a misjudged, some ships will appear in intergalactic space, missing the targeted galaxy entirely - those ships are never heard from again! Not exactly the best circumstances under which to launch an invasion.
Because of the high chance of misjump, 20%.the accuracy doesn't get better the shorter the jump. You can jump from subsector to subsector, but you don't know where in that subsector you'd end up, and 20% you go out of the galaxy, big risk there!
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Then why not use it for an XX-Boat network. Use a remote controlled ship, send two instead of one.
The typical understanding of a jump gate is that it's anchored to a destination, vs just a broadcast hose to anywhere. Individual jumps may be cheap once established, but since they're anchored, you can only jump to a specific place.
If that's not the case, then they're even more dangerous.
Imagine a Zhodani fleet (now 20% reduced) arriving in Core or Capital with zero warning.
My assumption here is that it's a very experimental device, if it sends an automated ship and it misjump, then you lose the ship, and ships are very expensive in Traveller, when travelling to another galaxy, you may come within 10 parsecs of the intended destination, and then the ship has to use its jump drive, to jump the rest of the way there, each jump takes a week, including the one produced by the jump gate itself.
The Imperium is very reluctant to use this to send messages because it risks losing a ship everytime it does so, and ships are expensive. If the intended destination is within the same subsector as you are already in, then the jump gate is of no use at all, the ship will appear in a random hex which maybe closer or further away than the intended destination, and if it lands in the same hex. It can still be up to 2 light years out and may need to make another 1 week jump just to get in system, and you can only jump from the jump gate to somewhere else. You can't "beam up" a Starship from somewhere else to the jump gate, it does not work that way.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
Why not just send an X-boat or an old minimal scout ship?
Only tens of millions of credits.
Or for communication, use the slingshot for the longhaul part of the network. As long as you can hit the right sector even, you're good. Send a J5 ship through, with drop tanks for J1 for the slingshot J1*. Has J5 range on exit, and can correct a 10 parsec "miss" in a couple of jumps (maybe 3 if the stars aren't right). So, about a month, tops, for Capital/Core to Regina/Spinward Marches. Takes 6.5 months at Jump-6...
Ok, it's high data-loss (you're claiming 20% vanish). But there are some messages (ailen battlefleet coming, the Emperor was just assassinated, etc.) for which a half-year advance warning is worth it.
Remember, if there's a way to take a rules change and use it to break the game universe, players will find it.
*better yet: give it drop tanks for J5, and another drop tank that supports the ship doing J1 with those tanks attached.
- Jump from the J1 tanks while dropping them on the way into the slingshot for the Long Jump.
Once you're in the neighborhood, so to speak:
- J5 from the drop tanks, dropping them on Jump entry.
- J5 from internal fuel tanks.
This allows 10 parsecs range after the Long Jump.
Ok, it's high data-loss (you're claiming 20% vanish). But there are some messages (ailen battlefleet coming, the Emperor was just assassinated, etc.) for which a half-year advance warning is worth it.
Remember, if there's a way to take a rules change and use it to break the game universe, players will find it.
*better yet: give it drop tanks for J5, and another drop tank that supports the ship doing J1 with those tanks attached.
- Jump from the J1 tanks while dropping them on the way into the slingshot for the Long Jump.
Once you're in the neighborhood, so to speak:
- J5 from the drop tanks, dropping them on Jump entry.
- J5 from internal fuel tanks.
This allows 10 parsecs range after the Long Jump.
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Perhaps you are right, the Imperium can use something like this. Have one Jumpgate at the Terra system at Terra L5, and another one at the Capitol L5 and you have much faster communication, and it also gives the Imperium strong reasons to build these at all parts of the Imperium so they can be better aware of things going on at their fringes, this kind of communication is expensive, they would probably be doing all sorts of research to improve these devices.
If the communication speeds improve sufficiently, there will be pressure to democratize the Imperium and that would tend to threaten the noble class. Democracy over interstellar distances becomes possible with faster communications speeds, and people will start to demand it once they know it is possible. It doesn't mean they couldn't also colonize parts of the Andromeda Galaxy as well while this is also going on.
Which is why I added in an edit to that post (after your reply), "Remember, if there's a way to take a rules change and use it to break the game universe, players will find it."
I wouldn't say it would break the Game universe, a six and a half month communication lag would make the third imperium hard to explain, jumpgates actually help in this instance.Which is why I added in an edit to that post (after your reply), "Remember, if there's a way to take a rules change and use it to break the game universe, players will find it."
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Jump gates of the Ancient era are canonical to the T4 universe. See the Gateway and Long Way Home adventures for details.
They are built on planets/planetoids and have ranges of plot requirement.
They are built on planets/planetoids and have ranges of plot requirement.
We could hide one among the Trojan asteroids of the Terran System. Asteroids are mostly piles of rubble anyway. One can bury a jumpgate in a pile of rubble making it look like an asteroid, but there is another option, there is a moon of Saturn that looks like it might have swallowed a jumpgate, I believe it is Iapetus, it has a ridge on its equator that looks like a buried ring. Since it is an Ancient device it might not need to follow the usual rules regarding jump distances from planets.
Impetus is 1492 km in diameter, the jumpgate might be buried deep inside its crust. Without a jumpdrive it doesn't do anything. Considering how far into the future the classic Traveller campaign is, how long before the Iapetus jump gate is discovered and how long before people figure out what it does? Most people normally wouldn't activate a jump drive in the center of a moon, so people light take a while to figure out what it does. Lets say the triggering mechanism is the activation of a jump drive in the center of the moon. How to get to the center of the moon is another question. Gravitational compensators might shield the interior of the Moon from Saturn's gravity so a jump can occur in that spot. There might be a shaft from the north pole leading to the center. Since Iapetus contains a lot of water ice, that would be the source of fusion fuel that powers the reactor.
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It's effect would be akin to what trans-Atlantic cables and telegraphs were to the post... or what airborne assault was to previous modes of land combat.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I was not thinking invasion, but revenge ships loaded with planet busters, and also some reverse colony ships to establish pirate bases near the Imperium.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
For an empire that's spending hundreds of trillions or more, that's chump change at best. A few pennies scattered...
Revenge for what? The Imperium spared their lives and gave them their very own galaxy to colonize. Anyway if the rebels can do it, so too could the Imperium right back at them.
Annatar Giftbringer
SOC-6
The idea reminds me of Mass Effect: Andromeda. I say go with it!
Having out-of-date information can be a plot-point and make the whole campaign a lot more interesting - see ME: Andromeda
Having out-of-date information can be a plot-point and make the whole campaign a lot more interesting - see ME: Andromeda
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
You know very little of human nature.
Terrorism don't work against empires.
