Hi Guys,
The following thread is directed towards those who like to fiddle with their traveller universe more than towards those who like the OTU orthodoxy (no slight intended to EITHER groups by the by)
As GM, you are being put on the spot to make a GM ruling. You've taken the time to create the data on star system Omnicron for which the players intend to jump into. They intend to target Omnicron IV as their destination. So now you watch as they plan on using the rule that any attempt to exit jumpspace within 100 diameters of a world shall result in the exit point being shunted to 100 diameters. So you inform them of this fact - that they will be shunted. But that pesky player playing the Navigator asks you the following "Ok, WERE do we get shunted to?" Because as GM, you noted "OK, your vector is towards 183 degrees, with a built up velocity of 5 turns worth of 2g's (or 10 G's worth of velocity). The player plugs in the data for his ship's velocity, uses the formula for length of time it will take to slow his ship's velocity to zero, then begin the long task of chasing the planet. Surprised, the players discover that it takes a fairly longer time to chase a planet than expected! So the players complain after the session that the GM's decision on where their ship ended up after being shunted as patently UNFAIR!
As there doesn't seem to be any real rules created in any of the Traveller incarnations regarding shunted exits, I have the following proposals to make. Some of you may find this fun to inflict on your players, andn some of you may find it a real pain in the buttocks
First, you need to have a policy regarding how shunts work for your game universe. Second, you need to have a way of figuring out how Jump Drives work within your universe and consider the ramifications involved. As this is all "In your Traveller Universe", this is clearly an issue that depends on what you want.
Jump Drive shunted exits: Most people consider that jumps are an in/out affair without paying too much attention to what is going on in jump space. It might even be fair to state that few even bother considering a unified methodology for their universe saying "You arrive - it will take you 3 hours to land on the planet" and move their campaign story onwards from there. But others might want to explore the possibilities inherent in Jump space navigation and its effects on game play. In addition? GM's now have a BUILT IN reason for why jumps take a variable amount of time between entry into jump space and exit from jump space without even having to tweak the rules all that much. Simply put - any ship that tries to exit into the forbidden 100 planetary diameter range, have to "wait" until that planet is no longer projecting that "shadow" onto normal space. If a ship is just on the edge of the FRONT of the planet's zone, it has to wait until the planet has moved enough to uncover that exit point. So the GM checks the data and discovers the following:
Planetary velocity is 21 miles per second
Planetary Diameter is 5,000 miles
So you tell your players:
"Ok, the planet you're trying to reach has a diameter of 5,000 miles. 100 planetary diameters makes that a range of 500,000 miles. But since you came out in front of it, you also have to wait until its BACK half of 100 diameters is no longer covering your jump exit point. Hmmm. 500,000 miles x 1.6 (since the planet moves on a curved path and you estimate that it shouldn't be the full 2x100 diameters) is going to be 800,000 miles divided by 21 miles per second. That means you have to wait some 38095.2381 seconds or nearly 10.58 hours! The planet is receding away from you - and your vector is pointing your ship AWAY from the planet as it recedes. Ok Navigator, time to earn your keep."
The larger the planet, and the slower it moves through space - the longer those "interrupted exit" times will be for your Traveller Universe. Since it is strictly a math issue - the players can't really state "hey, that was arbitrary and unfair!". Just smile, point out that jumps are only accurate to within 3,000 km per parsec jumped, and inform them that the shaved their exit point TOO close to the planet's jump masked point. Of course, you don't plan on springing this "surprise" on them without warning right? So tell them HOW jump space navigation works in your world, and let them do the figuring out. Let THEM do the math scut work and then smile as you apply the results to the game.
Next post will contain another idea that can be used within a Traveller Campaign...
The following thread is directed towards those who like to fiddle with their traveller universe more than towards those who like the OTU orthodoxy (no slight intended to EITHER groups by the by)
As GM, you are being put on the spot to make a GM ruling. You've taken the time to create the data on star system Omnicron for which the players intend to jump into. They intend to target Omnicron IV as their destination. So now you watch as they plan on using the rule that any attempt to exit jumpspace within 100 diameters of a world shall result in the exit point being shunted to 100 diameters. So you inform them of this fact - that they will be shunted. But that pesky player playing the Navigator asks you the following "Ok, WERE do we get shunted to?" Because as GM, you noted "OK, your vector is towards 183 degrees, with a built up velocity of 5 turns worth of 2g's (or 10 G's worth of velocity). The player plugs in the data for his ship's velocity, uses the formula for length of time it will take to slow his ship's velocity to zero, then begin the long task of chasing the planet. Surprised, the players discover that it takes a fairly longer time to chase a planet than expected! So the players complain after the session that the GM's decision on where their ship ended up after being shunted as patently UNFAIR!
As there doesn't seem to be any real rules created in any of the Traveller incarnations regarding shunted exits, I have the following proposals to make. Some of you may find this fun to inflict on your players, andn some of you may find it a real pain in the buttocks

First, you need to have a policy regarding how shunts work for your game universe. Second, you need to have a way of figuring out how Jump Drives work within your universe and consider the ramifications involved. As this is all "In your Traveller Universe", this is clearly an issue that depends on what you want.
Jump Drive shunted exits: Most people consider that jumps are an in/out affair without paying too much attention to what is going on in jump space. It might even be fair to state that few even bother considering a unified methodology for their universe saying "You arrive - it will take you 3 hours to land on the planet" and move their campaign story onwards from there. But others might want to explore the possibilities inherent in Jump space navigation and its effects on game play. In addition? GM's now have a BUILT IN reason for why jumps take a variable amount of time between entry into jump space and exit from jump space without even having to tweak the rules all that much. Simply put - any ship that tries to exit into the forbidden 100 planetary diameter range, have to "wait" until that planet is no longer projecting that "shadow" onto normal space. If a ship is just on the edge of the FRONT of the planet's zone, it has to wait until the planet has moved enough to uncover that exit point. So the GM checks the data and discovers the following:
Planetary velocity is 21 miles per second
Planetary Diameter is 5,000 miles
So you tell your players:
"Ok, the planet you're trying to reach has a diameter of 5,000 miles. 100 planetary diameters makes that a range of 500,000 miles. But since you came out in front of it, you also have to wait until its BACK half of 100 diameters is no longer covering your jump exit point. Hmmm. 500,000 miles x 1.6 (since the planet moves on a curved path and you estimate that it shouldn't be the full 2x100 diameters) is going to be 800,000 miles divided by 21 miles per second. That means you have to wait some 38095.2381 seconds or nearly 10.58 hours! The planet is receding away from you - and your vector is pointing your ship AWAY from the planet as it recedes. Ok Navigator, time to earn your keep."
The larger the planet, and the slower it moves through space - the longer those "interrupted exit" times will be for your Traveller Universe. Since it is strictly a math issue - the players can't really state "hey, that was arbitrary and unfair!". Just smile, point out that jumps are only accurate to within 3,000 km per parsec jumped, and inform them that the shaved their exit point TOO close to the planet's jump masked point. Of course, you don't plan on springing this "surprise" on them without warning right? So tell them HOW jump space navigation works in your world, and let them do the figuring out. Let THEM do the math scut work and then smile as you apply the results to the game.
Next post will contain another idea that can be used within a Traveller Campaign...