Reply to Frank Chadwick regarding Stutterwarp:
The issue put to us is as follows: how best to incorporate Stutterwarp into
the Imperium universe, so as to unite the 2300AD and MegaTraveller gaming
systems. I am no expert on 2300AD but is my understanding that Stutterwarp
is both fast and efficient, the only limitation being the need to disspate the
buildup of radiation. This contrasts strongly with the more familiar jump
drive, where vast amounts of energy must be stored away into Zuchai crystals,
then released almost instantly into the Hull grid to transport one's vessel
into jump space, to reemerge one week later from one to six parsecs distant
from your starting point.
If the 2300AD sourcebook is to be set prior to the Imperium setting, as is
somewhat chronologically consistent, there are several difficulties to be
overcome:
1) the traditional Traveller/MT background has the Vilani encountering the
Terrans very shortly after the Terrans first discover jump drive. The
implication is that Terra's closest stars were Vilani bases. In the 2300AD
history, the earth nations explore and colonize for some range around Earth
before encoutering the Kafers. A new chronology will be necessary.
2) Stutterwarp would appear to be better in almost every way than jump drive.
The fastest jump vessel has a 'velocity' of only 20 light-years per week.
Furthermore, stutterwarp is not affected by gravity. Yet, stutterwarp needs
to precede the development of jump drive.
3) The Imperium and its surrounds are mapped out in an essentially 2D fashion,
yet 2300AD takes place in a 3D setting.
We need to find a way to constrict the volume of space occupied by the early
Terran colonies, and a way to make jump drive superior to Stutterwarp.
Another poster has already made the suggestion that I will make key here: if
we keep as a general rule the idea that Jump-n allows one to travel n hexes
per week, we can choose a hex size to make Jump drive superior to Stutterwarp.
The 2D Imperium map becomes a loose approximation to the plane of our galaxy,
with each star in a hex actually displaced up or down some amount that we can
ignore for game purporses. Furthermore, the large number of Terra-like planets
reflect the fact that there are a large number of less desirable systems that
don't appear on the hex grid.
The early Terran history has to be changed. Terrans first discover Stutterwarp,
then begin to explore there nearby stars. They encounter the Kafers, etcetera.
Give enough breakthing space here for a 2300AD sourcebook (at least one to two
hundred years). About 2500AD, Terrans discover the Zuchai crystal which makes
possible the Jump-1 drive, which is much more powerful than the fastest
Stutterwarp drive. The Terrans travel to the farthest star yet, and encounter
the Vilani! In the face of the new 'Kafers' Terra and its colonies unite,
beginning the first of the Interstellar Wars. Many of the early Terran colonies
are abandoned as the Jump drive opens up more Earth-like planets. The rest of
known Traveller/MT history unfolds, leading up to the Rebellion.
Stutterwarp is rapidly relegated to a secondary drive, primarily used to travel
to the 100 diameter limit, as the only other systems worth visiting are so far
away that Stutterwarp isn't considered a realistic option. The lowly Maneuver
drive is found only on surface to orbit shuttles and the like.
Starship combat becomes centered around the Stutterwarp drive, with M-drive
combat a rarity (most ships no longer carry such antiquated drives). This
will substantially alter Starship combat, but perhaps that's for the better.
The real question is: how large is the new hex to be? I would suggest making
it large enough that even Jump-1 is 10 times 'faster' for travel between any
two systems that are 'worth' visiting. Sure, there are plenty of systems not
on the map between Regina and Ruie, but those systems are pretty barren, and
not much to see. This has the happy side-effect of leaving these 'un-hexed'
systems open as a Referee's playground. Want to put an Ancient site near
Lanth? Put it in the unmapped region of stars near Lanth.
Lewis Taylor Goss