LOE Test Concepts

Star Travel

Vast structures of ether that criss-cross the known galaxy, the star ways are the easiest and by far most common way of getting from one star to another. Conventionally shaped like long tubes, star ways have a pronounced anisotropic flow; it is [i]much[/i] faster to go down one than to travel across one, to the point that some may take longer to cross than to follow from one end to the oher. Visually, star ways tend to be recognizable as dimly-glowing violet cloudbanks, particularly around the outer edges.

Star Ways generally terminate in the mid-system, outside of the habitable zone of normal stars. The influence of major bodies will tend to kink any star ways out of their way and the star way will generally scatter small bodies like asteroids inwards; as a result asteroid belts tend to either be out of plane with any star ways or inwards, towards the primary star.

Generally, the outer walls of a star way are thick and stormy, making the inner zone being easier to travel in. The internal currents of star ways weaken considerably as they approach the influence of stars and other celestial objects, fraying and dissipating and resulting in slower speeds. Except for the termini themselves where the star way dissipates into the system in a relatively calm fashion, the outer edges of a star way actually in a star system tend to be particularly difficult to travel in or through. The thick ether in star ways interferes with most sensing magic and equipment, and is especially pronounced in the outer wall zones.

Outside of the star way, wisps of ether five or six orders of magnitude thinner than that inside a star way pervades star systems, circulating around the stars and planets. Being much thinner, ether sails and other methods of conveyance that rely on the plentiful ether currents in star ways become slow and unreliable.

Finally, nebulae are vast clouds of etheric gases that stretch across many Great Leagues. Lacking any easily-navigable routes or currents outside of whatever star ways may pass through them, they are exceptionally slow to travel through - 1/10th normal speed. However, the thick but sluggish ether flows can be easily captured by ether sails or ramscoops, giving them all the bonuses they would usually have from travelling in a star way. Filled with danger and strange beasts, nebulae are not for the casual explorer.

Blue Line Travel: 'Blue Lines' are high-speed routes where the ether is particularly fast-flowing; this allows ships (but not aircraft) to travel along them at twice normal strategic speed.

Red Line Travel: 'Red Lines' are routes with the paradoxical combination of thin ether and strong storms. This makes them difficult to sail in quickly, halving all strategic speeds and making detection difficult; in effect they are are always in a state of Pirate Sailing.

Pirate Sailing: While standard shipping routes and courses will go through the middle of star ways where the deep sky is clear and the sailing is fast, those with intent to stay hidden will sometimes travel through the stormy outer edges. This reduces speeds by half but gives anyone and anything in them greater protection from being detected. Ships may only Pirate Sail in White or Blue lines.

Ship Modification: Streamlined Design

While the insubstantial ether clouds rarely have have a measurable impact on performance no matter how outlandish a ship's hull form may be, some naval architects make use of aerodynamically-optimized designs to eliminate or even take advantage of this. Doing so also improves a ship's handling characteristic in atmosphere. Streamlined designs provide no bonus to a ship travelling under zero-cost transit drives (eg, sails/ramscoop) as they are travelling with the ether, instead of against it and require at least Tech/Magical Milieu 2.
+1 Strategic Speed, low cost, moderate-high slot requirement due to stringent hullform design.

Ship Modification: Slip Field

With the development of forcefields it became possible to wrap a ship in a low-power forcefield that would give it the speed advantages of a streamlined hullform without forcing it into shape that might be otherwise detrimental to efficiency. Slip Fields provide no bonus to a ship travelling under zero-cost transit drives (eg, sails/ramscoop) and require at least Tech/Magical Milieu 4.
+1 Strategic Speed, moderate cost, low slot requirement.