Homebrew Star Wars rules:
Astrogation
Calculation time using Precomputed Cached Coordinates: 1 minute
Calculation time using Nav Computer to Charted Destination: 30 minutes
Calculation time not using Nav Computer OR not to Charted Destination: 24 hours
Calculation time not using Nav Computer AND not to Charted Destination: 1 week
Note, without some sort of accessible library, either a detailed system map or an astrogation computer, all destinations are considered uncharted. Further, uncharted destinations generally require sensor readings to be taken for one day before calculations can begin, and most ship sensors can only get fixes on adjacent star systems.
While most trade routes have been in use hundreds or thousands of years and are part of the public domain and the vast majority of world’s within the Empire have been charted by explorers over the thousands of years of hyperspace travel, it’s undoubtedly true that some species or corporations or even individuals maintain secret or proprietary astrogation information for security purposes or to gain an advantage on their competitors. In the Outer Rim and on the edges of ‘Known Space’ in particular, tramp merchants, smugglers and pirates often have private plots of hyperspace routes or to worlds generally considered uncharted in order to reach destinations quickly and securely, safe from legal pursuit.
Charting a system in space can require hours to weeks, even with an appropriate sensor package, depending on the complexity of the system. Charting a location in open space make take only an hour and require minimal sensors. Charting a large Earth-like solar system with asteroid belts, oort clouds, and other typical complexities may require weeks of surveying and measurement.
Base Astrogation Difficulty: Difficult (16)
DC: -5 if using a Trade Route
DC: +5 per sector jumped
DC: +5 if a jump to destination within same system
DC: +5 from uncharted destination
DC: +15 to uncharted destination
DC: +15 if in mass shadow of an object
DC: +30 if already in hyperspace
DC: +2 per hour subtracted from base travel time (+4 per hour if already on an optimized hyperspace lane)
DC: -1 per 2 hours added to base travel time (maximum -10)
DC: +1 per 2 minutes subtracted from calculation time if using a Nav Computer to a Charted destination
DC: -1 per hour added to calculation time if using a Nav Computer to a Charted Destination (maximum -10)
DC: +1 per hour subtracted from calculation time if not using a Nav Computer or not going to a Charted destination
Average Hyperspace Travel Times
Based on Proximity
Adjacent System: 2h
Within Same Sector: 4h
Across Sector: 6h
To Border World of Different Sector: 7h
To World in Adjacent Sector: 10h
Two Sectors: 18h
Three Sectors: 30h
Each Additional Sector: 16h
Regional Modifiers
Trade Route: Ignore regional modifiers and reduce travel time by 10-20%.
Inner Core: +50%
Core: +0%
Colonies: +25%
Mid Rim/Expansion Region: +50%
Outer Rim: +100%
Unknown Space: +200%
Target and Destination in Different Regions: Use the worse regional modifier.
Existing Travel Modifiers (Apply for both target and destination)
Industrial: x1
Developing: x1.5
Fringe: x1.75
Charted Only: x2
Uncharted: x4
Hyperspace Mishaps
Roll 2d6 and add the amount that the difficulty was missed by.
Table #.# Hyperspace Mishap Table
2 Missed Jump
3 Hyper-Drive Burnout
4 Off Course
5 Missed Jump
6 Hyperdrive Burnout
7 Off Course
8 Hyperspace Turbulence
9 Hyperspace Resonance
10 Off Course
11 Badly Off Course
12 Truncated Jump
13 Hyperspace Turbulence
14 Badly Off Course
15 Mass Shadow Near Miss
16 Mass Shadow Near Miss Near Destination
17 Hyperdrive Overload
18 Mass Shadow Collision
19 Mass Shadow Collision Near Destination
20 Mass Shadow Direct Impact
21 Hyperspace Turbulence
22 Hyperdrive Overload
23 Mass Shadow Collision
24 Mass Shadow Direct Impact
25 Mass Shadow Collision
26+ Mass Shadow Direct Impact
Missed Jump: Arrive 2d6 sublight hours from destination.
Hyper-Drive Burnout: Hyper-drive burns out almost immediately, stranding the ship 2d6 sublight hours from starting point. A moderate repair roll is necessary to restore the hyperdrive.
Off Course: You end up lightyears from you intended destination at an uncharted point in space base 1d6 hours in hyperspace from your intended destination.
Hyperspace Turbulence: Pilot must make a Very Difficult Piloting roll or the vessel takes damage equal to its hull, and the crew take 1D6 damage from impact. This continues until the vessel is destroyed, or the pilot decides to voluntarily shut off the hyperdrive, or the hyperdrive is damaged, or the pilot successfully makes the piloting check. If the hyperdrive is shut off or damaged, roll on the truncated jump table to find out where the ship is.
Hyperspace Resonance: Someone aboard the craft must make a Very Difficult Astrogation roll to fine tune the ship’s course, or the vessel takes damage equal to its hull and the crew takes 2d6 damage from distortions in spatial reality. This continues until the vessel is destroyed, or the pilot decides to voluntarily shut off the hyperdrive, or the hyperdrive is damaged, or the Astrogation check is successfully made. If the hyperdrive is shut off or damaged, roll on the truncated jump table to find out where the ship is.
Badly Off Course: You end up lightyears from you intended destination at a random point in space base 2d6 hours in hyperspace from your intended destination. Roll on the truncated jump table to find out where the ship is.
Truncated Jump: Pilot must make a Moderate Piloting roll as emergency systems cut in to avoid a mass shadow collision. Failure means the ship takes 3d6 damage or is lightly damaged, whichever is the worse result. Regardless, roll on the truncated jump table to find out where the ship is.
Mass Shadow Near Miss: Pilot must make a Very Difficult Piloting roll or the vessel takes 6d6 damage or is lightly damaged whichever is worse, somewhere along the route and skips out of control into real space. If the roll is successful, the ship merely suffers light damage and may continue its journey provided the hyperdrive is undamaged. If the hyperdrive is damaged, the Pilot must make a Difficult survival roll to shut down the hyperdrive and return to real space somewhere along the route or roll a second mishap.
Mass Shadow Near Miss Near Destination: Pilot must make a Very Difficult Piloting roll or the vessel takes 6d6 damage or is lightly damaged whichever is worse, somewhere along the route and skips out of control into real space. If the roll is successful, the ship merely suffers light damage and comes out of hyperspace within 1 sub-light hour of the intended destination.
Hyperdrive Overload: The hyperdrive is placed under too much strain and overloads and explodes, dropping the ship into normal space and causing Heavy Damage to the ship. The main hyperdrive is rendered inoperable without engineering facilities and suitable materials to fabricate parts from, and even then, a Very Difficult repair roll is required to put things back together. If the Heavy Damage is to the hyperdrive, it is to any backup hyperdrive. Roll on the truncated jump table to find out where the ship is.
Mass Shadow Collision: Vessel takes 10d6 impact damage or is heavily damaged, which ever produces the worst result, and somewhere along route skips out of control into real space, quite possibly as little more than fine debris. Roll on the truncated jump table to find where the ship is.
Mass Shadow Collision Near Destination: Vessel takes 10d6 impact damage or is heavily damaged, which ever produces the worst result, and skips into normal space somewhere near a celestial object 2d6 sublight hours from the destination.
Mass Shadow Direct Impact: Vessel takes 13d6 impact damage or is heavily damaged twice, which ever produces the worse result, and somewhere along route skips out of control into real space, quite possibly as little more than fine debris. Roll on the truncated jump table to find where the ship, or what is left of it, is except that the ship is always the minimum distance from any object in the vicinity.
Table #.#: Truncated Jump
2: Small Black Hole
3: Brown Dwarf
4: Interstellar Debris
5: Stellar Debris
6: Stellar Body
7: Deep Space
8: Uncharted Dwarf Planet
9: Mid-System
10: Planet
11: Moon
12: Other Ship
In a truncated jump, the vessel crosses 3d6x5% of the distance to the destination before something goes wrong.
Small Black Hole: You are a 2d6-2 sub-light hour(s) from a small black hole. The black hole is only about 3km across but has a mass that is a significant fraction of a typical star. If you are 0-1 sub-light hours away, you are in an orbit of the black hole, otherwise it is drifting from you at space speed 1d6 and if your ship lacks functioning sensors exactly what caused the problem will be a mystery. Ninety percent of the time the black hole is a charted navigational hazard but has drifted somewhere off where your records place it. The Empire will pay 1d6x100 credits to citizens in good standing, for a long-range sensor scan of a navigational hazard like this one to determine more precisely its mass, course and speed and thereby improve astrogation charts. If the black hole is uncharted, they’ll pay 1d6x1000 credits.
Brown Dwarf: You are a 2d6-2 sub-light hour(s) from a brown dwarf, a failed star that has insufficient mass to ignite its fusion cycle. The brown dwarf is the size of large gas giant but has a mass that is a significant fraction of a dwarf star. If you are 0-1 sub-light hour(s) away, you are in an orbit of the brown dwarf, otherwise it is drifting from you at space speed of 1d6. Ninety percent of the time the brown dwarf is a charted navigational hazard but has drifted somewhere off your records place it. The Empire will pay 1d6x100 credits to citizens in good standing, for a long-range sensor scan of a navigational hazard like this one to determine more precisely its mass, course and speed and thereby improve astrogation charts. If the brown dwarf is uncharted, they’ll pay 1d6x1000 credits – but so will large criminal organizations for knowledge of a previously uncharted brown dwarf in deep space is of great value to anyone that wants to have a hideout unlikely to be discovered or explored by lawful authorities. In either case, ninety percent of brown dwarfs have a small system of dwarf planets and occasionally full-sized planets orbiting them, along with various rings, asteroid belts, captured comets, and other debris.
Interstellar Debris: You randomly fell into the mass shadow of a largish bit of interstellar debris such as a comet or interstellar asteroid. Typically, these objects are 1d6 km in diameter, but are sometimes clouds of smaller objects occupying the same amount of space and gravitationally bound to each other. Such hazards are common in the sense that millions exist in the spaces between any two stars, but rare in the sense that they are often days or weeks of sub-light travel in empty space apart and thus you have to be fairly unlucky to hit one on any given trip through space. Typically, the debris still nearby but is drifting away from you at 1d6-1 space speed (with zero indicating you are drifting in roughly the same direction and at the same speed).
Stellar Debris: You are in a stellar system, but randomly came near the mass shadow of a largish bit of stellar debris such as an asteroid. Most largish obstacles of this sort are already charted, but you either were off course or encountered a smaller object that escaped being charted or is the result of a recent collusion between two such objects. You are typically 2d6 sublight hours from the nearest planet, which may or may not be the principle planet of the system.
Stellar Body: You are in a stellar system, but randomly came near the mass shadow of a stellar body such as a star, neutron star, or large and well-known black hole. You are 2d6-2 sub-light hours from the body, and barring application of sub-light propulsion, likely in some sort of orbit albeit one that could take years to complete if you are far enough out. If you are 0-1 sub-light hours away, you are likely in some sort of danger in your present position owing from the wash of radiation emanating from the stellar body, and even 2 sub-light hours away could present problems from excessive heat, solar flares, or hard radiation depending on which sort of body you are in orbit of.
Deep Space: You are in deep space and thus your present position is considered uncharted. There is nothing for light years in any direction. Functional long-range sensors and a navigational computer or extensive math are required to establish your position, otherwise you can only calculate jumps to neighboring stars using bearings gained from line of sight and hope that the system can be recognized.
Uncharted Dwarf Planet: You randomly fell into the mass shadow of a small drawf planet. These objects are typically 2d6x100km in diameter, and the ship will be 0-1 sub-light hours away. Fifty percent of the time these are associated with a nearby stellar system, 5d6 sublight hours away, while the remainder of time they are rogue objects located in deep space. If not associated with a stellar body, calculating jumps has the same difficulties as in deep space. If associated with a stellar body, then it’s generally possible to map out where you are at from a star chart or other astrogation aid - though the majority of systems in the outer rim are technically uncharted and little is known of them. In either case, The Empire will pay 1d6x100 credits to citizens in good standing, for a sensor scan of a navigational hazard like this one to determine more precisely its mass, course and speed and thereby improve astrogation charts. Dwarf planets generally do not have life or atmospheres that can sustain life. They usually have typical low value resources such as silicates, methanes, ammonia, or water ice. Rarely they are metal rich or have significant minable resources, though special sensors or extensive time prospecting on the surface is necessary to determine this. Even if such resources are present, their location in uncharted space is likely to make them nearly valueless owing to the investment required to commercialize them compared to resources in more established systems.
Mid-System: You have jumped into the middle of a stellar system. 1d6 planets are each 2d6-2 sublight hours away and other planets and bodies may be further out depending on the size and complexity of the system. The system is unknown 10% of the time, known but uncharted 50% of the time, charted but uninhabited 40% of the time and charted and inhabited 10% of the time. In the inner sphere or colonies region, all worlds are at least charted, while in the mid-rim and expansion region all systems are at least known.
Planet: You have jumped into the middle of a stellar system and are currently in orbit of a planet. The planet is in a system that is unknown 10% of the time, known but uncharted 50% of the time, and charted but uninhabited 40% of the time and charted and inhabited 10% of the time. In the inner sphere or colonies region, all worlds are at least charted, while in the mid-rim and expansion region all systems are at least known.
Moon: You have jumped into the middle of a stellar system and are currently in orbit of a planetary satellite. The system is unknown 10% of the time, known but uncharted 50% of the time, and charted but uninhabited 40% of the time and charted and inhabited 10% of the time. In the inner sphere or colonies region, all worlds are at least charted, while in the mid-rim and expansion region all systems are at least known.
Other Ship: You have nearly impacted the mass shadow of another ship which was in real space at the time. 90% of the time you this occurs within 2d6-2 sub-light hours of the destination. The other 10% of the time this occurs close to the point of departure usually in the first few seconds of travel, but in real space typically this is already 2d6-2 sub-light hours from the point of departure. Nearly hitting something as small and uncommon as a ship at a random point between these points is so rare as to have a negligible chance.
