Interstellar Travel in the Frontier Sector is achieved through the discovery of The Void.
The Void is a region that exists outside the bounds of the known material universe. In an apparent violation of the accepted laws of physics, starships enter the Void by accelerating past the velocity of 12 million kilometers/second (.01c). Discovery of the Void brought the four races together in the region of space that would become known as the Frontier.
Time is very distorted in the Void, and space does not seem to exist at all. Starships exit the Void and return to "normal" space by decelerating slightly so that their speed drops below the .01c threshold. By carefully coordinating the ship's heading and the length of time spent in the Void (typically 3-15 seconds), the navigator can "jump" the ship to the vicinity of a nearby star, making interstellar travel possible. In theory, a ship could cross any distance within the Void, but the precision in navigation required limits Void jumps to a range of 15 light years per jump. Beyond that limit, it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid navigational error.[1][2]
Characters exposed to the Void experience sensory disruption. Colors and sounds are unfamiliar, and the sense of touch vanishes. Individuals sensitive to these effects are said to suffer from "void sickness".
Notes & References[]
- Source: Star Frontiers: Knight Hawks pp. 3, 33.
- ↑ -10% to the navigation check
- ↑ See: Interstellar Travel
House Rules[]
Some campaigns treat the Void not as a natural property of space-time but instead require starships to be equipped with a Void engine. The properties of the Void, and the acceleration required to reach jump velocity, remain the same.