I wanted to start a thread that discusses the technology of this setting, outside of the context of rules. This setting is a custom setting that I have come up with, that combines pre-existing ideas with some original ones. I guess the closest analogs would be Mass Effect or Battlestar Galactica (I haven't seen the new one yet, though)
NOTE THAT NOT EVERYTHING HERE NEEDS TO BE READ, BUT EXISTS AS A REFERENCE.
[DRIVE TECHNOLOGY]
Humanity has discovered ways to change the shape of space-time in the immediate area. For sub-light travel, this means that
gravity-drives can "slope" nearby space to create a gravity well that the ship can "fall" into. By constantly moving the "slope" ahead of the ship, or to the sides, the ship can maneuver about a solar system for far less fuel than chemical reaction (aka rocket) technology could. Heat is still produced, and there is some particulate exhaust.
The
"Jump" or "Warp" drive is the badass FTL version of the grav-drive. Technically it should be called a "Gravitationally-Induced Soliton Space-Wave" drive, but that wasn't very catchy. What the Jump drive does is create a massive Soliton (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soliton) all at once in the space around the ship, creating a small pocket of "smooth space" that travels at the phase velocity of the soliton wavefront. (this might sound like technobabble, but it's actually all terminologically correct, provided we could manipulate space in that way)
A small amount of energy is need to maintain the wave once created, and the direction of motion can be changed (with some difficulty) while in transit. Traditionally, ships "jump" as a group, and share the same pocket of smooth space; ships are capable of inserting themselves into an existing pocket, but this is not standard procedure.
Because the jump drive requires precise manipulation of nearby space, it will not function near a significant gravity well, such as a star or planet. If such an object is intercepted, the soliton wave will collapse and the ship(s) will drop into normal space unharmed. If an object with an insignificant gravity well (an asteroid, another ship) would be intersected, no collision will occur. Because the drive is warping space around it, the stationary vessel will be "moved aside" by the wave imperceptibly. That is, the stationary vessel will feel no net effect from the passing ship, and would not notice its passing if its sensors were not on.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:21, Tue 08 May 2012.