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I don't think they've spelled this out. I think its just to absolom station, and then you'd have to impulse yourself 1d6 days to another planet.
Agreed. I don't think the authorities will matter much as a single ship speaking common and having a plausible story to offer. Just state your business and flight path and move out. Or drop back into the drift without acknowledging a challenge, it only takes another minute (plus whatever the plotting/navigating time is, which maybe I'm forgetting is significant) and I doubt anyone is going to shoot at you for just sitting there.
After Near Space introduced that drift beacon spell I also find it hard to believe that it wouldn't always be in place in the Pact Worlds (and Veskarium and anywhere else with a reasonable expectation of a 16th level caster answerable either to the government, church of Abadar, or other concerned and organized entity), effectively always making the whole system 1d6 days.
I tend to figure that, unless your ship is either *super* 5 star wanted, or else an obviously hostile existential threat? Its perfectly fine to just arrive at Absalom Station and then head about your business. You don't need to be on the Registered Arrival Logs in order to show up at Absalom Station and not get shot at. Not only am I uncertain they could enforce such control on their nearby space, but even if they could, I doubt the rest of the Pact Worlds would especially want them to do so.
It wouldn't make sense to fire on everyone coming in, its bad for business and would make for worse first contact situations. But I don't think there's any port/ ship confidentiality agreement either.
While I'm pretty sure you can scoot away before Absolom station opens fire on you, I'm equally sure that the stewards (or at least one of their computer bots) are monitoring the comings and goings to flag wanted criminals.
I suspect that the people running Absalom Station are perfectly happy for ships to pop out of the Drift nearby and then go elsewhere, as it would be rather tedious for them to process every ship arriving from outside the Pact Worlds.
But it somebody really wants to avoid being seen popping in briefly near Absalom Station, is there anything to stop them from plotting their course through the Drift to elsewhere in the Pact Worlds system? After all, that system is part of "Near Space", so it would seem that somebody could avoid Absalom Station by spending a longer period of time in the Drift. Is there any reason that wouldn't work?
I suspect that the people running Absalom Station are perfectly happy for ships to pop out of the Drift nearby and then go elsewhere, as it would be rather tedious for them to process every ship arriving from outside the Pact Worlds.But it somebody really wants to avoid being seen popping in briefly near Absalom Station, is there anything to stop them from plotting their course through the Drift to elsewhere in the Pact Worlds system? After all, that system is part of "Near Space", so it would seem that somebody could avoid Absalom Station by spending a longer period of time in the Drift. Is there any reason that wouldn't work?
I don't think there's anything preventing you from drifting to elsewhere in system. So, you can just pop out near verses if you wish.
I don't think there's anything preventing you from drifting to elsewhere in system. So, you can just pop out near verses if you wish.
You have to drift to a drift beacon though. I'm not sure how close you have to pop out next to it, but i don't think most of the system away from it works. I don't think anyone in the pact would bother to set up their own beacon with absolom right there.
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I don't think there's anything preventing you from drifting to elsewhere in system. So, you can just pop out near verses if you wish.You have to drift to a drift beacon though. I'm not sure how close you have to pop out next to it, but i don't think most of the system away from it works. I don't think anyone in the pact would bother to set up their own beacon with absolom right there.
I don't think you have to exit any particular distance from a drift beacon. It's just the overall density of drift beacons in that area of space that determines whether it's the Vast or Near Space for travel time. Are there 0.005, 5, or 500 drift beacons per "normal sized" star system (and what about the voids between star systems?) to qualify as Near Space? We don't know.
Is it really Near Space?
But it somebody really wants to avoid being seen popping in briefly near Absalom Station, is there anything to stop them from plotting their course through the Drift to elsewhere in the Pact Worlds system? After all, that system is part of "Near Space", so it would seem that somebody could avoid Absalom Station by spending a longer period of time in the Drift. Is there any reason that wouldn't work?
Yes, it says it somewhere either in the CRB or the Dead Suns drift article.
And it has to be because it's the closest star to the Veskarium, which is Near Space, and I think Near Space is more of a regional thing than an ad hocracy of adjacent stars being in the Vast vs. Near Space.
Distance or region has nothing to do with Near Space or Vast. It all depends on the number of drift beacons.
And it has to be because it's the closest star to the Veskarium, which is Near Space, and I think Near Space is more of a regional thing than an ad hocracy of adjacent stars being in the Vast vs. Near Space.
It has something to do with it, because the drift beacons don't seem to be randomly scattered on a discrete per star system basis. They clump up more than that.
Outside of a given system, Drift tech divides the galaxy into two sectors: Near Space and the Vast. While Near Space worlds tend to be closer to the galactic center (and, incidentally, to the Pact Worlds) and the systems of the Vast tend to be farther out, the true difference between the regions lies in the density of so-called “Drift beacons.” These mysterious objects, sometimes spontaneously generated and sometimes placed by priests of Triune, help navigation systems orient ships in the Drift. While placing a single Drift beacon on a world isn’t enough to convert a Vast world to Near Space status, placing many in that general region of space can cause the shift and thus it’s possible to find pockets of Near Space worlds all the way out to the galactic rim, as well as uncharted zones considered part of the Vast near the galaxy’s core.
The very least you can draw a probability map for a given region and say that a certain percentage of those stars are in the Vast or Near Space, and that therefore any individual star is more likely to have direct neighbors who are all or mostly in one or the other.
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You have to drift to a drift beacon though...
As far as I understood the setting this is not accurate. You don't jump to a drift beacon, it's not like a portal or something.
It's more like a lighthouse, guiding your way. And if you have more lighthouses (orienting points) the more accurate and faster your travel course will be.The amount of drift beacons in a system defines if it's vast or near space system (I would count Absalom as it's own system in this case), but they are not entry/exit points.
So you can leave everywhere in the system you like (probably within a small margin of error).
So the only question left for me is: How big is the "System Absalom", so in which radius around Absalom can you leave the drift around the station. I would go with at least a few hundred or thousand kilometers (especially with the Armada which pose a big risk to every ship which leave the drift close to the station).
I would go with at least a few hundred or thousand kilometers (especially with the Armada which pose a big risk to every ship which leave the drift close to the station).
I'm not disagreeing there, but ship sensors definitely go that far out. So would absolom stations. For a pirate campaign people wanted to drift directly to say.. the diaspora. That's way outside a few thousand km.
There is nothing in the rules which prohibit this. Nowhere its written that you pop-out of the Drift at the drift beacon. So exiting the drift in the diaspora shouldn't be a problem.
Conversely, there is nothing in the rules which allow this. Nowhere is it written that you don't need to pop out of the drift near the drift beacon, so it shouldn't be allowed.
So that argument doesn't work.
Some things do hint that you have to pop out near absolom station. If you don't have to pop out there, why is a tiny space station important at all? Why have an armada around it if any random asteroid in the diaspora was just as easy to get to? Or hang out around akiton if you don't like the stewards poking their noses into your business.
Why have local travel at all if you can just drift there in the same 1d6 days? How would space pirates even exist in the pact worlds if everyone could just drift everywhere.
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The rules don't even mention drift beacons, only the lore does. The rules just say 'If your destination is A, B, or C, it takes X, Y, or Z time to get there.
Now, in the lore we have more information.
On the other hand, it is
also impossible for anyone to fortify and thus control specifc
jump points within the Drift, and someone attempting to
guard a planet from invasion would need to mine every inch
of space around the world, as ships might reasonably appear
anywhere in its vicinity.
Makes it pretty obvious that your destination at the very least can be a planet, and that you appear randomly around said planet. You definitely aren't appearing next to specific drift beacons.
These
mysterious objects, sometimes spontaneously generated and
sometimes placed by priests of Triune, help navigation systems
orient ships in the Drift.
This bit strongly implies drift beacons are some form of light house/gps satellite. They help you get where you're going, but they aren't the destination.
We also have:
Travel to Absalom Station (1d6 Days): Jumping to Absalom
Station always takes only 1d6 days, thanks to the Starstone.Travel to Near Space (3d6 Days): Near Space contains the
Pact Worlds system and most of the worlds colonized
and contacted so far by their explorers, but there are still
thousands of Near Space worlds yet to be investigated.
Which tells us directly that you can travel to the pact worlds instead of Absalom (though stopping by Absalom first saves you 1d6 days).
So, you can definitely go to any planet or generic system. Whether you can go to a random asteroid or some specific coordinates in system is a bit more up in the air.
As to how space pirates work: With difficulty. They have to hang around a destination and hope a good target wanders by in engagement range so they can attack before the ship can flee into the drift. Or they have to live in a system that uses driftless freighters for in system cargo. Or, tracking devices placed on a ship in departure port so they have a better chance at catching them at the arrival port. Or passengers trying to get passage take the ship from the inside.
Not disagreeing with a planet sized area. But in starship combat you can still be spotted from a planet away. (and shot at with the right weapon i think)
Also note that that's specifically travel to absolom station 1d6 days and travel to the pact worlds is specifically a different a different catagory. So popping out directly at Triaxus, do not pass go, do not pass absolom security, isn't the same as popping to the pact worlds.
I think you might be reading a very specific reference to what near space is from that. Chances are fairly good that the other planets have their own beacons too. So I don't think that really answers the question
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Sure "jumping" directly to Triaxus would be "near space" so it would take 3d6 days.
Jumping to Absolom and then flying to Triaxus would be 1d6 (To Absalom) + 1d6 (Drift within a system) or plus 1d6+2 (linear flight).
Where do you get the informationfrom that you will appear near a drift beacon?
There is a reason they are called beacons and not "Drift portals/gates" ;)
A Beacon give you a rough heading and is no exit/entry point.
But in starship combat you can still be spotted from a planet away. (and shot at with the right weapon i think)
Distances for weapons/sensors are just as arbitrary and context/GM dependent as the time of a starship round. What we can say is that weapons can supposedly fire twice as far as active sensors can see (10x increments vs 5x).
Does that makes sense in a world with railguns vs. light speed weapons/sensors and potentially planetary range detection engagements, and where a starship combat round might take 1 minute, 10 seconds, or one hour, depending, but going to the drift is a fixed 1 minute? Not really, but it's an abstraction to determine who gets blown up, not a reality simulator.
Sure "jumping" directly to Triaxus would be "near space" so it would take 3d6 days.
Jumping to Absolom and then flying to Triaxus would be 1d6 (To Absalom) + 1d6 (Drift within a system) or plus 1d6+2 (linear flight).
Where do you get the informationfrom that you will appear near a drift beacon?
There is a reason they are called beacons and not "Drift portals/gates" ;)
A Beacon give you a rough heading and is no exit/entry point.
And trying to navigate away from one is a bad. Bad idea. The question is how far?
Note that the OP wanted to drift in in 1d6 days. That specifically only applies to absolom station. The rest of the pact is 3d6. (and nothing says whether planets have their own beacons, but I think they would)
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Sure "jumping" directly to Triaxus would be "near space" so it would take 3d6 days.
Jumping to Absolom and then flying to Triaxus would be 1d6 (To Absalom) + 1d6 (Drift within a system) or plus 1d6+2 (linear flight).
Where do you get the informationfrom that you will appear near a drift beacon?
There is a reason they are called beacons and not "Drift portals/gates" ;)
A Beacon give you a rough heading and is no exit/entry point.And trying to navigate away from one is a bad. Bad idea. The question is how far?
Note that the OP wanted to drift in in 1d6 days. That specifically only applies to absolom station. The rest of the pact is 3d6. (and nothing says whether planets have their own beacons, but I think they would)
I'm pretty sure a system without a drift beacon is just part of the vast. You have to go beyond the rim to run into problems, not just a place without a beacon.
From the way they are consistently described, navigating by drift beacons is like navigating by the stars. Only in three dimensions, and sometimes you pass a few as you fly. Without them, there would be no reference points in the drift and you might just fall out in a random spot in the galaxy.
From the way they are consistently described, navigating by drift beacons is like navigating by the stars. Only in three dimensions, and sometimes you pass a few as you fly. Without them, there would be no reference points in the drift and you might just fall out in a random spot in the galaxy.
They get you there faster though, not just more accurately.
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Sure "jumping" directly to Triaxus would be "near space" so it would take 3d6 days.
Jumping to Absolom and then flying to Triaxus would be 1d6 (To Absalom) + 1d6 (Drift within a system) or plus 1d6+2 (linear flight).
Where do you get the informationfrom that you will appear near a drift beacon?
There is a reason they are called beacons and not "Drift portals/gates" ;)
A Beacon give you a rough heading and is no exit/entry point.And trying to navigate away from one is a bad. Bad idea. The question is how far?
Note that the OP wanted to drift in in 1d6 days. That specifically only applies to absolom station. The rest of the pact is 3d6. (and nothing says whether planets have their own beacons, but I think they would)
I'm pretty sure a system without a drift beacon is just part of the vast. You have to go beyond the rim to run into problems, not just a place without a beacon.
From the way they are consistently described, navigating by drift beacons is like navigating by the stars. Only in three dimensions, and sometimes you pass a few as you fly. Without them, there would be no reference points in the drift and you might just fall out in a random spot in the galaxy.
I'm about to leave for work so can't look it up but I recall a mention that "Near space" is a category based on the number of drift beacons so you can have near space in the Golarion system and near space on the outer westward spiral arm and near space in the galactic core all seperated by the vast with few beacons in that area.
They get you there faster though, not just more accurately.
From the way they are consistently described, navigating by drift beacons is like navigating by the stars. Only in three dimensions, and sometimes you pass a few as you fly. Without them, there would be no reference points in the drift and you might just fall out in a random spot in the galaxy.
well, yeah, there's more weird stuff going on than a simple analogy will get you.
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They get you there faster though, not just more accurately.
More accurate means quicker. ;)
Lets say you want to sail from Europe to US (on a flat earth^^)
There are no stars, no GPS, no Lighthouses, where are you?
Your journey is depends on winds, currents and other things you can't predict. These can also bring you of course.
So once you reach the coast you have to set a new course (North or South?) to finally reach your destination.
Next imagine there is one lighthouses on the US coast.
You have some point of reference, but no clue how far it is and what your heading towards is it (is it W, NW or even S of you?).
Your journey will take longer then the direct route, but at least you reach your destination without sailing along the coastline and searching for it. So you are a little bit faster.
Next imagine there are dozens of lighthouses and you know in which cities they are. You can pinpoint your location thanks to math, adapt your course on the fly if winds or currents brings you of course. You will reach your destination in near perfect time.
Last but not least, there is a radio beacon which is linked to all lighthouses, connects to your ships navigation system and guides you on the perfect course toward it.
The first example would be:
"beyond the rim"
"vast space"
"near space"
"Absalom station"
This is how I understand the Drift beacon system. More like lighthouses which helps you to plot a perfect course through a unknown, ever-shifting and dangerous ocean.
Bravo
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They get you there faster though, not just more accurately.More accurate means quicker. ;)
Lets say you want to sail from Europe to US (on a flat earth^^)
There are no stars, no GPS, no Lighthouses, where are you?
Your journey is depends on winds, currents and other things you can't predict. These can also bring you of course.
So once you reach the coast you have to set a new course (North or South?) to finally reach your destination.Next imagine there is one lighthouses on the US coast.
You have some point of reference, but no clue how far it is and what your heading towards is it (is it W, NW or even S of you?).
Your journey will take longer then the direct route, but at least you reach your destination without sailing along the coastline and searching for it. So you are a little bit faster.Next imagine there are dozens of lighthouses and you know in which cities they are. You can pinpoint your location thanks to math, adapt your course on the fly if winds or currents brings you of course. You will reach your destination in near perfect time.
Last but not least, there is a radio beacon which is linked to all lighthouses, connects to your ships navigation system and guides you on the perfect course toward it.
The first example would be:
"beyond the rim"
"vast space"
"near space"
"Absalom station"This is how I understand the Drift beacon system. More like lighthouses which helps you to plot a perfect course through a unknown, ever-shifting and dangerous ocean.
Good analogy though I'd be inclined to modify it slightly by having the average drift beacon a radio giving you your current relative position and the starstone being a satellite reaching out over a huge area of the planet (our galaxy). So you need to be within a certain distance of a beacon to see it but when you do you know "You are 100 miles off the coast of Japan it is <- from here. But anywhere your picking up your location from the starstone. So you have two locators distance from Japan based on that beacon and distance from the satellite. So you know from where you are Japan is <- and the starstone is ^ giving you general co-ordinates. However without that Japan beacon you only know how far you are from Absalom station.
I believe the timelords did something similar in pre-ruined Dr Who where Gallifrey was a marker at the dead center of their time and space maps. Sure you needed other co-ordinates but 0.0 was always gallifrey. For example when the Dr wound up in E-space he needed co-ordinates for that universe to match up to his original one in N space to allow him to navigate it.