Maps
Traveller uses standard-sized hex maps for player stellar navigation. Each hex represents one parsec. Two star systems adjacent to one another in any direction are considered to be Jump-1 distance apart.
Directions
Traveller maps use the following conventions for directions.
- Coreward: Towards the top of the map, the equivalent of North - facing the Galactic Core.
- Rimward: Towards the bottom of the map, the equivalent of South - facing the Galactic Rim.
- Spinward: Towards the left of the map, the equivalent of West - facing in the direction of galactic spin.
- Trailing: Towards the right of the map, the equivalent of East - facing away from the direction of galactic spin.
In this Example Subsector Map Grid, if you were in a system at grid coordinate 0305, the following hexes are Jump-1 distance from that hex: 0304, 0404, 0405, 0306, 0205, 0204.
For the Fist system in the Tobia Subsector the following hexes are Jump-2, or two parsecs, from Fist Tobia Trojan Reach 2918 (in the centre of the screen): Iilgan Tobia Trojan Reach 2719, Wildeman Tobia Trojan Reach 2819, New Moscow Tobia Trojan Reach 3119, Eshadi Tobia Trojan Reach 3117, New Tobia Trojan Reach 3016, and Imisaa Tobia Trojan Reach 2916. {traditional Traveller notation does not include the Sector name, it is used here for direct linking to system pages.}
Subsector maps are also shared as images in Fantasy Grounds, with links to system information inside of Fantasy Grounds from various source materials.
Free Traders are only capable of Jump-1. Systems which are Jump-2, with no intervening systems (in other words, they have to cross an empty hex) cannot be reached directly with a Free Trader, unless part of its cargo space is taken up with internal fuel tanks to store the fuel for an extra Jump.
Jumping And Fuel
Travel between systems is arranged with Jump-drives. Each Jump takes one week, give or take, and consumes an amount of fuel equal to (excuse the math) 10% of the mass of the ship times the Jump number. So, for instance, a 200-ton Free Trader with a Jump-1 drive needs 20 tons of fuel. Free Traders are designed with a single fuel tank to contain the 20 tons needed for just one Jump.
To this day, almost 50 years on, I have no idea why Marc Miller created this rule - he could have designed Jump drives to be able to provide one ship with two Jumps per fuel load. - Alex
The Jumping ship enters Jump space and exits Jump space at the destination system one week later. Ships are generally designed to contain only enough Jump fuel for one Jump.
Jump Times
Jumps take one week, whether your ship is capable of Jump-1 or Jump-6 (the maximum Jump available to humans). Jump-2 ships, such as Far Traders and most Scout ships, can Jump two parsecs in one week. They can also Jump one parsec in a week, and many Jump-2 ships enjoy following the same Jump-1 routes as traders, enjoying the increased endurance which you would have if you only burned half the fuel in your ship's fuel tank.
Travel Times
Each Jump generally has two phases: the Jump itself, lasting about a week; and a week, roughly, spent in normal space in the destination system, trading while the ship refuels or maintenance takes place.
Sometimes, a ship arrives in a system with enough fuel to make a second Jump almost immediately. The turnaround time takes a few hours, while the Jump drive spins down from the Jump. This is not commonplace. Most ships spend at least a few days in normal space between Jumps.
