TRAVELLIN’ THE BLACK

WRITTEN BY JAN HENDRIK FRIEDRICH, BASED ON A SET OF RULES BY SCOTT METZ

WWW.CORTEXSYSTEMRPG.ORG

For various reasons, boats will often need to fly from one world to another. What follows
are quick and easy rules for running interplanetary travel.

When characters plot a journey, you, the gamemaster, should determine its Duration as
well as a Difficulty.

DURATION
If you follow the five-step process below, you will find out how long the journey takes.

1. World Values

World Value World Value World Value

Aberdeen 762 Hera 288 Parth 223
Angel 159 Highgate 355 Pelorum 108
Ariel 36 Higgin’s Moon 618 Persephone 158
Athens 805 Ita 675 Regina 661
Beaumonde 359 Jiangyin 345 Salisbury 457
Bellerophon 100 Kerry 559 Santo 186
Bernadette 20 Liann Juin 410 Shadow 690
Beylix 141 Lilac 733 Sihnon 43
Boros 149 Londinum 58 Silverhold 129
Constance 627 Miranda 863 Space Bazaar Skyplex 301
Deadwood 453 Muir 561 St. Albans 388
Dyton 286 Newhall 186 Three Hills 719
Ezra 646 New Melbourne 519 Triumph 603
Greenleaf 575 Osiris 64 Verbena 173
Harvest 159 Paquin 173 Whitefall 582
Haven 805 Whittier 320

2. Distance
Subtract the smaller World Value from the larger to determine the Distance between the
two worlds.

Example: Serenity travels from Persephone (158) to Deadwood (453). The Distance between these
worlds is 453 – 158 = 295.
 3. Relative Location Modifier
Worlds in the ‘Verse are moving in their orbits. Roll d12 to determine the Relative Location
Modifier. This presumes a direct flight path along charted nav-sat routes.
If a ship flies under the radar to avoid running across other ships, roll an additional d6 and
add the result to the Relative Location Modifier.

Example: Mal orders Wash to fly under the radar. To determine the Relative Location Modifier,
Wash’s player rolls d12+d6 for a result of 7 + 4 = 11.

4. Base Travel Time

Multiply the Distance by the Relative Location Modifier to get the Base Travel Time in
hours.

Example: The Distance between Persephone and Deadwood (295) is multiplied by the Relative
Location Modifier (11): 295 x 11 = 3,245 hours.

5. Actual Travel Time

Divide the Base Travel Time by the ship’s Speed Class to determine how many hours it will
take to travel from one world to the other.

Example: Because Serenity has a cruising speed of 4, it will take her 3,245 hours / 4 = 811.25
hours (4 weeks, 5 days, 19 hours, and 15 minutes) to travel from Persephone to Deadwood.

DIFFICULTY
The Difficulty it how well the pilot has to roll to successfully plot the course.

Plotting a safe and direct course between two worlds requires an Intelligence + Pilot or
Technical Engineering / Astrogation Skill roll. The Difficulty is calculated by dividing the
Base Travel Time by 250, rounded down. The Difficulty cannot drop below EASY (3).
A Botch increases the Actual Travel Time by 50%, while a Failure increases it by 25%. An
Extraordinary Success decreases the Actual Travel Time by 10%.

Example: Serenity’s Base Travel Time of 3,245 hours divided by 250 equals 12.98. It is therefore a
HARD (12) feat to plot a direct course between the two worlds. Since Wash is extraordinarily
successful, Serenity’s Actual Travel Time of 811.25 is reduced by 10% to 730.125 hours.