Build:Warp Propulsion System
6.1 Warp Propulsion System
Cost: varies
The following information – up until the nacelles entry – is provided as information on the roles of the various parts of the warp propulsion system.
The heart of any starship is its matter/antimatter reaction (M/AMR) engine, more commonly known as its warp propulsion system or warp drive. Put simply, a warp propulsion system works by annihilating antimatter with matter in a lithium- or dilithium-controlled reaction which is channeled for power. A warp propulsion system has three main parts: the matter/antimatter integrator (or matter/antimatter reaction assembly in the 24th century), the power transfer conduits and the warp nacelles. In developing the warp propulsion system, the nacelles and power transfer conduits are ‘bought’ first, with the warp drive considered during the Power portion.
Matter/Antimatter Integrator (M/AMI) (Pre-2303): Basically, early model warp propulsion systems work the same as 24th century ones. Both annihilate matter and antimatter in a reaction controlled by lithium or dilithium crystals to produce sufficient power to propel a starship at speeds far in excess of the speed of light. However, the technology of the earlier warp drives suffers from certain limitations and restrictions which later drives do not – most notably an inability to safely attain warp speeds higher than Warp 8.0 (Warp 6.5 on the TNG scale).
On early starships, the matter/antimatter reaction occurs in a matter/antimatter integrator (M/AMI; also called an intermix chamber or warp core). Located in main engineering, the M/AMI consists of a long horizontal chamber in most ships of the era. Beginning in 2271, Starfleet discovered it could achieve a more efficient reaction with a chamber containing both horizontal and vertical sections. (Later advances in materials science and warp engine dynamics in the 2300s (specifically 2303) allowed Starfleet to discard the less-efficient horizontal chamber in favor of wholly vertical warp cores, except in those designs, such as the Danube-class Runabout, where the size or configuration of a ship required a horizontal core.)
The dilithium crystal converter assembly (DCCA), part of the M/AMI, holds the dilithium crystals in place. Most DCCAs hold four crystals, and use a dilithium sequencer to control the flow of power through them. (If anyone removes any crystals, reduce the ship’s ability to attain warp speeds proportionately.) If something fuses or damages a ship’s DCCA, the ship cannot attain warp speed or derive any power from the warp propulsion system until the engineers repair it. Special structures known as baffle plates cover the DCCA to contain the massive energy generated there and channel it into the plasma transfer conduits (PTCs) that carry it to the warp nacelles. If the baffle plates become warped or damaged, they cannot properly contain the reaction, resulting in extensive damage to the engineering section (and possibly the destruction of the ship).
The wider the engineers open the integrator, the greater the flow of matter and antimatter into the chamber, and thus the faster the ship moves. In the event the flows become too great, which could destroy the ship via an uncontrolled reaction or excessive speed (see below), the emergency overload bypass engages almost instantaneously. The bypass possesses great durability; fusing it shut so that it can’t engage would require all the power in the main phaser banks! But if it is fused, or malfunctions, the engines run wild, with a “maximum overload” (resulting in destruction of the ship) in no more than 15 minutes. (The 15 minute figure applies to ships of the 2260s and beyond. For every full 20 years prior to 2260, reduce the time by one minute.)
If the integrator does not mix the matter and antimatter in the proper ratio, an “engine imbalance” results. An imbalance of too much antimatter typically destroys the ship, since the excess antimatter contacts matter and explodes. An imbalance of matter can create a “wormhole,” a sort of “tunnel” in space that traps the ship (and possibly other objects, with which the ship may collide). Dropping to impulse speeds causes the wormhole to disappear. If a ship fails to get out of a wormhole before reaching its end, the wormhole’s terminus could put the ship at virtually any place in the galaxy, at any point in time. The plasma produced by a 23rd century M/AMI must maintain a constant temperature between 4,000o and 4,o Celsius, or else safety margins are violated. If the temperature exceeds 5,500o C, a reaction could result which overheats the engines and destroys the ship in a tremendous explosion.
Ships built prior to 2303 cannot eject their warp cores.
Matter/Antimatter Reaction Assembly (M/ARA) (Post-2302): The matter/antimatter reaction assembly is where the matter/antimatter annihilation takes place. It has three parts: the reactant injectors; the magnetic constriction segments; and the matter/antimatter reaction chamber. These pieces are organized in a columnar fashion. At the bottom and top of the column are the reactant injectors — the matter reactant injector (MRI) sits on the top and uses deuterium; the antimatter reactant injector (ARI) sits at the bottom and uses antimatter. The two work in approximately the same way, but the ARI is adapted for magnetic suspension fuel tunnels, since the antimatter cannot be allowed to touch matter, lest a catastrophic explosion occur. The MRI and ARI inject their treated materials into the magnetic constriction segments (MCSs), which align the materials for combining within the matter/antimatter reaction chamber (M/ARC). The M/ARC consists of two bell-shaped cavities joined together to direct the flow of the materials. Where the two halves are joined, there is a dilithium crystal articulation frame (DCAF) which holds a dilithium crystal. An armored hatch allows access to the DCAF when it’s time to replace or adjust the crystal.
For reasons not fully understood, dilithium is the only substance known not to react with antimatter when subjected to a high-frequency electromagnetic field. The matter and antimatter both pass through the crystal’s structure without touching it, come into contact with each other, and are annihilated in a reaction which produces an enormous amount of energy. That energy, in the form of plasma, is directed by the dilithium crystal towards the power transfer conduits (PTCs).
Power Transfer Conduits and Warp Nacelles: The Power Transfer Conduits (PTC) split the plasma into one stream for each nacelle a ship has and use magnetic constriction to force the stream(s) toward the warp nacelle(s). Along their length there are three electroplasma system (EPS) taps which siphon off power to run the ship’s systems. The PTCs terminate at the warp nacelles. The nacelles have three primary parts: plasma injection system; warp field coils; and the emergency separation system. They also have maintenance docking ports.
At the nacelle end of each PTC, the plasma injector systems (PISs) injects the plasma into the warp field coils (WFCs) as a burst of energy. The WFCs, which are split toroids made of tungsten-cobalt-magnesium and verterium cortenide, use the energy to create an intense, multilayered warp field which allows the ship to travel through space at superluminal speeds. The coils shift the energy frequencies carried by the plasma deep into subspace, creating the warp field. The sequential firing of the coils presses the warp field layers upon each other, thus making the vehicle move. Because two warp nacelles create a precisely balanced interacting warp field, most ships have that many nacelles; however, advances in warp field theory and mechanics have made ships with one, three, or four nacelles possible. Odd number nacelle designs require the designers to precisely align the odd nacelle along the X-Y plane of the ship, and in the case of three nacelles to precisely align the third one between the other two nacelles, to prevent warp field misalignment.
The nacelles also include Bussard ramscoops at their forward end. A ship can use these to “sweep” interstellar space with a magnetic field to gather stray hydrogen atoms in the event of a fuel shortage. If necessary, other gases (such as metreon gas) can be collected. By making a Routine (3 ) Propulsion Engineering Test, the crew can “backflush” the ramscoops, ejecting the collected gases forward or aft.
The emergency separation system (ESS) allows the crew to eject a nacelle in the event of catastrophic failure of a PIS. The computer controls this function; no Test is required for characters to activate it. In the event of a computer failure, characters can make a Moderate (6) Systems Engineering or Shipboard Systems (any Specialization) Test to perform the ejection — assuming, of course, the ejection system hasn’t malfunctioned...
Lithium and Dilithium: Warp propulsion systems use a controlled matter/antimatter reaction explosion to generate the massive amounts of energy needed to transcend the speed of light. Early warp engines, such as the one invented by Zefram Cochrane, typically used laboratory-created lithium crystals to control the reaction, but they proved unstable. Experiments conducted in the late 2240s and early 2250s with a new substance, dilithium, determined that it functions more efficiently and safely than lithium, and by approximately 2264 it had replaced lithium in almost all warp propulsion systems. The Federation and comparative societies cannot manufacture dilithium; they have to mine it. That makes sources of the mineral, such as the planets Coridan and Troyius, or the Klingon asteroid of Rura Penthe, enormously valuable (and often the sources of galactic political tension).
Dilithium is sturdy, but not invulnerable. A wide variety of phenomena, ranging from physical force to various energy and subspace fields, can cause dilithium crystals to warp, crack, or deteriorate past the point of usefulness (they also wear out through use, of course). If this occurs, the engineering department must replace them immediately or risk the destruction of the ship due to an uncontrolled matter/antimatter reaction. The engineers cannot replace the crystals without shutting down the warp propulsion system entirely. In 2286, Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise devised a method of recrystallizing dilithium using high energy photons from fission reactors which greatly extended the usable life of an individual crystal.
Because dilithium is both rare and expensive, ships often have difficulty keeping enough of it in supply, prior to 2286. A starship typically carries enough dilithium for one year of routine operation. Whenever it has to exceed Standard speed, activates shields or other power-intensive systems, it uses up more than it would by engaging in routine operations for the same period of time. Eventually the ship must obtain more dilithium. The same useage rules apply to lithium, though it is much more common.
(Cardassian: The Cardassian Union uses a unique form of warp drive technology. Because Cardassian industrial processes cannot produce antimatter as pure and refined as that manufactured by the Federation or Romulans, Cardassian warp drives use a magnetic latticework focused by a mineral called ladarium to help purify the antimatter before it interacts with the matter. Without ladarium, a Cardassian ship risks catastrophic warp core breach, since it cannot fully regulate the matter/antimatter reaction and resultant power flow. Cardassian ships carry ladarium as part of their consumables, but as with dilithium and crucial spare parts, always seem to run out at inopportune moments, which gives rise to difficulties and adventures.
(The maximum speed attainable by Cardassian vessels as of 2376 is Warp 9.7. Using technological information obtained from the Dominion, the Cardassians may learn how to exceed this speed, once they solve their current political troubles and can concentrate on such research again.)
(Klingon: The Klingons use standard matter/antimatter warp propulsion technology and impulse propulsion systems. They have conducted a few experiments with transwarp drive and other advanced forms of superluminal travel, but have never even come close to developing practical working models of such technology.)
(The maximum speed attainable by Klingon vessels as of 2376 is Warp 9.8.)
6.1.1 Nacelles
(Required for most FTL vessels) Cost: Varies Available: 2063 There are two different designation systems for nacelles used by Starfleet and its preceeding agencies: the first was used up until 2312, when nacelles were redesignated according to how they performed under the TNG Warp Scale (this was done retroactively, in some cases). The first system labels the nacelles by Mark, while the latter system uses Type. Nacelles from one system are different than those used under the other, as the latter type began incorporating the third-generation knowledge of warp mechanics.
Decide how many nacelles your ship has, from one to four. The base number you choose doesn’t matter or affect the SU cost - four nacelles cost as many as one or two, and the number chosen has no particular effect on gameplay. The Nacelle Table indicates the types available, their SU cost, and the Standard/Sustained/Maximum warp speed each can attain. Standard velocity is the speed at which a ship commonly cruises through space. Sustainable velocity is the highest speed it can maintain without stressing the ship or its engines. Maximum velocity is the highest speed it can attain (see also Plasma Injection System, below).
Ships designed prior to 2269 almost always have two nacelles – no more, no less – because warp field theory had not yet advanced to the point where Starfleet technology could reliably generate a stable warp field with one, three or four nacelles. One-nacelle arrangements became available in 2269, with three- and four-nacelle arrangements in 2284.
Retractable nacelles (+3 SU) became available in 2337.
Variable-geometry nacelles (+5 SU) became available in 2371, as part of the efforts to overcome the Warp 5 speed damage effect on local subspace.
Embedded nacelles can only be installed on Cardassian and Klingon vessels (to date) of Size 5 or larger, but they do help make shields stronger, because the shield radius becomes smaller (increase Threshold by 10 and Protection by 100). The cost, however, is that the warp field is slightly less efficient (reduce Standard, Sustainable, and Maximum speeds by 0.1 each) and the embedding also costs 4 x Size. Starfleet has not yet adopted fully embedded nacelles because it dislikes the loss of speed entailed and is concerned about the health and safety implications they might have for a ship’s crew, but has employed some of the principles to design ships such as the Saber-class and Steamrunnerclass with partly embedded nacelles.
Note: Speeds listed with the Mark series are according to TOS (“The Original Scale”), also known as the Cochrane Scale. The Type series, first introduced in 2313, is listed in the TNG (“Terrance-Neltorr Graduated”) Scale, which was adopted in 2312.
Table
| Nacelle Tech |
SU | Standard/Sustainable/ Maximum Warp Speed |
Year Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark 1 | 3 | 1.0/1.1/1.2 | 2063 |
| Mark 1.2 | 5 | 1.2/1.3/1.5 | 2069 |
| Mark 1.2A | 8 | 1.2/2.0/3.0 | 2075 |
| Mark 1.2B | 10 | 1.25/2.5/3.5 | 2100 |
| Mark 1.2B2 | 13 | 1.25/3.0/3.5 | 2108 |
| Mark 1.2C | 15 | 1.25/2.5/4.0 | 2108 |
| Mark 1.2D | 17 | 1.25/3.0/4.0 | 2108 |
| Mark 1.5 | 18 | 1.5/3.0/5.0 | 2127 |
| Mark 2 | 20 | 2.0/3.0/5.0 | 2127 |
| Mark 2.1 | 22 | 2.0/3.5/5.0 | 2127 |