Navigation

#skill
Must specialise; TL; IQ/Average; Defaults: Special.

This is the ability to find your position through careful observation of your surroundings and the use of instrumentation. A successful roll tells you where you are or lets you plot a course.

You must specialize:

• Sea: Navigation by the stars and ocean currents. Modifiers: +3 if you have Absolute Direction (p. 34), or a high-tech global positioning system or inertial compass; -5 (and no use of Astronomy default) if you lack hightech aids, the weather is bad, and the stars are hidden. Defaults: Astronomy-5 or Seamanship-5.
• Air: Navigation by the stars and by the terrain below. Modifiers are as for Navigation (Sea). Default: Astronomy-5.
• Land: Navigation using landmarks and the stars; also called “orienteering.” Modifiers: +3 if you have Absolute Direction or a high-tech substitute. Defaults: IQ-5, Cartography-4, or Mathematics (Surveying)-4.
• Space: Navigating through ordinary interplanetary and interstellar space, usually at less than the speed of light (but some science-fiction “warp drives” let you travel at fasterthan-light speeds in normal space). Modifiers: +2 for 3D Spatial Sense (p. 34). Defaults: Astronomy-4 or Mathematics (Applied)-4.
• Hyperspace: Also called “astrogation.” Similar to Navigation (Space), but used when traveling through “jump space” or “hyperspace.” In settings with multiple faster-than-light drive technologies, there may be one Navigation specialty per drive type. Modifiers are as for Navigation (Space). Defaults: Astronomy-4 or Mathematics (Applied)-4.

Air, Land, and Sea default to one another at -2. Space and Hyperspace default to one another at -5. There are no defaults between these two groups.

Modifiers: -1 to -10 for being in an unfamiliar area (GM’s discretion, but an unfamiliar world, star system, etc. should give at least -5); equipment modifiers (p. 345).

Source: B211