... Maximum Warp!

[Commander Ramey]

When they say things like "set a course for Earth, Maximum Warp," this is the second of the three numbers in the stats blocks right? The one that is sustained max warp. When they are "flying to pieces" it is the last number, or am I wrong?

[Pericles]

I personally would judge "maximum" warp as sustained speed. I woud say "emergency" warp for anything faster than that.

[Ergi]

Let's use Warp 6/9.2/9.6 as an example.

Warp 6 is the standard cruising speed. Unless the ship is required to arrive at the destination faster, this is the speed that will normally be used for interstellar travel.

Warp 9.2 is the maximum sustainable speed. This means that theoretically the ship should be able to keep travelling at this speed until it runs out of fuel, without damage to the engines.
(Nontheless, the ship should stop from time to time for the standard 40,000 ly inspection. )

Warp 9.6 is the maximum speed, which can only be sustained for a short period of time, usually about 12 hours, or so. Travelling at top speed longer than that will lead to engine damage, probably due to overheating of the EPS or cooling system failure.

Of course, with a skilled engineer aboard, and the GM permitting, those limits could be raised a little bit.

I'm not absolutely sure if the second or the third number is considered "safe", whatever that means. IIRC, TNG Enterprise D even started with a safe maximum speed of Warp 9. In the later seasons, travelling faster than that seemed no longer to be a particular problem.

[Commander Ramey]

Ok, that makes sense and is what I thought. Thanks alot.

[Tobian]

Yes I would generally agree with all that's been said here, and yes the D got a significant upgrade later in the show, which is reflected in a dual stat block in Starships (and most of the systsems) to show it's upgrade!

[Evan van Eyk]

When they say things like "set a course for Earth, Maximum Warp," this is the second of the three numbers in the stats blocks right? The one that is sustained max warp. When they are "flying to pieces" it is the last number, or am I wrong?

Erm, I don't think so. First of all I am not aware if there is such a "three-number" system in the movies or if the writers know about it at all. But much more weighs the fact that if a Borg Attack on Earth is not a reason to "fly her apart" then what is? I think when Picard order this "maximum warp" he meant it.
If another speed is desired then it will be mentioned specifically - on the other hand each CO will probably have her own preferences.

[Ergi]

First of all I am not aware if there is such a "three-number" system in the movies or if the writers know about it at all.

The three-number-system comes from the TNG Technical Manual, and is explained there in detail. So it is pretty official. The only reason we never heard Kirk or Picard order the conn officer to increase speed to Warp 9.6, or semething like this, is because the majority of movie-goers won't know if that is fast or not. "Maximum warp!", on the other hand, does sound fast.

[tonyg]

I suspect that when they say "Maximum Warp" on TV they mean the highest of the three number (=emergency speed). It is just that on the show they rarely have to realy worry about the time it is going to take to get somewhere. In most cases maximun warp allows the ship to get to where they want it just in the nick of time (like in First Contact.). Realsitically most ships can only maintain the emergecny speed for several hours, so it isn't going to be a decent option if you need to travel more than a few light years.

In game terms I'd use the sustainable speed except in cases where the distances are short enough for the emergecny speed to be a viable option (say at best about about 12 hours travel at emegency speed).

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Isn't there something about damage from sustained travel at warp in the book somewhere?

[Tobian]

Depends which system you mean !

Yes, the different speeds are explained in the TM, and yes I wouldn't be surprised if they are not completelly consistent.. TNG was usually consistent, post TM, as they had terchnical advisers. B&B ditched that as a concept for Voyager and Enterprise, so that explains all the inconsistiencies !

Generally speaking, yes, 'Maximum speed' allows you to get where you need to be in just the nick of time hehe: It's the tradeoff; it's significantly faster (those numbers above 9.0 get faster exponentially, the scale is not linear - so going from 9.2 to 9.6 is a huge jump in speed!) so while you can only go for a short time... you are getting there faster, so converselly need less time. Again later shows messed with this, but usually the speeds were still semi-realistic (aka drawn on the scale, not just made up) so while you are going uber speeds - it's still taking you several hours to get to your destination: it was of course the caveat of the show that those 3 hours was... just in the nick of time!

Voyager had a theoretical top speed of warp 9.975 ! they never implicitly stated they went at that speed, but it's probably one of the fastest ships in Starfleet !

I would say that a good engineer could keep a ship going at maximum warp at at least a TN: 15 - 20 per hour... but faling any of those rolls would mean something catostrophic happening! However I would say something like that comes under storyteller discretion, as it is not something you should encourage, except for a plot detail, and of course, if it's really needed.. then it should happen: Deux ex machina !

[tonyg]

Isn't there something about damage from sustained travel at warp in the book somewhere?

Both ICON and CODA have rules that require the Engineer to make skill rolls to keep the ship moving at max speed

In ICON ships could maintain max speed (and the Top speed listed is considered MAXIMUM SPEED in the ICON books) for a certain amount of time (usually 12 hours) before risking damage (roll 2d6, on doubles ship loses 25% power and and 25% of warp speed).

In CODA, travelling faster than sustainable speed requires a Engineeing skill test at TN= 10+Maximum speed to REACH the maximum speed. Failure results in a malfuction/part breakdown that must be reapired before the ship can reach max speed. Success means the ship reaches max speed, but must make a reliability check each hour to maintain the speed, or the system goes offline.

One problem I see is that the TN for the relaibility test is 10+Speed. Since the relaiblity test is a 2d6 roll + a modifer for engines letter code (A=+0, B==2, C=+4, D=+6, E=+8), or the it is very unlikey that a ship will be able to maintain maximum warp for more than a hour or so, since the TN's ar going to be pretty high. It also measn than the older engines can be pushed for longer than the newer engines, as the TN is speed based.

CODA should probably give the ship's a chance to go a max speed a little longer. Maybe give them 12 hours for free like ICON, reduce the TN, or repalice the reliability roll with a Engineering test modifed by reliability.

[tonyg]

Depends which system you mean !

Yes, the different speeds are explained in the TM, and yes I wouldn't be surprised if they are not completelly consistent.. TNG was usually consistent, post TM, as they had terchnical advisers. B&B ditched that as a concept for Voyager and Enterprise, so that explains all the inconsistiencies !

Generally speaking, yes, 'Maximum speed' allows you to get where you need to be in just the nick of time hehe: It's the tradeoff; it's significantly faster (those numbers above 9.0 get faster exponentially, the scale is not linear - so going from 9.2 to 9.6 is a huge jump in speed!) so while you can only go for a short time... you are getting there faster, so converselly need less time. Again later shows messed with this, but usually the speeds were still semi-realistic (aka drawn on the scale, not just made up) so while you are going uber speeds - it's still taking you several hours to get to your destination: it was of course the caveat of the show that those 3 hours was... just in the nick of time!

Voyager had a theoretical top speed of warp 9.975 ! they never implicitly stated they went at that speed, but it's probably one of the fastest ships in Starfleet !

I would say that a good engineer could keep a ship going at maximum warp at at least a TN: 15 - 20 per hour... but faling any of those rolls would mean something catostrophic happening! However I would say something like that comes under storyteller discretion, as it is not something you should encourage, except for a plot detail, and of course, if it's really needed.. then it should happen: Deux ex machina !

Yeah, but the max speed value is pretty worthless unless you happen to be within a couple of light years of where you need to go. TNG era ships can only get about 2.25 light years at max warp (assuming wf9.2 for 12 hours). Post TNG era ships do better, with the Defiant able to get about 10 light years.


Of course, on the screen, the ship is always able to get to where it needs to be, in the nick of time, despite the vast distances involved, time required, or speed allowed.


Sort of like the derranged kill in a slasher flick. Depite the fact that everone else in running, the killer managed to catch up and even get ahead while traveeling at a shuffle. I figure he is sprinting like mad when no one is looking.

[Tobian]

Hehe I know - Startrek ships move at the speed of the plot.. (especially Enterprise!) But then the flip side of this is that the ships of the show are always shown to have 'the best of the best' - so your characters might not live up to that, and not keep the ship going for so long! If anyone can keep the ship going at maximum warp longer than anyone else can, it's Scotty: Unless you are playing Scotty, everyone else is going to fall short of that mark