Most ships list a backup hyperdrive. Has there been any description of how these work? I was trying to relate it to Episode V, and got slightly confused.

Either

1. The Millenium Falcon had no backup hyperdrive. (Possible, but I think unlikely)

2. Both hyperdrives broke simultaneously. (Possible, but also unlikely)

3. The backup hyperdrive is not ready at the flip of a switch. All the "repairs" in the asteroid field were to install the backup hyperdrive. Sort of like putting a donut spare on a car. You don't go fast or far, because it won't take it. It also explains why the fastest ship in the universe got to Bespin after the Empire did. If Han was limping along at x12, even the Star Destroyer will have time to beat him there.

Am I missing something?

Mostly, it's a narrative thing. They mention it fleetingly in the "Shipyard Standard Systems" box in the vehicle chapter as being much short range. P. 233 for F&D CRB, not sure the others. I think one modular encounter from Suns of Fortune mentioned that slower hyperdrives are much more precise than faster ones.

As for the Falcon , it's so patchworked and extremely modified, it probably no longer has a backup anymore. Or, because the Falcon was having problems on Hoth, Chewie and Han used parts from the backup to try and fix the main, so it was completely unusable for the duration.

Remember, most of the vehicles in the books represent stock vehicles, or close to it. The Falcon is not at all.

The back-up hyperdrive was what the Falcon used in TESB to get from Hoth to Bespin. They are a lot slower than regular hyperdrives. But without any hyperdrive at all it would have taken them years to get to the next system.

The back-up hyperdrive was what the Falcon used in TESB to get from Hoth to Bespin. They are a lot slower than regular hyperdrives. But without any hyperdrive at all it would have taken them years to get to the next system.

This.

The way it works, if you get for example a critical hit that disables your hyperdrive, you're stuck using your backup - if you have one, that is. As you can see from almost every ship stat block the backup hyperdrive is a great deal slower than the main hyperdrive. But it's better than not having one at all, since that would leave you stranded in whatever system you happen to be in.

The back-up hyperdrive was what the Falcon used in TESB to get from Hoth to Bespin. They are a lot slower than regular hyperdrives. But without any hyperdrive at all it would have taken them years to get to the next system.

Exactly. The point of the backup is to get you to somewhere that will let you repair or replace the main drive before you run out of consumables and starve to death. It's like the starship equivalent of a spare tire.

They've got it.

Oddly enough, I was looking for that stuff too and found it my accident in Suns of Fortune. (You were right- good one.)

So the lore states what you've been hearing: The backup hyperdrive's there for safety reasons, but not everyone has one. If you're a military vessel or a smuggler, you use your backup hyperdrive to do microjumps because it's slower and the calculations are easier. That way, you can go from system to system using your primary, but use your slower, less-expensive hyperdrive the very risky microjumps in-system. (And hopefully get the drop on the opposition.)

As for how this relates the Falcon's problems, well... I probably just made things more complicated for you. Sorry. :[

But my question is, is it on and ready to use immediately, or does it take time to set up? If I get a hyperdrive disabled critical, can I immediately make a jump to hyperspace using the backup to get out of combat?

But my question is, is it on and ready to use immediately, or does it take time to set up? If I get a hyperdrive disabled critical, can I immediately make a jump to hyperspace using the backup to get out of combat?

EDIT: On reflection, Happy Daze (below) is right — it’s a spare tire.

Moreover, it’s a limited use spare tire. Good for maybe a few small jumps, and that’s about it. And your ship will probably need an overhaul once you get to somewhere that has the spare parts and mechanics talents.

And $GHU help you if your backup hyperdrive fails before you can get the primary repaired and/or that overhaul.

You are not going to like dying in space where you are dozens of parsecs away from the nearest living sentient thing.

But my question is, is it on and ready to use immediately, or does it take time to set up? If I get a hyperdrive disabled critical, can I immediately make a jump to hyperspace using the backup to get out of combat?

I prefer to think of it as a spare tire. You have to take a bit of time and effort to switch from the primary to the backup.

Maybe this can settle the disparate points, OP: in 1980 and for several more years, and at least outside the gaming community, there would not be such a thing as a backup hyperdrive. Most would overlook the impossibility of traveling between even nearby stars otherwise.

For dramatic purposes, especially if we retcon TESB to patch the logic hole, a backup hyperdrive would not only require time to bring online but would offer poor means of escape with such easily predictable slow speeds.

Being stuck in deep space or in a system with no traffic or facilities, and with your hyperdrive out and unrepairable, is a death sentence.

The "backup hyperdrive" or "makeshift repairs" ideas are both a narrative and an RPG necessity to avoid certain circumstances dooming the protagonists.

But my question is, is it on and ready to use immediately, or does it take time to set up? If I get a hyperdrive disabled critical, can I immediately make a jump to hyperspace using the backup to get out of combat?

One could argue along these lines:

Astrogation is a very sophisticated procedure; one NavCom can always only calculate one jump for one distinct hyperdrive at one time. So, if you don't have an extra NavCom... Oh, you've got an Astromech, and it can stand in for a NavCom. Well, no problem then: Calculate away!

Then you'll just have to power up your spare reactor (the power consumption of a hyperdrive, as we all know, is so high, that an onboard power source can only handle one at one time). Oh, you haven't got a spare one...

No worries, the rerouting of the power lines is only going to take a couple of minutes. You didn't, actually, want to just switch from one drive to the other, just like that, did you? You did?!

I'm sorry, Dave,...

In regards to the Falcon and back-up hyperdrives, far as the current state of canon goes, Hoth and Bespin were both in the same system (Anoat), so it is possible for Han and company to have taken the slow route in real-space to limp their way to Cloud City. And I wouldn't put it past Han to have taken apart the back-up in hopes of fixing the primary hyperdrive.

But generally, I'd say that while a back-up hyperdrive may operate in concept the similar to a spare tire, it's a bit more advanced. It wouldn't take any additional effort to "switch over" from the primary to the back-up, and it's probably designed to be used several times before needing to be overhauled, ideally for short jumps to the nearest system where you can get your primary hyperdrive repaired/replaced.

In regards to the Falcon and back-up hyperdrives, far as the current state of canon goes, Hoth and Bespin were both in the same system (Anoat), so it is possible for Han and company to have taken the slow route in real-space to limp their way to Cloud City.

Are you sure? Wookieepedia says something else: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Anoat_system

In regards to the Falcon and back-up hyperdrives, far as the current state of canon goes, Hoth and Bespin were both in the same system (Anoat), so it is possible for Han and company to have taken the slow route in real-space to limp their way to Cloud City.

Are you sure? Wookieepedia says something else: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Anoat_system

Han says, "Lando" then Leia replies, "Lando system?" If they were peering over charts looking for another planet in the same system, Leia would have replied, "Lando planet?" instead.

Hoth and Bespin are in the Anoat Sector which means they're in the same region of space. That's different from being in the Anoat System which would mean they were orbiting the same star (and then theoretically you could even travel between planets using sublight flight). But being in the same sector means that at least a slower hyperspace jump from a backup is feasible.

For the record, the planet Hoth is the sixth planet orbiting the star Hoth in the Hoth System. Similarly, Bespin is in the Bespin System which includes the planet Miser.

I think if the standard hyperdrive gets hit so badly that is stops functioning, it is fair to asume that the players will need at the very least one or two combat rounds to switch over to the backup generator, followed by programming the new drive.

Personaly, if the main drive gets knocked out from a crit while the PC's are fleeing, changing over to the backup one would probably be normal difficulty (with upgrade and setbacks depending on how tough the chase is) but in that case the check would be used to define the time it takes to switch over, with each uncancelled failure adding one round and disadvantages adding ship strain (for the hasty repair).

Depending how high-tech you want your star wars it is also viable to asume that the backup hyperdrive kicks in instantaneously like backup generators in hospitals in case something happens during hyperspace travel.