I had read something about this short distance calculated and non-navigator jumps somewhere on these forms but now cant seem to find it. can anyone present info on such or steer me to source materiel for such (preferably both). I just feel my navigator may die... or i may not have enough temporarily. Though calculated jumps from what i remember take longer an alternative is always nice to have.

thanks for any help you can give

ps. i wonder what my navigator would think of alternatives being tested in case he is 'absent' lol

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/19354-canon-warp-travel-times/

Is a thread worth looking at.

Essentially, you can make warp jumps without a navigator, but you daren't dive deep into the warp and hence will neither jump far or quickly.

The maximum range of such a jump - according to Rogue Trader (the 40k 1st edition rulebook way back when) is 5 light years - so juuuust about enough to cross between two adjacent stars, but nowhere near enough to get from one star system that matters to the next inhabited one.

Some Imperial ships do operate without navigators - but this is the 'bankrupt tramp freighter plying sector trade routes' type ship; you'd never encounter a warship, inquisitorial ship or rogue trader without one (even if he may be an NPC).

The Excoriators Strike Cruiser in the Space Marine Battles Book Legion Of The Damned does the same thing, heading off to a nearby forgeworld via a months-long sequence of jumps after their navigator goes pants-on-head insane and has himself killed.

It means that if your navigator catches a cold/bullet/daemon, you can still make it home, but the series of jumps will take forever.

This is pretty much what the Tau are supposed to do - although they are even less effective, barely skimming the edges of the warp, and as a result being about three times slower still than navigator-less imperial ships.

There's a section on calculated jumps in the Navis Primer (and they dropped the maximum 'safe' range per jump to 4 light years)

thank you

^^' i just fear my navigator's death lol

That's all right. The key to this is that the 'navigator' PC is quite likely to be the senior navigator, not the only one. If you're setting off into the darkness of wildspace, you can expect a Rogue Trader to retain a master navigator and several junior aides provided by the same house. They won't be as good, of course (use the generic 'crew skill' of the ship) but they at least get you home. Eventually.