Mapping the Realm (CB)

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The driving interest behind the study of chronomancy is time travel, the ability to visit the past or future, the wielding of power over the natural course of events. What else holds as much potential for personal gain and expands the horizons of every world in existence?
==Traveling an Objective Mile==
﻿Travel through Temporal Prime is accomplished through the power of the mind, and subjective distances are unchanged. Objective distance, however, is related directly to the Wisdom of the creature. When a creature moves downstream, it travels into the future. But do a dozen paces equal one minute or one day of time passed in reality? If the creature travels cross-stream, does each pace equal one yard or one mile?
The answer to both questions depends on the state of temporal activity the creature has reached-how less linear it has become. A creature with a high Wisdom reaches a higher state and can encompass more of Temporal Prime. In effect, it is increasing the objective distance covered per day of travel.
To figure out objective distance for one day's travel upstream or downstream, square the Wisdom of the creature. This is how many days pass in reality. For example, if the creature possesses a Wisdom of 10, one day of downstream travel places the creature 100 days into the future. This is all in addition to the normal four-to-one time differential, so it could be said that, for the downstream traveling creature in the example, 100 days plus six hours passed in reality.
By comparison, cross-stream travel is not quite so generous. Wisdom is still the deciding ability score, but the number of true miles covered is limited by the laws of Temporal Prime. The main limit is that the timestream has a set diameter, while the plane it represents is infinite. Also, as objective distance shrinks in the cross-stream direction, the physical obstacles of the lifelines begin to interfere with travel. Consult Table 10 for the cross-stream objective distance modifier. Take the modifier and multiply it by the creature's normal movement rate. A creature with a Wisdom of 10 and a movement rate of 12 would have a modified movement rate of 18. ﻿
This does not take the four-to-one time differential into account, so after a normal day's travel (in this case, around 36 miles), only six hours have passed in reality.
 Table 10: Travel Modifiers
Wisdom	Distance Modifier
1-4 	1.00
5-9 	1.25
10-15 	1.50
16-23 	1.75
24+ 	2.00
Spells or magical items that increase movement only work if they affect the need for rest. (This rule does not nullify a spell like Articus's melee manager, since it affects the mind, not the body.) A typical day of travel calls for 10 hours of movement, allowing for rest stops and meals. This allows double the creature's movement rate in miles per day. A forced march can increase this to 2.5 times the movement rate, but then physical exhaustion can become a problem. A potion of vitality would cure this difficulty. After all modifiers have been applied, the creature with a movement rate of 12 and a Wisdom of 10 would be able to make 45 forced-march miles per day (again, not counting for the time differential).
Note that groups move at the rate of the slowest member of the group.
==Temporal Shortcuts==
Turbulence is the result of an unnatural disturbance in the timestream. The physical indications vary, but there is always a heavy disruption in the mist-smoke of Temporal Prime. Possible effects are alternating dense and thin pockets, whirlpooling, color changes, and, in the most severe cases, a temporary reversal of flow. All of these directly represent a disruption to the momentum of time. If properly read, turbulence can indicate the location, severity, and type of disturbance. Roll 1d20 and consult Table 11 to determine the types of turbulence encountered.
 Table 11: Turbulence Sources
Roll 	Source
1-10 	Vortex
11 	Maelstrom
12-14	Timestorm
15-18	Spell effect
19-20	Change in history
Vortex. Follow any turbulence to its source, and the chances are good that its cause is a vortex. These phenomena look like whirlpools of energy and the mist-smoke of Temporal Prime. The energy flashes in a spiraling descent from top to tip, several bolts always present within the vortex, and bolts entering and leaving every few seconds. Mist-smoke trails down the funnel much slower, and most of it escapes before reaching the bottom. The mist-smoke usually keeps the whirlpool moving and veers off in the small spinning tendrils characteristic of vortices.
A vortex connects to one or more other points in the timestream, allowing days, weeks, or even years to be covered in just a few hours. All a traveler has to do to utilize this convenient bypass is follow the spiral along the wall (travel within a vortex is limited to the sides) from top to spout. This helps the creature synchronize with the change in time's momentum so it can pass through the spout. If the vortex connects to more than one point, the flashes of energy and trails of mist-smoke overlap in 1d4 confusing spirals. Each spiral corresponds to another point the vortex connects to. A Wisdom check must be made to be able to follow a particular path, and a -1 penalty is applied for each additional spiral in the vortex.
After passing through, the creature is in the bottom of another vortex, which could be located anywhere within the timestream. The creature may leave by traveling straight up the side (no spiraling is necessary). Moving downward sends the creature back to the vortex it just left, or in the case of a vortex with multiple spirals, throws the creature to a random point of contact.
To determine randomly how far the vortices span, roll 1d100. The result is the number of days between any two points. If the result is 95-98, roll again and consider the span to be in months. If the first result was 99-00, or the second result a 95-00, roll again and consider the span to be in years. Vortices can also be within a few days of each other and span large distances cross-stream.
Vortices range in size from 10-60 yards across and deep according to how long they've been around. This also affects the distance they span and how many connections they have. A four-point vortex, or a vortex which spans years, is extremely large and very old. Vortices are numerous and can be found nestled within the lifelines at irregular intervals. The minimum distance between them is about three days' travel; the maximum is about two weeks apart. Vortices are relatively stable, which means they can be mapped out, giving the chronomancer a rough map through time and reality, but they can also be created and closed, so the map is not always accurate.
Maelstrom. A maelstrom is a large network of vortices that connect on a specific timestream to each other as well as to those of different planes of existence and other worlds. A maelstrom looks like a giant storm brewed from the mist-smoke, with large vortices (the 60-yard type) fighting for dominance, and smaller vortices branching off from these. The turbulence can range for several days' worth of subjective distance, and lifelines bend sharply to avoid this obstacle.
Anywhere from four to seven (1d4+3) large vortices are present in a maelstrom. Called anchor vortices, these all have four spiral patterns, and a few have smaller vortices spiraling out inside walls. Consult Table 12 to determine these vortices' connections. For all large vortices, apply the -3 penalty to Wisdom for multiple spiral patterns, regardless of the number of connections. The smaller vortices are standard types, the only difference being an extra -1 penalty to Wisdom checks due to their positioning inside another vortex.
 Table 12: Anchor Vortices
Roll 	The Vortex's Connections
1-5 	Four-point vortex, all same time-stream.
6-10 	One-point vortex with a span of 5d10 years.
11-12	Two-point vortex to another plane, same world.
13-14	One-point vortex to another plane, different world (nearby).
16-18	One-point vortex to another world, different crystal sphere.*
19-20	Two-point vortex to another world, different crystal sphere.*
: * See the SPELLJAMMER® boxed set.
While maelstroms have never been closed (whether by design or on their own), the vortices within them sometimes change destinations (25% likely with each visit). Often (75% likely with each visit), the number of vortices shrinks until a maelstrom has only the minimum of four. The changes are thought to come from direct manipulation of the maelstrom by time dimensionals or Guardians (see page 59).
Timestorms, Spell Effects, and Changes in History. These types of disruptions are dealt with in the appropriate sections (timestorms: pages 36–37; spell effects: Chapter 6). Historical changes are discussed as follows.
Category:Chronomancer Book