Faster-Than-Light Index

Tropes involved in bypassing Einstein's universal speed limit. See also Teleportation Tropes.

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Tropes

• Alcubierre Drive
  An FTL drive that works by contracting space ahead of the ship and expanding it behind, moving in a "bubble" of warped space.
• Blind Jump
  Making an FTL jump without knowing where you're going. This will probably end in disaster.
• Casual Interstellar Travel
  When travel between the stars is easy, cheap, quick and convenient.
• Extradimensional Shortcut
  Traveling faster than light by popping into a dimension where the laws of physics are more permissive.
• Faster-Than-Light Travel
  Any situation where you can cover more distance than a light particle would in the same time.
• FTL Test Blunder
  Trying a new FTL system comes with complications.
• FTL Travel Sickness
  Traveling faster than light does bad things to people who aren't properly protected.
• Hyperspeed Ambush
  Using faster-than-light travel to take an enemy by surprise.
• Hyperspeed Escape
  Using faster-than-light travel to escape from danger.
• In-System FTL
  A form of faster-than-light travel that only works within a star system.
• Interstellar Weapon
  You fire it and it hits a target in another solar system.
• Lightspeed Leapfrog
  A space vessel is beaten to its destination by a more advanced one built and launched later.
• No Warping Zone
  An area where you can't use FTL drives, typically in the immediate vicinity of a planet.
• Portal Network
  You can travel long distances by a going through a complex system of linked portals.
• Psychic Starship Pilot
  You need someone with psychic powers to pilot at faster-than-light speeds.
• Rapid FTL Proliferation
  Multiple factions get FTL travel at roughly the same time, enabling a land rush if not war.
• Sci-Fi Flyby: Used in tandem with FTL travel to show how impressive the setting’s ships are.
• Shipless Faster-Than-Light Travel
  The ability to move faster than light without needing a vessel or outside assistance.
• Streaming Stars
  Stars are seen streaking by to emphasize how fast a spaceship is going.
• Sub-Lightspeed Setting
  When faster-than-light travel explicitly isn't possible in the setting.
• Subspace Ansible
  A device that can be used to instantly communicate with others of its sort, regardless of distance.
• Subspace or Hyperspace
  Certain dimensions or forms of space that can do things impossible in regular space, such as having objects go faster than light.
  • Another Dimension
    Another universe, which is what subspace and hyperspace often end up being.
  • Hyperspace Is a Scary Place
    Hyperspace is drastically different from normal space, and is dangerous and terrifying to travel through.
  • Hyperspace Lanes
    Faster-than-light travel is restricted to certain system-to-system jumps or preexisting routes of travel.
• Sublight Subterfuge
  You can't, or shouldn't, use FTL in a situation in which you normally would.

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