Worldbuilding

Faster Than Light Travel

/ˈfæs.tər ðən laɪt ˈtræv.əl/ noun
IN ONE SENTENCE

Faster-than-light travel is any fictional method of crossing interstellar distances without spending centuries in transit.

Definition

Faster-than-light (FTL) travel refers to any speculative technology or phenomenon that allows spacecraft to exceed the speed of light, which real physics currently says is impossible. In fiction, FTL is less about the science and more about what kind of story you want to tell. A universe with easy FTL feels like an ocean with many ports; a universe with slow or costly FTL feels like the age of sail. Your choice of FTL system shapes everything from your plot's pacing to your civilization's politics.

Why It Matters

FTL is the single biggest worldbuilding decision in any space-faring story because it determines the shape of your civilization. Easy FTL means empires, trade routes, and rapid military response. Hard FTL means isolated colonies, communication delays, and regional independence. The constraints you put on your FTL system generate natural story conflicts: fuel scarcity, navigation hazards, political control of travel routes, and the consequences of being stranded.

Types of Faster Than Light Travel

Warp Drive +
Hyperspace / Jump Drive +
Wormhole / Gate Network +
Fold / Teleportation +

Famous Examples

Dune — Frank Herbert

FTL requires spice-addicted Guild Navigators to fold space, making the spice the most valuable substance in the universe and driving all political conflict.

The Expanse — James S.A. Corey

The series begins without FTL, making the solar system feel vast and travel dangerous. The later introduction of ring gates changes everything.

Battlestar Galactica — Ronald D. Moore

FTL jumps are instantaneous but require calculation time and consume resources, creating tension in every pursuit and escape.

Common Mistakes

✕ Treating FTL as free and effortless, which removes all tension from space travel.

Give your FTL system at least one significant cost or limitation: fuel, time, physical toll, navigation risk, or political access.

✕ Ignoring the communication implications of FTL.

If ships can travel faster than light but messages cannot, you get a fundamentally different political landscape than if both can. Decide this early.

✕ Inconsistently applying FTL rules so that travel takes hours in one chapter and weeks in another without explanation.

Write down your FTL rules (speed, cost, limitations) and check every travel scene against them.

Try It Yourself

Quick Exercise

Design an FTL system for your story with three specific limitations (for example: it only works near stars, it causes nausea, it cannot carry more than a certain mass). Then write a 200-word scene where one of those limitations creates a problem for your characters mid-journey.

Novelium

Keep Your FTL Rules Consistent

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worldbuilding
Your FTL system should be one of your earliest worldbuilding decisions because it shapes the scale and structure of your entire setting.