Droid Brain Astrogation Module

Droid brain astrogation modules came into vogue in the Outer Rim shortly before the Battle of Yavin, and have slowly spread from the Outer Rim Coreward. Although they are still rare, smugglers and couriers sometimes modify their navicomputers using droid brains to enhance their own skills in astrogation, as well as to speed the calculation of the trip.

Model: Modified droid brain network
Type: Astrogation buffer/navicomputer
Skill: Astrogation
Cost: 500
Availability: 3, R, F or X
Game Notes: Droid brains must be bought separately to be hooked together. Networking the brains requires a droid repair skill roll. The droid repair roll depends on the number of brains being linked.

Number of Droid Brains	Difficulty	Bonus to Astrogation	Time to Calculate Route
2	Easy	+1	-5 seconds
3-4	Moderate	+2	-10 seconds
5-6	Difficult	+1D	-20 seconds
7	Very Difficult	+1D+2	-25 seconds
8	Heroic	+3D	-30 seconds

Following the linking of the brains, they must be tied into the astrogation computer with a Moderate computer programming/repair roll. The number of droid brains networked together determines the bonus when calculating a jump to hyperspace. For example, a starship with a network of 5 droid brains attempting to plot a route from Coruscant to Corellia (a well-travelled route) would receive +1D bonus to astrogation, and the calculation time would be 40 seconds (1 minute less 20 seconds equals 40 seconds).
Alternatively, a ship's captain who chooses to ignore either bonus can increase the effective rating of the astrogation module by one level, but the resulting slow-down in processing speed would eliminate calculation bonuses (six droid brains could give +1D+2 to astrogation, but it would take the full amount of time to plot the course). For three or five droids brains, this bonus makes little sense, because increasing the number of effective droid brains makes no difference for the bonuses.
This enhancement is used primarily for quick entrances to hyperspace by skilled pilots, or as an aid to newer pilots that have little skill in the field of astrogation.