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Just jumping on the bandwagon about portals, can someone confirm whether they are situated in a retaining "structure" (Not a building)  Stargate's ring, or whether they are just floating energy fields?
I think I know the answer already and if im right you'll have made my day without knowing it

They are floating energy fields whose size changes with time (hence the need for exact calculations or risk being ripped to shreds. Or worse).

You say each portal is manned by a hypernavigator, where does that person sit/live/work? (sorry dumb questions)

being wise to let the time displacement go forward in time, unless the GM wants to complicate things

La Jetée/12 Monkeys meets Groundhog Day in the Third Horizon?

You say each portal is manned by a hypernavigator, where does that person sit/live/work? (sorry dumb questions)

Portal stations are mentioned; providing two main services: jump calculations, and communications probes. I have assumed they orbit the star close to the portal field(s). I have furthermore assumed they would function much like a gas station functions today: that is, not selling any fuel, but instead selling sweets, talismans and prayer carpets
I don't know if there are more details on such a station or its crew.

Portal stations are mentioned; providing two main services: jump calculations, and communications probes. I have assumed they orbit the star close to the portal field(s). I have furthermore assumed they would function much like a gas station functions today: that is, not selling any fuel, but instead selling sweets, talismans and prayer carpets

Sweet Judge, now that's an image I can work with.

Of course, overpriced provisions should not be missing. Oh, and some kind of tailgating police.

Portal stations are mentioned; providing two main services: jump calculations, and communications probes. I have assumed they orbit the star close to the portal field(s). I have furthermore assumed they would function much like a gas station functions today: that is, not selling any fuel, but instead selling sweets, talismans and prayer carpets

Sweet Judge, now that's an image I can work with.

Of course, overpriced provisions should not be missing. Oh, and some kind of tailgating police.

And haggling... Don't forget the haggling!

You say each portal is manned by a hypernavigator, where does that person sit/live/work? (sorry dumb questions)

Portal stations are mentioned; providing two main services: jump calculations, and communications probes. I have assumed they orbit the star close to the portal field(s). I have furthermore assumed they would function much like a gas station functions today: that is, not selling any fuel, but instead selling sweets, talismans and prayer carpets
I don't know if there are more details on such a station or its crew.

That's cool, I was thinking along the lines of a massive Stargate, and to be fair it'll be my world so that is possible.
A Portal station built around the portal so ships can dock on one edge for vital services or jump through when they are ready
Thanks for the reply Zapp

One more thing:

I've assumed the portal field to be fairly stationary in space.

Any "portal station" will therefore either have to be a space ship if it wants to stay close to a portal field, or if it's a "regular" space station, it will orbit the star and therefore on average be its distance from the star away from the portal field at any given moment. Not that this matters massively, since you can still radio in your takeaway order ahead of time...

My main reason for complicating things this was is that many systems have more than one portal field anyway. Unless you envision each one having its own service station, it stands to reason one station could service them all - all portal fields in a multi-field system are (I assume) equidistant from each other and at the same distance from the star.

That's at least how it works in Kua system. Four portal fields close to the star, 3 AD* apart from each other (an useful snippet of info for freighters not stopping in the Kua that's just passing through, entering from portal and directly moving to exit from another). 


*) Actually the portals (and hence, "my" portal station too) is at a listed distance from Kua star of 0,5 AD. Since a complete orbit of the star at that distance is 3,14 AD (the circumference of a circle is 2πr which in this case becomes just π = 3,14), one quarter of that is 0,8 AD. Since I don't want to increase the portals' distance away from the star, I suggest the "distance apart" figure is errataed, so that the sentence in question reads "In the Kua system, the portals are approximately 1 AD apart, which a bulk freighter travels in one day, but smaller ships much faster."

One thing that doesn't seem to be made quite explicit: Are portal jumps one system at a time? So that you renew your roll/payment/calculations for every stop on your route to a distant system?

Or do you calculate/pay/roll once for an entire trip with several intermediate stops?

Another way of putting it: From Menkar, you can only jump to Daybul? Whereas from Kua, you can reach Aiwaz, Altai, Hamura and Caph (but only those with one jump)?

It seems overly restrictive to jump one stop at a time, but perhaps too 'cheap' to reach any-from-any (and why the chained routes then?).

I'm thinking of house-ruling this unless anyone has a definitive answer with rules refs.

Hope I've missed something obvious!