Chaotic Limiter

A feature included in many modern time travel devices, it lets its user regulate the casualness of the era to which he or she is traveling, and thus the operator can decide on the malleability of the timeline. Fixing the limiter on a low setting permits the operator to make a great deal of change to the local timeline without fear of affecting the future, while a higher setting gives the traveler's actions a much greater actions a much greater impact. In other words, a deploying a high-yield nuclear device and treading on a random butterfly would have the same effect when done under the low and high settings, respectively. Generally speaking reconnaissance is performed under low limiter settings, while engagements with hostile troops are often carried out under high settings so as to make the battle actually worth fighting, thought obviously this can be a high risk strategy.

Different areas of the Vortex have different limiter settings--different levels of temporal intertia--though it's debatable whether this is a natural effect of the universe, or whether these super-chaotic and sub-chaotic worlds have had their timelines deliberately "weakened" or "hardened" by the major temporal powers. One of the central differences in preparing for any battle may be gauging the local inertia. Charts of relative inertiabars, and maps of shoals of "hard" and "soft" time, are usually amongst the first contraband and forgeries offered to troops landing in a time-aware area.